OMG, HOLY-MOLY, Gee Whiz! That's some amazing optical performance from a thirty year old medium format lens!!!

I had no idea where I would end up when I bought a Fuji GFX 50Sii, a 35-70mm GFX lens and a 50mm GFX lens from a friend. I thought at first that I'd just muddle along with those two lenses for the time being and concentrate on fleshing out my L mount lenses for the full frame format instead. Over time I bought a couple of cheap Mitakon and TTArtisan lenses but quickly soured on having to fix the nearly impenetrable vignetting (and softness) of the corners of the budget lenses. I put everything on the back burner until I came across a bunch of images I did of an Academy Award winning actress friend of mine. I loved the look and I realized when I looked at the contact sheets that I'd photographed her with the old Pentax 645 film camera and several of those lenses; including the 75mm f2.8 and the 150mm f3.5. 

The images triggered memories of printing in my darkroom using those 645 negatives shot with those lenses. The images were even better than I remembered. So, one evening when I was ordering some batteries (I'm always ordering batteries!!!) I looked for old used Pentax 645 lenses, just on a lark. There were some really good ones at super/bargain basement prices. I put a bookmark there and thought to circle back. In the meantime I made a visit to Precision Camera to buy a roll of background paper (I just can't justify ordering a long roll of seamless online....) and I came across a used Pentax 150mm f3.5 (manual focus) lens in nice condition for a whopping $129. I bought it. Then I ordered a Kipon Pentax 645 to Fuji GFX adapter. 

I thought I'd rush out to shoot with the combo but other than shooting random stuff around the studio to make sure everything worked okay I didn't follow through. All of a sudden those Leica Ms intruded into the limited bandwidth I have to concentrate on cameras. 

I bought several more Pentax 645 lenses from B&H, including the manual focusing 120mm f4.0 Macro lens and the (AF) 80-160mm zoom lens. I tested both and they exceeded my expectations by a long shot. I used the 120mm extensively on several environmental portrait projects and loved the ease of use and the ability, with the 50Sii, to punch in for a magnified focusing image. 

Remembering those experiences and with time on my hands this afternoon I thought I owed it to the 150mm lens to pull it out, mount it, head downtown and test it. A good test. Many photos. Bright sun. 

I shot almost everything you see here with the lens on the Kipon adapter and the camera set to "A" aperture automation. The f-stop was nearly always set to f5.6. It was a clear day. Visibility, according to NOAA was 40+ miles. The humidity was lowered than it's been in at least a millennium. It was a comfortable 88° which I'm sure sounds crazy to northerners. I loved the performance of the 150mm. It's outrageously good. Stopped down to f5.6 its performance is as good or better than the two authentic Fuji GFX lenses I own. Look through the files and blow them up! See for yourself.

The combination of the bigger sensor and the great optical quality of the lens is magical. Who would want anything more??? I was so happy with the look of the files that I rushed back home, scrolled through the B&H used site again and immediately bought the final lens I needed to complete the system. The 75mm f2.8. I only write this now because I've satisfied my need for the lenses. I waited until I got everything I wanted. 

There are a few captions below but the images are self explanatory.

The secret "over the train tracks" and through the back alley 

pathway to Mañana Coffee. It's the way I get there.

Very much backlit. I was expecting lots of flare. Shockingly, not much showed up.

I saw this ultra bright reflection from mirrored glass and it hurt my eyes to look at it.

What a wonderful test for flare and sunstars! I am amazed that the contrast didn't 

take a hit and that ghosting was minimal. Just amazed. 

this is the lens shot wide open at f3.5. The focus is on the button.

This man was very impatient and kept honking the very anemic horn on his 

scooter to try and get a line of giant SUVs moving....Didn't work well.

The focus is on the longhorn.

I can hardly wait to get my hands on the 75mm f2.8 lens. I have high hopes that it matches the quality of the other Pentax lenses I have amassed. It's the perfect focal length.