Lydith plus Ektar equals Love

Last week I spoke of my joy at finally getting a Meyer-Optik 30mm f/3.5 Lydith after a few years of pateince on ebay. I was, and still am, very happy with the results I got last week with B&W film and Digital at my frst try with my Lydith. This week I shot a roll of Ektar in Mesnes Park, Wigan and a roll of ColorPlus 200 around the town centre. I wanted to see how this legendary lens performed with the media it was designed for, 35mm colour film in my tried and trusted Pentax SP500.

I spoke a little on the history of the East German photographic industry in my previous blog post and, after using my Lydith this week, my thoughts are being reinforced about the post war camera industry in Soviet controlled East Germany. I'm no stranger to Soviet Bloc Lenses, my Helios 44m-4 is a great match for my Pentax SP500 and it is that combination with colour film that I am taking reference from. This is the advantage of shooting a heck of a lot of film, the ability to compare results with different lens and film combinations on the same camera. 

I had no problems with using the Lydith this week as I wasn't using any filters to modify exposures or bring highlights under control etc. I was definitely in street photography mode. I assessed the conditions and quickly found the day was a 1/250th - f/11 kind of day and got busy finding compositions. The Lydith is a joy to use when unencumbered. The aperture ring, once set to f/11 is easy to get on with, but I did find myself turning the aperture ring instead of the focus ring on a couple of occasions. I soon got acquainted with finding my focus with the aperture wide open then stopping down to the preset f/11. I even tried stopping down whilst using the rudimentary match needle TTL meter in my SP500. Some shots were somewhere around f/8 and f/5.6 depending on the cloud cover on the day.

With a little more practice my speed at using the Lydith was increasing, but I was still careful to take as much time as I needed to get my shots framed and exposed as best I could. It's closest focus at 33cm and a wide angle field of view at 72 degrees ensures you can get great shot's both close up and from a distance that remain sharp and the bokeh is just to my liking. The fall off from sharp focus to blur is very smooth indeed. I soon went through my roll of Ektar, loaded a roll of ColorPlus 200 and wandered out of the park and into the town centre.

My Pentax SP500 may be an old clunker by the standards of the top range camera's of it's day, but it is so easy to use it makes me smile every time I take a photo with it. If it wasn't for the reasuring clunk of the shutter nobody would notice me as I wander about Wigan indulging in street photography. There is so much to see, but I always seem to gravitate towards the same locations which is not a bad thing. Like I said earlier, it's the ability to compare results from other lens and film combinations that drew me to the statues of Owd Big Head and Billy Boston. Being able to compare my efforts with my Helios 44m-4 and my Lydith on my SP500 with ColorPlus 200 was my aim and I was not disappointed.

I have to say sorry to my Helios at this point as my favourite lens is now my Lydith. For street photography it is an outstanding accompaniment to my SP500 and certainly holds up to scrutiny against the Helios with ColorPlus 200. However, it is with Ektar that my Lydith shone. The superb fine grain and colour rendition together with centre sharpness and bokeh to die for makes it a formidable combination. It was well worth the wait and with Halloween and Christmas right around the corner, I know I will be able to get some great colour photographs with a camera and lens that cost me lens than £50.

People tend to rave about the latest camera's and lenses, but the excellent work of the post war camera industry in Europe and Japan laid the foundations for them to be at the pinnacle of Photography today. If you haven't used a Lydith, give it a try. The quality of these lenses are outstanding for their time, can certainly hold their own in a market dominated by autofocus lenses and are plentiful on the second hand market. My Meyer-Optik 30mm f/3.5 Lydith certainly made me slow down and get some great shots and I can't wait to try and get some more. Here's a few shots I took this week, the first six are Ektar and the last four are ColorPlus 200. I hope you enjoy them as much as i did taking them.