The. Lens. Thread.

The barrel is not quite as smooth as the 24-105 - but it's smooth enough for me. Much smoother than my 50 1.4 EF.

Yes - very easy to sense when you go past infinity. Pretty sharp friction change.
 
Consensus - you are missing a distortion free wide and a proper tele in that line up defo a 20 or 24 b4 the 35

Lenses I like and keep with me ..

nikkor 14.28 - good focus travel outragous FOV some CA+Distrotion

nikkor 28 35 manual PC - good focus travel great CA/distortion/quality perfect steadicam FOV - a killer lens

nikkor AF 50 1.4 - good focus great quality

canon 24-105 IS for handholding - focus 5/10 - distortion 5/10 - fast enough - less lens changes (not sure I will keep this - going off IS and the wide distortions - barrel is beginning to wobble - I might change to the cheaper 28-135 - better position for FF (aligns with nikon primes) better tele range and I think this and the 24-105 will fall apart ofter a month of doco - so best binning something cheap)

nikkor manual 100-300 - great focus travel - no hexagons at 5.6 (£89 best value ever) - Ultimately I would like to swap this for the tripod mount MK3 Nikkor 80-200 2.8 with good condition focus travel - but that is a very very rare thing and costs 10X more

nikkor 4002.8+1.4 converter - frankly this is as heavy/expensive as EX1/extender which with IS and more DOF may be better for extreme tele work

I need a nikkor 20 - I have one but scratched the back element which is very exposed (unlike the 28 and 17-35 which is very protected)
I may swap the 50 for a 85 for hand held CUs

IMO the real specials that are not mainstream are the 28/3.5PC and 80-300manual nikkor - could work with just those on indy/feature but need more handholding flexibility for doco

Given up on these due to stiff or rough focus or barrel wobble
nikkor 50 1.2
nikkor 24-105
nikkor 80-200 2.8 AF mk2

Im a nikon man and think 5d2 will be a tempory canon visit if Nik get thier sht together with a D4 or whatever - hence minimal canon investment - frankly Lprimes would all be great Im sure

For kitting out on the cheap I would say..

Doco
24-105 IS canon

Indy/Feature
20/50/100-300 nikkor manual

S
 
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Lots of people would say to get a 24mm or 28mm instead of that 35mm. I'm still looking for an affordable (150 bucks or less) 24,28, or 35, but now that I am learning more, I am thinking I will just save up for the canon 35mm f/2.0, the canon 85mm f/1.8, and then get the 50mm SMC pentax one off of ebay. And get the tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 zoom. The only problem is that I have no money at all. :( I just don't know what to do... I only have about 400 for lenses right now. So I was gonna get the tamron. Urg. I really want those two canon's now though.
 
For a distortion-free WA, look at the Leitz 21 f/4 Super Angulon. I've got one and the drawing is ruler straight, even to the edges, as you'd expect from the design. Also the focus is a butter-smooth 330 degrees or so down to 8".
Big downside, is the bokah isn't as pretty as I'd like due to the rounded four-blade iris (Why they went for that I don't know)
There is surprisingly little edge fall-off, even wide open.
Dave
 
Maybe you should have a look at the vivitar 28-90 or 28-105 I have the 28-90 it's my only zoom, and there's the vivitar 70-210 series one which is quite good too. You'd still have change to get a couple of good primes. The vivitar 24 and 28 primes are good and cheap. I'd go for M42 mounts as they are a more secure fit with adapters and more adaptable if you decide to get a nikon or some other DSLR later on.

here's what I've collected so far for the MKII-

15mm f/2.8 sigma fisheye
24mm f/2 nikon ai
28mm f/2 nikon ai
35mm f/2 nikon ai
50mm f/1.4 minolta rokkor MC
85mm f/2 jupiter 9 (russian)
105mm f/2.5 nikon ai
135mm f/2.8 tair 11A (russian)
180mm f/2.8 nikon ai-s ED

plus the vivitar, a couple of cheapies and a few anamorphic adapters and lenses. I'm still trying to decide which russian 50 to get. I financed a lot of these purchases by buying up nikon glass cheap on ebay and selling off the stuff I didn't want to keep.
 
The vivitar 70-210 was made in at least 4 different versions, the earliest original is the best. I have one in FD fitting that I bought years ago for my Canon EF, and yes it's very good indeed.
Make sure it's:
A) f/3.5 constant
B) Without expanding DoF marks
C) Has the macro switch which you engage at 210mm and turn the barrel.
Dave
 
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