Gallery: Porst Color Reflex MC Auto 55 mm f/1.2

Pekka Buttler – November 2026

[Featured image: “OH-COOl”, Porst Color Reflex MC Auto @f/8]

You can access the lens’ data sheet here.

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Take 1

Time and place: Finnish Aviation Museum. 11.07.2025 between 9 and 11 am.
It was an overcast summer day.
Sony ⍺7R2, K&F Pentax K ->NEX adapter, Ports Color Reflex MC Auto 55 mm f/1.2 lens (pictured). All shots in RAW, handheld with IBIS on. AWB.
Edit in post: ACR default conversion only¹, straighten, resize to 2k, save as JPEG quality 60.
Shots are ISO 100 unless stated differently.

Some comments on the Finnish Aviation Museum.

Because the topic of these images might raise questions, let me try to pre-empt some of those questions.

Finland has a surprisingly distinguished place in the history of aviation, particularly considering its relatively small population. Aviation arrived early: the first powered aeroplane flight in Finland took place in 1911, and the country established its own air force in 1918, making it one of the world’s oldest independent air forces.

Finland also developed a notable domestic aviation industry, most prominently through Valtion lentokonetehdas (VL), which produced military aircraft from the 1920s onwards, including the VL Myrsky fighter. During the Second World War, the Finnish Air Force earned a considerable reputation for its effectiveness despite operating with limited resources.

Finland’s contribution extends beyond military aviation. Finnair, founded as Aero Oy in 1923, is one of the world’s oldest continuously operating airlines. Finland also has a long tradition of aviation engineering, maintenance and aircraft manufacturing, although it never developed an aircraft industry on the scale of Sweden’s Saab.

Today, Finland is perhaps best characterised as a country with an unusually long and distinguished aviation tradition, rather than a major aircraft-manufacturing nation. That tradition is however (currently) not reflected correctly by the Finnish Aviation Museum, which is located in a couple of old hangar buildings next to the Helsinki-Vantaa International airport.

The Finnish Aviation Museum has a significant collection of airplanes and air traffic-related paraphernalia, which it is currently not able to display well. To say that the museum is cramped is a significant understatement (some of the images below will illustrate the 3D-puzzle that has been needed to place the current machines on display), hence also a well-preserved DC-3 as well as a decommissioned MIG-21 bis fighter are standing in the open air.

The Aviation Museum has long had plans for a new, more suitable premises but for many years the project stood waiting for funding. Now construction has slowly started on the adjacent plot, and assuming no major hiccups, the new museum should open in 2027 or 2028. Personally, I hope that the new museum will also offer better lighting conditions, because the current museum facilities can by no means be said to be well illuminated.

P.S. I have also attempted to caption the images so that the object of the photo is also mentioned. Sadly, I cannot remember every detail (these pictures were taken 16 months ago).

1. No changes to exposure or colours, no sharpening, no denoising, no defringing. License plates and identifying marks retouched when necessary. ↩︎