Top 4 vintage lenses

[Terry Lee]

Alot of people here are talking about vintage glass but the conversations are all scattered and hard to find. I'd like to start a thread discussing and collectively narrowing down a top 4 vintage lens list along with the best adapters you have found for these lenses.

[Steve Phillipps]

How are you defining "vintage"? These days that could mean more than 10 years old!
I think the original Canon 300mm f2.8 FD lens has to be one of the best.
Steve

[Terry Lee]

Hey Steve,

It could be that...

I was thinking some of the older 60's and 70's model lenses that people are finding to have amazing quality... but it could be anything as long as it didn't come out onto the market within the last few years..

[Joseph Kassana]

I would go for the Helios 44m and Mir 24m. Honestly, solid and amazing lenses.

[Terry Lee]

I found videos on Vimeo using both of these lenses and its as you say, amazing quality on the T2i.

MIR 24m

MIR-24M test one (Soviet vintage lens) on Vimeo

Helios 44m

550D Clip: Helios 44M 58mm f2 on Vimeo

Thanks for posting!

[Roger Shealy]

Takumar SMC 50mm f1.4 is fantastic. Wonderfully smooth and fast. It's even inexpensive, but that's not why I'm putting it here. Best Bokeh in the business.

I don't know this photographer, but I quickly searched to find some examples of photos:

S-M-C Takumar 50mm f1.4 - a set on Flickr

[Joel Peregrine]

Hi Steve,

Originally Posted by Steve Phillipps

How are you defining "vintage"? These days that could mean more than 10 years old!
I think the original Canon 300mm f2.8 FD lens has to be one of the best.
Steve

Unfortunately the manual focus Canon lenses can't be adapted to auto-focus bodies. Its really a shame that all those great FD lenses aren't being used on modern digital SLR's like the Pentax, Olympus and Nikons from the same era are.

[Mark Von Lanken]

Top four...that's a tough one and then you have to also consider the budget. There is some extremely sweet but expensive Leica and Zeiss glass that most people shooting video would not use because of the cost. I will list some that are below the $500 mark, but I will have to expand it to the top 5. Sorry. ;-)

Mir 24. It's a 35mm f/2.0 and I really like the lens alot. Depending on condition they sell from $100-200.

I also have a Helios 44, 55mm f/2.0. They can be found for $25-75, which is a real bargain. I have not experimented at all with the Helios 44. The first one I got would not mount on my camera with the M42 to EOS adapter. The second one would not work with my M42 to EOS adapter because the adapter did not hold the aperature pin down, so now I finally have an adapter that works, but I have not gone out and experimented with it. I am listing it in the top four from everything I have heard Chris Watson say about the lens.

Nikon MF lenses. I have a 24mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.4 and a 135 f/2.8. Great lenses and can usually be found between $75-200, depending on which one and the condition.

Zeiss Planar T. I have a 50mm f/1.4 and tomorrow a 85mm f/1.4 arrives. The 50 can be found in the $250-350 range. The 85 is closer to $500-600. If you have not held a Zeiss in your hands, you really owe it to yourself. I listed the Planar T because that is what I have experience with. There are several different models out there and yes, you can buy brand new Zeiss lenses, but be prepared to fork over some series money.

With the vintage Nikon, Zeiss or any other lenses, you can save some money if you get a slower lens, but since I shoot a lot in low light conditions, the speed is worth a little extra money.

And for my 5th lens in the top four...Vivitar Series 1 zooms. I have both a 70-210 f/3.5 and a 28-105 f/2.8-3.8. These can be found for $50-100 and the macro feature on the 28-105 is incredible.

[Jon Grimson]

I use some fantastic Leica-R series lenses on my 7D. Elmarit-R 1:2,8/28mm, Summicron-R 1:2/50mm, Macro-Elmar-R 1:4/100mm. All are fitted with Leitax adapters to mount to 7D. All are full manual from the late 70's I think. Belonged to my Dad and are pristine.

[Perrone Ford]

Originally Posted by Joel Peregrine

Unfortunately the manual focus Canon lenses can't be adapted to auto-focus bodies. Its really a shame that all those great FD lenses aren't being used on modern digital SLR's like the Pentax, Olympus and Nikons from the same era are.

Canon cut all of it's customers at the knees. So now we use other glass. Nikon bit the bullet, and did the hard work to make SURE it's older professional glass would still work. Kudos to them, and now I buy their glass instead. If they hadn't been so slow to market with a viable DSLR, I would have one of those instead of a Canon.

[Joel Peregrine]

There is a huge market that is craving manual lenses right now - if only someone would buy up older Minolta and Canon lenses and automate converting them for infinity focus. I've seen how-to descriptions but the process is very tedious and you're always very close to ruining the lens if you do something wrong.

[Terry Lee]

We've got some good suggestions going here.. I'm going to be updating the vote every so often so as to stay on track with the initial point of the thread.

Right now we have:

2 Votes: MIR 24m 35mm f2
2 Votes: Helios 44m 55mm f2
1 Vote: Takumar SMC 50mm f1.4
1 Vote: Nikon MF lenses
1 Vote: Ziess Planar T
1 Vote: Leica-R series lenses


It would be nice in the future to see some examples of what these lenses can do especially on the T2i. Note that this thread is of course in the T2i/55d section. Suggestions of lenses on cameras such as the 7D is fine since it is also APS-C.

Great suggestions here..Keep it up!

[Colin Rowe]

Olympus OM, amazing glass, always was. Very small compared to a lot of other older lenses. I picked up a 50mm 1.4, 50mm 1.8, 28mm 2.8 and a stunningly sharp 35-70mm f4 all for £150

[Steve Boutin]

A lens that I have been interestd in, and have been researching for the past few days is the Tair 300mm 4.5. There is a 330A, 300s, 300 PHS (photo sniper), A Tair3, and a Tair33. Does anybody know the difference between the Tair3, and the 33? Do they use the same optics?
Anyway, here is a link to some amazing (my opinion anyway) photos shot with the Tair 300s. I don't know the person, but the shots were sure inspiring to me.

Jaak | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Also, I have, and can recommend the:

Helios 44-m4 58mm F2 - I paid $47 + shipping

Helios 80-200mm 1:5.6 (fixed aperture, made in Japan) hard to find - Don't remember exactly what I payed, but was under $100

Nikon 75-150mm F3.5 fixed - a little over $100

You'll need the fixed apt zooms for the T2i to avoid light change when zooming if you're shooting video. I'm sure most know that, but for those who don't.

[Ken Hull]

I nominate the Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 and the Nikkor 105mm (f/2.5 I think).
I remember a friend telling me about a Nikkor 180mm f/2.8, but I never got to try that one.

Ken