Porst Weitwinkel 35mm 2.8

Did you know Weitwinkel means "wide" in German? Did you know Porst and Revue rebranded lenses and resold them? Oftentimes you won't know what you get.

I love rainy days, and most of my visits to Germany were accompanied by a lot of rain! This lens found its way to me at a Flohmarkt, together with some songs being sung at me in English by two German gentlemen (in good humour).

Mechanically, the lens is in very good condition. Optically it has a bit of dust, but nothing serious. I didn't feel compelled to open and clean it.

This is one of my older reviews, so the format is a bit weird. Sorry about that.

Wide open (f2.8)

When I took this lens out and took a few shots wide open, I SCREAMED AT THE SKY. Just joking, but I really didn't like it. It has strong vignetting and a generally "glowy" feel. Center sharpness is not that good. I didn't really expect that from a prime. Corner sharpness is even worse.

Plot twist: after getting a feel for the lens, shooting at all apertures and all that jazz, I actually started liking the results wide open. Most of my shots with it after that turning point were wide open. That vignetting makes small woodland paths look magical and mysterious!

Stopped down

Stopping down this lens does wonders for it. Sharpness improves drastically by f5.6, becoming quite usable by f8. Goodbye to all that vignetting and that funky glow. Goodbye to any semblance of character.

Distortion and bokeh

There's something I'm not really sure about. When shot wide open, this lens produced a slight swirl to its bokeh, making the subject pop out and stand out.

It produces a slightly swirly bokeh. I quite like it, although it gets pretty busy at times.

Color and saturation

Natural colors. Contrast is better than I expected. That's saying something, since I did enjoy this lens wide open most of the time.

I'm sitting on the fence with this one. It can be found cheap, since it's not one of the big names. I'm still not sure if it's actually worth the money. Even when it's cheap compared to Takumars and Flektogons, overall this lens is in a different league: a lower one. If you're looking for a cheap wide option, go for it. If you enjoy heavy vignetting, this is the lens for you. I usually don't, but I had a lot of fun with it!