The Pentacon 50mm rediscovered

 My dalliance with older digicams over the last twelve plus months has meant some of my camera gear has been somewhat redundant but not forgotten.

Before I had even entertained the notion of using vintage cameras, I had dabbled with vintage lenses, some of which I have since  passed on, a few remain in my collection, mostly in the 50-58 mm focal range.

One such lens is the Pentacon 50mm F1.8, which I initially treated as an occasional use lens but became a firm favourite during my 50mm for 50 days project with a Canon 5D mkII.

Wide open, this lens is softer than cotton wool on a bed of marshmallows around the edges, yet even here there is an appeal for those arty soft focus images.

Stopped down to F2.8 and beyond, this becomes a decent lens, especially with its close focus ability, ideal for the close up nature shots I love to take.

Having a bonus Friday off, a trip to Dartmoor was on the cards, of course a digicam made its way into my bag but I had decided a few days before that I wanted to shoot with the Pentacon lens again, this time on my Olympus EM-10 mk3.

Putting this lens on a micro four thirds sensor doubled the focal length to 100 mm, not a range I have used much before but it would take me out of my 28-50 mm comfort zone that I am so used to using with small prime lenses.

Dartmoor was not in a mood to play ball, the grey overcast skies of Exeter were replaced with a grey insipid pall with poor light, yet this played perfectly into the hands for some of those close up shots I was hoping to get.

Blades of grass wearing pearls of raindrops were abundant, the dull light a perfect backdrop for some arty bokeh, rain would not stop play today.

Using the Pentacon today was like finding that lost toy as a child, rediscovering the pleasure of this perfectly imperfect lens on this trip and those to come.