Five Frames With A T-Mount Photax 400mm 1:6.3 Preset, A Surprise Find, Take II

Vintage Lens Test - Five frames with the T-mount Photax 400mm 1:6.3 Preset telephoto lens, totally unexpected, Take II.

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The T-Mount Photax 400mm 1:6.3 Preset Telephoto Lens, sometimes just referred to simply as a 'long tube' lens, dates back to the 1960s, is a low-cost commonplace lens and can be found under a variety of brand names such as Astranar, Impakt, Photax, D&N, Prinz-Galaxy, Paragon, Sirius, Ensinor, Quantaray, Optomax, Kenlock, Praotor, Hanimex and more.

Olympus E-P5, Photax T-Mount 400mm F6.5

Typically these are 4 elements of front-end focus T-mount lenses with a two-ring preset aperture and a very convenient built-in tripod mount. The unit I tested weighs 741 grams minus the soft velvet pouch and the 340mm hard faux leather sheath it comes in. Images, shot here with the lens mounted on the 2x crop sensor Olympus E-P5, are at the equivalent focal length of an 800 mm lens on a full-frame camera. 

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Five Frames With A Panasonic Lumix DMC-S5, Kid's Play

Digital Moments - Images with a vintage Panasonic Lumix DMC-S5, a very low-priced ultra-compact digital camera with a 16.1 MP CCD sensor.

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If you are nostalgic about going back to the days of the vintage CCD sensor, with a very low budget to start with, take a look at the 2012 Panasonic Lumix DMC-S5 as your optimal choice. The S5 comes with a 16.1 MP CCD sensor, a 28-112mm equivalent 4x optical zoom lens, Mega Optical Image Stabilisation, Sonic Speed AF, and iA shooting mode that makes picture taking as easy as can be. The camera will adjust the automatic settings for Intelligent ISO Control, Face Detection AF/AE, Intelligent Scene Selector, and Intelligent Exposure. It's almost kid's play.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-S5

With a weight of only 115 grams with battery and a size that is just slightly bigger than a credit card, the 13mm thick Panasonic Lumix DMC-S5 is extremely light and small and easy enough to fit in your pocket. Controls, with a 2.7 inch TFT 230k dot LCD screen and buttons on that include a d-pad with a menu in the center, playback, delete, mode, and the zoom rocker is equally easy. The d-pad gives you access to exposure compensation, timer, display, and flash, as well as a mean to cycle through the menus.

I enjoyed my time running around with the camera and liked it very much, but ultimately, as I posted earlier, I found a fantastic new use for the S5, which is now a product-shot camera for my online side hustle. Fantastic!

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Five Frames With A G.Zuiko OM 35mm 1:2.8, First Impression

Vintage Lens Test - Putting the Olympus G.Zuiko 35mm 1:2.8 through its first impression test.

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My first tryout with the very compact and lightweight all-glass and metal wide-angle G.Zuiko OM 35mm 1:2.8 lens, as introduced by Olympus in 1972. As indicated by the ‘G’ designation which shows the optical design of these early version lenses, the lens is a 7-elements in 6-group construction. The optical design designation was dropped for later versions of the lenses. Newer versions of the lens are reported to have a longer body length and weigh significantly heavier.

Olympus E-P5, G.Zuiko OM 35mm F2.8

The lens, considered for its high sharpness, contrast, and color rendition, is also acknowledged with low distortion, vignetting, and handles flare well with the hood attached, is highly recommended, among others, for landscape and architectural photography. My test unit here, however, is not in the best of condition. It came with some dust and has a tinge of circular haze along the periphery of one of the inner elements.

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Five Frames With A Panasonic Lumix DMC-S5, A New Use

Digital Moments - Finding a new use for a vintage ultra-compact digital camera, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-S5, as a product shot camera.

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Found a new use for the ultra-compact Panasonic Lumix DMC-S5, an ultra-compact which I acquired recently. The camera, introduced in 2012, is just slightly bigger than a credit card in size, comes with a 16MP CCD sensor, a 28-112mm (35mm equivalent) Leica DC Vario 6 elements in 5 groups, with 3 aspherical elements lens, and weighs 112 grams with battery. As reflected in the images I am posting, I am testing it out here as a product-shot camera for my online side hustle.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-S5

While my first couple of tests with the camera for normal imagery was decent enough, with photos that are crisp and clear, and almost technically perfect, I do feel that there is still an aspect missing from the images which I have yet to put my fingers on. I instead turned to other things that I can put the camera to good use, and product shots seem to be an answer. The testing continues...

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