24mm UV PHOTOGRAPHY LENS FOR SONY E-MOUNT / NEX APS-C CAMERAS!
MUCH WIDER-ANGLE THAN THE KYOEI KURIBAYASHI & NOVOFLEX NOFLEXAR 35mm UV-CAPABLE LENSES!
Introducing the 24mm F/3.5 'PUPIL' - for UV landscape photography (and macro close-ups, too!)
This lens was fondly named the "P.U.P.I.L." due to the fact that the acronym stands for "Prime UV Pancake Instant Landscape."
Furthermore, this is the "GEN-IV" (4th Generation) release, as of February, 2017, with an improved light-gathering aperture of F/3.5! (The previous "GEN-III" version, released in Autumn of 2016, had a fixed aperture of F/4).
NOTE: DUE TO OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE FEEDBACK FROM HAPPY CUSTOMERS WHO HAVE PURCHASED MANY OF MY UV LENSES FROM MY EBAY STORE (MORE THAN 85 LENSES OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS!), I HAVE DECIDED TO CONTINUE PRODUCTION TO SATISFY ONGOING INTEREST AND DEMAND. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT OF MY ENTHUSIAST-LEVEL PROJECTS!
FEATURING:
- A 52mm standard filter-threading built into the front of the barrel.
- A deeply-recessed front element, which makes this lens highly resistant to flaring even without the use of an additional hood for protection.
- A generous focus-throw range, which permits focusing all the way from infinity to just 6" from the subject, resulting in a roughly 1:3 macro-magnification.
- Very deep UV transmission, down to about 330 nanometers, which is comparable to the UV performance of the very rare Kyoei Kuribayashi and Novoflex Noflexar 35mm F/3.5 lenses.
- Designed with the goal of making ultraviolet photography more accessible and economical, especially for those on a limited budget.
- A 24mm focal length (equivalent to 36mm on the 1.5x crop-factor APS-C sensor of a Sony NEX / E-mount camera), although this is still much wider than many other UV-capable lenses out there, thus making it suitable for ultraviolet photography of landscapes.
- Manual-focus only (to keep cost down and remain budget-friendly for all buyers.)
Finally, the ultraviolet photographer community now has access to a wider-angle lens that can equally handle UV-landscape photo projects and UV-macro photo projects in one simple, compact, no-nonsense design.
... and through a BUDGET-FRIENDLY offering, at that!
... and through a BUDGET-FRIENDLY offering, at that!
A QUICK DEMONSTRATION OF THIS LENS'S INCREDIBLE FOCUSING RANGE
(NOTE: NO CAMERA IS INCLUDED IN THIS SALE. THIS IS SIMPLY SHOWN FOR DEMONSTRATION PURPOSES.)
MORE INFORMATION (FOR THOSE "INQUIRING MINDS")
This is an original, custom-built (hand-made and assembled piece by piece) pancake UV-capable lens, specially designed to be used with a full-spectrum-modified camera and proper filter stacking to elicit the desired transmission and associated images.
It is a highly-versatile UV lens, at that, given the fact that it can be focused from infinity to just around 1:3 macro (6" or 152 mm from subject), all in one compact and light package!
While the entire body of the lens body is assembled from brand new and nearly all-metal parts fabricated and fitted to precision, the actual "lens capsule" in itself (where the lens glass is seated) is derived from re-purposed elements scavenged from various vintage parts, and thus the entire developmental stage of this UV-photographic project has been born out of painstaking calibration and testing in order to finally come up with this sale-ready goal!
In other words, this UV lens is a fascinating melding of vintage and new parts, combined into one functional unit. I ENJOY re-purposing vintage glass and giving it a new lease on life, rather than sadly seeing it being sent off to the landfill.
Being as such, there may be some very minor imperfections attributed to the assembly of vintage glass elements, such as a handful of insignificant and unavoidable tiny dust particles which may on occasion become trapped in between the glass elements. However, these factors have no discernible effect on image quality nor UV transmission, whatsoever. (Even in more modern lenses, this is not uncommon.)
Nonetheless, each individually hand-crafted and assembled lens is meticulously field-tested for any potential issues before even being considered viable for use and sale. (I will NOT "half-ass" such projects, as budget-minded and cost-effective as they are.)
It is a highly-versatile UV lens, at that, given the fact that it can be focused from infinity to just around 1:3 macro (6" or 152 mm from subject), all in one compact and light package!
While the entire body of the lens body is assembled from brand new and nearly all-metal parts fabricated and fitted to precision, the actual "lens capsule" in itself (where the lens glass is seated) is derived from re-purposed elements scavenged from various vintage parts, and thus the entire developmental stage of this UV-photographic project has been born out of painstaking calibration and testing in order to finally come up with this sale-ready goal!
In other words, this UV lens is a fascinating melding of vintage and new parts, combined into one functional unit. I ENJOY re-purposing vintage glass and giving it a new lease on life, rather than sadly seeing it being sent off to the landfill.
Being as such, there may be some very minor imperfections attributed to the assembly of vintage glass elements, such as a handful of insignificant and unavoidable tiny dust particles which may on occasion become trapped in between the glass elements. However, these factors have no discernible effect on image quality nor UV transmission, whatsoever. (Even in more modern lenses, this is not uncommon.)
Nonetheless, each individually hand-crafted and assembled lens is meticulously field-tested for any potential issues before even being considered viable for use and sale. (I will NOT "half-ass" such projects, as budget-minded and cost-effective as they are.)
Therefore, your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed, or you are welcome to ship this item back to me for a refund. No fuss, no drama, no hostility. (I am all about reasoned, level-headed Ebay relationships.)
WHAT IS THE OPTICAL FORMULA OF THE LENS? (ELEMENT NUMBER / GROUPING)
The glass elements implemented in the construction of this UV lens are based upon an air-spaced (no cemented elements) "triplet" optical formula (3 elements / 3 groups).
After years of experimentation with various optical configurations from piles of salvaged and re-purposed photographic parts, I have stumbled upon one of the more sought-after wishes of a UV photographer: A wider-angle UV-capable lens with surprisingly useful UV transmission down to about 330nm or so! (These facts were corroborated by using various narrow-bandpass filters set in an array for testing transmission depth, which is the "poor man's spectrometer" test, in a manner of speaking.) That's quite a surprise, and the "UV-colors" appear nearly identical in saturation in comparison shots between my 24mm UV lens and the highly-sought Kyoei / Kuribayashi or Novoflex Noflexar 35mm F/3.5 lenses, when white-balanced to a UV-neutral target such as PTFE / white Teflon.
ONCE AGAIN, PLEASE NOTE: On the 1.5x crop-factor sensor of a Sony E-Mount / NEX APS-C camera, this 24mm lens effectively becomes a 36mm lens. Still, as stated in my ad title, this is much wider than the Kyoei / Kuribayashi and Novoflex Noflexar 35mm UV-capable lenses (given that a 35mm lens becomes a 52.5mm-equivalent lens on the same camera). Hence, going from an equivalent 52.5mm to 36mm of focal length is undoubtedly a substantial widening of the angle of view. Therefore, I would definitely say that being able to use a resulting 36mm focal-length lens for deriving useful UV-landscapes and UV-macro photographs, alike, is certainly approaching into "wider" territory, compared to the majority of previously-implemented UV-capable lenses on the APS-C sensor format.
After years of experimentation with various optical configurations from piles of salvaged and re-purposed photographic parts, I have stumbled upon one of the more sought-after wishes of a UV photographer: A wider-angle UV-capable lens with surprisingly useful UV transmission down to about 330nm or so! (These facts were corroborated by using various narrow-bandpass filters set in an array for testing transmission depth, which is the "poor man's spectrometer" test, in a manner of speaking.) That's quite a surprise, and the "UV-colors" appear nearly identical in saturation in comparison shots between my 24mm UV lens and the highly-sought Kyoei / Kuribayashi or Novoflex Noflexar 35mm F/3.5 lenses, when white-balanced to a UV-neutral target such as PTFE / white Teflon.
ONCE AGAIN, PLEASE NOTE: On the 1.5x crop-factor sensor of a Sony E-Mount / NEX APS-C camera, this 24mm lens effectively becomes a 36mm lens. Still, as stated in my ad title, this is much wider than the Kyoei / Kuribayashi and Novoflex Noflexar 35mm UV-capable lenses (given that a 35mm lens becomes a 52.5mm-equivalent lens on the same camera). Hence, going from an equivalent 52.5mm to 36mm of focal length is undoubtedly a substantial widening of the angle of view. Therefore, I would definitely say that being able to use a resulting 36mm focal-length lens for deriving useful UV-landscapes and UV-macro photographs, alike, is certainly approaching into "wider" territory, compared to the majority of previously-implemented UV-capable lenses on the APS-C sensor format.
BUT HOW GOOD IS THE ACTUAL IMAGE QUALITY?
For a basic Triplet optical design, I'd say that the image results are sufficiently usable (especially within the center of the image frame), with gradual sharpness drop-off (moderate softening) towards the edges of the image frame (which is common for most lenses of a simple optical formula, anyway). There is also a subtle gradient-edge magenta color-shift present in visible-spectrum images (see the first image in this ad), but this phenomenon is mostly apparent in infinity-focus photographs. This optical effect does not show up in UV images, however. Furthermore, the moderate edge-softening and magenta-biased edge color-shift is completely eliminated when working with closer-focusing photographs (e.i. macro photography of closer subjects such as flowers). Actually, the magenta-biased edge color-shift present in infinity-focus visible-spectrum photographs can be easily removed with most image editors. And best of all, with closer-focusing use of this lens, I have not encountered any notable edge-softness at all. Indeed, this lens obtains surprisingly useful images, given its versatility! There is nothing to complain about, and you will be pleasantly surprised with its overall performance versus price.
According to well-established optical theory, an optimally-constructed triplet (Cooke) lens is the simplest-possible optical design that is capable of correcting all of the seven Seidel aberrations over a wide field of view. Hence, my idea was to design a lens using the LEAST amount of glass possible, in order to maximize on UV transmission, without extremely compromising on image quality (while allowing for only moderate corner-softening of the image frame).
However, I'll let the images in this ad speak for themselves, and you'd also have to experience this lens for yourself to grasp how sufficiently well it performs in the real world, as well as how fairly sharp of an image it renders, overall, despite it being composed of a relatively "primitive" optical formula.
Now, granted, don't expect this lens to produce the same level of superb razor-sharp rendering across the entire frame like specialized quartz-fluorite glass that costs thousands of dollars more. Let's be realistic, here. :-) However, for what it's worth ... you'd be hard-pressed to find any other optical configuration (especially at such a wider focal length and very deep UV-transmission) that would nonetheless provide VERY USABLE results, indeed.
The point is - we now have a wider-angle UV-capable lens for instant ultraviolet landscapes in a pinch, through a compact ("pancake") and no-frills build (easy to manually focus and highly resilient to flaring) that can certainly hold up to real-world demands ... when all attributes are considered (price versus performance) and one's expectations are realistic and restrained. With those constraints kept in mind, the 24mm F/3.5 "P.U.P.I.L." does respectably well for what it was intended to do, and THERE IS NO OTHER UV-CAPABLE LENS ON THE MARKET THAT IS QUITE LIKE IT, when factoring in the all-around balance and versatility of its design, capability, and cost.
MY PRICING IS AS REASONABLE AS IT CAN GET (WITHOUT ME ACTUALLY LOSING MONEY)
HONEST FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: It costs me an average of $80 in various parts to put each lens together, and then I turn around and sell each lens for $129! (Not counting my shipping/handling charge, of course, in which I include tracking and full insurance coverage to any destination in the USA). So, as you can see, I am only making a moderate profit (and I am not even factoring in the commission charges/fees, on top of this, which further minimize my resulting profit margin - meager as it is). Thus, I think for the price-point, this lens is extraordinary with its overall value. I am not seeking to price-gouge people, but rather to champion a more budget-friendly and accessible wider-angle lens to the UV community - especially newcomers to the game who do not want to "break the bank" just to get their feet wet.As you can see, I want to preserve my integrity, first-and-foremost, by being fully transparent with my dealings. And I feel that one of the more important convictions is to REFUSE to succumb to the temptation of price-gouging.
Hence, in short, my modest and fair profit is simply made for the time that I put into making each lens. That's it. If I'd ask for any lower of a price, I would either start breaking even or possibly even losing money on the sales of this lens.
REASONABLE SHIPPING & HANDLING CHARGES, TOO
For all USA residents, I have kept shipping & handling costs down to a modest $10, no matter what the destination. This $10 shipping & handling charge also factors in additional costs to me, such as including full-coverage insurance and free tracking, as well as expedited / priority shipping.
For international residents, shipping & handling costs will vary depending on destination (as well as any additional insurance and signature-confirmation options that I figure into the final shipping & handling charge, for your protection as well as mine). You can use the Ebay shipping calculator to determine your approximate shipping charge, by country / region (which I find to be quite reliable), or alternatively, you can contact me beforehand (before making your payment) if you have inquiries with regards to this process (including comparing all shipping options available to you). Regardless of destination, I will make certain to protect your investment through full insurance of the total value of the order, as well as supply tracking information.
I also pack each lens with the utmost care and protection in mind, padding the lens to shield it not only from the bumps and bruises of long-distance travel, but even complete sealing from moisture / humidity, too! (I utilize air-tight packaging materials, and humidity-absorbing desiccant packets.) Thus, this is about as big of a bargain as you will get! You can therefore be certain that your investment is protected to the utmost level of care in mind. I don't mess around!
Finally, I do not (and never will) inflate shipping & handling costs to unfair / unrealistic prices! Meaning, I do not make any additional / hidden profits in the shipping / handling costs. If, for any reason, there is substantial left-over income from my estimated shipping & handling charges, I will reimburse you that difference.
As stated earlier, I want to be a fair and transparent individual in all of my dealings. I am a reasonable person and I seek to form level-headed and honest relationships with other Ebay members, in order to cultivate an atmosphere of mutual trust between buyer and seller. I feel that so long as both, the buyer and the seller, conduct such relationships (through mutual understanding), then there is nothing that cannot be resolved.
For international residents, shipping & handling costs will vary depending on destination (as well as any additional insurance and signature-confirmation options that I figure into the final shipping & handling charge, for your protection as well as mine). You can use the Ebay shipping calculator to determine your approximate shipping charge, by country / region (which I find to be quite reliable), or alternatively, you can contact me beforehand (before making your payment) if you have inquiries with regards to this process (including comparing all shipping options available to you). Regardless of destination, I will make certain to protect your investment through full insurance of the total value of the order, as well as supply tracking information.
I also pack each lens with the utmost care and protection in mind, padding the lens to shield it not only from the bumps and bruises of long-distance travel, but even complete sealing from moisture / humidity, too! (I utilize air-tight packaging materials, and humidity-absorbing desiccant packets.) Thus, this is about as big of a bargain as you will get! You can therefore be certain that your investment is protected to the utmost level of care in mind. I don't mess around!
Finally, I do not (and never will) inflate shipping & handling costs to unfair / unrealistic prices! Meaning, I do not make any additional / hidden profits in the shipping / handling costs. If, for any reason, there is substantial left-over income from my estimated shipping & handling charges, I will reimburse you that difference.
As stated earlier, I want to be a fair and transparent individual in all of my dealings. I am a reasonable person and I seek to form level-headed and honest relationships with other Ebay members, in order to cultivate an atmosphere of mutual trust between buyer and seller. I feel that so long as both, the buyer and the seller, conduct such relationships (through mutual understanding), then there is nothing that cannot be resolved.
FOR NOW, I WILL BE SELLING THESE CUSTOM-BUILT LENSES FROM A HIGHLY-LIMITED STOCK
Why? Because supplies are currently limited, in themselves, and so is my current financial capital. However, should the interest and resulting buying response from the UV-community members show itself to be popular, then perhaps I will gain enough momentum to extend my production. (Maybe I'll fabricate a total of 20 to 30 lenses in all? Perhaps even 50 of them, if I am fortunate enough with my business endeavors)For the time being, I have enough supplies to successfully put together only a handful of these at a time, in any given month. (But again, that may change, if this offering proves to be more popular than anticipated, and I continue to find additional components to keep making these indefinitely).
Still, the fact remains that - ultimately- this WILL be a limited production run (when all is said and done, because the optical glass used in this design is NO LONGER BEING MANUFACTURED. So once the supplies are exhausted, they'll be gone forever.)
For added authenticity and a pinch of style: I have designated a serial-number labeling system for these hand-crafted and custom-tuned lenses. Serial # "SOE17001" was the very first sale-ready copy. For example: "SOE" refers to the "Sony E-mount" system that this UV lens for specifically designed for, and "17001" in this case being the numbering system which represents 2017 as the production year, and 001 as the incremental lens count for that production year.
Therefore, the lens which you purchase from me will be based on an incremental number that comes AFTER "17001", such as "17002", "17003", and so on. (Sorry, but I am keeping my first copy for myself. Haha. 😜)
WHAT ABOUT THE AVAILABILITY OF THIS LENS FOR OTHER CAMERA MOUNTS?
Yes, although the lens sold in this particular listing has been specifically designed for Sony NEX / E-mount mirrorless APS-C cameras, I am also currently selling two types of custom-built UV lens for Micro-4/3 cameras.If this interests you, here are the Ebay item numbers for both of them:
23mm F/6 UV lens (GEN-III release) for Micro-4/3 cameras: 272305146574
20mm F/4 UV lens (GEN-IV release) for Micro-4/3 cameras: 272473487936
Additionally, I have also heard some of your requests (those who have contacted me and/or have been in constant communication with me, regarding my ongoing experimentation and prototyping for other mirrorless camera systems), and I have also now successfully adapted this UV lens for the FUJI-X, Canon EOS-M, and Nikon-1 mirrorless camera platforms.
(I do not have any Ebay ads up at this time for these other three systems, because of highly-limited quantities and less public demand for these options for the time being, but feel free to contact me if you wish to purchase the Fuji-X, Canon EOS-M, or Nikon-1 versions of my UV lens. I can arrange for this alternate-system design, even though you would still pay for this item by using my existing sale listings).
Furthermore, although I will be sticking to mirrorless EVF-based camera systems for the time being, I am nonetheless continuing my ongoing research and development into the possibility of eventually adapting my custom-built UV lens for DSLR cameras. However, because of the additional technical hurdles which still need to be overcome when trying to adapt this lens to traditional DSLRs with larger FFDs (flange focus distances) and a flapping mirror, this has thus far been a challenge for me. But rest assured, that if my DSLR-adapted projects are a satisfying success (without any compromises), I will accordingly put these UV lenses up for sale, as well.
For those who wish to remain in contact with me, in order to receive constant updates of my progress, please message me through Ebay and I would be glad to exchange emails and make some new friends. :-)
PLEASE REMEMBER .....
You will need a "full-spectrum-modified" camera, as well as specific types of optical filters (cut to proper thicknesses, no less), in order to make use of this lens for its dedicated purposes. Thus, it is implied that you are well-rounded and properly-trained in understanding how to obtain and implement such mandatory devices and accessories, in order to use this lens for UV-A photography.
Granted, the 24mm F/3.5 "PUPIL" lens can take fairly-decent "normal" images, too. But ... given its exceptional UV-transmission depth, its "talents" would be wasted on any other use besides what its construction was specifically intended for.
LET ME STRESS THIS ONE FINAL TIME: This particular custom-built UV lens is exclusively designed for the Sony NEX / E-mount APS-C crop-sensor camera (It will exhibit moderate vignetting in the corners, when forced into use on a Full-Frame Sony camera). Thus, it is your responsibility to be aware of this fact. But you are certainly welcome to send me an inquiry, for further information (or even request a sample photo to show you how images appear through this lens when used on a Full-Frame sensor, versus an APS-C crop sensor).
Granted, the 24mm F/3.5 "PUPIL" lens can take fairly-decent "normal" images, too. But ... given its exceptional UV-transmission depth, its "talents" would be wasted on any other use besides what its construction was specifically intended for.
LET ME STRESS THIS ONE FINAL TIME: This particular custom-built UV lens is exclusively designed for the Sony NEX / E-mount APS-C crop-sensor camera (It will exhibit moderate vignetting in the corners, when forced into use on a Full-Frame Sony camera). Thus, it is your responsibility to be aware of this fact. But you are certainly welcome to send me an inquiry, for further information (or even request a sample photo to show you how images appear through this lens when used on a Full-Frame sensor, versus an APS-C crop sensor).
NEED ADDITIONAL HELP, OR HAVE ANY LINGERING QUESTIONS AND/OR COMMENTS ???
I strongly recommend checking out ultravioletphotography-dot-com as a high-quality resource for all things UV (and IR) photography, including starter guides / tips (for newcomers), techniques and insights, common Q & A's, various discussion threads (where inquiries can also be posted), tons of incredible photographic examples and formal archives of various members, and many other useful resources!
In addition to this, I offer myself available as a willing (when time permits) mentor, and would be more than happy to aid you in your endeavor (even BEYOND this initial sale!) You will grow to see that I immensely CARE about people, and truly LOVE helping others (pending the limits of my own abilities and knowledge, of course, since I am always learning new things as well).
Thus, feel free to remain in contact with me BEYOND this Ebay sale, if that is something that interests you. I have even started a Facebook group dedicated to all things alternate-spectrum photography (UV, IR, and beyond). Ask me, and I will give you additional info. I aim to make great new friends, and establish life-time contacts of mutual interests!
I consider myself an active member of the UV / IR community, but I am by no means some "guru" or "expert." FAR from it. However, I can refer you to those who are "seasoned veterans" of the game (who were there right from the very beginning), if you so wish it.
In addition to this, I offer myself available as a willing (when time permits) mentor, and would be more than happy to aid you in your endeavor (even BEYOND this initial sale!) You will grow to see that I immensely CARE about people, and truly LOVE helping others (pending the limits of my own abilities and knowledge, of course, since I am always learning new things as well).
Thus, feel free to remain in contact with me BEYOND this Ebay sale, if that is something that interests you. I have even started a Facebook group dedicated to all things alternate-spectrum photography (UV, IR, and beyond). Ask me, and I will give you additional info. I aim to make great new friends, and establish life-time contacts of mutual interests!
I consider myself an active member of the UV / IR community, but I am by no means some "guru" or "expert." FAR from it. However, I can refer you to those who are "seasoned veterans" of the game (who were there right from the very beginning), if you so wish it.