Very old lenses

Hi, I like to experiment with very early lenses. Modified to fit my K5.
Of course they aren't Pentax lenses, because Pentax in most cases did not exist then.
The lenses I can use, have a minimum focal length of 90mm, because they where not made for SLR's.

The lens i want to demonstrate is a Federal Anastigmat "Fedar" f6.3 3.5"
(90mm) non coated enlarging lens. I believe made about 1950 in the USA.

It cost me $AU15.- on Ebay.

The pictures show , how it is assembled to fit on to my Camera.

From the front to the back:

1. The lens head, mounted on to a 42mm lens cap.
2. A small M42 extension tube.
3. A variable extension ring. Also M42
4. a M42 to K mount adapter. Not the Pentax type, but the one with a flange. This mounts with the locking pin.

No 3 and 4 I use for all my other old lenses. These have the appropriate Extension tubes for their respective focal length.

4 pictures of the lens and its mechanics:













The next picture was taken when I walked along the road where I live going to the local park. (No, I didn't wear a trench-coat)




I found some red fallen flowers on the way




Now in the park, this bird in the tree was taken with the sun about 2 o'clock from the focal point.
Not to bad for an un-coated 64 year old lens.




Some tree bark.




I inserted a 40mm extension tube and took the following two flower close ups:







I would say this is not to bad for an un-coated aging lens.
of course the contrast is less than the modern multy-coated lenses.
So is the flair, but if you don't shoot in or to a close angle to the sun, with a lens hood it is quite good.
The co;lours are very good and so is the sharpness.
All pictures where taken at f11.

Rregards, Horst

It's always interesting to see what can be done with very old lenses, glad it worked so well for you. Apart from the flare when shooting into the light, the images look very acceptable.

Well done. Good effort. I've suffered from flare using old enlarger lenses for attempts at macro. Tried using a film canister as a hood, but still had problems. You've encouraged me to have another go.