Cosmicar Television Lens 25 mm 1:1.4 [C-mount]

25 mm is a standard focal length for micro four thirds cameras (eq. of 50 mm for Full Frame aka type 135). Luckily, there are many lenses with C-mount that would work perfectly. So far I mentioned only Fujian 25/1.4, that was a cheap tool available. Recently I've found a bargain Cosmicar Television Lens 25/1.4 with slightly distorted filter ring and oily aperture, but with perfect glass condition.

 Cosmicar Television Lens 25/1.4

Carl Zeiss Jena DDR Tevidon 16 mm 1:1.8 [C-mount]

Tevidon 10/2 was a great pick! Later I've found Carl Zeiss Jena DDR Tevidon 16/1.8. A bit narrower lens from magnificent Tevidon family. This time it's so called "zebra" housing, because of polished stripes on focusing and aperture rings.

Carl Zeiss Jena DDR Tevidon 16/1.8 with Yeenon Tevidon-C adapter (on the right).

Cosmicar Television Lens 12.5 mm 1:1.9 [C-mount]

After testing Tevidon 10/2 I got my hands on Cosmicar 12.5/1.9. It's a bit narrower lens, produced in Japan with C-mount. It's easily adaptable for Micro Four Thirds. All you need is a simple C-MFT adapter, no need for additional dedicated mounts as for Tevidon.

Cosmicar 12.5/1.9 on Lumix G2 (M4/3 camera).

Carl Zeiss Jena DDR Tevidon 10 mm 1:2.0 [C-mount]

It's been a while since I've been updating here. I've been working on my art [feel free to check it here], travelling and doing many boring things. However it was also time to get new lenses and test them. I've managed to get some nice C-mounts: Tevidon 10/2 (below), Cosmicar 12.5/1.9, Tevidon 16/1.8 and Cosmicar 25/1.4.

Let's begin with Tevidon 10/2 I bought as bargain and loved since the moment I attached it to the camera...

 

Tevidon 10/2 with M4/3 adapter.

Canon TV Zoom Lens V6x17 17-102 mm 1:2.0 [C-mount]

Canon TV Zoom Lens V6x17 17-102/2.0 was the first C-mount zoom I've ever got. First of all, it was smaller than I suspected. It makes the lens perfect for multi-purpose use. It's 16x zoom with very fast aperture of 2.0.

Secondary, I've read somewhere that it's supposed to be parfocal, that is - focused on the narrower length (102 mm) will stay in focus throughout the whole zoom range. It was really pity, that mine wasn't. What's more - it didn't focus at 17-20 mm at all! Luckily - there was a simple trick and now everything's superb!

All in all, it became my favourite lens for shooting squares and filming.

Canon V6x17 17-102/2.0 mounted on Lumix G2 Micro Four Thirds camera.

Meopta Openar 80/2.8 [C-mount]

Meopta Openar 80 mm 1:2.8 came to me with another Openar 20/1.8 lens as a set with Meopta Admira 16 A1 Electric film camera. Unfortunately it's condition wasn't best. I don't mind slight scratches on the case (well, it's a 50 year old lens!), but front lens is really bad looking. A lot of soft scratches and as I suppose, when someone tried to clean it, they removed it with coating. As a result front coating layer was removed...

You know that feeling when you expect best and all you can get is not barely good. That's how I felt when I held Openar 80/2.8 for the first time. I was very disappointed about the front lens condition. However, I decided not to look for good photographs, but to push the lens hard. I've photographed directed into the sun, in various conditions.
Skimming through photos on my computer wasn't the best feeling at all. All of them were lacking colour and contrast. That's why today you won't see a lot of colourful pictures. But in the end lens is mesmerising!

 Meopta Openar 80 mm 1:2.8 - without (left) and with (right) original lens hood.

Meopta Openar 20 mm 1:1.8 [C-mount]

I've introduced you to a Meopta Openar 40 mm 1:1.8 already. It is a really good lens with nice sharpness, contrast and colour rendering. It covers full M4/3 sensor, so you don't have to worry about heavy vignetting.

Here comes the sibling: Meopta Openar 20 mm 1:1.8. It's a c-mount lens I got with Meopta Admira 16 A1 Electric film camera, which was (according to Wikipedia) manufactured in '60s. It makes it ca. 50 years old lens! Unfortunately the camera itself wasn't in it's best and I plan to revitalize it.

Lens is a bit shorter than Openar 40/1.8 and about the same in diameter. Glass elements inside are mounted deeply, which gives lens a built-in hood. That's a very good solution according to what you're about to see.

A set of Meopta c-mount lenses:

Meopta Openar 20/1.8

Meopta Openar 40/1.8

Meopta Openar 80/2.8

TV lens 50 mm 1:1.4 aka Fujian [C-mount]

As you could've found out from previous posts, Fujian C-mount lenses are known for their unusual quality and effects. Fujian 35/1.7 is a great portrait lens with swirly bokeh. Fujian 25/1.4 becomes a very nice "standard" lens with same effects and extra vignetting. Being led by that trail I decided to buy Fujian 50/1.4, just for it's unique effects. Well... did I nailed it? Um...

TV lens 50 mm 1:1.4 aka Fujian (C-mount)

TV lens 25 mm 1:1.4 aka Fujian [C-mount]

The tiniest child of Fujian family: 25 mm F1.4

It's a wonderful tiny lens with swirly bokeh and vintage vignetting on M4/3 sensor. A great thin focal plane (well... we'll explain how "plane" works in this case) and "standard" angle. Great for portraits and as it turns out, a good choice for wedding outdoors!

 TV lens 25/1.4 aka Fujian

Meopta Openar 40 mm 1:1.8 [C-mount]

I recently got an interesting C-mount Czech lens for Meopta Admira 16 A1/A2 electric 16 mm movie camera. Here you can take a look at more pictures of that camera and lenses: [link]

First of all and the most important fact: it covers Micro Four Thirds sensor. There is some vignetting, but I suppose it comes from lens itself rather than from size of the sensor. Image quality doesn't decrease significantly closer to edges. It's a very sharp lens. Although Meopta Admira was an amateur model, its quality was very high

Meopta Openar 40 mm @1.8

Fujian TV lens GDS-35 35 mm 1:1.7 [C-mount]

Here's one of the most common and cheapest ones... I introduce you Fujian TV lens 35 mm 1.7 with c-mount thread. You probably have heard of it, because internet is full of all kind of tests and descriptions of this particular construction. What's so amazing about it?

1. PRICE! It's about $25 lens on eBay.
2. SIZE! It's so small that you can take it in your pocket next to your smartphone. Really nice!
3. QUALITY! Or lack of quality or... whatever. It's unique! Swirly bokeh, paper thin focus plane. It's impossible to describe it. You just have to see it.
4. SPEED! 1.7 - nice :)

Panasonic Lumix G2 with Fujian TV lens 35 mm 1.7 (c-mount > M4/3 adapter)