So recently I decided to go back to my roots and purchased some manual focus manual aperture lenses to play with. I've kind of got hooked playing with them. You sure miss a lot of shots trying to focus them, but when you nail them they are awesome. It's amazing how inexpensive these lenses can be found at times and the quality is still so amazing. So is anyone else still using them on a regular basis? I will post some of my recent shots with them. if you have some please post as well.
When I first started shooting I bought a f/1.4 50 mm ancient beast of a Nikkor for $60. When I received it I thought I got a very bad deal because it came in the type of foam you'd use for a bed and it was dusty and dirty. I gave it a good cleaning and its actually kind of a fun lens to shoot with. Soft? Yup! But it works nice on my film body and I can toss it on the dSLR if the mood strikes me.
I'm in on this too. There is just no substitute for the silky feel of an all metal and glass lens, crafted with the care and precision that it was built with the intention that it should outlast it's original owner.
The feature that the retro glass fits the new tech bodies is one of the main reasons Nikon suits me best.
A few of personal favs are the
16 f2.8 Fisheye ,
35 f2 "O",
50 f1.4 "S",
85 f1.8 SC ,
105 f2.8 Micro Nikkor ,
180 f2.8 ED,
and the 300 f4.5 ED IF .
Some of the old Vivitar "heyday" standards are still pretty impressive as well, like the 3rd model 70-210 f3.5 Series 1 Ai mount built by Kiron.
I even roll my own from other inexpensive glass and get images like this,
and this.
, with the front element removed, and , with the complete lens-
The 85 1.8, 55 f2.8 Micro, and 50 f1.4 ride in my everyday bag.
Cool photos. Waddy it really is amazing the quality and feel of these older lenses. And the price is unreal compared to the newer AF brothers and sisters.
My most-loved old manual lens is the Zeiss 75/1.5 Biotar. Here is an example (shot with the my old 10D; on FF it is even more amazing as a portrait lens).
I've got a bunch of old manual stuff. I have a pair of Steinheil macro lenses that I don't use often but won't part with; they are in Exakta mount, so useable on EOS with a mechanical adapter. they are still awesome macro lenses after all these years. I don't have anything in the way of (digital) examples from them, though.
I'm a huge fan of the old Nikon ai/ais lenses. They are a joy to handle. I just love the feel of them and would use them all the time if i didn't occasionally need autofocus. I practice manual focus pretty much every day though - zone focus as well which is great for street stuff. They are addictive though i try not to spend too much on them, I tend to keep an eye out for battered old copies which may have small scratches on front or rear glass or perhaps dusty optics. I do keep away from the ones with fungus though. They don't have any effect on the IQ as far as i can see as well. I enjoyed them on my D300 but they are huge pleasure on the D700.
Nikon 135mm f2.8 ai -
Nikon 50mm f1.4 ais -
Nikon 55mm f3.5 macro -
Nikon 28mm f2.8 ais (my most recent buy- fantastic walk around/street/landscape lens)
As i said, they are quite addictive and there are a few i'm keeping an eye out for; 50mm 1.2 ai, 28mm f2 ai, 180mm f2.8 ais , 105mm 2.5, 135mm f2 ais. Some of these are pricey though and go for not far off their autofocus equivalent. Hopefully they'll pop up cheap and battered.
Kirbic, Clive and Bassbone good stuff. The 105mm f2.5 ais Is the one I just got yesterday, I can't wait to get some time with it on the camera. Killer sharp images so far and so smooth to focus.
Cool photos. Waddy it really is amazing the quality and feel of these older lenses. And the price is unreal compared to the newer AF brothers and sisters.
Yes, I started loading up on them when DSLR's were just getting a toe hold, and before everyone found that the older Nikkor glass worked on the new bodies.
BTW, my best scoring DPC image was with the 105 F2.5 converted to Ai like the one you just got. It came with two other lenses from the local pawn shop. They were the 50 f1.4 "S" , the 35 f2 "O" and the 105 f2.5. It was $100, for all three, with the leather original leather boxes and metal shades.
If you use the older Nikkor glass, be sure that it is the Ai version, or has been "Ai'd" with tabs or notches on the back of the aperture ring, so that it will not bend the lever that sticks out of the body into the notch. The Non Ai ones are smooth around the rear of the aperture ring. If you have a "Non Ai" and want to play with it, you can use an extension ring or telextender to mount it to the camera body without damage. You probably already know that, but someone who reads this might avoid some grief by knowing about it.
Cool photos. Waddy it really is amazing the quality and feel of these older lenses. And the price is unreal compared to the newer AF brothers and sisters.
Yes, I started loading up on them when DSLR's were just getting a toe hold, and before everyone found that the older Nikkor glass worked on the new bodies.
BTW, my best scoring DPC image was with the 105 F2.5 converted to Ai like the one you just got. It came with two other lenses from the local pawn shop. They were the 50 f1.4 "S" , the 35 f2 "O" and the 105 f2.5. It was $100, for all three, with the leather original leather boxes and metal shades.
If you use the older Nikkor glass, be sure that it is the Ai version, or has been "Ai'd" with tabs or notches on the back of the aperture ring, so that it will not bend the lever that sticks out of the body into the notch. The Non Ai ones are smooth around the rear of the aperture ring. If you have a "Non Ai" and want to play with it, you can use an extension ring or telextender to mount it to the camera body without damage. You probably already know that, but someone who reads this might avoid some grief by knowing about it.
Great information, and no I didn't know that! Still learning my way around these fun lenses!
Here is a link about how to identify the older Nikon mount lenses. If the lens has the "notched" rear edge on the aperture ring, then it's probably safe to use. There are a very few lenses that protrude into the camera body deep enough to interfere with the mirror operation. They should be listed in your camera manual.
Rick Olsen, Nikon Mounts
I have used this lens evaluation page to help me select which lenses to hunt for during the time when I was rounding up my collection. Bjorn does a great job of field testing the range of Nikkor lenses and the information has been very useful, as well as having saved me some money that would have been spent on low performance glass. A couple of the low rated ones from his list have gotten into my collection when buying several to get one, and there is a huge difference in image quality between the "1's" and the "5's" .
Naturfotograph, Bjorn, Lens Eval.
A few years ago I borrowed my boss's 200/2.0 AIS. beautiful lens, and at the time nice ones could be found for around $1400 USD. Compare to current prices for the AF version (!). I see that KEH has one in pristine condition that they want $1900 for. Yikes!
I've got one of the 50 1.8 E series that I originally picked up to use on extension tubes. It cost me a whopping $20 in gorgeous condition on Craigslist, and while I would agree with Bjorn about the saturation/contrast being different, I kinda like the effect. It gives a very different look to the images. It's also extremely small and very well made. I've used it for a few entries, and every now and then I get it out for fun.
I bought the Pentax SMC-M 100mm f/4 macro last year for $90.00. Love it. Built like a tank, and sharp. Yes, someday (maybe)I'll invest in one with AF. Meanwhile, it does the job quite nicely.
Also have the very inexpensive SMC-M 50mm f1.7 and f2, which are also pretty sweet...just don't use them very much.
Busy with my 500mm f/6.3 mirror lens at the moment, fully manual, fixed aperture. Not sure about the US prices, but it was about 180E (with adapter). Still a lot of money, but very cheap compared to a 500mm Canon or Nikon lens. It's very nice to practice with such a long lens (physical very short and light btw). Quality? A well, judge for yourself. Made a photo-a-day for the May-ish at __mm posting thread. Here's a link to my attempts.
