43Rumors is one of my favorite sites and I visit it daily. The other day the site featured the Pergear 35mm f1.2 lens for $109.00. I had just finished a CLA on a vintage Canon 50mm 1.2 39mm thread mount lens and a Minolta 58mm 1.2 lens. I was thinking of doing a comparison of the two lenses and this lens entered the scene. I went to the Amazon site and there were only three available. By the time I decided to buy one, the availability was down to one! It took just a few days to get to my door (yesterday) and I was surprised of what came with it. See the photo below, and no, the Pen-F and hand-grip did not come with it.

Besides the lens, there was also: front cap, rear cap, cushioned drawstring bag, aluminum lens hood and a small blower.

First Impressions (Good)

• Love the aluminum lens hood.
• The lens seems well built. It appears to be of all metal construction.
• The glass is very clean with not a speck of dust inside.
• It looks great on the silver Pen-F!
• This could be good or bad but the aperture ring was "click-less". Good for video, a hassle for stills.

First Impressions (Not so Good)

• When mounted, the center of the lens markings do not line up with the top of the lens mount! (first photo below)
• Though the focus is smooth it has a definite stop before the infinity mark is reached. It takes additional torque to get the lens to focus at infinity. (second photo below)

Off-centered mountOff-centered mount

The focus ring stopped at this point and required more force to reach an infinity focus.

Going outside I took some photos in my garden. The first photo you see below is taken at 1/8000 and f1.2 and the focus is on the bush in the foreground. I think the separation is nice and the bokeh at f 1.2 is there even though I am quite far from the focused subject.

The first photo of the bottles was shot at  f1.2 and I am very pleased with the clarity and sharpness of the lens. The second photo was taken at f4.0 and the third at f8.0. Even at f8.0 the bokeh is still quite nice.

Taken at f1.2

Taken at f4.0

Taken at f8

I was also impressed with the close focusing of this lens. The minimal distance is around 9". The photo of the flowers below was taken at f8.o.

Next I did a quick test for corner fall off. The first photo of my garage door shows a slight vignette at 1.2, nearly gone at f4.0 (second photo) and disappears at f8.0 (third photo).

Personal Conclusions:

• For $109.00, this lens is a steal!
• The best use of this lens would be for portraits or indoor candids.
• The two things that really bother me on this lens is the off-center marking alignment and the hesitation in the lens when focusing to infinity.

I am looking forward to adding this to my vintage 1.2 lens tests. I think it will, optically, do quite well. It does look great on the Pen-F!