Hanimex 135 mm f/ 2.8 Automatic MC Macro Lens

This Hanimex is an inexpensive "generic" lens from Japan - mine is in PK mount.

However there are several reasons to look at this as a good buy to use today:

[1] F2.8 aperture - makes manual focusing easier - especially with a mirrorless camera

[2] It does something I have not seen before in another lens - the front element of the lens focuses out with a second focus grip ring to increase the close-focus ability. This alone makes this a great choice for the camera bag and makes me wonder why the idea wasn't copied elsewhere.

[3] Lovely smooth mechanics and external finish in a lens more than 3 decades old.

[4] long focus throw  (coupled with F2.8 brightness) makes it easy to focus with a split screen aid

Weaknesses:

Not at the top "high-end" lens contrast (only my NIKKOR primes manage that) - but good enough for film and certainly fine for digital editing.

It is hard to make a bad 135mm lens when the main design of 4-5 elements in 4 groups was optimised in the 1930s in Germany and so subsequent makers in the 1980s could copy these successful designs patent-free. This is in contrast to wide angle and zoom lens designs which were optimised later on in the 1970s-1990s and so had patent protection against copying. I certainly have never failed to find an acceptale IQ from such as lens as long as it had been well cared for and had avoided haze, dust, fungus and being dropped.

I have the perception from other reports of Hanimex lenses that quality control is not the best - as there are many reports of significant variation between qualities of the same model lens. More likley is that this represents poor handling on behalf of the previous owner of the lens!

Comments:

I simply cannot understand how the previous member scored this as only 1 star for mechanical quality. This is 5/5- far better, for example, than a Nikon series E. The focus is butter smooth and aperture ring is positive while the PK mount is positive without movement. Overall an interesting lens because of the innovative approach to close focus.

Get a well-cared for one and I suspect that you may find it a regular in your camera bag. At the current prices they are certainly worth a try out. I paid £5.50 GBP plus postage in 2017.