5 (random) frames of Bruxelles with a MIR-1B, a Pentax ME Super and a Kodak TMax400

The late hours of a day are dangerous times, because this is when the mind, lacking tasks, begins to look for a way to keep itself busy. To make a long story short, this is why, against what the common sense would have suggested, I decided to take a stroll in a (very) cold winter evening along and around Avenue Louise in Bruxelles to test a MIR-1B 37/2.8 mounted on a TMAX 400 loaded Pentax ME Super with an M42 adapter.

As much as this is not a ‘field test’, I was unfair to the lens because I used it in challenging conditions, starting with the fact that shooting handheld at night made it mandatory to open the lens up to F2,8.

Focusing in the dark gives unpredictable results. Perhaps the ME’s viewfinder wasn’t bright enough, or (more likely) it was my eyes that weren’t working properly, but the fact is that misfocusing is likely to happen.

Speaking of focus, like other Russian-made lenses I’ve seen, the M1-B has a very stiff focus ring that makes it difficult to focus quickly. However, if there is enough light, it is possible to get a decently sharp photograph.

I don’t quite understand the reason for odd focal lengths, such as 37mm in this case. I am not against trying different FOV, but it is hard to see a difference with a standard 35mm.

The lens has no visible distortion and does not look soft at wide apertures, but it should be noted that the corners are very dark and the softness can be masked by shadows.

This is another example of how the MIR-1B reacts to flaring. With the same caveat just given, it looks like the result is good enough.

Instead of using the LS4000, in this case I went back to DSLR scanning with a Pentax K1 and a Pentax SMC 100/2.8 Macro and used a standalone application, Smarconvert, to get a positive image.

I still need to learn how to use it properly, but it seems to work better with colour film than black and white.

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