The Vintage Lens Thread

The Mir 24 is the only one I have personal experience with and it's awesome.

Here's a test clip.....

http://vimeo.com/11640891

The Zeiss is another solid choice although I haven't had any experience with that glass.

The other two have me curious. I'm going to look them up.
 
ok...i need some help vintage heads.

This is my list to cover the standard lens sizes for my 7d

1.zenitar 16mm 2.8
2.mir24 f2
3.Supertakumar 50mm 1.4 (i have this already)
4. Helios 40 or 40-2

Questions.
1. can you guys recommend a 24mm (so i can cover 35mm range on 7d)
2. whats the difference between the helios 40 and 40-2 ?
3. Does anyone know if these lenses listed focus in the same direction? I have a tamron 17-50 and supertakumar 50mm and they both focus in the same direction (nikon way i believe) so it would help to keep things consistent for my brain :)

Hopefully cutting footage between these lenses wont be noticeable.

After I aquire these lenses...its on to Carl Zeiss Contax/Yashica and Nikon Ai. this will all take a while to aquire but thats the plan.
 
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Hi Jambredz

Of the lenses on your list, I have the Zenitar 16mm, Mir 24 and the Super Takumar 50. The Helios 40 is on my wanted list.

I don't know about the Helios 40, but the Mir24 and Super Tak 50 focus in the same direction as the Nikon lenses, but the Zenitar 16mm focuses in the opposite direction.

For the 24mm range, I have a Nikon 24mm 2.8 that I really like.

I don't know the difference on the Helios 40 stuff, but there is a sweet Helios 40 on ebay right now at a really good price. I have bought lenses from the seller, grizzly33bear and I highly recommend the seller. Here's the link.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390224006965&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
 
hey Mark, thanks alot for the help. I saw the footage u had posted of a wedding with the zenitar on a slider and that was mainly the reason for getting it :). I think i'll sacrifice a bit of confusion for that quality and wide angle...unless of course if someone has another suggestion for a lens that focuses the nikon way in the same range and speed :)

Is the 24mm nikon you refer to the ai version? thanks again.
 
Every aspect and/or defect of the lens contributes to a nice bokah :-)
I'd say that dust specks inside vintage lenses gives a fantastic bokah!
 
jambredz said:
hey Mark, thanks alot for the help. I saw the footage u had posted of a wedding with the zenitar on a slider and that was mainly the reason for getting it :). I think i'll sacrifice a bit of confusion for that quality and wide angle...unless of course if someone has another suggestion for a lens that focuses the nikon way in the same range and speed :)

Is the 24mm nikon you refer to the ai version? thanks again.
Click to expand...

You are welcome. The 24mm nikon I have is the non ai version. Some say they like the look of non ai Nikons better than the ai or ais versions. It really comes down to personal preference...well that along with availabilty in your price range. :)
 
jambredz said:
ok...i need some help vintage heads.

This is my list to cover the standard lens sizes for my 7d

1.zenitar 16mm 2.8
2.mir24 f2
3.Supertakumar 50mm 1.4 (i have this already)
4. Helios 40 or 40-2

Questions.
1. can you guys recommend a 24mm (so i can cover 35mm range on 7d)
2. whats the difference between the helios 40 and 40-2 ?
3. Does anyone know if these lenses listed focus in the same direction? I have a tamron 17-50 and supertakumar 50mm and they both focus in the same direction (nikon way i believe) so it would help to keep things consistent for my brain :)

Hopefully cutting footage between these lenses wont be noticeable.

After I aquire these lenses...its on to Carl Zeiss Contax/Yashica and Nikon Ai. this will all take a while to aquire but thats the plan.
Click to expand...

Mark pretty much said it all. What speed are you looking at for your 24? You can find Vivitar 24mm f/2 lenses pop up on Ebay from time to time at pretty decent prices (decent being relative....$200 or so). I've heard nothing but great things about old Nikon lenses so if you can find something cheap there, I would go for it.

As for the differences between the Helios 40 and 40-2, I think it comes down to the 40-2 being an M42 mount and the Helios 40 being an older M39 mount. I also hear the 40-2 has better contrast than the 40. I'm in line myself for one of those babies once I get a few other expenses taken care of. It's just a gorgeous portrait lens.
 
thanks for the replies...f2 is fine for the 24mm...i'll check out that vivitar.

How comes i dont hear you guys talking about Zeiss Contax/yashica? i see them for decent prices...nobody wants to try 'em out? i mean...its Zeiss.

One more question...whats the difference in nikon Ai and AIs?
 
Good question. As for myself, I don't own any (yet). I want to get the Helios 40 before looking at the Zeiss lenses. From the footage I've seen taken with them, they are amazing lenses. If you get them first, let us know how they are.
 
Just wanted to warn you guys to stay away from ebay seller petersburg_deals. His store is KMZ deals.
He sent me a Helios 44-2 whose preset aperture ring is nearly impossible to turn. When I wrote to him about it, he said they were all like that and it was simply the way all of them are made. Funny, because my other copy works just fine.

I had ordered a second one to compare, having heard that there can be IQ differences.

---
Another Ebay seller to avoid is hero4g. He sent me a lens with threads that were impossible to use or clean. I gave him revised neutral feedback after going through the resolution center's process and receiving a refund. He went ballistic on me.
 
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jambredz said:
...How comes i dont hear you guys talking about Zeiss Contax/yashica? i see them for decent prices...nobody wants to try 'em out? i mean...its Zeiss.

One more question...whats the difference in nikon Ai and AIs?
Click to expand...

Hi jambredz,

I think a lot of people who are getting into vintage lenses are attracted by the low price. Then once we get into it, we realize it's not only the low price, but also the build quality, ease of focus and unique characteristics of the lens.

Since most start out by being attracted by the low price, they look over the Zeiss lenses because of the price, but the more I looked into Zeiss lenses, I realized many of the older models are not that much more than other lenses.

Another thing to consider is that many of the Russian lenses where influenced by Zeiss. In fact according to what I have read about lenses, when the Russians took over East Germany, they brought a lot of Zeiss factory materials back to Russia. If that is true, it certainly explains a lot.

I have recently added a Zeiss Planar 50mm/1.4 to my collection but have not had the time to fully test it yet. After reading the glowing reviews of the Zeiss Planar, I just had to give it a try.

I don't know the difference between a Nikon Ai or Ais. Try doing a google search.
 
thanks for the heads up Jordan...i kept reading preset aperature on the helios and i'm not sure i understand. what does that mean exactly.

Also thanks Mark...yes the Contax Zeiss arent that much more than some nikon ai's i see...this glass thing really can get addictive. i see myself collecting all these from now and during next year.
 
Jordan_S said:
Just wanted to warn you guys to stay away from ebay seller petersburg_deals. His store is KMZ deals.
He sent me a Helios 44-2 whose preset aperture ring is nearly impossible to turn. When I wrote to him about it, he said they were all like that and it was simply the way all of them are made. Funny, because my other copy works just fine.

I had ordered a second one to compare, having heard that there can be IQ differences.
Click to expand...

Hi Jordan,

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience with KMZ deals. I have seen them on eBay.

I have purchased two Mir 24s and two Helios 44s from Grizzly33Bear. They have been wonderful to work with. One of the Helios 44s would not work with my camera and they replaced it with a good one. Here is their store.
http://shop.ebay.com/grizzly33bear/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686
 
Mark, thanks for the recommendation. It is usually best to stick to sellers with approval ratings of at least 99.3% or thereabouts. However, I had ordered a Jupiter-9 from petersburg_deals weeks ago and it arrived exactly as described. By the way, regarding the Jupiter-9, I've read that the silver version is sharper at f/2.0. I don't know if they're available in m42 but I do know they're more expensive than the black version.

Another good seller is http://stores.ebay.com/rokasphotoandvideo. Straight as an arrow. He has a number of older Nikon lenses.
 
Question:

If I were to attach a vintage MF lens to a Canon 7d via EOS AF adaptor, would I be able to use autofocus for photos?
 
No. But you could get an adapter with an AF confirm chip which, when pressing the shutter button half-way or AF-ON (if you have that button set up for focusing, which I do), will cause your chosen AF point to light up when it's in focus. I have one of these and sometimes it can be helpful. However, it has a range and so if you're on the left or right of its range and not dead center, you're not going to be perfectly in focus.
 
Just bought a Zeiss 20 f/2.8 Flektogon from Ffordes. BUT the m42 adapters I got recently sits the lens a fraction too close to the sensor plane. It'll still focus to infinity (And beyond!) but looses the closest point and of course the distance marks are wrong. Will have to get in touch with SRB where I got them from.
Dave
 
Jordan_S said:
Just wanted to warn you guys to stay away from ebay seller petersburg_deals. His store is KMZ deals.
He sent me a Helios 44-2 whose preset aperture ring is nearly impossible to turn. When I wrote to him about it, he said they were all like that and it was simply the way all of them are made. Funny, because my other copy works just fine.

I had ordered a second one to compare, having heard that there can be IQ differences.

http://myworld.ebay.com/petersburg_deals/
Click to expand...

Interesting as I got a helios 44-2 from that guy and I'm pretty pleased. The outer ring sets the max aperture and isnt ment to turn all the time as you use the 2nd ring which adjusts your ap from min to max. then you have the focus ring near the base..

Been ok for me.. unless the outer ring isnt supposed to 'lock'..

This is my first helios so i just made the assumption that this is how it is supposed to work, which hasnt hindered my shooting.
 
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