Dallmeyer Septac 50mm f1.5 (uncoated) – Legendary Cine Lens
Dallmeyer Anastigmat Septac 50mm f1.5
Lengendary Cine Lens
Dallmeyer Septac 50mm f1.5 (uncoated) – Legendary Cine Lens
Modified Cine lenses
I have tried Alpa Kern Macro Switar 50/1.9 and Kinoptik 50mm f2 many years ago. I am not a big fan of modified lenses as I love leica lenses with their well constructed barrels and design on aperture rings. But in terms of mood and character sometimes Leica lenses can be dull or too ordinary, which is good because Leica gives you stable image quality. But if you would like to explore something else with more individuality like the Canon 50mm f0.95 that I have just reviewed, you might also want to take a look at this Cine lens.
Since my friend owns this ultra rare Dallmeyer lens. I decided to take a few snaps with it to see if it is that great.
History about Dallmeyer
J.H Dallmeyer, is the most famous maker you will see crop up is British maker J.H. Dallmeyer, founded by John Henry Dallmeyer (6 September 1830 – 30 December 1883). He started the business in 1860, mainly manufacturing lenses, but also began producing cameras.
The Dallmeyer Septac was only made in a 2″ (50mm) focal length with a fast aperture of f1.5. This lens was an option available on the Ilford Witness camera and also used on microfilm copying devices. And the copy that I shot with is the uncoated version.
Thoughts
It is very subjective to say it is a nice lens or not. Whether you love bokeh or you like to stop down to use a smaller aperture to capture different street scenes. The only thing I can tell is at F5.6 it has a better performance than F8 in terms of sharpness. At f1.5 it will be very “glow” and very soft. I love this kind of glow because I don’t like lenses that are too sharp. It helps to bring out the mood. After knowing the price tag of this lens, I gently returned it to him.
