Which old manual lens are any good?!

ozyboyross

ozyboyross

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I fancy having a play with some old classic manual film lenses with adapters on my panasonics! I don't know what I want to shoot with them I just want to have some fun with some old glass!

The thing is I'm too young to know which of these old lenses are/were any good lol!

So to help me not buy a load of expensive paper weights which ones are worth looking out for?

Cheaper the better :)
 
Old OM lenses seem to be popular and fairly cheap (if you don't go for the ultra-fast lenses).
 
See being the PITA that I am lol I'd like to play with some lovely narrow depth of fields if possible!

Basicly I'm just after any advice on which ones are good and roughly how much I should pay!
 
50mm 1.8 and 28 2.8 is where I started....
 
Canon fd mount are popular too. I have a 200mm f4 fd and a Tokina AT-X 300mm f2.8 SD. I've only just got the 300mm so haven't had an opportunity yet to put it through its paces. However, the 200mm f4 is a cracker :-)

Simon.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions i get a feeling I'm going to be stalking eBay lol
 
Old M42 screw thread Super Takumars (Pentax) are a good buy IMO, and you should be able to pick up the 50 f2/f1.8, 135 f3.5 and 200 f4 for between £15 to £30 each.
Then you have the Carl Zeiss Sonnar 135 f3.5 for between £30 - £40.
If you are looking on Ebay, then simply look at film cameras, because some people forget to mention the lens, and you end up with cameras, plus lenses, plus loads of bits and bobs (extension tubes, bags, filters, lens hoods).
Good hunting.
 
Looking good!! Amazing what you can achieve with some of these old lenses!
 
First let me say all these lens fully open were ghastly. Tele converters were a joke. That bad Vivitar made what was called matched multipliers were a slight improvement.
 
eagercat said:
First let me say all these lens fully open were ghastly. Tele converters were a joke. That bad Vivitar made what was called matched multipliers were a slight improvement.
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I think that's a bit of a sweeping statement! I use OM Zuiko 50/1.8, 28/2.8 and 135/2.8 on my NEX and they're all good wide open. However, I used to also use an OM Zuiko 50/1.4 and that did have pretty bad CA at f1.4 but stopped down to f2 it was very sharp.

Personally I'd stick to Olympus OM Zuiko lenses rather than 'OM fit' lenses from Vivitar/Sigma/Hanimex etc because the Olympus lenses have much smoother focus and bokeh.

The best option I'd recommend is to pick up an OM Zuiko 50/1.8 and adaptor for around £20 from eBay and have a play.

Cheers
Steve
 
All Zuikos good, All Pentaxes good, Minoltas good. Some Vivitars good, some Tokinas good. Some swear by Tamrons, I find them pants, same with Nikon and Canon.
 
I have a 50mm F1.8 Minolta Rokkor converted for use on my Sony Alpha, and I love it, it's great!
 
My favourite is the OM Zuiko 100mm f2.8, outstandingly sharp lens, even wide open.
 
LPC-6 said:
Haven't see that many of these floating around without fungus, how much do you think a good condition one should go for?
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There is one on eBay just now for £120 in really good condition. Mine came from eBay, in excellent condition, for £62, luck of the draw I guess.
 
I'm about to list my OM Zuiko 135mm 2.8 and Tamron 90mm 2.5 Adaptall lens with OM and Pentax adapters. They're both excellent lenses but I tend to use my OM 50mm prime and OM macro so could do with the cash instead.

Cheers
Steve
 
manualfocus-g said:
Problem with MFT is the 2x crop factor
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No... that's a positive advantage.... You can get a long telephoto equivalent in a small package.... Just bought a 135mm 3.5 OM lens for £35.... 270mm effective @ f3.5 for £35. Not bad :D
 
Yeah, I think it's a positive as well. Having said that though, the only classic lens I've got it the OM 50mm f/1.8 and I love it.
 
It depends what you shoot, but the Panasonic 14mm and 20mm (non-legacy lenses) are able to cover the wider angles quite well
 
manualfocus-g said:
Old Nikkors and OM lenses are generally very good, but rising in price now. Problem with MFT is the 2x crop factor, meaning most lenses are turned into portrait or teles effectively.
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I don't see it as a problem either. My 100mm OM Zuiko becomes a 200mm f2.8, image stabilised on the OM-D and is as good as the Canon 70-200 2.8 L IS at the long end - I know because I had one - and it only cost £62 and weighs nothing compared to the Canon.
 
just be cautious with third party lenses, i got a soligor that weighs a ton but soft wide open .. useless
 
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