ProfHankD
Veteran Member
Well, I've tried various C-mount lenses before, and even wrote an Instructable about using them (which was mostly negative), but I figured for $23 new (shipped) it would be worth trying this one.
It is actually quite different from the other C-mounts I've used. The problem with most is vignetting, but this one doesn't fade to black (for the record, it does vignette, but the corners are only 1-3 stops darker -- not bad at all for a C-mount). The primary defect is extreme curvature of the focus plane:
Yup, there is a ring of sharpness around a blurry center. That's way more curvature than I've seen with any other lens, although it is fairly flat within the 2/3" design target format.
The aperture is continuously variable. Wide open, it's a circle. Further down, it's a truly odd shape. Just before closing completely, it's a rectangle. That's all kind-of ok anyway, because the field curvature usually distorts the bokeh enough to hide any such mutated shapes....
Here are a couple of shots close to wide open, but stopped-down just enough to get the shutter speed in range. They have had levels adjusted....
Conclusions? Well, new for $23....
Definitely not a serious lens, but not without charm.
It is actually quite different from the other C-mounts I've used. The problem with most is vignetting, but this one doesn't fade to black (for the record, it does vignette, but the corners are only 1-3 stops darker -- not bad at all for a C-mount). The primary defect is extreme curvature of the focus plane:
Yup, there is a ring of sharpness around a blurry center. That's way more curvature than I've seen with any other lens, although it is fairly flat within the 2/3" design target format.
The aperture is continuously variable. Wide open, it's a circle. Further down, it's a truly odd shape. Just before closing completely, it's a rectangle. That's all kind-of ok anyway, because the field curvature usually distorts the bokeh enough to hide any such mutated shapes....
Here are a couple of shots close to wide open, but stopped-down just enough to get the shutter speed in range. They have had levels adjusted....
Conclusions? Well, new for $23....
Definitely not a serious lens, but not without charm.
