What "off-brand" Nikon mount lenses do you like?

disjecta

disjecta

Lucky Duck
Sometimes I check out eBay and see many brands that are not Nikon-branded but have a Nikon mount and they seem to be great deals but I haven't a clue which of these other brands actually have optic quality that is close to Nikon.

Anyone care to share their experience?

Basically, I'm looking to get better deals than the Nikons, not get recommendations for lenses twice the price :)
 
Hey Philip, I just took a look at that lens on eBay and it's between $300 and $400... I wouldn't regard that as "very cheap" by a long shot...I paid about $125 for my Nikon 24mm...

What kind of price did you get yours?

Thanks...
 
I had a good experience with a borrowed Vivitar 28mm f/2.8...its focus ring was much more fluid than any of my Nikon AI lenses, and its optical quality seemed on par with my Nikon AI 28mm f/2.8
 
With EOS mount you can buy M-42 adapter $20.00 and still get the other adapters for the other lenses
 
I really appreciate the effort you guys are putting into the responses but I don't want to change out my Nikon mount for many reasons so I am only interested in Nikon mounts....

Having said that, some of the info in this thread will be of interest to others too.
 
Oops... misread the opening title.
Thought you were experimenting for a different mount.
My apologies
 
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Then I shadow Trudd: Vivitars are worth checking out and there are Nikon mount Series 1's available.

Just got the 28/2.5 VMC Nikon mount, have a slower 70-210/3.5 Zoom Series 1 VMC Nikon mount and a VMC 90/2.5 Series 1 Macro M42.

Worth lookin' into, I'd wager. And if you can find Super Takumar Nikon Mount lenses in the 24, 28, 35 and 85 variety go for it.
 
The Tokina ATX Pro zooms I think are pretty good, not as sharp as the Nikon's but much cheaper and I've had very good luck with the 80-200 f2.8 and the 28-70 f2.8. Sometimes I've liked it at least as much as my primes at 2.8. Stuff I've read rated them #2 after Nikons but you may read differing accounts.
A repairman told me he thought the optics were excellent but the build was not as good as the Nikon. I figure we don't subject these to the same banging around as a a still photographer.
That said though I have replaced my Tokinas with Nikons which are fantastic glass but pricier.
I may have 1 or 2 80-200's for sale soon if anyone is interested.

By the way I think what Kholi meant to write was that changing lens mounts could screw around with your infinity focus and I tend to agree. Until I see the manufacturers get their trip together on more standardized ways to seating these lens mounts I would be very wary of changing them.

I would be interested in hearing from peopelewho do switch the mounts though to hear their experience.
Phil - do you always use the same mount?

Lenny Levy
 
Kino Precision aka Kiron lenses are kind of cult lens that are awfully sharp specially the 24mm and 28mm f2 primes and those can be had for $60-160. I just did a two week expedition shot mainly with 28mm f2 Kiron and it was spot on sharp all the time mostly because wide lens are much more easy to keep in focus.

Tokina ATX pro AF zooms are quite good but not as sharp as the Nikkor primes and I`ve had all of them.
That Sigma 20mm f1.8 is regarded as one of the worst primes in terms of sharpness when full open but maybe it won`t show on video (it looked soft with m2 and HVX for sure).
Those Tokina lens focus rings turn in the same direction as the real cinema lenses that is opposite to the Nikkor lenses - it can get confusing when used along with the other lenses, specially when rack focusing, same goes for the Kiron lenses.
But then again those Tokina ATX lens won`t extend during zooming or focusing that can be handy when using rails mounted mattebox etc.

Not much help I guess,
T
 
I did Mention Kiron Kino's as well. The Vivitar 2.5/28 is a Kiron lens, but I think the actual Kiron Branded 28/2 outperforms it. Both are Nikon mount lenses.

So, it's also worth it to look into some Kiron Vivitars as well.

Toenis, have you used the Kiron's on an adapter yet?
 
Lenilenapi said:
Kholi,

Do you switch easily between those mounts? Maybe I misinterpreted your post earlier.

Lenny Levy
Click to expand...

Incredibly easily. I WANT to stick to M42 but I can't afford to just yet. So I have a Nikon, M42, and PL mount. I think the Letus mount design is one of the best things about the adapter. You don't have to take the screws out all the way, just loosen them then slide in the other mount, re-tighten.

Backfocus, etc, it's all spot on. That's why it's not such a big deal to have Nikon and M42 lenses for me. Might be different for others though!

Again, I do wish I could just use an M42 mount and skip the Nikon. Can't wait to get my Letus back and these Super Takumars I just picked up on ebay.
 
Funny, The back focus on my Letus Nikon mount was very wanky. It was way off to begin with and then to get it right I had to futz with for some time. I would be afraid to remove it again as there didn't seem to be any definite back focus point. Maybe you remove it somewhere different than where you set the backfocus? I didn't look at that because i didn't have any other mounts.

Lenny
 
The mounts are supposed to be set for proper backfocus. My PL, M42 and Nikon are all accurate (The PL is definitely on). I believe your b/f is set at the GG.
 
Kholi said:
The mounts are supposed to be set for proper backfocus. My PL, M42 and Nikon are all accurate (The PL is definitely on). I believe your b/f is set at the GG.
Click to expand...
Yours is provably the only LEX with a Nikon mount that didn't need to have the BF adjusted. My friend had to custom build one because he broke his trying to adjust it.
Mine is about a 1/32 off. It took me a long time of trial and error to get it right.

That is one thing that the Brevis has over the LEX. That and a way to center the image.
 
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