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Sun 24mm f2.5 M42
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 1:21 pm    Post subject: Sun 24mm f2.5 M42 Reply with quote

Caught my fancy on ebay this week, the only problem is it's an auto-aperture so I will need to modify it to manual. So unfortunately all shots are wide open at f2.8 until it's modified. Any way I find this quiet an interesting lens which once modified will probably be a keeper. All shots are PP free so judge for yoursleves and let me know. Also I be interested to know if this is the same as the Soligor 24mm f2.5 mentioned elsewhere in this section.







PostPosted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 1:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

No need to convert it, just get an adapter with a flange to press the pin.

Looks soft at 2.8, Sun lenses are generally pretty poor, hope it improves stopped down.


PostPosted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 5:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
No need to convert it, just get an adapter with a flange to press the pin.


I don't think that's possible with Pentax. You would only lose infinity focus.


PostPosted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 7:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's an M42 mount lens - as Ian says a mount with a flange is all you need.


PostPosted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 7:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DigiChromeEd wrote:
It's an M42 mount lens - as Ian says a mount with a flange is all you need.


Could you link to the right type of Pentax adapter on ebay then. Thanks!


PostPosted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 8:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you want to use it on a Pentax, and get infinity, a flanged adapter is NOT the right one.

I get my adapters from SRB Griturn, not the cheapest but excellent quality and delivered in days rather than Hong Kong weeks.

http://www.srb-griturn.com/m42-lenses-on-pentax-k-206-p.asp

You need one like this to get infinity, then you need to hold the pin down. on some lenses it's easy to take the back off the lens and put a short bit of cotton bud shaft over the pin to hold it down, other people wind a bit of soft wire around the pin in a coil, there's many ways.
If you're lucky there's a thin trim plate / baffle on the back of some lenses ( Super Paragon ) and you can rotate it one hole so the plate clamps it down.
On my Fujinon 55 the back of the lens seemed impossible to remove and there was no plate to rotate, so I resorted to glue. A lot of people use super glue, I use a hot glue gun. Super glue is permanent ( just about ) and makes it very difficult to return the lens to its original condition, hot glue will hold the pin down and will be removable if you want to. I've used it with good results. Use a very thin needle to hold the pin down, drop some hot glue on the pin where it goes into the lens, wait for it to cool / harden and remove the needle.


PostPosted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 9:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I did some research. Apparently there is an adapter with an inner flange made by Kipon. It doesn't affect infinity focus. Flange will touch some inner parts of the lens mount but should not damage the camera. That adapter is quite rare and expensive, so more practical solution is probably modify the lens. Most auto aperture M42-lenses that don't have A/M switch are quite cheap and poor quality anyway, right?


PostPosted: Sat Jun 09, 2012 10:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Most auto aperture M42-lenses that don't have A/M switch are quite cheap and poor quality anyway, right?


Don't know if this is true: I have some good m42's that don't have th a/m switch (and some awful ones that have it).
On the other hand I must say that all my m42 without a switch were modified in 10 minutes each in a completely reversible non destructive process: so trying to fix them may be much more conveniient than buying a flanged adapter, that surely won't work with all lenses.


PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 4:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Riku wrote:
Most auto aperture M42-lenses that don't have A/M switch are quite cheap and poor quality anyway, right?

Domiplan you are thinking of?
Not a really universal rule I think.

Aanything wrote:
Don't know if this is true: I have some good m42's that don't have th a/m switch (and some awful ones that have it).

Voigtländer Ultron 50mm 1.8, Fujinon lenses, Tokina 28mm 2.8, some Helios 58mm models, Yashica lenses, ....


PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 6:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lloydy wrote:
If you want to use it on a Pentax, and get infinity, a flanged adapter is NOT the right one.

I get my adapters from SRB Griturn, not the cheapest but excellent quality and delivered in days rather than Hong Kong weeks.

http://www.srb-griturn.com/m42-lenses-on-pentax-k-206-p.asp

You need one like this to get infinity, then you need to hold the pin down. on some lenses it's easy to take the back off the lens and put a short bit of cotton bud shaft over the pin to hold it down, other people wind a bit of soft wire around the pin in a coil, there's many ways.
If you're lucky there's a thin trim plate / baffle on the back of some lenses ( Super Paragon ) and you can rotate it one hole so the plate clamps it down.
On my Fujinon 55 the back of the lens seemed impossible to remove and there was no plate to rotate, so I resorted to glue. A lot of people use super glue, I use a hot glue gun. Super glue is permanent ( just about ) and makes it very difficult to return the lens to its original condition, hot glue will hold the pin down and will be removable if you want to. I've used it with good results. Use a very thin needle to hold the pin down, drop some hot glue on the pin where it goes into the lens, wait for it to cool / harden and remove the needle.


Thanks for the info Llody much appreciated, I'll have a look today and decide which is easiest, I didn't pay a lot for the lens so if it won't come apart I'll glue the pin in place which was my initial thoughts.


PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 6:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd like too see more shots, when you can stop it down. This lens was made in 1980. They also made this lens for Soligor.
Click here to see on Ebay

Pretty cool. I haven't found a copy yet to put in my Sun collection.


PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 11:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Last week I got my copy of this lens, and I have to say, I really satisfied. I haven't got a 24mm lens before (but 50mm, 55mm, 135mm lenses) so I haven't any idea about what I should expect. Especially since the internet is quite quit about this piece of glass, and it's hard to find more than a few images shot with it.
So when I put it to my 1100D and look into the viewfinder, I was so "woooo, man! what a viewfield!". On a crop sensor it serves nearly a 35mm lens (it's about 38mm), so it is a nice companion.
The lens itself has a pretty nice image, and the disadvantages are become advantages in my eyes. In f/2.5, wide open, it has a slight CA, and a little bit soft. (My Pentacon 50/1.8 is more softer in wide open, compared with that, it is still awesome.) When I stop it down, for example to f/5.6 it becomes "disgustingly sharp", what means an unbelievably sharpness on the focal point. The lens flares easily; outside in sunny days the lens hood are necessary. There is also a slight, barely visible vignetting, which is, in my opinion, a lovely effect. The bokeh of the lens a bit busy, but still could make nice blurs. I find it able to produce cat-eye-bokeh in some situations. The color rendition is really good, as I was able to test the lenses, it can bring alive nearly every color. Sometimes -especially in poor light contitions- really hard to focus with is. The chip adapter can't help a lot, it's not trustworthy, since usually it generates back or front focusing with it.
In my eyes the CA, the flaring and the vignetting aren't ruins the images, the SUN can produce nice images with them too. Stopped it down to f/4, it's perfect. For me, at least.

And now here comes some image, all of them are PP-d. Usually this means some EV-compensation in my RAW-editing software (UFRaw), and slight contrast/color makeup in the image editor (GIMP). Note: all of these images are wide-open.

My mom gives to the dog an interesting stuff to play with.. a bit creepy, I know.



These are basically close-ups:



I went a concert with this lens (and with my Pentacon 50/1.8; I swapped them time-to-time), to test it's capabilities. Actually it was a great help for me, since I was in the first row, next to the stage. Unfortunately there was a really poor lighting, what makes the focusing nearly impossible, and I had to use slow shutter and high ISO. Apparently the 1100D is not the best low-lighter with this lens. (Pentacon was better in this.)





I hope that little stuff was useful, and enjoyable. Smile

(And: sorry for my english! Smile )


PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 4:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The second photo (last serie) is cool! Very Happy


PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 9:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cool images, cool post-production. I know the lens well. It is useful wide-open and built like tank.


PostPosted: Fri Mar 21, 2014 11:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Pierre! Smile)

Pancolart: thank you too. Smile Yes, the lens are really useful, but using it requires a massive practicing. And sure, it's like a tank; metal and glass as it japanese finest production. Smile)


Last edited by peter89x on Fri Mar 21, 2014 11:19 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2021 9:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looking for some other lenses up in the attic, I found a Nikon Ai mount version of this lens. I had gotten it from the waste bin of a local photo dealer, but never bothered to actually test or even use it. The lens is completely made of metal, and beautifully machined, and it looks like new. It's optical performance, however, is by far the worst of any 24mm lens I know. Either my sample is a real dud, or (if that's the real performance of the "Sun Wide-Auto F:2.5 f=24mm") it explains why Sun lenses had a very bad reputation around 1985 ...

S


PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2021 10:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

stevemark wrote:
Looking for some other lenses up in the attic, I found a Nikon Ai mount version of this lens. I had gotten it from the waste bin of a local photo dealer, but never bothered to actually test or even use it. The lens is completely made of metal, and beautifully machined, and it looks like new. It's optical performance, however, is by far the worst of any 24mm lens I know. Either my sample is a real dud, or (if that's the real performance of the "Sun Wide-Auto F:2.5 f=24mm") it explains why Sun lenses had a very bad reputation around 1985 ...

S


This particular Sun seems a relatively newer model. Old Suns were at least decent.


PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2021 11:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

stevemark wrote:
Looking for some other lenses up in the attic, I found a Nikon Ai mount version of this lens. I had gotten it from the waste bin of a local photo dealer, but never bothered to actually test or even use it. The lens is completely made of metal, and beautifully machined, and it looks like new. It's optical performance, however, is by far the worst of any 24mm lens I know. Either my sample is a real dud, or (if that's the real performance of the "Sun Wide-Auto F:2.5 f=24mm") it explains why Sun lenses had a very bad reputation around 1985 ...

S


I have one badged as Quantaray. Looking back through my test pics, it was middle of the pack, maybe a little better than average for a third party lens of its' era. Of course, very few 24mm lenses from the 60s to the early 80s were any good at all, so it needs to be offset against that aspect of things.

I have numerous old 24mm lenses, mostly third party. Of the ones I tried, only the Minolta 24, Miranda 25, Tokina 17, and possibly the later Vivitar/Tokina 24 are what I would consider worth keeping.


PostPosted: Wed Jan 20, 2021 11:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The lens looks more like one made by Tomioka than Sun and seventies. Not eighties. They didn't use so much glass in the eighties anymore.


PostPosted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 12:44 pm    Post subject: Re: Sun 24mm f2.5 M42 Reply with quote

[quote="noddywithoutbigears"]Caught my fancy on ebay this week, the only problem is it's an auto-aperture so I will need to modify it to manual. So unfortunately all shots are wide open at f2.8 until it's modified. Any way I find this quiet an interesting lens which once modified will probably be a keeper. All shots are PP free so judge for yoursleves and let me know. Also I be interested to know if this is the same as the Soligor 24mm f2.5 mentioned elsewhere in this section.




The sun 2.5/24 was also sold as soligor : usual reviews said that the lens was corrected for central part of the image (excellent) only (= very poor at angles)
BUT this is not the usual modern sun lenses look which is brillant.. It looks more as a cimko made lens (diamong shaped lens stop indication) !!


PostPosted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 2:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It seems to be related to this Soligor also made by Sun (https://www.apotelyt.com/camera-kit/soligor-catalog) http://m42lens.com/m42-lens-database/1358-soligor-wide-auto-mc-24mm-f-2-5-16