BEST WORST vintage lenses. My Top 5 picks! What are yours?
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- čas přidán 29. 11. 2022
- In this video I nominate my Top 5 Best Worst lenses. Lenses that are poor performers (for various reasons), but actually produce beautiful and sometimes crazy images, full of character.
Please comment below with your picks too! - Věda a technologie
A couple of years ago bought a 50mm f1.4 Takumar attached to an Asahi Pentax Spotmatic in practically brand new condition. A fine lens I occasionally attach to a crop sensor Fuji or to a full frame Leica. There is a sad story regarding the camera as it was originally purchased in Hong Kong by a young man who was serving in the US Army infantry in Vietnam. After leave and returning to the war he was badly wounded and blinded. The camera went to his brother and I bought it from him fifty years later. The lens qualifies as my personal BEST WORST!
Thank you for your fascinating videos.
That is a sad story and I have a lot of sympathy. At the age of 12, I inherited a nearly new Spotmatic II and three Takumar lenses from a good family friend who died suddenly of a heart attack.
Absolutely. That lens is way too soft wide open.
The Helios is a great "not great" lens. It took me a little while to get used to it, but for portrait shots, it can result in outstanding photos that I can't quite pull off with any other lens
I've had some success with using it for landscapes. Its sharpness is really pleasant to look at.
I really enjoy watching your videos Simon! I am getting into vintage lenses and I have a number of Takumar lenses (Super Multi-Coated 35 f2/Super Takumar 55 f1.8/Super Multi-Coated 135 f3.5) right now, with a Helios 44M-5 and a Super Takumar 85 1.9 coming in soon. Each of these lenses are in pristine condition and work so smoothly for photography and videography on my Fuji X-S10 and XT3. Your photography is outstanding, and I really like the way you highlight each lens in all of the videos I have seen of yours so far. I can only imagine the work that goes into each one! Thanks for sharing these videos! They inspire me more and more to get more vintage lenses! LOL! Take care, and hi from British Columbia, Canada!
Yay! Thank you Simon, you've reinvigorated the love for my vintage lenses.
The concept of 'best worst lens' will keep me occupied for a while, without spending any more money!
As most were bought for reasons of variety and cheapness, there is bound to be competition for the top, or should it be bottom, spot.
Watching your own assessment might shift my perception of good, bad and sometimes downright ugly amongst my own collection. You've got me thinking ... hmm 🤔 fun times ahead!
Although it's not a really old lens, the Sigma 17-35mm f2.8-f4 for EF Canon is a lens that I got new about twenty years ago. It has a distinctive brown bubble front element and the brown coating is definitely visible in the photos if you don't correct the color. What makes it interesting is that the images have an odd polarized look that makes the clouds in the sky stand out, similar to a polarized filter. Naturally it has plenty of distortion and vignetting on the wide end.
I use this lens on my remote camera behind the goal in soccer because I won't mind if a soccer ball destroys it.
Great video Simon. My best worst lens is the Asahi Kogaku 58mm 2.4. At the time I bought it all I had was a couple Fuji cameras. I tried it on them and really didn’t like the results at all. Then I moved to a new house and it got lost for a couple years. In the meantime, I got the Lumix S1. One day I found the lens, and decided to try it on the S1. On that day it became my favorite vintage lens. The results are spectacular on the Lumix. Keep up the good work, Chuck.
6:27 wow that is a really well-used Helios! I've never seen one in that condition :)
Great video by the way. The Domiplan is also my 'worst best' lens
It's neat to know that you can get these kinds of effects with lenses other than just the Lensbaby line. I love my Lensbaby Optic Swap system for all the cool creative things I can do to my images for sure, but unless I want to purchase a ton of lens bodies I can only do them at 50mm (they do have a 35mm, 56mm and 85mm option for certain of their lenses and optics- depending on which one). A longer lens that can match the soft, dreamy glow of my Lensbaby Soft Focus optic would be awesome to get the same look at different focal lengths. And these images are gorgeous to watch. Thanks!
Thanks for another cracking, informative and very interesting video.
Loved this video. Will be another one I'll watch at least 100 times ! My favorite worst lens is the Zeiss Jena 50mm f 1.8 and I also love my 17mm Takumar fish eye. I use many vintage lenses on my Fuji cameras because of the character and because it's fun, full of surprises ! Great video, LarryMac
Thank you! The Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50mm f1.8 (radioactive version) is one of my favorite lenses too. But not a "worst" candidate for me. However, I could have included my "new" Pancolar 50mm f2 Exakta mount, as it's similar to the f1.8, but the bokeh is creamier/softer wide open.
I also have the 50mm f2 Zeiss Jena Pancolar that I found on eBay on a broken Exacta Exa for $50. I've gotten some great bokeh shots from it as well. I actually feel that I am more attracted to that version than the f1.8 as I have used it much more and tend to grab it more often really. Another I really like is my Revuenon 55mm f1.4, really a great soap bubble bokeh lens.The Revuenon is a TOMIOCA made lens. I'd love the f1.2, but very expensive these days !
Great channel Love it Great pics on flickr!
Wonderful sharing for all your vintage lenses! ^^
Good video! Many people, I think, expect photos be like snapshots (sic!) of reality, showing a perfect rendition of nature. But a "good bad" lens adds something to the images making the photos more impressionistic/expressionistic or (I hate the word) artistic.
At the moment I have just two good bad lenses for my EOS M50 - the 50mm lens from the Soviet CTAPT (Start) camera (with adapter) and just recently I got a RISESPRAY 25mm F1.8 lens from China which I struggle with somewhat and are expecting any week a Brightin Star 10mm F5.6 fisheye lens. Both dirt cheap.
ive built my own "vintage lens" out of an old Leitz projector glass and some metal printed mounts :) looks absolutely crazy
Always enjoy your videos and insight when it comes to vintage lenses :) My favorite lenses thus far would be the Nikkor Noct 58mm, the takumar 50mm f1,4 8 element, The Takumar 35mm f2,3, Zuiko 55mm f1,2 and then i think last one would be either the Nikkor 180 mm f2,8 Ai-s or the takumar 85mm f1,8 . There are several others i really love using because of different reasons, but id say those if you factor in character and joy to use :) /Martin the swede
loved this! fantastic idea for a video. my best-worst lens is a ludwig meritar, and it’s a rather dirty one… a clean copy might not qualify as “worst” but with the dirt inside, it’s so dreamy and hazy in a way that i actually love. i got it as a freebie with the adapter (the lens itself marked as Ugly condition).
The worst lens I got is also a E. Ludwig Meritar. People also criticise the Meyer Domiplan too. Not sure whether it is due to optical issues or spotty quality control. All Cooke type triplets have to be very precisely assembled for best results.
'Best Worst' is a Soviet projection Petzval 120mm f1.8. It has no diaphragm and it is not much use apart from artistic shots or portraits due to the extreme field curvature.
They were designed to slash the exposure time of Daguerrotype portraits.
I also have a Beck Biplanat 6" f5.8 mounted on my Crown Graphic. It is soft as hell in the outer areas of the frame and has other optical aberrations like astigmatism. It was such a interesting lens I had it re-mounted into a Copal shutter.
The Helios 58mm f2 only really has the swirl effect in the 44-2 form as on the Zenit B & E. It is a pre-set lens. The effect is only noticeable at around 2 metres distance, wheras in that Petzval it swirls like a washing machine.
Thank you for making these video's and sharing your photos and love for vintage lenses. I have a tokina 500mm f8 mirco that has given me some great shots (best worst)
I love the K-01. I had three (in different colour schemes, including "the panda"/"the smurf") at one point. Lovely images, and a great sensor. I only have manual glass though so didn't use them that much out and about...
Excellent video 😊!
I think the entire range of Pentax 110 lenses are great bad lenses. They cover the sensor of the APS-C Fuji cameras, and you can put all of them in your pocket. They aren't especially sharp, but they are so small and weird.
Really enjoyed your best worst vintage lens review. I'm pleased that I have 3 of the 5. I never enjoyed my Domiplan. Sure enough the blades are now stuck open. Not a big issue. Though it's also not very sharp wide-open. My copy looks like it has been disassembled more than once.
I have an early silver Helios 44. A worth contender. A thrill when the conditions are right the magic swirls appear. Frustrating when they don't.
Finally, thanks to the gentleman from Warickshire and for the gorgeous bubble Bokeh images that you posted on Flickr - I made a quick decision to purchase a Primotar from a local seller. Collected yesterday and the lens is surprisingly sharp wide open. Yes any bright objects in the scene do flare. However, many other vintage lenses do the same. I have other vintage lenses that are much more controlled. However, it is these imperfect designs that bring out the real character of each lens.
Thank you! That was quick work picking up a Primotar. I wish I still had the one I borrowed, and perhaps should have bought one in case the prices go up. However, there are only so many bubble bokeh lenses I can use at any given time. Good to hear your lens is sharp wide open; the one I borrowed was very usable wide open.
I really enjoy using my early silver 44 - I'd place it in my best best old lenses.
I can add my Soligor 21mm f3.8 Wide-Auto. It is a bit soft, it can butcher deep shadows, and it flares, often in wild contrasting colours. I rarely get to use it, but when the stars align it paints another world.
Interesting that you started out with the Primoplan: I've had two, and they gave quite different results despite being the 'same' lens. My 'best worst' is a third-party special: Vivitar 135mm f2.8 which looks and feels quite cheap and unpromising, but performs almost as good as the 135mm Super Takumar that I couldn't afford at the time I bought the former. Over 50 years of photography I've had so many lenses I can't remember them all, but there are some that just stick in your mind. Only one do I regret letting go of: the Meyer Primoplan 58mm f1.9. Try and get one of those if you can find/afford it.
Many thanks. I had the chance to try the Primoplan for an hour's walk recently, and yes, it was interesting, to say the least. Photographers I rate (and trust) speak very highly of this lens.
He posted DOMIplan 50,2.8..
You confuse that with PRIMOplan 58,1.9..
I used to confuse like you and end up buying both. The primoplan 58,1.9 is better engineered and one of my best vintages.
Let me guess - - Is that old Vivitar lens one of those "Series One" lenses which was quite well known?
Great video! For me good-bad old lenses are what makes this real fun. My vote goes to the Vivitar Series 1 28 1.9. Wide open it is a catalogue of aberrations: spherical aberration, soap-bubble bokeh and flares with a hint of sun. I love it, though.
Ha! The Vivitar I had was like this...so I sold it. This was before I started to appreciate good bad lenses!
Stopped down it also makes a great nail driver... that thing is a tank!
Great lens collection. Never tried the Sniper but many if the others
Very nice video, Simon! I'll add the A Schacht Ulm Edixa Travenar 50mm 2.8. On the Fujifilm x-e2 it's one of my favourite lenses, but on the Sony A7r it doesn't seem to fit the sensor, it goes from beautiful to boring. Shot into a light source, everything gets washed out. Minolta Auto Rokkor PF 58mm 1.4 is another contender, soft but beautiful.
I've tried perhaps 20 to 30 vintage lenses and there are a few that have stood out. Zeiss pancolar 50 1.8 m42, yashica 50 1.9 dsb, tokina bokina 90 2.5 and zeiss jena 180 2.8 pentagon six. I got some great shots with the 50 and 90mm lenses and I could see myself using them regularly but that can't really be said about the 180 2.8.
The pentagon six mount lens is absolutely massive and even the not so flashy all black version of it I had was really impressive. It looks like a serious piece of kit and it's perhaps the lens that I'd like to get a picture of me using. Carrying it around is a bit bothersome but it often sparks curiosity and awe in those who notice it. And with the parameters of 180mm and f2.8 you'd assume that the results from the lens would be impressive. However at least the copy I had was way too soft even at f8 to be usable. So much so that I got better shots by using the tokina and then cropping in to 180mm.
The Tokina isn't a 'best worst' lens. It is wonderful.
Those shots are superb.
I'm glad the Pentax 17:4 made your list. I have the K mount version and enjoy it greatly!
One of my best worst lenses is a Beseler Series iii opaque projector lens. It's a gigantic 14" F3.5 Cooke triplet. Lots of field curvature wide open, but produces very dreamy photos on 8x10. I estimate it may even cover 16x20, but have yet to build a 16x20 camera to test that...
I had the Tair 300 f.4.5 photo sniper. It was quite suscepable to flare. With a t mount you can fit it to any camera. I still have the Tamron adaptall 90mm f2.5 macro. One of the sharpest lenses I own. Looking at film through a microscope you could see bark peeling of a tree a mile away on a ridge.
I happened to get a really good deal on a Tripoplan 100mm lenses, one of the modern remakes that I found languishing for awhile on B&H's used lenses.
I'm still exploring this one on my M10M...but so far, it is a ton of fun....very interesting in monochrome.
I'm trying to figure where to take it for color..maybe adapt it to the GFX100 and crop the image....that should prove interesting.
I want that Takumar 17mm...that is on my short list to grab and play with....
I owned and tested 160+ vintage lenses before I moved to Asia. I kept only 12 lenses. The worst/best of all is the Auto Revuenon MCF 50mm EF F1:1.4 (SN 19156) with a ZE mount (the lens was produced by Mamiya I guess). Wide open this lens creates an effect like the painting of an impressionist. Not the typical bubbles, a more substantial deviation from reality. Crazy but intriguing. Great saturation and good sharpness otherwise.
Swirly looks lovely. Very arty.
Thanks for video, a have a Domiplan and Helios 44 to 🙂
I own the vivitar 28 mm F2 and 35-85 f2,8 with canon fd mount and the both fall into this category. Crazy flares and bokeh.. They do have a very special look to them which could be quite nice when used in the right way
Watching this video inspired me to buy myself a Meyer-Optik Görlitz 180mm f5.5 Telemegor lens. I found some good loking sample images taken with it. Soon I'll try it myself.
contenders id say are the jupiter 12, bizzare lens design, heavy vignetting, pin sharp in the middle with heavy distortion around the edges, lends itself to dramatic black and white. 2nd is the leica m39 summitar. What an amazing lens, wide open full of character, sharp in the centre and soft in the edges with fascinating distortion/swirl. stopped down it completely changes into a pin sharp clinical beast. Bonus: jupiter 11, really sharp, only f4 though, not sure what the coating is but in the right light (ie nowhere near facing the sun) the colours are like no other lens, really punchy and bold. trying to edit the raws on photoshop is difficult, the colours are baked in!
The Fujinon 55mm f/2.2 and the 55mm f/1.6 are my favorites.
Good selection.
I love the glow from highlights I can bring out with color correction from my Minolta Rokkor 58mm F1.2 I've seen shots that suggest the 55mm F1.7 glows even harder, and has that great vintage bokeh.
Many thanks. I would like to own the 58mm f1.2. However, I do have the 55mm f1.7, and I've not tested it very much, so it seems I should start with this lens!
Great video. Do you know if the silver version of Primoplan gives the same results as the one you used in this video? Thanks in advance.
Hi and many thanks. I don't know (if you're referring to the 135mm Primotar), but perhaps someone else does reading this.
Another great idea mister and to add my penneth I'd vote for the Olympus 38mm Auto-S f1.8mm lens which is only designed for a vertical half-35mm Pen-F camera frame but which surprisingly 'just' covers the 35mm full-frame sensor in my Sony A7R, but which means it has incredibly degraded corners which only enhances how bitingly sharp this old lens is wide open at f1.8... another of only a few lenses I have acquired where I was SO impressed I immediately bought a spare 2nd copy in case the unthinkable ever happened to the first!
Interesting sounding lens!
Yeah that's a great lens. I have it on a Olympus Pen FT that I gave to my daughter when she started art college.
my best worst lens is a Tokina 35-105 3.5 from 1979, I love that lens and I use it all the time for filming outside on sunny days, I just love the ultra vintage and warm character it gives, plus if you stop it down to F11 the lens flare gets.... well,... let's say you get enough if you're a fan of them. :P and the best thing is I paid 39 bucks for it. :)
Many thanks -I'll be looking out for that lens!
My 2 best-worst lenses are an ENNA München Color Ennit (20mm 1:2.8) and the Tair-41M (50mm/1:2).
Both are made for 16mm film and just about cover the MicroFourThirds sensor of my Olympus OM-D E-M10 II. Because of that, they both have some vignetting and terrible corner sharpness making them almost useless for any shot that would have the corners in focus. They are also not the sharpest and easyly flare and lose contrast in bright lights.
The Enna München is a very small fixed focus c-mount lens that on my adapter is "focused" beyond infinity when fully screwd on. So, to focus you have to slightly unscew it, wich makes it barely usable for any landscape photography. But i almost exclusively use it with a tiny c-mount extention tube with wich it is fixed focused quite close to what i'd consider "almost macro". In this configuration it makes for a fun experience photographing flowers, mushrooms and other small subjects and with its muted but lovely colour rendition, beautifull slightly swirly bokeh, decent center sharpness and relatively low contrast i shot many pictures that i'm quite fond of. The smallness of this the setup also lets you get interesting perspectives and because you can't techically focus it i often shot single handed.
The Tair-41M is very similar in performance to a Helios-44 with "worse" coatings (lot's of bloom and strong contrast loss). It has a Kiev-16 screw mount and came with an apter to M39 wich then in turn you have to adabt to (in my case) MFT, focuses easyly from ~0.7m to infinity. This setup is also relatively small and the focusing ring is anoyingly close to the camera frame (i sometimes find myself accidentally turning the clickless apature ring instead of the focus ring). So it's a bit akward to use and the ecxessive bloom in bright scenes are annoying, but the funky swirly bokeh and very saturated colours make up for it. In rare occations when i catch the incomming light just right the "bad" coatings (loss of contrast and colours and streaky flares) result in magical scenes of beautyful pastelly glow and "rainbowy" steaky starbursts.
For someone with a MFT camera, who doesn't like that the small sensor crops off the bokeh of fullframe vintage glass, those 2 lenses should in my opinion be worthy of at least consideration.
I also love my Pentax k01
And now Simon has cost me another $100.00 as I just bought one on ebay even thought I already own the trioplan.
Apologies.................but that's quite a good price!
Meyer Domiron 50 / Oreston 50, which by the way perform *exactly* the same in a (my) pixel-peeping side-by-side test, apart from a slight temperature difference due to coatings. To me, it sits between a Helios and Trioplan in terms of painterly bokeh and that is a great compromise of character and performance. Nothing looks quite like it. Bonus points for the amazing rainbow flares you get on digital sensors.
Interesting - I wondered how the Domiron performs versus the Oreston. Thanks for sharing.
I was wondering if number one would be the 100mm Trioplan, which like the Domiplan has a sharp line around the bubble too. I need to try me this 135mm.
Trioplan N is also a nice consideration; performs slightly better than the regular Trioplan 100, handles better, half the price (because it's not the OG everyone's blindly looking for) and is in fact more uncommon than the post-war silver Trioplans.
Interesting video. At the moment I own a "Pentacon auto 29mm f2.8" a "Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm f2.8" and a "Helios 44-2 58mm f2.0 - MMZ zebra" with reverse frontal lens a pure creative monster.
Having studied this for a couple of months, I've come to this conclusion. If you want to use vintage lenses (that is, manual lenses designed for use on film cameras) on DSLRs and mirrorless cameras, and you shoot for your own enjoyment rather than for paying clients, then it probably doesn't matter very much what specific models you choose. Shop for a working lens in the focal length and max aperture you want to try, and with a mount for which you have or can easily acquire an adapter. Buy an inexpensive one that you can return if it doesn't work per its design. Have fun. How do I conclude this? I looked for negative reviews of vintage lenses, and I found hundreds of reviews ranging from glowing to neutral, but almost zero truly negative ones. "Not very good" lenses obviously have their charm.
My best worst lens definitely is the Porst Color Reflex 55mm f/1.4. It's a Tomioka produced lens and it gives swirly bokeh of the finest quality, yet nailing the focus can be a right pain in the arse.
Love this lens, mine is stuck at 1.4 lol
@@amymontico Mine looks and feels as if it has just left the factory. Everything's smooth. However, at f/1.4 the depth-of-field is sooooooo shallow, even too shallow for portraits, because the distant half of the head starts to get blurry. I am mostly a "135mm guy", as that is my favourite length for either kids or animal photography. Having both a "dumb" adapter and a "speedbooster", I can then choose if I want to shoot at 135mm or 202.5mm. And quess what: The Primotar 135mm f/3.5 is just on the way to these shores.... (actually bought it before watching the video). Simon's pick makes me even more excited to receive and try it.
Hello from France, one of my favorite lens is Volna-9 50mm macro, love it its on my TOP FIVE 😉 for me
Good choice! I really like the stopped down bokeh effects with the shape of the blades.
Rubber hood is there to shoot from inside covert vehicle. You bring "plunger" into contact with car glass, and it isolates all reflections by car's glass. Now one can buy these attachment plungers for modern lenses, for the same use )
Ty😀
The Tair-3 is good, but man, mine constantly falls apart. Like, physically falls apart into multiple pieces. I have the full Photosniper kit. I actually wired up a cable release to the trigger mechanism so any camera can be fired with the trigger. Not like I would actually take it out "shooting", though... I don't want the police called.
mine are: angenieux r41 (15mm, 1.3) the one with the coating from bell&howell. the second is elgeet 13mmm 1.5. both are for 16mm sensors.
The Minolta 58mm 1.4. The lens with the little arm at the bottom. I've had to buy 3 because the little arm keeps breaking. I finally found a later version without that annoying little metal arm.
Perfection in imperfection.
Have you tried the 6-element Takumar 135 f 2.5? I'ts a wonder for textures and colours.
Yes, I've got the K-mount version of this Takumar. It's a great lens!
Domiplan is great if you can get a copy that's not decentered. I didn't realize the aperture thing was a known, common issue, but my M42 version is like that, won't open fully if the pin is depressed.
My personal favorite bad lenses are the Steinheil Cassaron 40/3.5 and an Industar 61 L/Z with a veiling flare problem that gives everything that faded vintage look straight out of camera.
Good recommendations - if I owned a Steinheil München Cassar S 50mm F/2.8 that could be on the list too!
I had the exact same issues. Disassembled it; design flaw .. needs a little bit of filing to sort it out. And I really mean a little bit or else it's ruined. The centering can be fixed easily using adjusting screws. And then you get a Trioplan 50 with better contrast, (which has the same centering mechanism / issues), for a lot less money.
Auto Image 28mm f2.8, a sharp lens, with bold color renditions, which under stayed lighting conditions will render adjacent colors with some special magic
I have three which spring to mind:
- Takumar 50mm 1.4, 8-element. Supposed to be very good, but mine really, really isn't. However, it's just the right blend of sharp and soft for dreamy portraits.
- Vivitar 28mm 2.8, a frankly worthless lens wide open which sharpens up well on stopping down, and produces some really wacky colours on bright days.
- Jena Biotar 58mm f2. Damaged coatings, damaged glass, and knackered housing. Still quite sharp, and the shitty coatings (+lack thereof) make for interesting colours, contrast and flares.
My copy of the Domiplan is, somehow, incredibly sharp even wide open.
Oh! Also, a 50mm 1.2 soviet projector lens. I still haven't quite made a proper adapter for it, but the results I did get from it are some kind of magic.
Yes, I agree with all your choices (as I own or have owned all these lenses, including the Soviet f1.2 projector lens). I just couldn't put the Takumar and Biotar on this list with the word "worst"!
@@Simonsutak If it helps, my Biotar looks like someone ran it over. It's still surprisingly sharp, but the damage to the optics is very visible.
Just acquired an 8-element Tak 50 f/1.4. Almost perfect condition, flawless glass, yet impossible to get really sharp outside of the center. Problem: previous owner probably had a "professional" CLA it; one of the rearmost elements was tilted, messing up all of the corners and made the rest look dreamy. Unscrewed, properly put the lens group back together; boom, there was the sharpness of the sample images. Someone with experience could fix this for you in 15 minutes.
@@FrankyFeedler That's interesting to read, I'll have to explore it. How did you go about removing the rear assembly? From what I found, the entire lens needs to be taken apart to reach it.
@@giklab Not nearly the entire lens. Remove front plate using circular rubber tool. Remove 3 or 4 screws behind it that hold the entire lens group attached to the helicoid system. The entire lens group including diaphragm will now come out through the front. The rear elements can be manually unscrewed from the back as they are a single unit. From there, you can remove circular retainer rings to further disassemble the rear lens elements. *Don't let this be the first lens you unscrew though*; a mistake is easily made, even if just getting dust and fingerprints on the inside elements, difficult to clean completely. Or worse; damaging glass.
Right now I'm using a DDR Aus Jena 50mm f/2.8 (zebra design) for M42 and perhaps I got it in really bad shape, but it's really soft. No fungi or significant scratches. Has a soapy bokeh, although with its 5 aperture blades by f/3.5 bokeh stops being circular.
I love it's looks tho. It has that 'Holga' look all the way throughout it's aperture, even though pictures always look as if they were taken with high ISO due to highlights being blown out. Really good for that Film Noirè kinda look.
that's strange cause tessar 50mm f2.8 is extremely sharp lens, it's sharper than my modern fujinon 18-55 f2.8-4.
@@___15 it's not a Tessar (or at least not branded as such). The front reads 'T2.8/50 aus JENA DDR' along with its serial and that's it. It's also a 5 blade aperture version, which isn't that popular online
@@luzbiensuave jena ddr 50mm f2.8 is carl zeiss jena tessar 50mm f2.8. The manufacturer had legal problems with zeiss ikon because of which they did not use the words Zeiss and Tessar for some time
I'll go with Schneider-Kreuznach C-Curtagon 2.8 35mm, Industar 61 L/Z 2.8 50, Industar 69 2.8 28 (if correctly modded)... actually, I dont know, there are tons to choose from
(edit) Also, Altix mount lenses are not popular, most likely due to expensive adapters. However, they are extremely easy to mount on M42 or PK adapters and the lenses are Lydith 30/3.5, Primagon 35/4.5, Tessar 50/2.8, Trioplan 50/2.9, Telefogar 90/3.5 (apparently there are 2-3 more but very rare ones, probably just a myth)
Many thanks - I'm off to look at those Altix mount lenses!!!
Based on this Video, I got myself a 135mm Primotar and it's absolutely magnificent. The bubbles are amazing and my copy seems sharp enough. Thanks Simon
I just picked up a Kyoei Optical 135mm f3.5 Super-Acall M39, and its rather good, if not great.
Я из далёкой России и мне нравятся старая Русская оптика.
Я люблю снимать Helios 44-2, Helios 40, Tair ‐ 11, Jupiter ‐ 37 А , Industar ‐ 61лз..
И многие другие объекты, они стоят очень дёшево!
The Meyer-Optik Gorlitz Primotar 135mm F3.5 It reminds me a lot of the characteristics of my Rokkor _TC 135mm F4, both in the physical appearance and in the number of blades and especially the character and colors that I get with it on my A7III. It's strange, the aperture ring is like in Olympus lenses at the end of the barrel, I don't know of another Rokkor lenses like that.
My favorite 50 is the Auto Sears 55mm f1.4. Tomioka design.
Good call. I've got the Mamiya/Sekor 55mm f1.4 version of that lens (Tomioka design), and nearly included in my list. The reason I didn't is that my chrome-nose copy is so beautifully made and produces such interesting images, wide open, in the right conditions, that it doesn't deserve a "worst" label. Even though it's not perfect. It produces outrageous flares.
Photographers shoot themselves in the foot when they recommend ( here on the U tube ) particular vintage gear. After they have just told thousands of photographers that the 85mm 1.2 Shintarokatsu lens is the best ever made and you can buy it on Ebay for less than $15.00, they become extremely hard to find; and when they can be found, they are over $ 300.00! Remind me to never take you fishing!
Thanks for the tip ;)
One of my best picks Canon MF 1:4 600 mm for $ 150. Still looking brand new.
I love the Helios 44m on my K-1. My Best worst lenses (yes plural) and the wonderful CZJ 50mm Tessar, the Pentacon 50mm F1.8, which has a great close-up ability, but has an awful push button for the aperture whilst shooting on non-M42 bodies. And yet it is detailed and contrasty. And finally the M42 mount Soligar 28mm F2.8. Not the most contrasty lens out there, but interesting rendition.
I love your videos!
Thank you!
@@Simonsutak I ended buying completely new Helios 44-3! It has its documentation and everything. I'm so excited to test it.
now you earned reputation of “simon the sniper” in photograph community
Industar-50-2 50mm f3.5, MC Zenitar-M/K 50mm f2 and MC Mir-20M 20mm f3.5 definitely belong to the list. Great weird "bad" lenses.
Hello,
My copy of Domiplan 2.8/50 works fine - the diaphragm opens and closes well, but I don't have many photos I took with it - of course I will work with it, but I usually choose other ones:
I am happy to work with my E. Ludwig Meritar 2.9/50 Exakta mount, which produces something like "swirly bokeh". I also like my Helios 44 (M42) and the Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 2/58 (Exakta mount), which was its prototype.
Some examples can be found e.g. on my CZcams channel and in other places whose addresses are on my YT profile.
Regads from Poland
I got a Helios 44-2 years ago and didnt like it.
It wasn't doing much on my Fujifilm X series that my Yashicas and Takumars did better.
Then I got a speed booster to use with my longer Takumars when I go hiking.
Turns a dark long lens into something you can shoot hand held.
One day I put that speedbooster on my Helios and it didn't come off my camera for a week.
NOW I was seeing the swirls, cat eyes and ethereal bokeh these are famous for.
So all you crop sensor girls and guys, get a speedbooster.
It takes the entire frame of a full frame image and puts it in the image circle of your crop camera.
Yeah it might give you a stop or 2 faster exposure since it is pushing more light into a smaller area, but the real benefit is seeing your adapted lenses the way they are supposed to look.
Mein Favorit : Zhongyi Speedmaster 1,2 85mm, expensiv, heavy, rattle noises, bur makes exiting pictures !
Old NIKKOR 43-86 f3.5 is a wonderful lensflare beast! I have 2 of them!😅❤
Yeps.
I have a Zeiss 80mm 1.8 here, the aperture blades get stuck everytime I forget to close the aperture for longer than a day. It produces the worst flares I have ever seen, rainbows covering half the frame. It also has the best colors I have ever seen, beautiful pastels, light yet distinct, and is a phantastic portrait lens. As long as there is no lightsource in the frame. Or any reflective materials, like for example vantablack...
That's a nice lens!
man you miss the bubble king: Fujinon 55/2.2
My best/worst lens is a 28-200mm f/3.8 to f/5.6 Tamron zoom lens.
It is worst because:
1. Its maximum apertures are too slow.
2. It is a variable aperture lens and I hate variable aperture zoom lenses.
It is the best because:
1. For some reason, my clients like the portraits this lens produces.
2. It serves as an expendable backup lens for my more expensive 28, 35, 50, 85, 105, 135, and 180mm prime lenses.
3. It was a gift from a colleague who was switching from film to digital.
My Sigma 18 -250 3.5 -5.6 get anywhere near the sun horrible flares and , rings I make sure to never get it near bright light source when ever possible.
Best-Worst? Some don't consider the output of these lenses any better than adequate. I personally love the images all these lenses provide for their uniqueness.
#5 - Nikkor 180mm f2,8D (1994) stunning environmental portraits at a distance, #4 - Nikon 200mm f4 AI-S (1976) a touch under 4" and about a pound, great for knockabout, #3 - Nikon 105mm f1.8 AI-S (~1995) finest close portrait lens I own of the 2 85s, 3 105s, and 2 135s I own, #2 - Nikon 28-50 f3.5 AI-S (1985) same size a a modern nifty 50 it's a great urban knockabout/street, #1 - Nikon 28-105 f3.5-4.5D (~2002) Swiss Army lens. Focuses to about 9 inches, images good enough for everything but some paying work.
It's funny, the Domiplan came with the very cheapest Praktica, and was avoided by anyone who could afford the 1.8 lens. Other notable good-bad lenses are the Fujinon 55mm f2.2, the 53mm f1.8 Helios 103, and pretty much any triplet. The swirliest lens I've encountered is the Zeiss Ikon Novar f4.5. My favourite lenses remain the Taylor-Hobsons.
Many thanks for these recommendations. What's the focal length of the Novar f4.5?
Meyer-Optik Görlitz Telemegor 180mm f5.5 is a rather special good-bad lens
I think my favorite "best worst vintage lens" is my Porst 135mm f/1.8 ! Full of chromatic aberrations, coma, fringing and ghosting... But there is sharpness and the background separation is crazy !
my favorite is a 'C' mount tiny video lens 35mm f/1.4 made in China used on m4/3 Olympus. (all of $15 with adapter).
My Minolta MC Rokkor 35mm f1.8 is one of my love / hate lenses. It is never sharp wider than f8, and it has a terrible halation, making it too wonky for night work… until you want a deliberately dreamy surreal backlit night shot. Maybe it’s just my copy, or maybe it’s just an early design with poor coatings. Either way it’s a lens I can neither use nor sell.
My best worst lens is the Porst 135mm f1.8, a really desiderable Lens in my opinion. My particular lens is in K mount, but Is frequently found in m42 also.
It has really a busy bokeh with a lot of bubbles and lines. It suffers of all possible aberration and Is not sharp but I really like It a lot, Is dreamy and fun to use.
Definitely the Pentax Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 105mm F2.8. It has a nice bokeh, good sharpness, nice falloff, good color rendition and nice flares. But it has a minimum focus distance of 120cm(!) and the aperture ring has no stop between 2.8 and 4.0.. which is annoying to say the least. It could have been one of the best vintage portrait lenses on modern cameras but for those reasons it's very hard to recommend (unless you're using it with an infinity corrected helicoid adapter).
And even though it covers the GFX sensor with no vignetting, it has some noticeable field curvature which makes it very hard to use on location and produces distracting edges.... such a tease.
I agree - that Takumar 105mm was a big, missed opportunity. Fortunately, Asahi Opitcal Co. also produced rather good 85mm's (1.8 and 1.9) and the 120mm.
My cute, preset Takumar 135mm f3.5 is an interesting lens. On reflection, I think it's one of my WORST BEST lenses. Lovely to use, but I don't rate the results from my copy.
@@Simonsutak Pentax has made some weird choices when it comes to lenses in the past - aaaand cameras in the present. Think about the 645D (and later 645Z), that was the first "cheap" digital medium format camera, that was ground breaking stuff! And they basically abandoned the whole system right away...
@@Crispy_Bee And let's not get started on their early mirrorless attempt with the K-01! If they'd stuck to their heritage and produced a more retro looking mirrorless camera...they could have out-Fuji'd Fuji.
@@Simonsutak I'm still hoping they've been working in secret on a mirrorless Pentax 67Z with a 100MP medium format sensor that covers the whole 6x7cm area, which uses their 6x7 lens system and also accepts 6x6 or 645 lenses via adapters ;-)
The Vivitar 24mm f2.0 is like the domiplan, bubble bokeh but very glowy wide open. Ok if you like that sort of thing but better stopped down
For now it is Helios 85m plus anamorphic adaptor. Enhances its bokeh and makes it stranger to look at. The bokeh shape is square.
Thank you - I'm going to try that with my Helios 40.
Go for Pentax
Have you tried any G zuiko?
No, I've trying to contain my LBA......
My 'best worst' lens is a Nikon/Nippon Kogaku Nikkor-S 50mm f/1.4 that I purchased shortly after I bought a 1971-vintage Nikon F camera..I wanted a 'period correct' lens to go with it. It is in 'excellent plus' condition and has impeccable built quality but it is the older single-coated version. Images taken with it show the advances in lens coating technology that evolved with the later models of that lens when same images are shot with later Nikkor lenses..the images have that 'vintage look' meaning the colors seem somewhat more muted and flare is more evident. Still, a valued lens in my lens collection. I can still use my other Nikkor lenses on the F providing they have the 'rabbit ears' coupling on the lens.
Hello, I agreed as I had that lens too the 50mm 1.1.4 as it was too SOFT, and not sharp on the edges as the color rendition was not much, and so I went back in looking for a classic 50mm lens, and I did my first lens on my Nikon Nikkormat that I got back in 1975 was the Nikkor 50mm F/2.0 as I still have that lens today as I try to get AI mounted for my digital but it was a little rough on the lens mount flange so I obtain another 50mm F2.0 AI mounted as I use a lot that I still think that that the 50mm F2.0 is consider THE Sharpest Nikkor lens that I have use in Black & White, and Color when I was shooting E6, and Kodachrome, Now with digital on my Fuji S5Pro, and XE1, and XPro1, that the color rendition, and the sharpness is Still there is like shooting film again. As this is my go lens-of course for crop factor that I am shooting at of focal length of 75mm, But I also have a 20mm, 24mm, 28mm, 35mm 50mm, 85mm, 105mm, and 135mm including my baby the 43mm~86mm ALL NIKKORS.... Manual Focus Nikkors from the 1960's to mid 1970's. Now I am using German Optics like Zeiss Jena Lenses for my Digital... But I am still using the Nikkor lenses for film shooting.
@@alexcarrillo5510 I have a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AI, and Nikkor 50mm f/2 H non-AI. The f/1.8 AI I purchased with my very first 35mm SLR, Nikon FM, back in 1980. The f/2 I bought to go with my Nikkormat FT2 which I purchased about 3 years ago when the camera collecting bug hit me. When I bought the F and FT2 I wanted 'period correct' lenses to go with them, even though I knew the f/1.4 S was the older non-multicoated version. Both the f/1.8 AI and f/2 are superbly sharp and colors pop. Best 'normal' lens in my collection though is a Pentax Super Takumar 55mm f/1.8 for my Pentax Spotmatic. My 'handiest' lens is a Nikkor 35-70mm f/3.3-4.5 AI zoom which I can mount to the F, FT2, FM, and FG. When I want to use one of my Nikon film SLR's but don't want to carry a bagful of lenses that is the 'go to' lens. I'm not a 'Nikon snob' but I started out with Nikon and subsequent camera purchases stayed with Nikon because of lens interchangeability (with the exception of the Pentax..that was just such a great buy and in such good condition I couldn't pass on it). All great fun though I enjoy every camera in my collection.
I just bought my first vintage-ish lenses today. I could see this become a bit if an addiction.
Have fun!!
I always wanted to try that 17mm Takumar. I have the 18mm f/11 pancake Takumar - and it's definitely one of the worst lenses I own.
It's not a vintage lens but my Fotasy manual 35mm f1.6 was only $35. I bought it for M4/3 but later moved to Fujifilm. I recently painstakingly adapted it to Fuji's FX mount and then accidentally reversed the rear element. It was already quite a terrible lens with nasty flares and yet it can produce perfect bubble bokeh and cool effects, especially with the rear element reversed.
Helios 44-2 is meh compared to the incredible magnificent Super-Takumar 50mm1.4 (8 element version). Even shooting at f2 the Super-Takumar bokeh is far creamier and more blurry than the Helios.
Helios 40 (85mmf1.5) is nuts. You can blur the world into oblivion with that lens when shot wide open. It's nuts. Mind you it also weighs like 900lbs so is not for everyone.
And I've tried a lot of different Helios glass and Takumar glass on my Fujis but nothing beats the Fuji 35mmf1.4 for clarity, contrast, beautiful bokeh and the Black and white rendering is sensational. It's a lens some people actually don't like cause the AF sucks, but when shot manual it's a dream. Maybe the best bad lens I've ever used.
no 1 My Sankyo Komura 200mm f3,5 Smooth and dreamy wide open, but with good contrast and colours.
The 16 bladed aperture changes the lens to very sharp at f5,6 but still with excellent preserved round bokeh.
no 2 My Konica 80-200 f3,5 It's not precisely good wide open, it's not parfocal at all and a real hassle to use.
Particularly due to the extreme weight at 1280g, it's a very? early zoom, and probably one of the biggest ever for it's range.
BUT the build quality, my god, it's not built like a tank, rather like a Submarine.
The fit finish and feel is phenomenal, it a lens nicer to own then use 😉
That's a heavy lens! I like your submarine description. Like you, I admire the build quality of those big heavy zooms - but admire rather than use!
I own the Konica 80-200mm too. I bought it with a set of Konica lenses to acquire the Konica 57/1.4 (a dream lens, give it a try). I thought the 80-200 would be a helicoid donor but after trying it I stashed the lens on my keeper shelf. The lens balances nicely on my hefty Leica SL and the weight of the lens makes it easy to steady it at the long end of its range. I can take takes crisp, sharp photos even thought the Leica SL has no IBIS. I’m not sure Konica made a bad lens. BTW I’m a bird photographer too so I’m used to working with massive lenses :)
@@kmcsmart Do your lens also have f3,5 and 67mm filters ? in that case they are the same.
Yes I have several Konicas, and the 57mm f1,4 is also my absolute favourite !
The 24mm f2,8 is also very good, and the 55mm f3,5 Macro is really amazing !
Many seem to consider the 40mm f1,8 good, but mine don't come close to the 24 or 57mm
@@daniel635biturbo yes my 80-200mm is f/3.5 and 67mm filter thread. I have been looking for the later addition of the 24mm but they are not easy to find. I will have to look for the 55mm macro too. It hasn’t been on my radar. I like my 40mm 1.8 but sometimes I find the colours a little odd, especially when shooting in the winter snow, there’s a green cast. Now I mostly shoot it black and white. You can’t beat it for the price. It’s nice to have a lens of that quality to use in the Canadian wet rain and snow and not worry about it.
In the stash of lenses that I bought I also got the Konica 35mm /f2.8 and the 135mm /f3.2. There are both great lenses worth keeping but the focus throw on the 135mm is too short for me and fussy to nail focus. Too bad because it’s a nice small 135mm.
@@kmcsmart I had luck finding my 24mm !
And the 55 macro were not on my radar either, I "just got it" buying a complete set of gear, mostly for the 2X tele converter, but the 55mm macro were the real gem.