Autumn Lenses

Even in their autumn years some lenses just seem to keep on looking good, the little Pentax 110 are just such lenses. Here is a sample taken with my 24mm f2.8 Pentax 110 lens... (see my page on them)

 

Initially intended for a life on a strange camera system (the Pentax 110 SLR) these little guys just keep on keeping on.

I say "strange" because  back in the late 1970's the 110 film format was really aimed at the quick snap pocket cameras. That a company like Pentax invested such time and effort into that tiny film format was astounding. Clearly they recognised way back then that not everyone wanted a big lumbering camera, but did still want some control over their images.

The 110 camera is actually quite tiny in comparison to my micro 4/3 camera (which sadly now days is thought of as small), and yet the lenses actually cover the same area of film that the 4/3 sensor uses. Meaning that they don't darken at the corners.

This is great because you can get a small lens to it onto your m4/3 camera helping make the camera even more pocket-able.

The image there shows the fifty mm lens and the image above was taken with the 24mm lens. The 24mm is actually a "standard" view lens on the 110 / micro 4/3 cameras. Its even smaller than the 50mm. Here it is mounted on my G1

its quite the tiny thing isn't it. Makes me wonder why such snug lenses can't be made today? I mean after all the entire purpose of micro 4/3 was to make compact cameras ... rather than the big DSLR's which had roamed the earth in the end of the last millennium. Its even more tragic that micro 4/3 seems to be getting bigger in body too ... oh well.

Anyway, the the top image was take today in the autum forest understory here in Finland with the 24mm mounted on my GF-1. Initially bought into Pentax 110 series the because I didn't want to spend hundreds on the Panasonic 20 f1.7 just to get Auto Focus. I questioned if there was any great benefits for me. The Pentax 110 SLR lenses are f2.8 (so not as shallow DoF) but at under 20 bucks ... I reckoned that for the occasional shot where I'd want to emphasize focus (where such a lens as either the Pana 20 or the Pentax 24 really make sence) that I would not really benefit from fast AF as much as interesting look and feel ...

The Pentax 110 and the GF-1 its a sweet combo that fits into my small daypack side pocket and costs a lot less than the Panasonic 20mm f1.8 does. Its a sweet little lens.