Kodak Anastigmat «Kodar» 1:6,3 f=10,5 cm Review

Kodak manufactures this lens. I installed it on a simple and cheap camera. The first Kodar lenses have a triplet design, but after the 30-s have been simplified to dual meniscus lenses (periscopic type). My copy has a design of an unsymmetrical periscopic doublet. This design has reduced the cost of the lens.

The lens is assembled in the Kodak shutter. The diaphragm has 10 blades. The lens design has a front element focusing. On the first element, barrel specified range focus from 1.5 m to infinity. 

I mount this lens on Nikon D3100 using a focusing helicoid.

Kodar 1:6,3 f=10,5 cm. Sample Photos

All photos are made wide open—the contrast in some photos edited, in some without postprocessing. 

The lens is not easy to use. A small aperture makes it easy to focus on a sunny day, but when overcast, we have to aim well until the point of focus confirmation lights up.

MFD

Render is not bad, but the bokeh nothing special.

Among the shortcomings can be noted that the lens has low contrast. And to get acceptable quality levels, you have to cheat shadows in the RAW converter, which leads to color distortion. So photos taken with this lens look better in black and white. 

Render reminded vintage amateur photos. It has its own special charm.

When I got this lens, I thought that there was nothing special about it. But look at the captured photo, and saw in it a special softness. Personally, I think the picture is nicer than a triplet. When I disassemble the lens, I counted only two elements, which confirmed my suspicions. The periscopic design gives a nice soft character.

Summary

Kodak Anastigmat «Kodar» 1: 6,3 f = 10,5 cm interesting primarily for its unsymmetrical periscopic doublet design. It gives a nice soft image but poorly transmits the contrast of colors. Therefore, it is better to use black-and-white photography.