Lockdown Boredom and Old Manual Lenses

Mozziephotography

Mozziephotography

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Unable to snap runners on the road, trails and fells ... I've resorted to watching a few more vloggers. Came across one who is into antique lenses and decided that an old, manual lens would be just the thing. A bit of creativity to get the juices flowing.
Managed to be the winning bidder on a Yashinon 50mm f1.7 and £20 later, I'm the proud owner of a very decent manual lens with some interesting bokeh. Did I stop there? Oh no.
I now own various lenses from the 70's and quite an inexpensive bunch they are.
Time to stop?
Watched a video about a Nikon FM camera and for some strange reason ... I WANT ONE!
That's a film camera. You haven't put film through a camera and developed it since the late 80's.
How do I stop myself from buying one?
Is there something I can buy from the chemists?
HELP?

Has anyone got a Nikon FM hiding in a cupboard somewhere that they don't use anymore?

STOP IT!
 
I briefly tried film era Olympus Zuiko lenses on my Canon 5D and decided it was a joyless experience as DSLR's usually just aren't built for it. Since going mirrorless I've added to my little collection and now have Minolta Rokkor, Olympus Zuiko, Canon FD, Nikon and some third party lenses in those mounts.

I think mirrorless is the digital way to go if you like using manual lenses as if you have the time to do it manual focusing with a greatly magnified view is arguably the most accurate way to do it and you can also do zone, hyperfocal and Merklinger method as the mood takes you.

I've even bought some modern manual lenses. I intended these to replace some of the old film era lenses which I could then try to sell but so far I've kept everything.

I have AF lenses which I tend to use more because they're very often "better" than the old lenses and of course they're much quicker to take pictures with and that's important to me if I'm with someone else as I really don't want to be the geek with the camera slowing everything and everyone up. When I manage to get out by myself though I'll possibly pick a manual lens for the extra involvement, because they're just lovely thinks to use and some of them give a different look than you'll get from modern lenses.

I don't feel the same about film though. I originally stuk to film when everyone else was going digital but I gave up in exasperation as the quality of prints I got back nosedived. I assumed they'd cut costs to compete with digital. Anyway, whatever the reason that was that and I went digital. I briefly thought about going back but that only lasted a couple of months, if that. For me the best scenario is a manual lens on a mirrorless camera.
 
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woof woof said:
I think mirrorless is the digital way to go if you like using manual lenses as if you have the time to do it manual focusing with a greatly magnified view is arguably the most accurate way to do it and you can also do zone, hyperfocal and Merklinger method as the mood takes you.
Click to expand...

I struggle greatly with MF on my film SLRs. However I get *significantly* better results with rangefinder focussing. The patch eliminates a lot of the guesswork for me and it's much quicker than live view on mirrorless. However focus peaking on the Fuji X-T2 is also very good and I've got pretty good results with that.
 
For me the advantages of mirrorless over RF's is that you can focus accurately anywhere in the frame and it'll stand up to extreme pixel peeping... if you have the time to focus accurately.

I find peaking to be quite accurate at wide apertures as not much peaks but at smaller apertures I personally find it next to useless as just about everything peaks and results often IMO don't stand up to pixel peeping or even just close viewing. If I haven't got time to focus accurately I'd rather use good old zone focus or shoot hyperfocally and of course you can sometimes pre focus.
 
I've probably added to my collection since I took this.

aPT1FGf.jpg


These are the modern lenses that were meant to replace them but have only added...

P1040796-C.jpg

One last one. My Sony A7 with a lovely Nippon Kogaku 50mm f2 mounted via a cheap adapter.

Jnzf7HW.jpg
 
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You don't have to have a film cam to use old MF lenses. Many Nikon DSLR bodies will accept older MF lenses, and work perfectly. I have 24, 50 and 135mm MF lenses from my film days (plus a damaged 80-200 f4 I'd like to get fixed). I've used all of them on digital, and they give excellent results. I have even used them on my latest tech Z6. But because of this compatibility, old Nikon MF lenses are a lot more expensive s/h than other brands. Better than most, mind... ;)
 
It'll pass I suppose. Must admit, miss being up in the loft trying to fit the end of the roll of film into the developing tank. Seeing the image appear in the developing try never failed to amaze me. Easily pleased.
 
mossienet said:
It'll pass I suppose. Must admit, miss being up in the loft trying to fit the end of the roll of film into the developing tank. Seeing the image appear in the developing try never failed to amaze me. Easily pleased.
Click to expand...

There's nothing quite like that magic...
 
woof woof said:
I've probably added to my collection since I took this.

aPT1FGf.jpg


These are the modern lenses that were meant to replace them but have only added...

View attachment 280870

One last one. My Sony A7 with a lovely Nippon Kogaku 50mm f2 mounted via a cheap adapter.

Jnzf7HW.jpg
Click to expand...

This is great. I couldn't own that many but it's good to see someone else with the disease
 
LeeRatters said:
This is great. I couldn't own that many but it's good to see someone else with the disease
Click to expand...

It's a cheap hobby. I enjoy reading about them and deciding what to buy and looking for a good one at a good price. Once I've got a new one it gives me a push to get out and use it and then I get to see how the pictures look and any differences to other similar spec lenses. I also look forward to getting the first picture I really like and when I get it I tell myself that it's justified the money and time I spent.

I think I'm done buying old lenses now. There's one Minolta Rokkor 35mm f2.8 I keep thinking of getting but I'm trying to stop myself.
 
woof woof said:
It's a cheap hobby. I enjoy reading about them and deciding what to buy and looking for a good one at a good price. Once I've got a new one it gives me a push to get out and use it and then I get to see how the pictures look and any differences to other similar spec lenses. I also look forward to getting the first picture I really like and when I get it I tell myself that it's justified the money and time I spent.

I think I'm done buying old lenses now. There's one Minolta Rokkor 35mm f2.8 I keep thinking of getting but I'm trying to stop myself.
Click to expand...

I've sold a lot of mine over the past few years. FD 28, 50 1.4 & 1.8, 85. Pentagon 50, various Helios 44M's, 135's, Yashica's have come and gone..... Probably more..... Kept my Yashica 28, 50/1.9 for my Yashica and Sony. Just bought a Contax Carl Zeiss 80-200/4 and it has both made and allowed me to shoot in different ways and styles.
 
woof woof said:
I've probably added to my collection since I took this.

aPT1FGf.jpg


These are the modern lenses that were meant to replace them but have only added...

View attachment 280870

One last one. My Sony A7 with a lovely Nippon Kogaku 50mm f2 mounted via a cheap adapter.

Jnzf7HW.jpg
Click to expand...
wOw Alan, mega lenses there, simply awesome....! What are the make of those three modern lenses in a row, they look the business...!

Stunning collection Sir.

Regards;
Peter
 
I'm glad you like them Peter.

The modern ones are Sony mount Voigtlanders. Left to right they're 35mm f1.4, 40mm f1.2 and 50mm f2 APO Lanthar.

The 35mm is possibly the most interesting as it's an updated version of the 35mm classic but I'd say the modern one is by far the better lens. At f1.4 it can best be described as "classic" or maybe funky :D but the look does depend on the subject, the background and the distances. When stopping down it becomes much less classic or funky and I'd say that by f2 it isn't really either of those. The very extreme corners are never good but you'd really have to look very closely to see. It really is a nice lens and is so compact.

Here it is on my A7.

CnD4wDX.jpg


The 40mm f1.2 gives a much more modern look and the 50mm f2 is a very good lens indeed and is the best 50mm lens I've ever had the pleasure to use.

They've just brought out an E mount 35mm f1.2 SE (Stills Edition) in a slightly different body to mine and they'll shortly bring out E mount 40 and 50mm f1.2's in the same style. They lack declick facilities but will be a bit smaller, possibly a bit lighter and a bit cheaper too.
 
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woof woof said:
I have AF lenses which I tend to use more because they're very often "better" than the old lenses and of course they're much quicker to take pictures with and that's important to me if I'm with someone else as I really don't want to be the geek with the camera slowing everything and everyone up. When I manage to get out by myself though I'll possibly pick a manual lens for the extra involvement, because they're just lovely thinks to use and some of them give a different look than you'll get from modern lenses.
Click to expand...

This exactly
I started with digital, a Pentax K20 and fell in love with old Pentax manual glass. I thought that there were some stunning images taken between 1950 and 1990 that I loved the look of. It made me start to look at manual glass.
Manual glass on a Pentax is a pain, so I bought an a6000 for the EVF which was a revalation to me and led to an a7r2. Mirrorless makes manual glass easier with the focus peaking and zooming in for focus.
Eventually I bought a 24-105 AF lens as my wife was tired of waiting around for me to take the damn photo.
Like you, when I'm on my own I always take out manual glass, I love the feeling that I'm making a photo rather than just pressing a button.
I still find the focusing process time consuming, but enjoyable.
My current favourite lenses
Cosina 55mm F1. 2
SMC K 30mm F2. 8
I found a lens I forgot I had, a SMC K series 135mm F2. 5, getting to know that one again is my summer project
Old lenses produce a different look, it's worth exploring them
 
I shoot with both film and digital, mainly digital, and tend to keep the two separate. With one major exception. If I want a 100mm lens on my digital, I turn to my Olympus Zuiko 100mm silver-nose. So much so that I have no dedicated digital lens longer than 70mm.
 
Has anyone used Leica M mount lenses on a Nikon Z cam, via adapters?
 
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