M42 Lens Recommendations - Update

danny_bhoy said:
That definitely something to mull over but I've kinda psyched myself up for this model now:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141923733054?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
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That model has greater contrast and "pop", although both share a similar Sonnar formula. The Contax version above is quite a bit bigger and heavier however. Ebay sold prices indicate between £80-£130. The older AE version (which is identifiable by not having the minimum aperture number painted green) is usually a bit cheaper as it has "ninja" aperture blades which *can* produce some awkward bokeh balls. It never bothered me personally!
 
manualfocus-g said:
That model has greater contrast and "pop", although both share a similar Sonnar formula. The Contax version above is quite a bit bigger and heavier however. Ebay sold prices indicate between £80-£130. The older AE version (which is identifiable by not having the minimum aperture number painted green) is usually a bit cheaper as it has "ninja" aperture blades which *can* produce some awkward bokeh balls. It never bothered me personally!
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I kinda like big and heavy when it comes to lenses so that would be more of a selling point for me than a disadvantage. As I'm finding with a lot of older lenses there seems to be loads of variants of this lens! Pretty darn confusing. The model I've linked to above, which is the one I'd really like, seems to be going for minimum £160.
 
If your staring budgets for adapted glass is north of £100/lens there are a lot of options.

Another thing to bear in mind, if you're on a crop sensor 135mm is a long focal length. For head and shoulders portraits of my nephews using the CZJ S 135/3.5 on a 40D, by the time I got the background separation I wanted I was out in the corridor shooting through the doorway. It's tough to get interaction with the subject under those circumstances. The 135mm length is excellent for portraits on a full frame camera, but more limited with a crop. The more natural focal length is 85mm but these tend to be a little harder to find and more expensive - getting very expensive for good ones faster than f/2.8. If you're not on crop frame, you need to be very careful choosing lenses.

There are a couple of forums with good adapted lens coverage, mflenses covers nothingbut adapted glass, fujix-forum is Fuji specific but shares the adapted lens section with a sister Sony forum and there are quite a few of us there that are very particular about our adapted glass:D

If you're serious about adapted glass, you really need to be shooting mirrorless - either the Fuji X-E2 (APS-C), one of the APS-C Sonys or one of the Sony A7 bodies (full-frame). It gives you a lot more options.
 
Alastair said:
If your staring budgets for adapted glass is north of £100/lens there are a lot of options.

Another thing to bear in mind, if you're on a crop sensor 135mm is a long focal length. For head and shoulders portraits of my nephews using the CZJ S 135/3.5 on a 40D, by the time I got the background separation I wanted I was out in the corridor shooting through the doorway. It's tough to get interaction with the subject under those circumstances. The 135mm length is excellent for portraits on a full frame camera, but more limited with a crop. The more natural focal length is 85mm but these tend to be a little harder to find and more expensive - getting very expensive for good ones faster than f/2.8. If you're not on crop frame, you need to be very careful choosing lenses.

There are a couple of forums with good adapted lens coverage, mflenses covers nothingbut adapted glass, fujix-forum is Fuji specific but shares the adapted lens section with a sister Sony forum and there are quite a few of us there that are very particular about our adapted glass:D

If you're serious about adapted glass, you really need to be shooting mirrorless - either the Fuji X-E2 (APS-C), one of the APS-C Sonys or one of the Sony A7 bodies (full-frame). It gives you a lot more options.
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I'd be using it on FF (5D MK2) so focal length won't be an issue. I've got 35 & 85 primes for use at weddings but always fancied a 135 for portraits and maybe giving it a run out on the odd engagement shoot.....in other words, somewhere where MF won't be a issue.

I don't think I'll end up accumulating a huge collection of adapted glass, certainly not enough to justify buying a mirrorless body anyway :)

Are there places in the UK that specialise is selling this sort of glass apart from Ffords? Everything I've seen so far is imported from the likes of Japan and, while they say there's a return policy in place, I'd hate to have to go through that process!

In your opinion does the price seem about typical for the 135mm Zeiss lens I linked to above @Alastair?

Ps. it's weird feeling like a photography newbie again! :)
 
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danny_bhoy said:
I'd be using it on FF (5D MK2) so focal length won't be an issue
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But clipping the rear element with the mirror might be. Not normally a problem with longer focal lengths, but you do need to check the available lists first, e.g.
http://www.panoramaplanet.de/comp/
http://www.pebbleplace.com/Personal/Contax_db.html

I generally buy from charity shops, forums or eBay, occasionally a dealer but you never really get a bargain. The cheap dealers that do offer bargain prices tend to be dodgy. For pricing the Sold listings on eBay are as good a guide as any. C/Y is one mount I've managed to avoid, so I'm not familiar with pricing or the minutia of what minor details may make one version of a lens more desirable.
 
Some great info on pentaxforums about legacy lenses, and not just pentax.
 
Alastair said:
But clipping the rear element with the mirror might be. Not normally a problem with longer focal lengths, but you do need to check the available lists first, e.g.
http://www.panoramaplanet.de/comp/
http://www.pebbleplace.com/Personal/Contax_db.html

I generally buy from charity shops, forums or eBay, occasionally a dealer but you never really get a bargain. The cheap dealers that do offer bargain prices tend to be dodgy. For pricing the Sold listings on eBay are as good a guide as any. C/Y is one mount I've managed to avoid, so I'm not familiar with pricing or the minutia of what minor details may make one version of a lens more desirable.
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Ouch! I had no idea that could happen - I'll definitely check the compatibility thoroughly first!

Thanks for the info Alastair! :)
 
For info I use the Zeiss Sonnar 135/2.8 AE version on my 6D and it works fine. Contax Zeiss lenses that will hit the mirror include the 18/4, 28/2, 35/1.4 and 45/2.8.

£160 for the 135/2.8 (even MM version) is still the absolute top end price to be paid, and certaintly not a price I would pay on eBay for a lens without warranty. It's one of the cheapest Contax lenses to buy, along with the Planar 50/1.7.
 
danny_bhoy said:
Cheers all. I've not got my eye on a Contax Zeiss Sonnar 135mm 2.8 - I can see this getting rather expensive, rather quickly.
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I like mine :) Heavy bit of glass and metal, compared with others of the same vintage, Hoya, Yashica etc. that I have.
They sometimes come up at a good price. Mine was under £100 and in excellent condition with original caps and leather bag.
 
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manualfocus-g said:
For info I use the Zeiss Sonnar 135/2.8 AE version on my 6D and it works fine. Contax Zeiss lenses that will hit the mirror include the 18/4, 28/2, 35/1.4 and 45/2.8.

£160 for the 135/2.8 (even MM version) is still the absolute top end price to be paid, and certaintly not a price I would pay on eBay for a lens without warranty. It's one of the cheapest Contax lenses to buy, along with the Planar 50/1.7.
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kendo1 said:
I like mine :) Heavy bit of glass and metal, compared with others of the same vintage, Hoya, Yashica etc. that I have.
They sometimes come up at a good price. Mine was under £100 and in excellent condition with original caps and leather bag.
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Thanks for the heads-up. I did do a quick compatibility check using the links that Alastair provided and it confirmed, like you say, that the 135mm won't interfere with the mirror.

Given what you've both said about the price being at the high end I'll keep my eye out locally (or at least within the UK) for one at a better price.
 
Remember that they originally came with a soft leather drawstring bag.
 
Just a quick update - just taken delivery of my Helios 44M 58mm f2. I'm blown away. The focus ring is a bit stiff but apart from that it's bloody fantastic. MF takes a bit of getting used to but I can see me really getting into this.

Managed to get a bit of swirly bokeh going on in the 3rd shot..........even if I did slightly miss focus :)

H1 by Danny Birrell, on Flickr

H2 by Danny Birrell, on Flickr

H3 by Danny Birrell, on Flickr
 
Lovely images there Danny with the 58/2 Helios, I love the bokek, I must blow the dust off from mine and organise and adaptor for my Nikon D8** body and get using it.

Have you checked out a new Samyang 135mm f2 that might suit your needs...? UKDigital stock them...
 
macvisual said:
Lovely images there Danny with the 58/2 Helios, I love the bokek, I must blow the dust off from mine and organise and adaptor for my Nikon D8** body and get using it.

Have you checked out a new Samyang 135mm f2 that might suit your needs...? UKDigital stock them...
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Cheers Peter. I'm genuinely surprised at how good the lens is!

I've just checked out the Samyang but I'm kinda set on building a little collection of older lenses......just a matter of which older 135mm really.
 
You've inspired me to find my Helios 58/2 lens and clean the dust off it and now searching for a M42 adaptor for my full-frame Nikon.

Thank you Danny, love your floral images taken with the 58/2 Helios! I think I paid £20 for my 58/2 lens copy, cheap as chips.


:)
 
macvisual said:
You've inspired me to find my Helios 58/2 lens and clean the dust off it and now searching for a M42 adaptor for my full-frame Nikon.

Thank you Danny, love your floral images taken with the 58/2 Helios! I think I paid £20 for my 58/2 lens copy, cheap as chips.


:)
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Thanks Peter. I picked mine up for £20 too - best photography related purchase I've made in a while!!

Nice to be able to cure that case of GAS without having to spend a fortune too! Haha
 
I'm so gonna regret getting into this m42 / MF lark! Awaiting my Helios 44m and adaptor and still perusing ebay [emoji85] [emoji102]
 
danny_bhoy said:
Just for fun I've started dabbling in old/vintage lenses on my DSLR via a M42 to Canon EF converter. ...Anyone got any other M42 mount lenses that they'd recommend trying on a DSLR?
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I mostly use the old manual focus lenses on my digital. Way less expensive than the native primes plus I simply prefer manual focusing as that is how I got started. I was considering either M42 mount or Nikon lenses for my stall of manuals. I ended up going Nikon as I have some Nikon film bodies so the lenses can server both my digital and film cameras. But in the process here are the M42 lenses I researched that have some very good reputations and not uber expensive like the Zeiss or Leica glass as example. As a note of caution, some of the older glass is radioactive. As example, the Pentax Takumar 50mm f/1.4, the older 8 element version is ok but the newer 7 element version uses radioactive Thorium glass. Over the years its radioactivity actually increases as it decays into other radioactive particles. The distinguishing feature to look for to tell which version is nothing obvious too, so unless you know what to look for or know the serial number range, then you could end up with radioactive lens. Some early Canon lenses and others also used the Thorium. Wasn't really the Thorium that was the issue, but the salts mined with the Thorium which were radioactive and contaminated the supplied Thorium. There is always controversy on this topic if the radioactive level is high enough. But no good studies were done either so why take the chance? And of course, would not want these around the house where younger children might come in contact.

In any event, these were the ones I researched that were not radioactive from the Takumar line and also had very good reputations. The 50mm f/1.4 I did try and yes, incredibly nice bokeh and unbelievably sharp and contrasty!

15mm F3.5 Pentax SMC Takumar
24mm F3.5 Pentax S-M-C/Super Takumar
50mm F1.4 Pentax Super-Takumar (8-element variant - infrared red dot to right of the left most f/4 depth of field mark on the lens)
85mm F1.9 Pentax Super-Multi-Coated Takumar/Super-Takumar
100mm F4 Pentax Macro Super-Multi-Coated Macro-Takumar
135mm F2.5 Pentax Super-Multi-Coated TAKUMAR/Super-Takumar (6 element Version 2 only Serial Number Range 6138465 - 8203248)
200mm F3.5 Pentax Takumar
 
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Contax Carl Zeiss Sonar 2.8 135 in Barcelona last weekend:

074e by Ken, on Flickr
 
I know this started as an M42 thread, but have you bought any other mount lenses..?

I got this Cosinon 135mm 2.8 on a Pentax K mount, adapted via eBay onto Canon EF..

Found it quite sharp..
IMG_0604 by BennyBoo43, on Flickr

IMG_0624 by BennyBoo43, on Flickr
 
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Well, it's here and I loves it already. It feels great in hand, a proper piece of glass and metal.





Just need to get my adaptor now! [emoji23]
 
Ian W said:
Well, it's here and I loves it already. It feels great in hand, a proper piece of glass and metal.





Just need to get my adaptor now! [emoji23]
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Looks in pretty good condition. Made in 1979 :)
 
kendo1 said:
Looks in pretty good condition. Made in 1979 :)
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Where about is that info..?

I have two of the Helios 58mm F2's and wonder..

The one on the left has it's front element flipped..
 

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It's the first two digits of the serial number, above "made in ussr" :)
 
Looks the part on the X-T10, even if I do say so myself!

 
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