30 IS THE NEW 50

Following a bit of a dry period photographically, I decided to cheer myself up with a quick surf on ebay for a cheap lens. As the Samsung NX series has been discontinued in 2015, there is often kit available fairly reasonably, due to its obsolescence. A quick look revealed two NX lenses - both 30mm pancakes and both starting at under a fiver. One was a black version, cosmetically sound, but untested. The other was the white version, in poor condition for parts or not working. The white one had clearly suffered a little and the front mount was missing. I decided to have bid on the black one, for a small amount, but was quickly outbid. So I looked at the white one again and made a cursory offer of £10.00. My offer was accepted and the lens arrived yesterday. Meanwhile the black untested one finished its run at £51.00!
On receiving the lens, apart from the missing ring on the front, it seemed to be in good order, so I mounted it on the camera. It hummed, clicked and then the dreaded 'Error 100' message appeared and the camera promptly shut down. The error message either relates to a communication issue with the lens, or a problem with the motor drive. Previously, I had found a Youtube video of someone opening up the lens to remove a small piece of plastic lodged in the gears, so I tried to examine the lens myself. 

Very shortly, I realised i'd bitten off more than I could chew, as fragile ribbon cables snaked between the various parts making it difficult to access the internals. After a check of the gearing, I re-assembled it and tested it again. Same issue. I suspected that one of the cables may have severed and that the reason the front ring was missing, was because someone had opened it up before. Admitting defeat, I wrote off my £10 gamble and sat back, sipping coffee. 

Although these lenses are all autofocus, the outer knurled ring can be rotated to fine tune or manually focus a shot. Fiddling with the focus ring, I realised I could still use it as a manual lens, so popped the body open again and stripped out the electrical contacts and the motor. After some careful reassembly, I found the central lens element would move back and to in response. As I have several NX cameras, I have three spare 50mm lenses, so I took the oldest, popped off the front ring mount and trimmed the latches slightly to fit the 30mm. A little glue and everything was ready to go! Naturally, there is no aperture control, so I have to shoot wide open at F2. 

Taking it out for a test run this afternoon, I found it to be ideal for casual shooting, with the ring being a little stiff at first, but using lens view on the camera back, able to get a pin sharp focus.
Colour rendition and detail are excellent, like most of the Samsung line and its small size and wide field of view make it a great fit for street photography, or to just carry around.
It fits in neatly with my other Samsung native lenses, between the 50mm and 16 mm Pancake on the right of this picture. I just need a proper road trip now to give it a good workout! 









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