Vintage lens guide?

I am looking at getting an a7s in the next week or so and I would like to explore the option of using vintage glass with it. Most of the pictures that I take can be done with manual focus. Is there a guide to lenses to look for? I have looked over the couple of threads in this forum related to vintage lenses, but there isn't a general consensus on which are good. Mainly looking at landscape lenses and portraiture lenses myself.

Not sure of a guide but there is lots of great old lenses that work well on the a7 line up. Old Minolta or konica are great. The 50mm f. 1.7 are great lenses and the very sought after 58mm 1.2 woukd be great. Also Canon fd lenses are great to. There are some nice 135mm available to by all manufacturers.

Check here:
http://www.sonyalphafo​rum.com/forum/27-legacy-lenses/

Thanks a lot! That is the kind of forum and information that I was looking for, I am surprised that I didn't find it in my searching.

it's really tough sorting through vintage lenses, and the optical gains may not be that huge. I'll put in my 2c based on each focal length I've used, all on 36-42mp bodies.

24mm, tried FD and OM. I like the OM for much smaller size. Possibly better IQ goes to the OM, however contrast not as high as say an L prime. Tried to do a compare with the 24-70ii and stopped down, no noteworthy differences except for contrast, where canon has the edge. Good to excellent on a high MP body.

28mm FDn, not super optics, but decent. Probably pushes a lower res body to the limits, however leaves something to be desired on a high mp body. Edges not really pin sharp even stopped down.

35mm f2 FDn, about the same optics with the 28/ motor drive 35 f2.

40mm f1.4 voigtlander classic. similar optical performance, vignettes really hard, stop down far corners never really sharp, somewhat busy bokeh

50mm f1.8 FDn, see nifty fifty, similar performance.

50mm f1.4 FDn, see EF 50mm f1.4, similar performance.

50mm f1.2L FDn, see EF 50mm f1.2L, similar performance.

50mm f1.2 nikon, softer than the canon version wide open, but sharper stopped down.

50mm f0.95 mitakon, about sharp as the canon EF 50mm f1.2L, with even better bokeh. Large and heavy

85mm f1.2L FD, see EF 85mm f1.2L

105mm f2.5 AI-S nikon, wonderful portrait lens, nice bokeh, decently sharp wide open, while the very slight halo effect gives portraits a nice glow to them.

135mm f2.8 vivitar, 135mm f2.8 FDn, 135mm f2 FDn, all decent optics, CA wide open, decent to great bokeh, great wide open and stopped down.

200mm f2 Nikon, clearly not as sharp as the latest canon, but it's similar to the 105 nikon. It's pretty sharp wide open, probably on the level of the 135's, stopped down performance, I have no clue, it's literally taped wide open to prevent accidental bumps

200mm f5 OM, decently sharp stopped down, very hard to control since it's so lightweight along with the focal length. Lowish contrast, love the size of the lens, so hard to part.

The Minolta lenses seem like a pretty good value, does anyone have any specific ones that they like a lot?

I really like my Minolta HS 200 2.8 APO G, but I do realize that not everyone wants a 200mm portrait lens.

HCsteel wrote in post #17913050
The Minolta lenses seem like a pretty good value, does anyone have any specific ones that they like a lot?

What exactly are you looking for? You're asking very generic questions in this thread, for us to properly help you, you have to tell us what it is you want. There are literally thousands of lenses out there, some terrible, some excellent and their not always priced as you'd expect... I've gotten some stellar lenses for next to nothing, but we can't really help you unless we know what you're looking for.

I loved the Minolta Rokkor X PG 50mm 1.4.

I then upgraded to the highly reguarded PF 58 1.4 , but honestly the PG 50 was much better at just 1/3 the price. The 58 does have better bokeh but at the expense of sharpness and contrast.

The Samyang 28mm 2.8 is a bloody good lens and last I checked there was one on ebay in Minolta mount. It's kinda rare also since that one is only the 3rd I've ever seen for sale, the previous two I snatched up as soon as I found them.


For lens reviews visit this forum, I have a bunch of reviews in there(this is their third party lens section)
www.pentaxforums.com/u​serreviews/

We also have a MF adapted thread here in the forum with almost every vintage lens, you can use the search function in there as well.

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=644277

I am enamored with my Minolta lenses. These are the ones I have, including a couple of others:

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Mate, that is a decent collection right there!

I have two lenses currently for sale

28-80 macro
https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1453605

And the minolta rokkor 50mm 1.7

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1455188

HCsteel wrote in post #17913050
The Minolta lenses seem like a pretty good value, does anyone have any specific ones that they like a lot?

The Minolta lenses tend to have great colors and bokeh. I kind of drifted away from using MF lenses much but I loved my Minoltas.

The ones that I liked:

1) Minolta MD 50/1.7 - this was the standard lens on many film cameras and is probably the easiest one to get. I had three separate copies and all three performed great. It's smaller and lighter than 1.4 version while not really giving up much in IQ. A bit soft wide open (but great for portraits) and really sharpens up with just one-two clicks of the aperture ring.

2) Minolta MC 50/1.4 PG - this lens was supposed to be even better than 50/1.7 but the one I had, while great, didn't really seem all that much better than the slower version, while being bigger, heavier and more expensive. Nevertheless, it's a great lens in it's own right.

3) Minolta 35-70/3.5 Macro - someone described this zoom to me as a "stack of primes" and it's a very accurate description. Very sharp, great colors. This is one MF Minolta lens I will never sell. Make sure you get the Macro version as it's supposed to be the best optically.

4) Minolta 70-210/4 Macro - it's very good optically with fantastic bokeh. As any old tele zoom lens it is heavy though. All metal barrel.

5) Minolta Rokkor X 28/2.8 - it's a decent lens, but Sigma 30/2.8 (the modern AF lens) is even sharper while still being light and compact and relatively inexpensive.

6) Kiron MC 28/2 - this lens was super sharp with great bokeh (given the FL) and overall in my opinion a step up from Rokkor. I did end up trading it since, again, Sigma was more convenient to use while maintaining great IQ. But highly recommended if you find one.

7) Any cheap 135/2.8.. there was a whole bunch of them made by various manufacturers and all that I've tried were sharp with fantastic bokeh. The difference between Minolta and some unknown brands was lack of contrast and purple fringing, easily fixed in post. Since many of them sell for as little as $15, they are hard to pass.

I love my Rokkor 58mm f/1.2
It is not extrem sharp and contrasty full open, but I love and use the full open glow for some special images.

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