Avenon, Komura, Kobalux LTM Did I overpay? Komura 100mm/3.5 LTM

Avenon, Komura, Kobalux lenses
chris00nj said:
Spending $125 on the Komura 105/3.5 isn't overpaying. Here's why:

I needed a lightweight "telephoto" lens for traveling, so I picked up both the Canon 100/3.5 and the Komura 105/3.5 and compared them against a postwar Elmar 90/4. I'd figure I'd compare the lenses and keep my favorite.

I was surprised by the performance quality of the Komura. I find the performance to be almost indistinguishable from the Canon 100/3.5.

All three lenses gave very similar results at mid aperature (f/8) at infiniti. At a closer distance (about 20 feet) the Elmar noticeably underperformed (seemed to suffer from flare).

At wider apertures, the Komura may suffer from some dropoff in sharpness at the corners wide open, but I'd have to do more tests to know whether this was just depth of field issue.

The Elmar (200 g) and the Canon (182 g) are roughly the same size and weight. The Komura is noticeably larger (about 30%) but it isn't much heavier. I don't have a scale but I'd guess about 260 g, whereas the earlier Serenar 100/4 is 460g.

A postwar Elmar seems to go for about $90 and Canon 100/3.5 is about $170. Since the Komura is opitcally extremely close to the Canon and only larger, I think the price should be close to that of the Canon.

A do plan on adding a full review with photos to my new blog.
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Hi Chris,

Thanks for the useful information. I would add to what you said that the Komura is very well built. I am interested in seeing more of your findings.
 
dexdog said:
I used to own the 105/3.5 Kyoei Acall, and it was a decent lens. Sharp images and good with color, as noted by Sonnar2. Put it on eBay, and it sold for about $225.
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Hi Mark,

I may keep the lens after all. If I can get my money back one day, I will be happy.:D
 
I managed to land a 135mm f3.5 Komura last week. Complete kit, with viewfinder etc. It's in the mail. I will be posting shots in this thread to showcase the lens's performance.

I was looking forward to seeing shots from ferider's 80mm f1.8 but he has temporarily left RFF. Anyone able to fill the gap with 80mm shots?

It might be about time we start a Komura/Kyoei/Telesar/Accura thread on these lenses. Waddayousay, Raid?:rolleyes: I say it's your prerogative, since you pointed out the quality of these lenses to us all.:)
 
Hi Johan,
We already have a forum for LTM lenses, and the Komura lens usage seems to be rather limited based on the posted comments and threads.

Let us know how your 135mm lens turns out. It is difficult to mess up such a lens.
 
The 135mm f3.5 Kyoei Super-Acall came today.

It's a complete set: lens, steel hood which can be stored on the lens when reversed, finder and both cases for the lens and the finder separately. I'll post a shot of the set tomorrow.

I shot the lens today, using Fomapan 100 @ rated speed, Rodinal 1:100 stand development.

110609fomapan10035web.jpg

This is wide open and closest distance


110609fomapan10038web.jpg

Wide open @ f5.6 hand held


It's a great lens, all steel and chrome and very solid.
110609fomapan10035web.jpg
It has scales in feet and meters, overly precise: 100 ft equals 30.5 mtrs, 50 ft equals 15.2 mtrs, 30 ft equals 9.1 mtrs, etc. Funny: the lens has a close focus of 1.5 mtrs but the finder goes down to 0.9 mtrs for parallax correction.

IMHO this is a lens to recommend to anyone looking for an LTM 135mm lens.
 
Johan,

Both images look very good. The second one is very creative.
I will keep an eye open for this lens, but realistically, almost any 135mm is very sharp. Even the old Hektor 135mm/4.5 can give very beautiful images.
 
CLE-RF said:
Shot at Prachovské Skaly, Czech Republic, using Leica M5 and W.Komura 28mm f3.5 lens. Kodacolor 200ASA, f11.0 and 250th. Full size shot, raw scan, saved as JPEG:


The crop 100 % looks like this:

the sticks are kids jokes, they give the impression theses are needed to keep the rock upright. Actually, they might be necessary someday, since the whole base of this humonguous big rock measured no more than 3 by 6 meters.
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sorry to bump this thread. i have a question about this komura 28mm 3.5 lens that someone lend me..

anyway, nice images! this is from scanned print right?

ok here is my question. does your 28mm komura have this yellowish thing in the front element, looks like an oil? is this normal? would this affects images especially in colour film? another one.. i found out that the blades doesn't open throughly in full open when it is set to f3.5. although the click stops are right from f16 to f3.5. i find it weird since this is the first time i encountered such lens. my 35mm jupiter blades open up throughly when the lens is set to full opening (f2.8). is this normal as well? thank you guys! will test it and post images here soon.
 
Don't know about the yellow thing, but the aperture not fully opening is normal, just a design thing to keep the blades in place I guess.
 
CLE-RF said:
Don't know about the yellow thing, but the aperture not fully opening is normal, just a design thing to keep the blades in place I guess.
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ah thanks. will tryto make some picture of the lens.. i just tested it last weekend. will post some pictures as well from the test shots :)
 
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