Frantisek Vlcek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Paul, would you please care to comment or compare the Mir 2.5/20 with CZJ 2.8/20 ? I own the CZJ and am really curious how the Mir compares to it.
Paul replies: Frantisek, I've probably bored readers with my series of postings about these two lenses and other 20s; search back a week or two and you'll find my comments. Basically, the Mir has less contrast but is an honest 20--maybe a 19 (my sample, anyway). Both are commendably low in distortion, the CZJ more so. I think my CZJ is really 21 or 22 mm, judging from how little its angle of view is broader than that of my SMC 24/2.8. I have sent both lenses to Shel, who should receive them any day. He has promised to give them a rigorous comparison and report his findings more scientifically than I could. I trust he will compare them with whatever Pentax wides he owns. I own no other rectilinear lens wider than 24mm. Would anyone care to send Shel a Mir 20/3.5 in M42 to test with my 20s? FV wrote: But which 20mm is really good for available light? Perhaps the 20/2 Zuiko or the 20/1.4 prototype Pentax... Paul replies: The Sigma 20/1.8 has been getting raves. With an 82mm front filter, it may excel at all apertures. FV wrote: AFAIK, all 2.8/20 Flektogons were produced after multicoating was adopted by CZJ/PENTACON. So all of them, except perhaps some prototypes, are MC/MULTICOATED (and state it with proud letters on the barrel, either white or red MC or MULTICOATED in capitals). Paul replies: I may have inferred wrongly that early CZJ 20/2.8s were not multicoated, based on the following posting on, I believe, a Contax user site: "In a message dated 11/2/98 4:59:42 AM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: "The best-known screw mount lenses (that is: M 42 x 1) came from the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The brand names were Pentacon, Prakticar, Meyer, and - of course - Carl Zeiss Jena. Especially CZJ built some outstanding lenses - just remember the Tessar 2,8/50, the 1,8/80, and the Flektogon 2,8/20. I own the Flektogon in its final multi coating version from 1979 and a Prakticar 5,6/500 MC from 1988, both in mint condition." I have reviewed jpegs from five or six 20/2.8s in all three mounts, and all, indeed, say MC. Paul Franklin Stregevsky 13 Selby Court Poolesville, Maryland 20837-2410 [EMAIL PROTECTED] H (301) 349-5243 - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
