The big Rokkor try-out

[nikkortorokkor]

Having scored a new body (XE 7) and handful of 'new' lenses, it was time for a try out.

The chap who sold me the 135/3.8 wrote me that it was his favourite lens and admitted to having used it so much it has got quite sloppy. He swore that this didn't affect image quality, & I agree.

I'm no computer imaging genius, so I hope my crops give an idea of what is going on. I have straightened a couple of images, and darkened the one of my daughter (difficult lighting for any camera), other than that, no digital darkroom fiddling was perpetrated.

All photos were taken on the XE7 on AP. I didn't record aperture and speed (I'm lazy) but you'll see that a few are pretty wide open from the DOF.


My daughter eating a peach 135/2.8 Rokkor


No problem here


Dill heads in full bloom. 135/2.8 (I think!)


top right


top left


coffee break 50/1.4 PF Rokkor, pretty wide open, on a tripod.




Watching for business, Valentine's Day. 135,2.8




No BBQ today. 35/2.8 W Rokkor




Tomato in the rain. 135/2.8



IMOHO, all three lenses out reolved the Fuji 200 colour print film that I used. If I want/need sharper results than this, I need ISO 50 and/or MF. The Bokeh on the 135 and 50 is just wonderful.

I am more than happy with my shift to Rokkor glass.

[olroy2044]

Wow! Beautiful pics, Michael Roy

[PeterW]

Impessive try-out, Michael.

IMHO the centre resolution of even medium priced lenses has been in advance of film emulsion resolution for years. Why pay more for a top lens? Because they have more of the aberrations removed and the positioning of the elements is more precise so they deliver their definition at wider apertures, and right to the corners of the picture - as you've shown with the Rokkor.

PeterW

[nikkortorokkor]

Thanks Roy and Peter for the positive endorsement.

Peter, it is the edge to edge sharpness which impresses me with these Rokkor primes.

This may be just in my head, but lenses of this performance level do make me search for slower film. The performance so near to wide open give me the confidence play in that area and (I think) make the most of the SLR's benefits.

It was interesting to use AE in an SLR for the first time in seven years. I feel that in certain conditions the XE tends to overexpose. The tomato on the table for example. Grey day, dark grey subject, a lot of reflection. I'll probably use the exposure comp dial a bit more, the only drawback being there is no viewfinder info to remind me it's on. Doh!

[PeterW]

Has anyone noticed that the word Rokkor is a palindrome - ie it reads the same forwards and backwards, like radar, rotor, the girl's name Hannah etc.

I expect most of you have, of course.

Kodak almost makes it, but it would have to be Kodok, which is a town in the Sudan, or Kadak which doesn't sound right at all.

PeterW

[nikonbob]

If all palindromes performed like those Rokkor lenses the world would be a better place. Very nice performance and you have every right to be pleased.

Bob

[mickeyobe]

With a subject like that sweet little girl, any lens would behave exceptionally well.

Mickey

[nikkortorokkor]

Thank you Mickey. The camera loves her almost as much as we do. I'm gonna brag, she's also a top student and has artistic ability by the bucket load. I'm very proud.

So, Peter what do you call words that are not palindromes, but which are made up completely of simmetrical letters, and so can be reversed in the mirror to spell a new (often nonsense) word. eg., Maw - WAM (and vice versa); That - TATH; Totota - ATOYOT; Yamaha - AHAMAY and (from the camera world or Frankie Coppola epics) Vito - OTIV

[PeterW]

No idea, Michael. Intriguing. I've never come across them as a group of words. Any word made up from the letters A, H, I, M, O, T, U, V W, X and Y would qualify.

Completely OT word game for anyone who liks that sort of brain exercise: how many recognised words (by recognised I mean found in a standard English/American dictionary) of three or more letters can you think of made up from any of those eleven letters? Give yourself a time limit of 3 minutes. On the spur of the moment OMAHA and OHIO are two more that come to mind, but there must be dozens, if not hundreds, more.

PeterW

[jmi]

nikkortorokkor said:

Peter, it is the edge to edge sharpness which impresses me with these Rokkor primes.

This may be just in my head, but lenses of this performance level do make me search for slower film. The performance so near to wide open give me the confidence play in that area and (I think) make the most of the SLR's benefits.

It was interesting to use AE in an SLR for the first time in seven years. I feel that in certain conditions the XE tends to overexpose. The tomato on the table for example. Grey day, dark grey subject, a lot of reflection. I'll probably use the exposure comp dial a bit more, the only drawback being there is no viewfinder info to remind me it's on. Doh!

Wow, very impressive performance, especially the 135... and these are great shots of their own right!

I have heard good things about those old Rokkors, particularly the 50/1.4s which are said to be one of the best around.

I assume this was C41 film, in which case the brightness (or otherwise) of the images is probably more to do with the scanning than it is with overexposure, since most C41 films will take several stops before there are any problems. Provided you don't underexpose the information will be there on the neg.

I'm betting these lenses will really sing with 100 chromes behind them as you say - then you're in total control of what appears in the final result!

[Randy]

Late in the game here, I'd like to chime in and say those are the sharpest photos I've seen posted here on the Camera Collector. I'm not just saying that because I'm a Minolta collector either.

[alexkerhead]

Well Mr. Toohey,

Now you've got me wanting to run some film behind my rokkors. I guess I need to order some film.

[mickeyobe]

Michael,

My youngest son, Jeff, just last week reurned from a two week bicycle tour of New Zealand's south island.
He can't stop raving about your country and its people and its millions of delicious sheep.
He wants to go back.
I can't wait to see his pictures. Glaciers. Icebergs. Vineyards. Mountains. Lakes. Rivers. Kiwis. etc.

Mickey

[Deleted]

Peter: You make a good point on lens v. film development. Case on point being the Rokkors but there also has been recent discussion of the outstanding performance of the early Vivitar Series 1 lendses, the Kirons and others. Those lenses, designed in the late 1970s and 1980, can still hold their own today--in fact the newer emulsions take their performance to an even higher level.

I have to admit it has never even crossed my mind that Rokkor is a palindrome. In fact, I didn't even know what a palindrome was. Cameras aren't the only thing one can learn about on this forum

[nikkortorokkor]

jmi said:

I assume this was C41 film, in which case the brightness (or otherwise) of the images is probably more to do with the scanning than it is with overexposure, since most C41 films will take several stops before there are any problems. Provided you don't underexpose the information will be there on the neg.

I'm betting these lenses will really sing with 100 chromes behind them as you say - then you're in total control of what appears in the final result!

Thanks for making a very important point that I hadn't really thought about. The film was C41, processed in my local small-town lab and scanned directly to disk by them. There is much more info on the film, and even on the scans.

I used to be a big E6 fan, feeling that the personal control and saturated colours were more than compensation for the more demanding latitude. I have been seduced by the convenience of C41 and scan, but I do still hanker for my Ektachrome. There is a good E6-capable pro lab about 20 miles from where I live. I think the Rokkor quality will send me there.

For those who are as impressed by the edge to edge sharpness as I was, I now understand just hw cruel this 1 April, 2006 wheeze really is.

www.rokkorfiles.com/digital.htm

Oh, if only.

Mickey, I'm very pleased that Jeff enjoyed the trip. I'm an old cycle tourist and have ridden many miles around the South Island. It's great for cycle touring -and photography- because the scenery keeps changing. The changeable weather can be a bit of a problem though.