Best Vintage MF lenses

Hi everyone.
For a long time no one has posted a new thread about vintage MF lenses so I toughed it might be interesting to know what lenses you have in your arsenal and why.
Old is not automatically bad, we all know that but we also know that not all lenses are good old or new.
I would like to experiment again with vintage glass on my 5DII, so I would like to know your opinion.
What lenses would you recommend?
From micro lenses, fish eyes, standard, tele-photo up to extenders.

I am trying to get MF arsenal for all sort of shooting styles, portraits, weddings, wildlife, outdoor and for cinematography projects.

thank you all in advance

Contax Zeiss and old Russian Helios lenses.

BryantFC wrote in post #15000162
Contax Zeiss and old Russian Helios lenses.

It is funny that you say that, I was working with Russian lenses before and had very pleasant experience.

Any particular models/types you might recommend?

I'm a fan of russian lenses. The volna 9 macro is pretty good, its soft ish at 2.8 but very sharp when stopped down. The jupiter 11 is very nice too, and the tair 11a

Supker-Takumar 50mm f/1.4 is my vote. It's pretty unreal how sharp it is and the bokeh is commonly said to be one of the best around, but all that is just figurative. I really like my copy. It's built like a tank - it's metal, but it's really small and relatively light.

I used to own these russian lenses:
44-2 58mm f/2.0 - wonderful swirly bokeh. I bought mine for $6 off eBay this year - sold it for $60.
MIR-1 37mm f/2.8 - extremely sharp. Really old lens. You can get a good copy for only about $135.

I've also used a Jupiter-9. Another Russian oldie - it's 85mm f/2.0. My copy was really soft wide open, though, but the bokeh was nice.

I'm tempted to purchase them again because now I have a full frame...

21mm Zuiko.

Armans Photography wrote in post #15000255
=Arman's Photography;15000255]I​t is funny that you say that, I was working with Russian lenses before and had very pleasant experience.

Any particular models/types you might recommend?

I personally owned and used the contax Zeiss 50 1.4 and its absolutely beautiful. The f1.7 version is sharper wide open though.

Canon 55 1.2 aspherical.

BryantFC wrote in post #15000162
Contax Zeiss and old Russian Helios lenses.

Everyone used to steer clear of Russian made lenses before digital photography. I knew of photographers with old Zenits who would beg, borrow or steal Japanese optics (mainly Asahi Pentax) for their Zenits. Why today are Russian made lenses so popular nowadays,, the cost?

German made lenses have always been topshelf, but today can still be still expensive. Look at lenses out of Japan. Nikkor, Pentax and Olympus are great optics.

BTW,, I still have a bag full of AI and AI-S Nikkors ranging from 20mm to 300mm, including a AI-S 85mm f/2 which is one of the sharpest lenses I've ever used, including my current 135L. Also a 1969 vintage 50mm f/1.4 which came with my Nikon F of the same vintage which I bought second hand in 1975 (I still have the camera also). The thing about Nikkors, they were built to last and are some of the best optics to come out of Japan.

One day I'll buy an adaptor and use these lenses on my EOS digital. One day!

I use manual lenses for >95% of my photos.

Most loved lens is the Meyer Goerlitz Trioplan 100mm f/2.8, this lens gives a nearly unique bokeh rendering (much different to all Canon EOS lenses).

As the complete contrast I would reccomend a Sony 135 STF lens - but this need complex mount conversion. And the lens is expensive. I build lenses with an apodization element on my own, to get this smooth bokeh - for example with a Helios 44 and my filter (see homepage). By the way I love these Helios 44 lenses, because of their low price and simple mechanics - good for my experiments.

I like and use the Minolta Rokkor 58mm f/1.2 - very fast lens with good image quality. Some compare it to the Canon EF 50/f/1.2 and f/1.0 quality.

Furthermore I like and use other converted / adapted Minolta Rokkor lenses like 28mm/2.0. And Canon FD lenses, there I have converted some big glass The white Canon FD L super tele lenses like FD 300/2.8L and 400/2.8L give good image quality to relative low prices for that focal length speed combination.
I own Zeiss Contax, Nikon, Schneider Kreuznach, Pentax,.. lenses, but I do not use they that often.

At the moment I try to adapt a Tyler Hobson lens as a 150/2.8 macro lens

I shot Nikon manual focus for many years and still own or have access to the following lenses.

Nikkor 28mm f/2 AI
Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 AI-s
Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 Macro
Nikkor 85mm f/1.4 AI-s
Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 AI-s

Nikon made some very high quality MF lenses and most require no modifications other than a adapter to use on a Canon 5D.

Did anyone experiment with vintage lenses and video recording

When I owned my vintage lenses, the DP I worked with on many top films out of Hollywood was begging me to use my lenses on the Canon cameras we were using.

I like the look of them - vintage feel and very contrasty. Way different than the Canon lenses - I personally think for video that the Canon lenses are to surgically sharp and the vintage lenses look way more like how I want the film to look - but that's just me.

NIKON 20mm 2.8 AIS
NIKON 28mm 2.8 AIS
NIKON 50mm 1.8 AIS
NIKON 200mm f4 AI or AIS
ZEISS CONTAX 50mm 1.7
OLYMPUS OM 24mm 2.8

Contax Zeiss and Leica R lenses.

There's a number of lenses that have unique rendering characteristics, many of which have already been mentioned. Finding ones that appeal to your sense of aesthetics is half the fun.