This happens a lot with old lenses meant for film. Amusingly, that was a desired effect at the time. It's even more appropriate for a lens made for NASA as a proper lens will render out of focus elements with sharp-ish edges. Refer to the issues with Hubble.
I have some old summiluxes and one summicron that do the same thing on my current digital cameras and, while it's not the "creamy bokeh" many people pursue today, it's a characteristic of the equipment. This was a time when asph lenses were either insanely expensive (although, I seem to remember these lenses were in the $100k range at the time, which is beyond insane) or unavailable.
As with any aberration or distortion (including creamy bokeh) it can be a benefit or a disadvantage. Sometimes you want to eliminate or obscure the background and sometimes you want to remind people that the background is there.
If you talk to someone in a room lit by candles, you're going to have dozens or hundreds of little light sources beside and around them. They're going to catch your eye and, if you wear glasses, you're going to flare.
Comments
This happens a lot with old lenses meant for film. Amusingly, that was a desired effect at the time. It's even more appropriate for a lens made for NASA as a proper lens will render out of focus elements with sharp-ish edges. Refer to the issues with Hubble.
I have some old summiluxes and one summicron that do the same thing on my current digital cameras and, while it's not the "creamy bokeh" many people pursue today, it's a characteristic of the equipment. This was a time when asph lenses were either insanely expensive (although, I seem to remember these lenses were in the $100k range at the time, which is beyond insane) or unavailable.
As with any aberration or distortion (including creamy bokeh) it can be a benefit or a disadvantage. Sometimes you want to eliminate or obscure the background and sometimes you want to remind people that the background is there.
If you talk to someone in a room lit by candles, you're going to have dozens or hundreds of little light sources beside and around them. They're going to catch your eye and, if you wear glasses, you're going to flare.