With everything going on in the world right now, I thought I would take it back to the lens that ignited the fire of inspiration. What is it about photography that inspires you guys?

I started with photography this year, primarly film photography and being an East German guy I went for a Praktica. Then another Praktica, and later 2 more Prakticas. One of them came with a later version of the Pentacon 50/1.8 with MC and I didn't really cared about it. So it rested some time in the shelf until I wanted to do portraits with a lot of blur, so I gave it a try. And I was stunned when I saw the awesome results. Later I got a Porst Color Reflex 55/1.4 which is also a great lens, but suffers chromatic abberations, so is basically unusable in certain situations where I then know that I can rely on my Pentacon 50/1.8. I think even on f2.8 it's sharp as hell. And at f4 it's sharper than reality :D

The ability to show intentional and varied perspectives on almost any subject is what inspires me - food being my primary subject. Love that minimum focus distance for a 50mm lens, that fact alone has convinced me to buy it 🤓 thanks for the detailed and entertaining video - really appreciate the ton of footage and varied examples you pack into each upload 🙏🏼

Mark i'm so pleased that you make a video for this...love!!! I love my Pentacon, it is sooo sharp after 2,8 and its hexagonal bokeh it's so mesmerizin'...at least to my eyes!

I watched this review repeated times since you released it. I think the real quality of this Pentacon lens appears in video. Your video shots have this cinematic glow which I like a lot. This dreamy, sometimes surreal look is what I am loving with vintage lenses. I also like the manual focusing process - it connects me in a different way to the shooting process than using auto-focus. I still have some modern auto-focus lenses with good follow focus (combined with my Sony A7R III) but mostly I am using old glass with my beloved beaten-up Sony A7. I have to give you credit (next to a very few other channels) for drawing me deeper into the world of digitally adapted vintage lenses what helped to remind me to the time (in the 60s) when my father gave me my first 35mm viewfinder camera (Agfa Silette). Thank you for that.

I really love all your videos especially about the vintage lens and how great they are. There's a lot of vloggers tackling with the same content you were one of the best! Keep it up! :)

Your videos get better with every new release! I love your content! You should definitely have a bigger subscriber base

What inspires me the most about photography is being able to create something beautiful, and that it particularly important for me right now with the way things are going. I loved the video Mark, I really appreciate the time and effort you put into this. Take care!

Just discovered your channel and you've really inspired me to explore so much more, thank you for the awesome content!

Perfectly imperfect! Best title for a vintage lens review.

Always nice to see your videos Mark. Stay healthy.

favorite KZfaqr such story telling, great video Mark! Thanks for keeping us entertained during our quarantine, hope you and your family are doing well!

I just love the vibe of this video and your honest love for these vintage lenses. I saw this lens already in your older video, so i just needed one for myself. And it is perfect because od all these imperfections.

Can't believe I missed this video - thought I binged watched all of your vintage lens videos 😀 I can relate to your story. I got my Canon FD 50mm 1.4 from my father and can still remember how he took photos back then, when my brother and I were still kids. Now thanks to your videos regarding vintage lenses I can put this lens into use and learn about photo and video 🙂

Thank you for this video man. My granddad gave me is 50 mm Cannon F 1.2. That was my first lens and what got me into this field. Appreciate your videos and I appreciate your connection with that lens man. I know exactly how you feel

I just received a MOG 50mm yesterday. It was attached to the front of an Ihagee RTL1000. It'll go on my Kine Exacta when I get that back and also on my EM1 MkII. Mark, can you believe you're at over 50k subscribers? Truly well deserved. Happy Holidays to you and your family from Manchester UK.

Thanks for this video! I had a similar experience that got me "hooked" on vintage lenses when I first tried the SMC Takumar 28mm f/3.5 paired with light coming through leaves. The end result of how the light and color are captured, and the twigs/branches melt way is nothing short of magical. I'm a newcomer to the Pentacon 50mm f/1.8, and I was drawn to it with how the bokeh looks wide open in forest scenes. The form of bubble bokeh it has is just what I've been looking for. Living out in the Pacific Northwest, I can't wait to take this Pentacon out on some hikes. This is going to be good.

A worthy tribute to this lens, the love of your family history and that spark that ignited the flame. Not to mention you showed the lens in a wonderful light, duration of the video in under 7 mins? Impressive!

awesome video as always Mark!

Hadn't come across this channel before until searching for a review for this lens. Great video, you can tell its a sentimental lens to this guy, it's not the usual KZfaq video review, it's good to see someone more individual with their videos. This guy has pretty much sold me on this lens, I love the softness and the stylised bokeh and background blur, he got some great video shots. I love the look of older movies from the 60s and 70s so this will go great with my bmpcc 4k.

Really enjoyed this. Thanks for sharing that personal story! 🙏🏽 And I'll be picking up one of these lenses 😎

Wow. Your blog video is very well thought, built and edited. You went that extra mile. Subscribed.

Fantastic work. Love the story behind your obsession with vintage lenses.

Keep up the good work really enjoying your content

I'm just starting out in photography, been using a dslr for about a month only so I'm still very green, but I've always been inspired by images, I rely a lot on visuals and fun little details. I like drawing a lot so the will to create my own images was always in me, and I feel like photography is just one more way to do that, to play with what I see and others don't, to give it a new twist, or simply document stuff I like :) your story with this lens is really beautiful and inspiring, and I fully agree with you on the sentimental value being greater than specifications and sharpness. I love vintage lenses and busy texturized bokeh so this video was extremely satisfying to watch :) thanks, Mark!

4:38 That's an absolutely amazing scifi-looking bokeh :)

Very well done. Interesting, entertaining and useful.

Beautiful video mark I loved it

I was really happy to discover your video. For me, this lens is also something very special and together with the Praktika MTL5 it brought me to photography. They belonged to my grandmother and she used it from the early 80s throughout the 90s as a journalist. Later when she retired she gave me all her gear and for a couple of years I was shooting mainly with this lens on her Praktika. Now, I am using it on my Sony A7 and it's still my favourite lens. I really enjoy it's character and imperfection and often it's thr only lens that I take with me. A couple years ago, the aperture got stuck and I even serviced it myself, really simple.

I really don't understand why you don't have more subscriptions. Your Videos are really high quality and a pleasure to view for my eyes. ;) Keep it up.

Awesome vid as always!!

It's such an honor to have such an amazing friend as you. I admire your work so much. I'm picking this one up locally together with SIX other vintage lenses for 50€ very soon ^^ I'll let you know when I post some pictures with it, or just keep your eyes open on the IG feed :D

I have just got one...this video encourages me to explore more.. thanks.

SOLID!!!! Another great video! I have the Canon fd 24&50mm and they were my grandfathers as well, I shoot with them often.

I used to like this lens, although with Multi Coating. I switched the lenses around, the second one being a Helios (whatever model it was, had every single one of them). What made the Pentacon great is the focusing distance you mentioned. The other thing, expectadly, is the flare resistance. It was the choice when the Helioses blew the image away with a nasty flare. Bought the Pentacon mint with a Praktica MTL5B. But! The best M42 I own is by far the Zenitar-M 50mm f/1.7. It is outstandingly sharp wide open, I may have told you already. Also, I'm a huge fan of the work you put into the videos. I've never seen anybody doing such a good job in lens review videography. All the best, Mark. Your long time follower.

Fantastic editing. I'll look for one of these.

What inspires me most of photography, is the ability to see something beautiful, something that no one else could see, and capturing it in a way that can last a lifetime. Seeing the world through they eyes of someone else, opens you understanding about reality. Thank you Mark, for your story!

The Pentacon 50mm was my first vintage lens as well. I got it because of your recommendation from the video where you showcased 3 different 50mm vintage lenses and I absolutely love mine :)

Such a great video. And a great lens. I'm glad I own 1. I can't wait to start using it.

Oh my gosh, I love this lens so much!

I used one of these on a Praktica that was loaned to me by my college when I was studying black-and-white film photography back in the '90s. I remember when I got my own camera after a few weeks on the course - a (still old at the time) Canon AE-1 with FD mount - I thought "this is it, I'm never going back". Fast-forward 25 years and I'm all over the older M42 glass. The 30mm f3.5 Pentacon is amazing for video on S35/APS-C sensors but I've held off on getting the Pentacon 50mm 1.8 as I'm so happy with my Helioses and Takumars and I remember how bad I thought the Pentacon 50 was at the time. Perhaps Mark will change my mind today...

Great video as usual! I did come across this once. I manged to take a few shots and noted the very nice combination of F1.8 aperture and close focus abilities - great possibilities for super smooth backgrounds! My copy was very beaten up and broke down, but there has been an itch ever since...

I have pretty much exactly the same lense as you and use it with the all black 1958 Practika L it was originally sold with and I absolutely love it. Took a few rolls of film to get used to, but that's also what makes it so rewarding.

One of your best videos yet, and very meaningful. Would like to hear more about how you came into possession of the camera and lens from your grandfather.

Waiting eagerly.

كالعادة , محتوى مميزو فيديو مصنوع بدقة و عناية و شعور بالرضا , احييك سيد مارك تحياتي من اسطنبول اتمنى لك النجاح

Man brother why don't you have a million sub 🤩👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾 please #keepfilming

Amazing, I had been working as a filmmaker for a few years already when my dad suddenly revealed to me that he used to take photos with a full frame camera and developed them in my grandmother's bathtub (and completely ruining it in the process). So he dug for his old Praktica MTL 5 in the basement and showed it to me. It came with the Pentacon 50 1.8 and I immediately fell in love with retro lenses. While he also gave me a Pentacon auto 4/200 MC I have not put it to use much because I'm a sucker for the swirly bokeh. So then I picked up the 29mm 2.8 penta, a helios 44 and a 44M, and the MIR-1B and modded it to maximize the ultimate bokeh (thanks Mathieu Stern). It's simply amazing how much character these lenses have, it became my favorite way of photography. So yeah, we've got a slightly similar story haha

Nice Mark. I also have the Pentacon 50mm, inherited from my late father. Interesting though that I have had slightly different results from your copy. Maybe my copy is slightly younger? Wide open I actually get a little more contrast, and the bokeh is smoother. Not very contrasty, to a little bit more to what you were getting. Oh and the CA is not too bad at all wide open. There is a little but not much. Still, like you I LOVE the close focus you get with it. a perfect balance between my normal fast fifty and, my dedicated 50mm Macro. I do love putting it on my K-1 from time to time (maybe more so over the next few weeks). Keep the videos coming, I love watching them.

My first vintage lens was my 35mm Carl Zeiss Jena. It was not practical to use (can't change the aperture), it was not the sharpest, but it was by far my best looking lens and the rendering was awesome. I never bought a modern lens ever since... I think there is an amazing philosophy behind vintage lenses. It's not about specs, perfect rendering or prestige, but about the look you get, wether you like it or not.

Adding this lens to my eBay wishlist, thanks. I would love to you see do a video on the Helios 40-2 85mm f/1.5. This will be the next one I save up to purchase for my Sony a7.

Curse you Mark Holtze! Because of you I now own a Canon FD 28 2.8 and FD 50 1.4. You started me on the hunt! I take back my curse lol. I am loving my "new lenses" and would never have thought to look at them without your excellent videos. Keep up the great work!

It is my first vintage lens too! Although I have got a more or less the same focal length lens (CZJ 58mm f2), I found out that I love this lens more than the new toys. It leads me in the vintage lens collection!

your grandad would be proud mate! Great job. Not all that is new, shines the brightest. Photography for me lets me do what I cant do normally express myself I can't draw and when I explain things can get confusing. But when I have a camera in my hand I feel I can create something that makes me feel happy and make other people happy too.

I had a very similar experience with the Pentacon 50mm: It was the first vintage lens i bought - in pair with a broken tessar - and it was the very start of a great journey in this world. Since then, the way i do photography has changed significally! Changing the subject: I know the minimum focus distance is important because the lens it designed to work well from there to infinity, but another milestone in my vintage lens story was the day i bought my M42 to sony E mount focusing helicoid adapter! It's cheap and it works just like a vartiable extension tube which let you focus to infinite when you don't want macro shots... and can turn every M42 lens in a macroish lens ;-)

My first good photos where done with this lens on a Praktica B&W film, aperture full open at minimum focus distance, now I know why, thanks for the info Mark.

Nice work once again Mark. Don't have the Pentacon that you have but have the MC Versions (one has a declicked aperture ring) and also have got the Meyer Optik Görlitz Oreston 50mm F1.8 very similar to your Pentacon. Yeah I know what you mean about the MFD. I can feel you when you talk about vintage lenses... Its a disease and I love being infected.

Awesome video dude, loved every second - I actually really enjoy this slightly more introspective review more. Like the lens for you, the video felt more connected and personal, and it shines for that... and the sound design was cool ;) Stay safe bro

I had a Zeiss 50mm 1.8 as my main lens on my EP1, yet since I got this lens (Pentacon 1.8) I am finding it better than the Zeiss, which I had no fault with. I think stopped down the Pentacon has the edge on the Zeiss, is all. I don't say that about the more modern variants, just this particular Meyer Optik rebranded model. I do use a Zeiss 28mm 2.8 which is my sharpest 28. The Miranda 28 is almost as good, I can highly recommend tat one, made by Cosina I believe. All these old lenses benefit from a good clean out. Most have a bit of haze in them which will destroy the contrast. Fortunately, this can be restored in post, yet there is something very satisfying about making images straight out of the camera without the need for any post processing. I always prefer that if I can manage it.

I own the Pentacon Multi Coating 50 1.8 and I love it! I don't know if yours is older than mine (because of the Multi Coating) but both of them are truly beautiful.

I think 30cm is the optimal minimal focal length for a lens. Any closer and I'd be paranoid I'd scratch the lens on something - yes I'm talking to you Laowa 15mm Macro lens! Ace video mate! I love seeing how your channel has grown over the last two or so years. That's a great story that it all started with your grandfather's lens - congrat on 20k subscribers too! What a well deserved achievement.

Love this video for its back story alone, and you delivered this with a hint more passion/emotion I felt too because of it. This lens is definitely not for everyone as you say, but it’s flaws are definitely it’s qualities. The Pentax 6x7(67 II) was used a lot by beauty photographers (Mario Testino also used one extensively) because the lenses were very good with skin, just not sharp sharp if you get me. As ever I look forwards to another instalment and above all mate stay safe in these quite mad times.

I love the Pentacon. It's sitting on my Fuji all the time.

I own this lens and love the color. One of my favorite m42 along w my Yashica yusinon DX 50mm f1.4 another sweet m42. My emotional lens is the yashica ML 50mm 1.9. I had this on old yashica film slr and it was my only lens i had to shoot w my sony a6000 when i bought it open boxed 4 yrs ago. I still have my a6000 and like 30 vintage lenses along w adapters. Then 2 yrs ago I upgraded to film and thats 90% of my work. Bought into Minolta Film camera XK XE7 and XD. and I have metal m42 to MD adapter.

vintage lenses are defiantly a great option for photography, they are a great way to experience faster primes on the cheap, but hear is the catch, if you discover them too early in your photography beginnings these days and you don't have the skills to over come the lack of auto features they can be dissmissed as to awkward to use, on the flip side when you discover them later on after you bought a load of modern primes and you now have the skill to use them its like why didn't i discover them earlier. i love them, they are just so characterful in image rendering

I actually shot my short film with this lens as the main choice on a Sony A7s mkII. It worked great! We also used a Pentacon 29mm for wider shots, but we discovered in post that it was a bit too soft at the edges.

Very interesting, and high quality production - although I was here for the 'vintage Penthouse' part. (Once upon a time Praktica cameras and lenses were the alternative if you couldn't afford Made in Japan equipment.)

Great video as always! I'm trying to find this, but on eBay there's a ton of listings for a Pentacon prakticar 50mm/1.8, but physically they don't look anything like the build of this lens o_O

My first adapted in 2016 to my Canon 80D. This lens was a disease with thousands of dollars invested in old "junk" these days in 2023. Fun video. Agree fully!!!

ok i just got it for 10$, and I'm going to take this has an opportunity to get into photography! Thanks to you Mark ps: keep up with the amazing content as always !

Its funny because I've also got mine from my grandfather. And a few canon FD lenses. He gave them to me without any camera and told me to sell them, but I've always found the engineering behind them so cool and amazing, that I kept them as a collector item. Funnily enough, in 2015 I've bought my first DSLR, a Canon 650D and tried using the lenses, but without success. Ended up selling my camera a few years later before moving into the UK (actually sold majority of my things), but the lenses stood around since they've belonged to my grandfather. Just about 4 weeks ago, bought myself a canon 750D, because got tired of having quality loss images from my phone.. And the lenses were just there, in a box inside my closet. Picked them out and went on Google to find out if I could ever use them again with a old camera, and it turns out I can use them with my actual camera using adaptors. Since then I've been vibing with these vintage lenses 😊😊 Came to learn that they're actually worth a fortune, but not in a monetary way, but in a sentimental way. The images I can get with my pentacon have their own life. They're magic in their own little way and I love it. I've tried printing a few photos I've taken with it and its hard to put to words the magical feeling. The other few lenses are also quite good for how old they are, older than me in fact. Vintage lenses are perfect being imperfect ❤️

Thanks Mark! I am just busy cleaning out a fungus hungry Meyer Optik 58mm 1.9 to begin this statewide lockdown. Hey I just watched "Light Between Oceans'. I know, I know......it's a chick flic but OH MY GOD. What did they shoot on? I couldn't find anything about the gear they shot with yet but I swear......go and watch it. It just has to be vintage. Actually it ended up being one of the most gripping stories I've seen of late. If you make a nice dinner for your wife and watch that one, she'll love you for it!

Searching 50mm lens. i found one for sale, Pentacon, ok, lets search about it, found your video, bought it, and subscribed! thanks for sharing!!

Great job, grat video. i follow you. Hi from Italy

Nice and interesting review. And the video shots are the prettiest I’ve seen from you. What camera did you use? And color grading? Was it manual ? LUTs ?

Can't wait, I just recently got a Praktica MTL 5B and along with it this exact lens (Just as the Lord intended)

I love old lenses and one thing that you may want to explore is using setup like this: Mirrorless camera + camera adapter for helicoid (M42 or M65) + Helicoid (or the appropriate length) + helicoid adapter to lens (M42 for the Pentacon) + your Pentacon 50mm lens. This may sound like a complicated setup, but it is not and I use it almost everyday. What it gives you over your normal M42 to mirrorless adapter is this: the most amazing ability to focus even closer and on all of your lenses. Yes! You get infinity to whatever the lens is made for, but you also get much closer with the addition of the helicoid focusing ring which will push the whole lens out further from your camera. Woohoo. I use this on everything I shoot except for the Nikon lenses that give me auto focus, especially the S lenses made for my Z6. But everything else is fair game. I am talking Pentacon 6, Pentacon M42, Pentax M42, Exakta, older Canon, even some 35mm slide projector lenses which do not have any apertures, but do have the most amazing bokeh. I recently began playing with the cheap miniscus view finder lenses from old, cheap, twin reflex cameras. Not the quality TLRs, but the cheap ones like Kodak Duaflex IV, etc. Way, way cool and it opens up some amazing artistic effects. If you look for me on Facebook, I am the one with a white donkey profile, you will see some of these TLR images. Radial blur like you would not believe.

A very early lens added to my kit that got me into vintage lenses was a Pentax-M 50mm F1.7 and then I got the pentacon 135mm F2.8 I used those two lenses for almost everything until I discovered the takumars and now I have almost a full set just missing the 35mm F2 and 15mm F3.5 for my takumar set

Hi..thanks for the video..Bought today a Praktica MTL3 with the 50mm f1.8 for 7.50 euros..I'm new to this hobby..hope everything works well..

Bought this lens for less than 5 dollars today. It was a bit dirty on the outside, but the glass is in perfect condition. Needless to say I'm quite happy with my purchase. Love the short focus length

Love Pentacon 50mm F1.8. I have about 5-6 of them, all different versions :)

i found one for $60 over on ebay i might pick it up for the a9 thanks mark still a expert when it comes to picking vintage glass

Hey Mark! Is there any lens wider than 35mm, M42 mount this good? Love your channel and content!

I found a Practica MTL3 with a Pentacon Auto 50mm F1.8 as you might now on my Instagram. I paid only £10.00 for it! My version of the lens is a later version (1978 I believe). I noticed the lens gets very sharp at F4 too so it makes me think the optical formula remained the same. The focus is incredibly smooth, about 320 degrees with the same minimum focus distance.

I have this lens and I love it😊

All of your videos have been great, but something about this one, the whole vibe, I just felt more. Is it because it's not your standard review? Introspective? I really hope you can continue making these videos or more. I think photography for me is being able to let other see the world how I see it, and how to tell a story in a single picture which can be frustrating for me as a filmmaker. I love having more frames, camera and subject movement! But how can you convey that in a single photo? That keeps me going.

Aloha Mark, thank you for sharing your love for these old lenses. I have both the pentacon and meyer in my collection. I do love their minimum focusing distance and their soft quality wide open. I am shooting now with a Olympus F Zuiko auto S (Olympus Pen F) 38mm 1.8 lens that I really like. I did a quick search and did not find anything you made about it. I use an A6000 so the 38mm focal length works well for most situations. Its minimal focus is also small .35 m so you can get close. You should try and share about it. Thank you again.

I don't use this lens too often but I do love the min. focus distance.

It's indeed not the best 50mm but the sum of its weaknesses creates great images. I have 2 favorites M42 lenses, this Pentacon and at the opposite in terms of sharpness, quality, image definition the Tomioka 55mm 1.4. and I love both as they give totally different feelings. The only weakness of the Tomioka is that the read element is too long and when focusing to infinity on a Canon FF the mirror gets stuck, no problem on APS-C or MFT.

Nice🔥

Personally, I value character and a unique look over anything else in a lense. Fuck sharpness- I think this lense looks amazing. I love its soft dreamy look and the color rendition is rustic and beautiful

I like your vintage lens videos. Also ı Wonder Which lens made biggest impact on you

Your videos are too good for me not to subscribe to your channel. Keep it up

Mark - isn't this an iteration of the Meyer Gorlitz 50mm f/1.8 Oreston? I have an Oreston and love the renditions from this fine old lens...

Nice review as always! COuldn't agrre with you more, some thing can't be quantified at time as to why you like it, but it doesn't matter!

I once purchased the Pentax sterio adapter in a market, the seller said it had some sort of adapter jammed on it. The supposed adapter came off relatively easily and turned out to be the front ring of the Pentacon 50mm. One of the dangers of mirrorless cameras is the existence of cheap adapters and the ability to try out the numerous inexpensive lenses available. Therein lies addiction.

Hi I had this lense togheter with a practika mtl50 that both were broken but i fixed the lens by my self(was the f blades) I wonder if you can explain us how meager by Zones with this lense. I saw many videos about it but in this lense i can not understand the rules printed on the lens. Sorry for my english. I want to use this lens with my fuji X-E2 for street photo. I know it is a litle long on an apsc but wanna trye. Thanks and subscribed

I've bought it today, but unfortunately in my country its around 90$. Will see how it works on my BMPCC6k. I got slightly different version, with more round focus ring. I hope focus throw let me focus manually easier compared to other photo lenses I got.

Yes, yes and yes. I did find a difference between your copy and mine! So, yours is an "auto" and mine an "electric", the only difference should be that mine has the electrical contacts to comunicate with the camera, but watching your footage I realized that also has different flares, more controlled and purple-ish. I guess it has some coating, 'cause the front element is purple-ish too.

I almost had that lens back in the day when I was starting my photography adventure - I wanted my own SLR camera and I opted for the Praktica MTL5, with this as a kit lens. But my dad bought me an Pentax ME instead...