Is anyone using vintage/legacy/adapted lenses?

[jjphoto]

Is anyone using vintage, legacy or adapted lenses on a modern digital body?

What lenses and cameras are you using and why?


This is an old Leica lens on a Canon DSLR however mirrorless bodies are much nicer to use and allow a greater range of lenses to be used.

For those who are unfamiliar with the concept it is simply using old (or even brand new) lenses on cameras they were never designed to be used on, via adapters designed specially for that combination of camera and lens. For example, you can use film era manual focus Nikon, Pentax, Olympus, Contax and many other lenses on a modern digital body using a special adapter. There are all kinds of limitations when you do this but some times these are minor compared to the advantages. Another example, and one which I use regularly, is to use modern Canon auto focus lenses on a Sony mirrorless body (I use a 4/17 TS-E and 50L on an A7R2 using a Sigma made adapter).

I find myself largely using adapted lenses on a Sony (A7R2) body because it suits the types of pictures I like to shoot and I like the rendition of many older lenses. In the case of modern Canon lenses the aperture and auto focus work pretty much the same on a Sony body as on a Canon so there is little practical reason not to use them, as long as you don't need lightning fast AF.

Some of my favourite lenses are old Canon lenses from the late 60's and early 70's and I find I prefer these to very modern lenses because they are not clinical and their aberrations add to some types of images.


Canon FD 1.2/55 SSC Aspherical on Sony A7R2 (at F1.2)


Canon FL 1.2/58 on Sony A7R2 (at F1.2)

If you use 'alt' lenses please post some pics of tell us why you use them.

[Nick Cliff]

The old lenses are great fun to use probably not so good for challenging landscape photography for many and I have my Nikon modern lenses for that genre.
Aladdin's cave by Nick Cliff, on Flickr
A macro taken too see if this old lens was up to the job, not as sharp as dedicated macro lenses but hey looks good enough for my tastes.

Auto Yashinon 5.5cm f/1.8 lens @ f/4 with a 20mm macro extension tube.


Chrysanthemums 2 by Nick Cliff, on Flickr

A cheap Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 lens @ f/1.8

The thing is with old lenses is I would caution people against buying lenses that you are unable to physically inspect to check for condition,haze, fungus and the aperture working as fixing these lenses could be another $150-250 to have the lens cleaned and serviced, with some lenses this may be worthwhile if it is particularly sort after.
Expect some wear with old lenses and some dust of course.

cheers Nick

[jjphoto]

The old lenses are great fun to use probably not so good for challenging landscape photography for many and I have my Nikon modern lenses for that genre.
...

A few of my older lenses (Leica R 2.8/28E55, Contax 2.8/28, Mamiya M645 2.8/150A, Micro-Nikkor 2.8/55 to name a few) are as sharp as anything you'll buy today, so great for landscapes for example. If sharpness is the main criteria, and I think it is for a lot of people, then it's probably better to stick with modern, maybe native, lenses with their superior coatings and often auto focus too. Sharpness isn't everything and some lenses have a 'character' (read: aberrations), especially wide open, that make for interesting images. Having said that, I do use a Canon TS-E 4/17 on a Sony body for it's sharpness across the frame and I appreciate it's relative lack of aberrations, it is a very clean, clinical lens. Horses for courses! Even so, it's much nicer to use on a Sony body than on a Canon because it's much easier to focus accurately on the Sony and also easier to hand hold due to Sony's IBIS (image stabiliser). Sonys image stabiliser is built into the body so any lens you attach is image stabilised and this is a bit of a game changer.

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https://farm1.staticflickr.com/912/4...b40515b5_b.jpgAladdin's cave by Nick Cliff, on Flickr
A macro taken too see if this old lens was up to the job, not as sharp as dedicated macro lenses but hey looks good enough for my tastes.

Auto Yashinon 5.5cm f/1.8 lens @ f/4 with a 20mm macro extension tube.


https://farm1.staticflickr.com/951/2...98867a55_b.jpgChrysanthemums 2 by Nick Cliff, on Flickr

A cheap Pentacon 50mm f/1.8 lens @ f/1.8

The thing is with old lenses is I would caution people against buying lenses that you are unable to physically inspect to check for condition,haze, fungus and the aperture working as fixing these lenses could be another $150-250 to have the lens cleaned and serviced, with some lenses this may be worthwhile if it is particularly sort after.
Expect some wear with old lenses and some dust of course.

cheers Nick

Have you used those lenses at normal-infinity distances? I suspect they might be interesting because they are not considered 'high-end' optics, so might have a lot of character. I think it's worth a try, especially wide open, or stopped down just a little. Once you stop a lens down to around f8 then they all start to look pretty similar.

[Nick Cliff]

John having experimented with a few other vintage lenses wide open for landscapes it is true that you can get very artistic results that can be quite beautiful and probably should explore this aspect a little more with the Yashinon 55mm and Pentacon 50mm lenses.

The CZJ Biometar 80mm f/2.8 M42 mount lens is good for subject isolation within landscapes and a softer look with some interesting flare with forests at infinity.

I concur the Micro-Nikkor 2.8/55 is a capable lens for landscape photography, a classic lens.

cheers Nick









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