Anybody know anything about this lens?

[LCARSx32]

It's a Suntar Auto 135mm f/2.8 M42 mount. I just bought it, so I hope it's good. The only example images I could find where these. The pictures look nice and sharp and have good color, so I'm hopeful.

I want to start getting into portraits and I've read repeatedly that 135mm f/2.8 lenses made very good portrait lenses. Does anyone have one of these? If you do, what do you think of it? Can you post some shots taken with it? I would have asked before purchasing, but I found it right before it ended. I didn't have much time to think, lol.

 

[Derrel]

135/2.8 lenses are pretty easy to make, as are slightly slower f/3.5 models. It's pretty likely that it's quite a decent lens at f/4, and still usable at f/2.8 as well. At f/5.6 it;'s probably with 10-15% as good as any "standard" 135/2.8 from Canon or Nikon or Minolta that has been made over the last 30 years...meaning minimal Chromatic Aberration, probably very little focus shift, and probably decent contrast and quite good resolving power...even though it is an OEM'd model ,it was probably made in Japan by some half-decent company...

 

[LCARSx32]

Thanks for the info Darrel. I'll take some test shots when it arrives. Is there a site dedicated to lens reviews? Something where users can post reviews of their gear? If not, I'm going to make one. A quick google search turned up some sites that review new lenses, but not these old obscure ones. And users can't make their own reviews. I might have to add this project to my already-too-full list of projects, lol.

 

[enzodm]

There are a couple of forums on manual focus lenses. By the way, 135 have been made by just some manufacturer under literally tenths of different names (here for a selection: How many different "brand" names.... (Page 1) - Manual Lens: Usage - Manual Focus Forum ). I own a Beroflex (since few days) that could be similar and waiting a Vivitar that should have been made by Tokina.
It is difficult to tell who really made one specific lens, unless you are able to visually compare with others already identified.
Anyway, not bad, in particular when coming from basic zooms. Lot of light, possibility to play with bokeh. If you are lucky, 15 blades instead of 5 or 6...

 

[LCARSx32]

It seems that a lot of the older m42 mount lenses were sold under multiple brand names, not just the 135mm f/2.8's. It's kind of like Android tablets today.

It appears to have 8 blades. At least that's what it looks like in the pictures :er: