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not sure
I've never heard of some of the lenses in this thread.
When I bought my old lenses I just bought cheap mass market ones and I now have lenses from Minolta, Olympus, Canon and Nikon and a few third party ones in those mounts but apart from a couple I did read up on before I bought which I did read were pretty much at the top of the heap I've no idea if the lenses I have are the best I could have bought for the money.
So, if anyone has the time how about a little game? How about making a little list of the best lenses that can be bought for reasonable money at each focal length and for the purpose of this and the peace of my bank balance maybe a reasonable price for each would be under £100.
24mm f2.8 or f2.
28mm f2.8 or f2.
35mm f1.8, f2 or f2.8.
50mm f1.8 or f1.4.
85mm f1.8 or f2.
135mm f2 or f2.8.
For some focal length I double up and have two lenses, for example I like having a 50mm f1.4 but also a f1.8 too as they're usually smaller and lighter and sometimes I want a small lens I also sometimes double up and have a characterful lens and a more neutral one too
If anyone is interested in doing a little list I'd be interested in the choices and the reasons why you'd choose them
not sure
I dont remmeber them,mind im not as old as youLast.Fm - phew, that might have bugged me all night if I couldn't think of it.
I dont remmeber them,mind im not as old as you
Lol, you wish! Some of the lenses discussed here are like new tech to you!
compared to the Box brownie i had as a kid maybeLol, you wish! Some of the lenses discussed here are like new tech to you!
24mm f2.8 or f2.
28mm f2.8 or f2.
35mm f1.8, f2 or f2.8.
50mm f1.8 or f1.4.
85mm f1.8 or f2.
135mm f2 or f2.8.
I started with my Yashica primes on my 5D2. Mainly because I already had them & still do along with the FX-3 Super 2000!!! The ML primes are pretty good & can be picked up for pennies really as far as I know. The FD range is reasonably cheap too although the 85mm will take you up into 3 figures.
In all honesty, I've not really had a really bad manual lens. The Pentacon 50/1.8 was probably the worst but that was mainly down to fringing! The Sigma Super Wide II 24mm I had was terrible with flaring too.
I keep thinking of a wide prime but with the price them I may as well go for something more modern for FE.
Have you used the Canon FD 200mm F4? That's another I have in my watch lists
No. Longer lenses just don't seem to be my thing for some reason.....
I started with my Yashica primes on my 5D2...
In general, I'm more mid-range myself. I bet if I checked my stats over time I would be mostly in the 25-100 range, but during the winter I love a longer FL for shooting the birds And I find a certain charm about the older 200mm offerings. It's definitely one FL that doesn't get enough love on the more budget side these days. Any modern 200 - 300mm F4 prime costs a small fortune, I think there's an added attraction there for me because of this.
I initially fancied Olympus Zuiko's as they're small and I like the way they look but I found a cheap Minolta Rokkor 55mm f1.7 MC so I bought it and added a 28mm f2.8 MD and a 135mm f3.5.
I then did a bit of reading up and read that the Rokkor 24mm f2.8 was a classic design and thought by some to be one of the best 24mm designs ever, so I bought one. I also read that the Rokkor 50mm f1.4 MD was about the best of the type from that time so I bought one of those too. Later buys included the Rokkor 50mm f1.2 MD and 85mm f2 which I again read were about the best. So, my Rokkor 24mm f2.8, 50mm f1.4 and 1.2 and 85mm f2 were informed decisions but other that those I just bought without really knowing if I was buying well or not. My Sigma 50mm f2.8 macro was a lucky buy in that it's a 1:1 macro whereas many of that time aren't 1:1 and need to be used with a tube to go 1:1. One thing I'm disappointed with about that lens though is that although there's a lot of focus ring movement at close distances there's very little at longer distances.
Of the lenses I have I'd say the following are sort of stand out-ish…
Minolta Rokkors.
24mm f2.8 MD, 50mm f1.4 and 85mm f2 all seem good.
50mm f1.2 is characterful at wider apertures and ok stopped down but never as good as the f1.4.
55mm f1.7 and 35mm f2.8 MC's are characterful at wider apertures but can be susceptible to flare and can give a colour cast. I love the build of these all metal and glass lenses though.
35mm f1.8 MD is a bit wild at its widest apertures but good to very good stopped down and could IMO rival a modern lens at f8-11.
Minolta 45mm f2 is very small and light with nice bokeh and it's sharp with nice contrast. It could IMO be a modern lens.
The Olympus Zuiko 24, 28 and 35mm f2.8 and 50mm f1.8 are tiny and just look lovely but I find the aperture rings clunky.
The Canon FD's are all ok but IMO never as good as the good Rokkors and never as characterful as the characterful Rokkors. They just seem to be solidly B+ old manual lenses, nothing outstanding, just ok and get the job done.
Of my three Pre AI Nikon lenses, 35mm f2.8, 50mm f1.4 and 50mm f2 the nicest seems to be the 50mm f2 which is characterful enough and sharp enough. They're a similar build to the old Rokkor MC's but much bigger.
I keep wondering about Carl Zeiss and Pentax lenses but I haven't tried any yet.
Despite having over 200 lenses available I've not yet found a lens for 'I can't be bothered.'I have a lens for every occasion and every mood
I never doubted it for a secI have a lens for every occasion and every mood
Voightlander 1.4 on Canon M5
Mudeford Quay by Mike.Pursey, on Flickr
Mudeford Quay by Mike.Pursey, on Flickr
Anyone got any 'new' old glass for Christmas? I filled up my watch lists with so many I ended up buying none but plan to grab a few old classics come January
Zero.... I've maxed out on the CV40/1.2E I've been waiting for & then decided on a CV21/3.5E too.......
It's not Christmas for about a week yet, so it's still pending, but I believe I have another projector lens coming - the first zoom projector in my collection that will actually have enough coverage for my sensorAnyone got any 'new' old glass for Christmas? I filled up my watch lists with so many I ended up buying none but plan to grab a few old classics come January
It's not Christmas for about a week yet, so it's still pending, but I believe I have another projector lens coming - the first zoom projector in my collection that will actually have enough coverage for my sensor
one from this morning a bit of blue sky gave me the opportunity to try out my vivitar 200mm f3.5 M/F on B.I.F quite pleased indeed with the hit rate . I also needed to adjust a few settings in the recently acquired Nikon D300S
.both shots hand held and a very high percentage were spot on for focus , quiet pleased with the results from a sub £30 quid lens .. excuse the sky colour in the second shot as I said I had to play with some settings
tally ho by jeff and jan cohen, on Flickr
winter skies by jeff and jan cohen, on Flickr
I have kids, all in their teens now. They've joined me in commenting about how ridiculous it is that some households light up in November - especially as they take everything down on boxing day. Christmas is 8 days starting 25th Dec. Decorating for it a fortnight before is quite adequate & helps make it special!When you have kids it starts being 'Christmas' from the end of November Projector lens? any hacks involved for adaption?
I have kids, all in their teens now. They've joined me in commenting about how ridiculous it is that some households light up in November - especially as they take everything down on boxing day. Christmas is 8 days starting 25th Dec. Decorating for it a fortnight before is quite adequate & helps make it special!
The projector lenses are fitted via a wide helicoid so much of the lens can sit inside the helicoid. I use a M42 to M52 model that's 35-90mm long.
A stepping ring can then just be stuck to the outside of the lens tube.
With my 50/1.2 I did have to trim a little from the rear of the lens body (too much tube behind the rear element) & the longer focal lengths often require extension tubes to be added.
None of them have any form of aperture, but paper discs in front of the lens can be used - my main ones have shaped holes for changing the bokeh
Jaguar chasing snowflakes by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr
As this dolphin one shows vignetting can sometimes be noticable
rabbit & dolphins by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr
just bought a Tokina 400mm f5.6 M/F lens to go on the recently acquired nikon d/300s or on either of my MFT bodies via adaptor , lens arrived late fri so first test shots on sat morning ,quiet pleased with results so far anyway
up and away by jeff and jan cohen, on Flickr
heres looking at you by jeff and jan cohen, on Flickr
. Easy really Keith , at the moment all my Nikon fit lenses are manual focus , luckily the D300S allows for open aperture focussing an£ auto shutdown , as with any form of photography if your shutter speed is fast enough and your iso not to high you just have to worry about getting it in focus , not that hard at all if you concentrate . I have yet to try this new 400 on one of the mft bodies but be interesting to find out if the Panasonic 100-400 suffers from focus breathing or distance dissfractionNothing wrong with those, if I was a picky t*** i'd say pity you clipped the wing on first, but loving the 2nd. How are you finding going back to a dslr after using mirrorless for a while?
Thought I'd revive this thread having found it thanks to @Canon Bob.
At one time, all I had on my cameras was adapted old 35mm glass, especially when I was using Fuji, financial restrictions meant they were all I could afford, now reading through this thread I quite fancy giving retro glass another go.
These images was taken with a Fuji XT-1 and a Minolta MD 50mm f2
HazyHills by Steve Vickers, on Flickr
Tracks by Steve Vickers, on Flickr
To the sea by Steve Vickers, on Flickr
I loved that Minolta and am really sorry I sold it. Gonna have to keep my eye out for another.