Back when M42 mount was seemingly on all budget cameras we saw the rise of cheap third party lenses in all the camera stores. Some of them are still with us today, Tamron and Tokina have become a decent choice for modern Mirrorless and DSLR's, but some have come and gone never to return. Panagor was one such brand to have disappeared from the market after a run in the glory days of film.
I was given a Panagor 200mm f/3.5 telephoto lens recently and figured I would try it out during a day out to Liverpool Waterfront with my wife and our pal, Keith. My camera of choice for this first use was my trusty Pentax SP500 and as it was a bright sunny day I chose to shoot Fomapan 100 35mm black and white film.
Liverpool Waterfront and the Royal Albert Dock is always a popular venue for day trippers and we joined the throng at the south end of the Royal Albert Dock where I got to use this lens for the first time. A Royal Navy Fleet Auxilliary Vessel was at Cammell Laird shipyard and I took my first shot looking across the Mersey towards it. I was also looking almost directly towards the sun and was glad the lens has a built in lens hood. I was able to get a few shots panning along the Wirral Waterfront and was instantly impressed with the reach of the lens.
As we made our way along the waterfront I was able to photograph details high on the Albert Dock buildings and also the Liver Buildings in the distance as they topped the surrounding buildings. I could also get a decent shot of the cruise ship, Norwegian Dawn that was paying a visit to Liverpool that day and the famous "Ferry 'Cross The Mersey" as it left the ferry terminal at the Pier head going to Woodside Ferry Terminal on the Birkenhead side of the estuary.
I was able to photograph architectural details I hadn't seen before high up on the famous Three Graces and the faces of statues that a wide angle street photography lens didn't have a chance of getting anywhere near. St John's Tower, home of Radio City, Tower Cranes and the Big Wheel were all targets for my photos and I really enjoyed being able to add them to the wide angle shots I had taken with my K1000 and Tamron 28mm lens.
We had a great day out photographing Liverpool waterfront and by early evening we were all ready for going home. It was just as well as I had used my film up in the three cameras I took with me. By the time we arrived home I was too tired to do anything else and left my developing for another day.
That day came during the following week and I developed my roll of Fomapan 100 in HC110 dilution B (1+31) for 5 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry. I scanned it with my Ion Slides2PC 35mm scanner and processed the photos with Affinity Photo to remove dust spots and scratches.
Here's a few favourites I took on our photo walk along the waterfront, I am really happy with how they turned out. The lens was sat doing nothing for quite some time before it came to me, but thankfully It was kept in its case with a silica gel pack that kept the fungus at bay. There are one or two spots, but not enough to affect image quality. Thank you to my dear friend Gren Russell for your generosity, the lens came with the Olympus OM-10 he sent to me recently. It won't be long before I use this lens again and I'm wondering why I didn't get one sooner. As always I have placed these photos and more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.
A lot of the third party lenses from this period are very good. Panagor was a name like Vivitar; the lenses were made by the likes of Kiron and Komine, who have reached near mythical status in recent years.......
ReplyDeleteHi Nigel, thanks for your comment. Panagor were long associated with Kino Optical Co. who made third party lenses that were branded Panagor, Elicar, Kiron and Vivitar. They got out of the market around the time when autofocus became the norm and began concentrating on industrial applications for their products.
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