I cursed it for a long time and thought I had a lemon. Then I remembered that I'd put a slim skylight filter on it to protect the front element (which IS perilously close to the front). Now that I remove it prior to use it has proved to be an excellent lens. Bokeh isn't always something to write home about - it can be quite scrappy with, for example, an out of focus twig presenting an unsightly juddering blur but, if you set it up right, it provides bubble bokeh to rival a Trioplan. I don't use it very often. If I were a birder then maybe I might, just for its sharpness.
Overall, I still grab an old, screw-drive FA* 300 for preference and at the back of my mind I still think I could have spent the considerable cost on something else. It is pristine, near mint, with pouch and box but I doubt if I would get £400 for it. So think carefully what you are going to use it for, consider the price and then look at the alternatives - i.e. its F* and FA* predecessors. So they are old and they are used? .... So is mine !

Told you ...... it's funny farm fodder!

Not just one but TWO of them fishing ! The frosty fern and the tiny bonnet toadstools are very nice. Once it has warmed up a bit, if you can get the light behind those toadstools they make great images against the moss with the lens wide open.

Worth getting cold for.

Never seen them massed like that. It must be amazing to stand amongst them.

Rorschach be blowed. If you tried to interpret those you'd get a one way ride to the funny farm! Great presence of mind to grab a camera though. They're super.

Wow. It certainly does look cold ! I like the cleanness of them and have to pick #6 as a favourite.

Thank you everyone for those lovely comments. I have now discovered that a standard, M series, 49mm pinch fit Pentax lens cap fits over the hood perfectly!

Some people really mistreat things. In this case a Prontor shutter containing a Schneider Kreuznach f4.5 105mm lens. It was doubtless sluggish, as many of them are so the silly so and so oiled it! (They are designed to run dry). I only use them on DSLRs after doing an M42 conversion on them so, as long as the shutter can be kept open by use of the T setting and the aperture works I'm not too bothered about the shutter itself. However, the oil was all over the iris blades and the glass was coated with it. The Radionar is a triplet so you can imagine the mess.
I almost ditched it but since it was 'scrap' anyway I thought I might as well dismantle it and see what happens. To cut a long story short, after removing all the glass and using a few dozen cotton buds dampened with dilute hair shampoo I got it all crystal clear. Since the aperture blades are metal, I dunked the whole shutter and gave it a good shaking followed by a couple of rinses and put it on some kitchen towels by a radiator. That cleaned the blades but the mechanism was still a bit slow - but that doesn't matter - the T setting works ! The front cell has multiple entry points to the shutter's helicoid so my precaution of photographing its alignment the instant it came free paid off and I got it screwed back on in exactly the right place (phew!).

When I put it on the camera I was gobsmacked at the results. This potential scrapper from the 1930s is the equal of some the best Pentax glass! It quickly acquired a focusing helicoid and I discovered that a vintage "Black Cross" hood fitted over the front cell a treat.

Here it is fitted onto a Pentax K1, showing the various compontents.



and with the hood fitted - it really looks like it means business.



These few were taken on a recent walk .....

1 A WW2 bomb crater that has been softened by the trees.



2 Hazel catkins with amazing Trioplan style bokeh rings (the multi-bladed aperture is almost circular).



3 It was never intended as a macro lens but with the focusing helicoid fully extended you still have an additional (original) helicoid on the front cell.
Screwing this all the way out as well enables close ups that the original users never dreamed of.



4 Jess, the farmer's retired sheepdog.



5 and one of the sheep.



6 An elderly Massey Fergusson tractor with a decidedly custom built front shovel.



7 As I said, it does great close-ups.



8 or even closer with an additional extension ring!



Normally Radionars sell for high prices - for obvious reasons - but nobody wanted this one and I nearly binned it. I'm so glad I didn't.

Very nice watching it but I would never have the patience for it !