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I made a bad camera lens from some old glasses [video]

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Re: I made a bad camera lens from some old glasses [video]

#21

Post by hef19898 »

dist-epoch wrote: post #19
hef19898 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thing is so, good vintage lenses, and I mean lenses from the 70s, are actually incredibly sharp, and perform great optically. To this very day, if you get a good sample. Improvements are mainly in terms of coating (reflections, ghosts and such) as well as zoom ranges and auto focus systems. That vintage lenses are not sharp is simply not true, having a lot less of glass in a lense is actually an advantage. If you tal…

I'm not convinced. I have a very acclaimed old design 50/1.5 lens (but was bought new), but it just sucks compared with a modern much cheaper 50-70/3.5. The colors in particular, they are just bad. I'm not sure what test would pick that, a color accuracy kind of test. Modern coatings truly do wonders.

Depends on the lenses, of course. There are still enough crappy new lenses on the market so.

Color rendition is also impacted by the sensor, assuming digital cameras.

Since I don't know which lenses you talk about, hard to tell. I do have some really old ones, 80-200 f 4.5 from the late 70s and an equally old 300 f4.5. Both render color just fine, no difference between those and new Nikkor lenses. Sharpness wise, those old ones are easily as sharp as any new one, lab test confirm that. And the limited amount of glass gives them, a totally subjective, clarity new lenses don't have. Bot that I would d be able to tell just from looking at a printed or processed picture.

Re: I made a bad camera lens from some old glasses [video]

#22

Post by nickcw »

From the YouTube video description :-)

...

With mere hours of experience in the art and science of optical design, the team at SUPERCHROMAT remain novices in the field. As such, this prime lens, with 6 elements over 4 groups, provides inferior optical performance at a price affordable to few.

Regardless of whether it’s a matter of selective focus in the close-up range, high-contrast available light applications or landscape shots with immense depth of field, this lens fails to deliver persuasive arguments in nearly all situations unless stopped down to f/22.

2X 200mm biconvex lenses BK7. Uncoated.

-700 / 075 X 3 used eyeglass lens 1.67 / Vd 42. Fingerprint coated

+30mm aspheric achromatic triplet LAK14/SF57/Aspheric polymer. VIS 0º coated

Re: I made a bad camera lens from some old glasses [video]

#23

Post by llm_trw »

i2pi wrote: post #2

I was challenged to make a lens for a friend without buying any new optical elements. I have a pile of glass that I've salvaged from old camera lenses that I've modified. I wanted to make a cooke triplet but didn't have any negative elements on hand where I precisely knew their characteristics. I then realized that my eye glasses are relatively well characterized negative lenses, so I had an optometrist cut them into…

I swear the only thing that the Bolte Bridge attracts more of than seagulls is photographers.

Also the desktop I have now for ML work is powerful enough to do a full 3d simulation of a lens using the full Maxwell equations from first principles. I remember doing the back of the envelope calculations that I'd need the Bluegene/L back in my undergrad days to do it for real, well: https://bnnbreaking.com/arts/video-gaming/nvidia-geforce-rtx...

What a time to be alive.

Re: I made a bad camera lens from some old glasses [video]

#25

Post by jetrink »

hef19898 wrote: post #21
dist-epoch wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not convinced. I have a very acclaimed old design 50/1.5 lens (but was bought new), but it just sucks compared with a modern much cheaper 50-70/3.5. The colors in particular, they are just bad. I'm not sure what test would pick that, a color accuracy kind of test. Modern coatings truly do wonders.

Depends on the lenses, of course. There are still enough crappy new lenses on the market so. Color rendition is also impacted by the sensor, assuming digital cameras. Since I don't know which lenses you talk about, hard to tell. I do have some really old ones, 80-200 f 4.5 from the late 70s and an equally old 300 f4.5. Both render color just fine, no difference between those and new Nikkor lenses. Sharpness wise, tho…

> Color rendition is also impacted by the sensor, assuming digital cameras.

Particularly since the old lens was designed for film, perhaps even black and white film. The choice of film has a much larger impact on color rendition than the lens would have. Also, unlike sharpness, color rendition is highly subjective and easily corrected. If you're shooting to JPG and you don't like how the camera is interpreting the colors from a lens, most cameras allow you to customize the white balance.

Re: I made a bad camera lens from some old glasses [video]

#26

Post by blagie »

hef19898 wrote: post #8
ddalex wrote: post #5

"...If you're a fan of vintage photography, with all its charming imperfections, the SUPERCHROMAT lens might be your jam. Embrace the softness, the chromatic aberration, the unpredictable vignetting. This lens isn't about precision; it's about character. And at a price only the absurdly wealthy could afford, it'll definitely make a statement. " The so bad it's actually good :) Lovely song, too

Thing is so, good vintage lenses, and I mean lenses from the 70s, are actually incredibly sharp, and perform great optically. To this very day, if you get a good sample. Improvements are mainly in terms of coating (reflections, ghosts and such) as well as zoom ranges and auto focus systems. That vintage lenses are not sharp is simply not true, having a lot less of glass in a lense is actually an advantage. If you tal…

Sort of.

My universe broke when Sigma introduced an 18-35mm f/1.8 zoom. An f/1.8 zoom. Wow. And it was optically brilliant.

Seventies lenses are super-sharp, but that's because they're mostly slow primes. Any modern prime stepped down to f/5.6 -- even cheap consumerific ones -- will be super-sharp.

There's nothing in seventies technology which allows lenses to have the aperture, zoom range, and aberrations of modern ones.

Re: I made a bad camera lens from some old glasses [video]

#27

Post by hef19898 »

blagie wrote: post #26
hef19898 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thing is so, good vintage lenses, and I mean lenses from the 70s, are actually incredibly sharp, and perform great optically. To this very day, if you get a good sample. Improvements are mainly in terms of coating (reflections, ghosts and such) as well as zoom ranges and auto focus systems. That vintage lenses are not sharp is simply not true, having a lot less of glass in a lense is actually an advantage. If you tal…

Sort of. My universe broke when Sigma introduced an 18-35mm f/1.8 zoom. An f/1.8 zoom. Wow. And it was optically brilliant. Seventies lenses are super-sharp, but that's because they're mostly slow primes. Any modern prime stepped down to f/5.6 -- even cheap consumerific ones -- will be super-sharp. There's nothing in seventies technology which allows lenses to have the aperture, zoom range, and aberrations of modern…

Appertures, well, those f2.8 Nikkor telephotos from that period still demand high prices for a reason. And f4.5 isn't that slow, even compared to modern zooms. Or those old 50/1.4 (agreed, the 1.8 versions seem to be tad better) and other 1.8 primes. Still great glass. Or those unaffordable NOCT lenses... Not sure what I would need one for so.

What those old lenses have so, is build quality. They are machnical master pieces, as oppossed to modern day plastics. I like that. Also, close to no electronics that can fail.

Those wide zoom ranges, and large appertures, do have other downsides so. Everything is a trade off, and some things are sacrificed to achieve a 18-35/1.8 lense. Still impressive. Or the latest Canon (?) patent on a tilt-shift-macro-zoom...

Re: I made a bad camera lens from some old glasses [video]

#28

Post by mauvehaus »

dukeofdoom wrote: post #9

Don't forget to make it radioactive!

This is a thing in vintage lenses:

https://camerapedia.fandom.com/wiki/Radioactive_lenses

I own a Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 50mm f/1.4 and can confirm that the glass browns with age. UV exposure (sunlight) does clear it some.

Re: I made a bad camera lens from some old glasses [video]

#29

Post by __s »

ddalex wrote: post #5

"...If you're a fan of vintage photography, with all its charming imperfections, the SUPERCHROMAT lens might be your jam. Embrace the softness, the chromatic aberration, the unpredictable vignetting. This lens isn't about precision; it's about character. And at a price only the absurdly wealthy could afford, it'll definitely make a statement. " The so bad it's actually good :) Lovely song, too

Song is Hello Hammerheads by Caribou: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N_VvfPX1Bc
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