The State of my Vintage Lens Collection
What lens would you like me to review first?
Since writing my first long-form content here on Substack, I’ve received some wonderful messages and comments from quite a few people - and I wanted to start this week’s post with a quick word of thanks for your encouragement.
I wasn’t sure if others would be interested in exploring the topic of vintage lenses on modern cameras, but I am glad to have found a little tribe here. I hope my muddled thoughts will be of value to you in your journey.
I’ve struggled to know how to follow up on last week’s post. I intend to review specific vintage lenses with this substack, but I’ve been unsure where to start.
I would love your thoughts on which lens you’d like to see reviewed first.
To aid in that, I thought that for this week’s post, I would start with a ‘state of the collections’ article that is a bit more big-picture—introducing you to ALL of the lenses in my collection.
I feel slightly embarrassed to do this (admitting you have a problem is the first step, right?), but I am comforted that my vintage lens collection is relatively small compared to some of my online friends who have hundreds of lenses!
It is also worth noting that this is a collection that I’ve grown over several decades - from my first Minolta lenses (mentioned in my previous post) to some I bought when I shot film Nikon SLRs years ago and to more recently purchased M42 lenses that I’m still learning about.
So, without further disclaimers - here’s what I have! I’ll arrange them according to their focal length - from wide to telephoto.
Wide Lenses
Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 35mm f2 (M42 mount)
Auto Takumar 35mm f2.3 (M42 mount)
Nikon Ai 35mm f2 (F mount)
Normal Lenses
Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 50mm f1.4 (7 element) (M42 mount)
Super Takumar 50mm f1.4 (8 element) (M42 mount)
Nikkor Ai-s AIS 50mm f/1.4 (F mount)
Canon 50mm f1.2 (LTM/L39 Mount)
Carl Zeiss Pancolar Jena DDR 50mm f1.8 (M42 mount)
Auto Takumar (Zebra) 55mm F1.8 (M42 mount)
Helios 44M 58mm f/2 (M42 mount)
Telephoto Lenses
Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 85mm f1.8 (M42 mount)
Nikon Ai-s 85mm f2 (F mount)
Jupiter 9 85mm f2 (M42 mount)
Meyer-Optik Görlitz Trioplan 100mm f2.8 (Exakta Mount)
Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 135mm f2.5 (M42 mount)
Takumar (preset) 135mm f3.5 (M42 mount)
Nikon 135mm f2.8 (F mount)
Jupiter 37A - 135mm f3.5 (M42 mount)
Leica Elmarit 135mm R 2.8 (R mount)
Zoom Lenses
Minolta AF 35-105mm f3.5-f4.5 (A Mount)
Minolta AF 70-210mm f4 (A Mount)
So that’s the state of my current vintage lens collection.
It’s been an interesting exercise to list them all - particularly to see that I have as many 135mm lenses as I do 50mm lenses!
Which Lens Should I Review First?
Now that I’ve listed them all, I want to hear from you.
Is there a lens (or three) you’d like me to put at the top of my review list?
Are there other questions you’d like me to address about the collection?
Do you have questions about buying, using or adapting vintage lenses?
Is there a lens you think I need to try that is missing from my collection?
I’d love for this substack to be interactive. I want to base what I write on your questions and ideas as much as my own, and I know there’s a lot I still need to learn about the topic. So, feel free to comment at any time.
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.
That’s definitely a nice collection!! I agree with Mike.