Monday, January 3, 2022

Lens review: The Porst Color Reflex MC Auto 50mm f/1.4 G

This review is about the Porst Color Reflex MC Auto 50mm f/1.4 F lens. I must admit that I hadn't heard of this specific lens before I was doing research on its bigger brother, the Porst Color Reflex MC Auto 55mm f/1.2 F lens. As it happens, an eBay seller had both the 55mm f/1.2 (early f/22 version) and 50mm f/1.4 for sale. The f/22 version of the 55mm/1.2 went for € 139. I was however intrigued by the 50mm/1.4 so I bid on it and was able to purchase it for a mere € 56.




Like its bigger brother this lens was made in Japan for the German Photo Porst chain of camera stores. I have since managed to find that the Porst lenses in K mount were actually produced by Cosina, thereby confirming my hunch. It is no surprise that both lenses have the same kind of style, the later f/16 version of the 55mm/1.2 and this 50mm/1.4 look very much alike. 

The 50mm/1.4 has a nice solid feel to it. You can tell that these were lenses that were made to last. 

Specifications:

Focal length:                        50mm

Minimal focus distance:        0.5 meters

Aperture:                             f/1.4 - f/22

Aperture blades:                  8

Lens elements:                    7

Diameter:                            49mm

Mount:                                Pentax K

Manufacturer:                     Cosina

Built:                                  1970s-1980s

Use

This lens is equipped with the Pentax K mount. As with the 55mm/1.2 its focus ring turns to the left towards infinity. Again this may seem a bit unnatural at first for Pentax users as the Pentax lenses turn to the right.

Focusing is smooth and in general, the lens has a nice feel to it. I've used this lens with Pentax film cameras and with a digital Canon EOS camera via an adapter. Due to the design of the K mount these lenses will not fit APS-H and full frame EOS cameras, the mirror will hit the back of the lens. K mount lenses will only work on EOS cameras with an APS-C sensor (much like the EF-S mount). 

Images

The images you see below were shot with a Canon EOS 90D set at ISO 200. These images were converted from RAW to JPEG, slightly cropped (to just show the chessboard) and resized. No other actions were taken in Photoshop.


f/1.4


f/2.8


f/4


f/8


f/16

As you can see at f/1.4 subject isolation is great! Wide open it also shows chromatic aberration (CA) which disapears when the lens is stopped down. At f/4 it is almost gone and at f/8 there is no sign of it. Wide open there is also some vignetting, although this does not show on these slightly cropped images. As with the f/1.2 version I found it hard to focus with this lens on the EOS 90D which shows, the f/2.8 and f/4 shots are slightly out of focus. When using these lenses solely on AF cameras I do recommend getting a split-image focusing screen for better accuracy.

In the field

I fitted the Porst Color Reflex MC Auto 50mm f/1.4 G to my Pentax LX, loaded it with Fomapan 100, teamed up with fellow photographer Joeri van Veen and headed out for some shots. 

In the field the lens is easy to operate, the fact that it focuses the 'other' way round did not hinder me in any way. And as for the results, judge for yourself:






The harsh winter light posed no problems for this lens. Only when shooting directly into the sun the back light bleached out the subject somewhat as can be seen below.

All in all I found this lens to be a solid performer, both wide open and stopped down. When using it with the Pentax LX I found focusing no issue at all, whilst using it with a digital camera without a split-image focusing screen was sometimes challenging wide open. For the price this lens is a fine performer for as far as I am concerned, this is a keeper.



Sunday, January 2, 2022

2021

This 2nd of January has me reminiscing about the past year. 2021 has given me a 'first' when it comes to photography, but in other fields things were slow to say the least.

Travel
The one thing the global COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than anything else was a restriction of travel for me. Luckily no-one in my family and circle of friends was negatively affected by COVID-19 but it has left its mark on my travel itinerary. Travel was slow, very slow. That meant having to rediscover my local surroundings when shooting. 

Naardermeer nature preservation area, Pentax 645Z

Gear
I've managed to get my hands on some interesting stuff in the past year. The purchase of a brand new Pentax 645Z medium format digital camera and the refurbishment of my Kiev 60, Kiev 80 and Kiev 88 medium format film cameras had the most impact on my photography. With regard to the Pentax 645Z, its predecessor the Pentax 645D blew me out of the water when I managed to get hold of one in 2014 and the Pentax 645Z did that all over again. The image resolution I get with this camera is simply amazing. And although I really enjoy the work fellow photographer Joeri van Veen creates with his large format Cambo Ultima 23D camera plus Leaf Aptus digital back I feel that with the arrival of the Pentax 645Z my digital needs are fully fulfilled. The three Kievs are another story. These really take me back to the pinnacle of film photography. I really like their classic feel and look. 

Naarden, ARAX (Kiev 88) CM-MLU

The fortress city of Naarden, Canon 90D

Another piece of kit I bought was a new scanner. After years of loyal service my Nikon LS-8000ED Super Coolscan stopped working. Sadly Nikon no longer supports their superb film scanners and replacement parts are not available. That meant having to buy a new scanner and after some deliberation I chose the Epson Perfection V850 Pro. On the one hand this scanner allows for more negative formats to be scanned, up to 4x5 format. On the other hand it is no dedicated film scanner like the Coolscan and that is very apparent when for instance you use the ICE dust removal option. It worked pretty flawlessly on the Coolscan, on the Epson ehh, not so much. But in the end it gets the job done and if I ever want to venture into the world of large film photography I've got a scanner that supports that.

Black and white
2021 had a photographic 'first' for me: I started developing film myself. Due to that 2021 saw an uptake in the use of black & white film. It was also fun to discover how an expired color film would look when developed in black and white chemistry. 

The best shot
So what was my best photograph of 2021? If I had to pick one it would probably be one of the shots seen above. However my friends over at Flickr had the following thoughts on that:
 

According to my Flickr pals these are my best shots of 2021. Funnily enough the first one was scanned and uploaded in 2021 but was shot a few years earlier. So the winner is...

Naarden, expired color film developed as b&w, Pentax LX

2022
This year will see the start of a new project: 12 months - 12 cameras. Regular updates will appear here so stay tuned!