Superb combination of the nice flare and sharpness of #1! The overall rendition of the lens looks elegant: sharp but not harsh.
The background bokeh of #3 might suggest that the lens was stopped down a bit, but that is no more than a nit-pick.
Yes, indeed Akira, I am quite pleased myself about that special redition, you descibed that very well! That lens is pre-stopped down, so dows not open up to a complete round circle, the aperture blades are visible at f4.5 already. I guess it was done to reach certain design parameters for that chip making process. The only little downside it has (aside from its weight).
Beautiful results again, Klaus. This lens apparently has an iris...but did you need to add ND filtration for the shot containing the sun?
Yes Keith, it has an adjustable iris to f32. It was late in the evening just before sunset, and having an electronic shutter to 1/16000 sec, was enough to handle the sunlight, also since it is a not too fast lens at f4.5 [I do use ND filters, rear mounted within the adapter, on fast projection lenses though...]