What's your favourite vintage lens?

Saw a picture on a Facebook page taken with a Minolta 58mm RC Rokkor, apparently 38 years old and still producing beautiful shots. Out of curiousity, anyone still using old manual lenses or have a soft spot for a particular lens from the past. Must admit I wouldn't mind getting an older, quality lens off Ebay just to have play around with. I'm also thinking of getting a 4/3s camera as a lightweight alternative to my 450D and a retro Olympus OMD is currently top of my wish list, hence a vintage lens, either a short zoom or a fixed like the Rokkor, would be a nice retro pairing.
So, for a little trip down memory lane, what's a good vintage lens that can be picked up on ebay for realistic money. If anyone wants to look at the photo it's the thistle currently at top of page on:

https://www.facebook.c​om/ExpandedImages

Thanks,

Hal55

Better yet is the M. Rokkor 58/1.2. Look at my gear list and see is there is anything vintage there. Gene

Mine is my Jupiter 9 85/2, followed by either my Tair 11A 135/2.8 or my Volna 9 50/2.8 macro.

The best inexpensive manual lenses I have would be the Contax Zeiss 50mm 1.7 (approx. $200) and the Nikon 50mm 1.8 AIS (approx. $65). The Contax is the sharpest 50mm I've used to date. The Nikon is the best bang for the buck lens I've used.

HMMMM It would probably be Leica M 35mm 1.4 Summilux AA (double aspherical) and they were only produced in a small # in the late 1980s into the early 1990s. If you can find one they are now VERY expensive 15K + depending on condition. I would never pay that but in a dream world this would probably be it and it is my fav.

hal55 wrote in post #16725806
... Out of curiousity, anyone still using old manual lenses or have a soft spot for a particular lens from the past...

YES!
I use 99% of photo time manual lenses.
Meyer Trioplan 100is my favorite - but I have "some" more

ZoneV wrote in post #16726302
YES!
I use 99% of photo time manual lenses.
Meyer Trioplan 100is my favorite - but I have "some" more

COOL!!!

Heres a shot with an old Canon chrome mount 55 1.2 Aspherical with an adapter on a 5DII

Both images are beautiful! That's some really interesting diffraction on the last airfrog photo...

thanks....

nightcat wrote in post #16726277
The best inexpensive manual lenses I have would be the Contax Zeiss 50mm 1.7 (approx. $200) and the Nikon 50mm 1.8 AIS (approx. $65). The Contax is the sharpest 50mm I've used to date. The Nikon is the best bang for the buck lens I've used.

Is that the Series E 50mm Nikon? Lenses made by Nikon were branded Nikkor except the Series E lenses that were branded Nikon.

When the first 50mm Series E came out no one wanted them, although they produce some pretty decent image quality and were sold bundled with consumer Nikon cameras. There would have been literally thousands sitting in draws around the world. Most photographers kept using their Nikkor 50mm lenses.

I had a Series E 100mm f/2.8 which produced fanastic images. It evetually fell apart from over use. I used to shoot a heap of stage photography. I bought a Nikkor AI-S 85mm f/2 to replace it. I still have it, one of the nicest lenses I 've ever owned.

There's just something special about Nikkors made in the 1970 and 80s, even into the 90s. Some of the best optics to come out of Japan and built to last.

Of the lenses I own my favorite is probably my Yashica ML 50/1.4, but the 1.7 is also great, for that matter, so is the f/2

There's a lot of really great lenses out there to be had for super cheap and MF really isn't hard if you've got a fairly large VF, a precision matte focus screen helps too

gasrocks wrote in post #16726171
Better yet is the M. Rokkor 58/1.2. Look at my gear list and see is there is anything vintage there. Gene

Found an interesting article on "The Rokkor Files" comparing these two lenses, part of the conclusion read:

The two f/1.2 normal lens designs produced by Minolta, while each a very nice lens, perform quite differently. Based upon the above, I feel that they best fit two different roles.
The 58mm f/1.2 is not as sharp as the 50mm f/1.2, but exhibits the best bokeh of the two lenses. I feel that if you a seeking a fast normal lens primarily for portraiture then the 58mm f/1.2 is the best choice. The smooth buttery bokeh together with a very slightly softer image will enable lovely portraits, and the extra 8mm of focal length will also help to compress features for a more flattering image.
If, on the other hand you are looking for a gerneral purpose super-fast normal lens then the 50mm f/1.2 Rokkor-X appears the best choice. For travel and landscape photography the higher resolution and lower falloff will be beneficial, and the wider field of view adds flexibility. However, whichever you choose to purchase you will be buying a lens of the highest quality, and which I guarantee you will enjoy using. Until you have shot with a lens of f/1.4 or faster you simply won't appreciate how great it is to have a super-bright viewfinder image that snaps into focus, making manual focusing a breeze even in really low light


They certainly seem to be excellent lenses and I'll try and get one, plus an adapter of course.
Also out of curiousity, and for those with long memories or an interest in such things, what would the "natural pairing" be in short fixed or short zoom that a professional photographer would have specified on an Olympus OM1 in the seventies? Wikipedia shows examples with a 50mm f1.8, but would this have been in a pros kit?

Thanks,

Hal55

Avoid the Nikon Series E lenses.

I'd say zeiss, but it's design is been replicated into new models, so I'm not sure how vintage they are anymore.
The one model that hasn't been replicated, but is wonderful is the distagon 28mm 2.8
Yes, the zeiss 1.7 is a good lens, but the zeiss 1.4 is better (i've had 3-4 copies of the 1.7.. for the price it's a steal)

That trioplan is a beauty