Shneider Kreuznach Componon 150

[Andy]

After playing with 3 and 5 dioptre filter lens at the front of the zoom lens I bought a Comparon 50mm against most advice proffered mainly by those who advocate spending a lot of money. This four element lens of 1907 Tessar design is described by the Wiki page as being of very good quality. Luckily this beautiful tiny lens fitted inside a tubular 39mm lens hood I had just purchased. I was very happy with the results and snapped up an identical 75mm version for about £20, again I was very pleased and this lens had a greater working distance. By experiment and to confirm for myself the aperture of these lenses does not affect the DOF. Guess it is just a dioptre? They are a fraction of the size of those large corrected dioptres widely advocated and a fraction of the cost. Which is better technically I do not know and I am not about to shell out the total cost of four lenses and more to find out as the community will know the answer to that?
You may then understand that when a 150mm Componon version was offered on eBay I said that for £20 it would be mine. I was shocked by the size of this monster and have found that if used on its own it needs to be about 8 - 10 inches or 250mm from the 1” sensor. I thought it would be about the same size as the 50 & 75 Comparon lenses - Ah well - we live and learn. See photos.




I appreciate that it will be difficult to use hand held; my usual MO, but does anyone have any ideas how to best use this lens other than an ornament? Could it be paired with another lens to reduce the back focal plane distance to the sensor? I have some SLR lenses 28, 35, 50 and 135mm along with the 9mm(24) original pancake lens plus the zoom of course. Could the lens be set vertically on a stand at a fixed distance to subject as the NX-mini has a screen that can rotate up to 180 degrees for ease of viewing? I can operate the camera remotely via my phone which may help?
Would this lens be of more use to owners of DSLR cameras? Any thoughts?
kind regards -

[RobertOToole]

Hi Andy

You might want to try these lenses reversed on the front of one of the system lenses.

Also you would get very good results using the flash but you will need to use a diffuser to improve the quality of the light and to prevent the front of the lens from blocking the un-diffused light.

Too bad you are not closer to my location, I have something like 25-30 different diopter, enlarger, misc lenses that you could try.

Interesting camera BTW. 2.4 µm pixel pitch

Best,

Robert

[Andy]

Thanks Robert,
I have just tried it both ways in front of zoom with camera on its back. Magnification only about 1:4. When I tell you the weight comparison of the zoom verses this particular SK150 you will understand why I am more than a little reticent to hang it off the stock zoom. Prepare for a shock: Samsung NX-M 9-27mm (24-70) ED OIS weighs in at just 70g or 2.5oz, yes you read that correctly. (move to micro4/3 and expect 305g 0.6 lbs) The SK150 is 290g or over 10oz.
By the way, when I reverse the zoom I can get about 1:1 to 4:1 at same extension from the sensor, useful, but cannot hand hold or with use of monopod. But might try to get a C mount to M39 x 0.5 male-male made to have a play. Then there is the reversed pancake, 6 elements in 5 groups with 1 Aspherical element, 1 Extra-low Dispersion glass element, and 1 Xtreme High Refractive glass element to minimise aberrations, all this within only half an inch long weighing 30g or 1oz. I still find it incredible.
Would dearly love to play with your toys but a tad too far to paddle unless I convert the pedelec. (Maggie and I love blue eyes on your web page - cracking picture - and tongue in ear!)
Bought NX-mini camera in panic as camera shop said it might be impossible to remove dust particle which had become evident in all zoomed photos with my trusty old compact WB2000 which is now unobtainable second hand. I believe the NX-mini sensor is the same as used by an expensive, larger, heavy Japanese camera which generates a lot of noise if it uses the same engine as the 90V model. Never seen so much noise - thought it had been added post process. As I understand it less pixels at greater pitch can give better quality and colour rendition than the winner of the sales megapixel contest. Is the 2.4 µm pixel pitch you quote considered good or bad?
Thank you so much for your time and helpful assistance.

[RobertOToole]

As I understand it less pixels at greater pitch can give better quality and colour rendition than the winner of the sales megapixel contest. Is the 2.4 µm pixel pitch you quote considered good or bad?
Thank you so much for your time and helpful assistance.

Generally speaking larger pixel sensors give you cleaner results at high ISO levels but technology is getting better and better so that is not as important as it used to be.

Smaller pixel sensors perform best with faster / higher quality lenses than can take advantage of the higher sharpness and resolution they are capable of.

All the best,

Robert