looking for examples of lens coloration . . .

[xpatUSA]

. . . hopefully same scene, same lighting, same camera, same processing - a tall order, I know.

I have recently purchased a couple of M42 to SA-mount adapters for my Sigma DSLRs, and a couple of Pentax M42 Asahi Takumar lenses.

Researching the subject of older lenses, I've read of some lenses as being 'warm' and some as 'cold'; others as having a "cast" not necessarily warm or cold. Not talking here about yellowing due to radiation or age ...

Up till now, I've used Sigma lenses only, forced on me by the much-reviled SA mount. Therefore, I have never really noticed lens coloration of any kind and, consequently, I have no idea what it looks like.

Are there any examples in your collection or any links to where a lens coloration is clearly shown?

[Manfred M]

Ted - while some lenses might indeed have a colour cast due to design choices made, in general I have always found that these properties talked about with lenses should be looked at through the eyes of a wine taster. The descriptions of lenses tend to be more related to the impressions given by the images produced than the physical physical colours seen in the images. "Warm and creamy bokeh" ascribed to Leica lenses and "Cold and surgically precise" descriptions given to Zeiss lenses are in the same league as describing a wine having a "hint of blueberries and strawberries".

Of course, some of the lenses really did have radioactive components like thorium added to the glass, so over time these lenses underwent a physical discolouration; i.e. yellowing. Likewise, lenses used by heavy smokers or in industrial environments would develop a yellow-brown tinge and often performed better than "clean" lenses in the days before anti-reflective coatings as they effectively had a thin-film coating due to the environment they were used in.

[xpatUSA]

. . . or any links to where a lens coloration is clearly shown?

Found one link here:

https://www.photo.net/discuss/thread...arison.229656/

Can't say there was actually a "clear" difference in FireFox on my monitor ...

[Manfred M]

Found one link here:

https://www.photo.net/discuss/thread...arison.229656/

Can't say there was actually a "clear" difference in FireFox on my monitor ...

When I read the methodology used, the test is meaningless. The lack of control in making the images; most Noritsu mini-labs a decade ago when this was posted output chromogenic prints.

The other factor worth considering, especially for lenses from the 1940s and 50s is that they were often designed of B&W photography, so colour impact was not a consideration. I remember a couple of old Retina cameras my father had around the time I was born; one he used for B&W film because of colour cast issues and the other he used for colour film because the camera (lens) performed better.

When I do a quick look at the colours by copying the images, overlaying and aligning them, the colours using the same lens show slight differences at the same sample area. The bottom image definitely has a significantly more yellow cast to it, but the top two images do not show the same colours at the same point, albeit by a smaller margin.