A comparison of lenses, especially focused on a specific characteristic, would be more interesting to me than a review of a single lens. Specifically, I’ve been lately (casually) searching for lenses with beautiful flares and natural image rendering when shooting against the sun during golden hour. Something unique and flare-y, but not artificial lens flare-y in green or blue. Similarly, I’d be also interested in a comparison of lenses from the standpoint of other features, like foreground blur, bokeh, “dreaminess”.
My vintage lens collection comprises Zuiko lenses only, and I don’t know how they compare against other brands, especially under specific conditions.
Wow! What a collection. I’ve never bought too many lenses but this makes me want to experiment with some!!! I can’t wait to see your review on some of these or the pics from them.
Looking forward to all lot of these future write ups. I’d be interested in filters too, I’m thinking a lot about how and when to use filters at the moment
I would be most interested in hearing about your favorite 50mm and 35mm from your collection. Do you use the 35mm for landscapes or is there a wider lens you would like to buy?
I’m totally new to the idea of adapting vintage lenses to digital cameras. So I have numerous questions about buying, using or adapting vintage lenses. I love to get information on the starting basics.
Thank you for listing the mounts for each lens. I’m assuming that I would need an adapter for each (depending on what lenses I find and buy).
Also, are there things we should be checking for when looking at vintage lenses (like mold or dirt inside that can’t be removed)?
Hi Elizabeth - firstly thanks so much for taking the time to comment. You've given me some great ideas for future articles.
I'll answer your questions here in brief as best I can but have put them into a list I'm creating for future article for more in-depth answers.
1. Yes my widest vintage lens for now is 35mm - although I do have some more modern wider lenses that if I do landscapes I would use. However I don't do a great deal of landscape work at this point. There are a couple of wider angle Takumar lenses that I may pick up at some point but I may need to save a bit for those.
2. Yes, you need a new adapter each time you choose a new lens mount. This is why I've primarily been sticking to M42 lenses lately, as there are plenty of them around (they were the primary mount for many years for numerous makers). They are a screw-in type mount, so I typically leave the adapter on my Sony camera and screw the lenses on and off when switching lenses.
Typically, when I shoot, I just take lenses of the one mount type as it gets pretty bitsy, taking lenses and adapters for different kinds.
3. In terms of buying lenses, I'm looking for anything inside the lens that will obstruct a clean image. Most lenses of these vintages will have some cosmetic marks/scuffs on the outside of the lens and usually a little dust inside (which typically doesn't image the image). Still, I'm looking out for excess dust and particularly fungus/mould.
If you're buying in person, shine the torch on your camera through the lens and you pretty quickly see any imperfections.
If you buy off eBay, most reputable sellers will say if there is a fungus, haze on the outside of the glass, cleaning marks or separation. I'm typically looking for a lack of all these things. Of course, a nice-looking lens on the outside is a bonus, but I'm less concerned with that.
It's worth noting that some vintage lenses often have tiny bubbles in the glass. This is typical of some lens makers and not others. They look like they are imperfections but don't tend to impact the image too much.
Someone who knows what they are doing can clean fungus off many lenses but it means taking the lens apart and washing the glass in chemicals - something I'm not confident enough to do at this point.
The last thing I'm looking for is for a lens to be in working order in terms of its focus ring and aperture ring. If they're relatively easy to turn and you can see the focus is working (I typically take my camera and an adapter with me when I'm buying in person) and can see the aperture blades opening and closing well as you change that.
That sounds like a lot but I hope it makes sense and isn't too overwhelming!
oh - one more thing. I typically and looking at reviews of cameras before I buy on Youtube. Watch a few and you begin to see what issues a particular lens will have which gives you things to look out for.
That’s an impressive collection!
A comparison of lenses, especially focused on a specific characteristic, would be more interesting to me than a review of a single lens. Specifically, I’ve been lately (casually) searching for lenses with beautiful flares and natural image rendering when shooting against the sun during golden hour. Something unique and flare-y, but not artificial lens flare-y in green or blue. Similarly, I’d be also interested in a comparison of lenses from the standpoint of other features, like foreground blur, bokeh, “dreaminess”.
My vintage lens collection comprises Zuiko lenses only, and I don’t know how they compare against other brands, especially under specific conditions.
thanks for that Mike - I think that would definitely be a good type of article to throw into the mix! Appreciate the suggestion.
That’s definitely a nice collection!! I agree with Mike.
Wow! What a collection. I’ve never bought too many lenses but this makes me want to experiment with some!!! I can’t wait to see your review on some of these or the pics from them.
Personally I would go to the DxO pages, find my lenses, check their evaluations, and then choose the lense that would establish my baseline.
DxO also has lense on lense comparisons that you can use to pull down their evaluations…..
Then it’s up to you to see which lense matches your criteria for the type of photos you take.
Do they do vintage lenses? Last time I checked they only did back as far as the 1980s which misses most of what I collect and shoot unfortunately.
Looking forward to all lot of these future write ups. I’d be interested in filters too, I’m thinking a lot about how and when to use filters at the moment
Interesting. I have never really used filters, since the very early days of my photography, but it is always something I’ve wondered about too.
I would be most interested in hearing about your favorite 50mm and 35mm from your collection. Do you use the 35mm for landscapes or is there a wider lens you would like to buy?
I’m totally new to the idea of adapting vintage lenses to digital cameras. So I have numerous questions about buying, using or adapting vintage lenses. I love to get information on the starting basics.
Thank you for listing the mounts for each lens. I’m assuming that I would need an adapter for each (depending on what lenses I find and buy).
Also, are there things we should be checking for when looking at vintage lenses (like mold or dirt inside that can’t be removed)?
Thank you!
Hi Elizabeth - firstly thanks so much for taking the time to comment. You've given me some great ideas for future articles.
I'll answer your questions here in brief as best I can but have put them into a list I'm creating for future article for more in-depth answers.
1. Yes my widest vintage lens for now is 35mm - although I do have some more modern wider lenses that if I do landscapes I would use. However I don't do a great deal of landscape work at this point. There are a couple of wider angle Takumar lenses that I may pick up at some point but I may need to save a bit for those.
2. Yes, you need a new adapter each time you choose a new lens mount. This is why I've primarily been sticking to M42 lenses lately, as there are plenty of them around (they were the primary mount for many years for numerous makers). They are a screw-in type mount, so I typically leave the adapter on my Sony camera and screw the lenses on and off when switching lenses.
Typically, when I shoot, I just take lenses of the one mount type as it gets pretty bitsy, taking lenses and adapters for different kinds.
3. In terms of buying lenses, I'm looking for anything inside the lens that will obstruct a clean image. Most lenses of these vintages will have some cosmetic marks/scuffs on the outside of the lens and usually a little dust inside (which typically doesn't image the image). Still, I'm looking out for excess dust and particularly fungus/mould.
If you're buying in person, shine the torch on your camera through the lens and you pretty quickly see any imperfections.
If you buy off eBay, most reputable sellers will say if there is a fungus, haze on the outside of the glass, cleaning marks or separation. I'm typically looking for a lack of all these things. Of course, a nice-looking lens on the outside is a bonus, but I'm less concerned with that.
It's worth noting that some vintage lenses often have tiny bubbles in the glass. This is typical of some lens makers and not others. They look like they are imperfections but don't tend to impact the image too much.
Someone who knows what they are doing can clean fungus off many lenses but it means taking the lens apart and washing the glass in chemicals - something I'm not confident enough to do at this point.
The last thing I'm looking for is for a lens to be in working order in terms of its focus ring and aperture ring. If they're relatively easy to turn and you can see the focus is working (I typically take my camera and an adapter with me when I'm buying in person) and can see the aperture blades opening and closing well as you change that.
That sounds like a lot but I hope it makes sense and isn't too overwhelming!
oh - one more thing. I typically and looking at reviews of cameras before I buy on Youtube. Watch a few and you begin to see what issues a particular lens will have which gives you things to look out for.
Thank you, Darren! This is all helpful information!