The Dallmeyer Super-Six 102mm f1.9 can’t really be found very affordably on eBay.
We’re betting that most of you haven’t heard of the Dallmeyer Super-Six 102mm f1.9. We’ve talked about it before, though, and have seen a few crazy mods for it. But this rare one is for Sony E mount. Better yet, it has full-frame coverage. So if you adore vintage glass, then get your wallet ready. Actually, get the money bags out–because you’ll need them. This particular Dallmeyer Super-Six 102mm f1.9 lens is going for a cool $59,000. With bokeh like this, you don’t need a college education, rent, a car, vegetables, or house renovations. All you need is to fall in love with dem buttery smooth tones.
Before you ask, we searched eBay for more of these lenses. None came up. But the similar lenses are also very pricey too.
“Not much is known about the Dallmeyer lenses apart from the high regard by lens collectors and the astronomical prices they usually fetch today. A quick Google search, however, led to a forum post about a Dallmeyer Super Six 102mm f1.9 lens. There, we learned that these rare lenses were made in a special double gauss design by English lens company J.H. Dallmeyer. They have six elements in four groups, and were made with “extremely expensive rare earth glasses” that earned them the designation “Super Six.” A series of these lenses, which the item on sale most likely belongs to, ranged from one inch to about eight inches in mostly quarter inch increments. All had the same design with a maximum aperture of f1.9.”
A quote from This Rare Dallmeyer Super Six 125mm f1.9 Lens Converted to Hasselblad V Mount Is Up for Grabs on eBay
Blogger Toby Marshall claims that the Dallmeyer Super-Six 102mm f1.9 has a unique look. What’s more, it covers a 6×9 medium format area. That’s bigger than 6×7, 6×6, and 645 formats. The 645 format is the biggest medium format digital option that’s commercially available. On the 6×9 format, MMCalc tells us that you’ll get around a 45mm f0.77 equivalency. But on full-frame 35mm cameras, it will render a 102mm f1.9 scene. That’s both very unique and rare. There are images to support that over at Ugly Hedgehog.
The specific lens listed by jbintervintage comes with an adapter for the Sony E mount. And the images on the listing were shot on the Sony a7r II. It’s undoubtedly got a unique look to it. There’s also not much that can compare. Sigma has a monster 105mm f1.4 for E mount. There’s also their 135mm f1.8 G Master, that’s very good. However, we’ve heard that folks like the character of the older Sony 135mm f1.8 more. There’s also the Zeiss 135mm f2.8 Batis. Of course, none of them are as expensive as the Super-Six. Personally, I’d love to use this on Fujifilm GFX cameras. The vintage look combined with Fujifilm’s Film Simulations is way too tempting to pass up. Just imagine a portrait in Classic Chrome! That’s basically an 81mm f1.4 lens equivalency!
If you purchase this vintage lens, then you’re going to have trouble using it. It’s a manual focus telephoto lens. In our experience, these lenses are best used with tripods. Turning the focusing ring will move the lens and camera otherwise. That makes stability not very useful even with IBIS.
Further, Sony’s autofocus peaking isn’t spectacular. You need to use focus peaking, the magnification feature, and your eyes. When something is sharp enough for you, go ahead and shoot.
Be sure to check out the listing. All images are from jbintervintage.
