Dirtiest, nastiest, cheapest lens you've ever bought.

So I thought it would be fun to hunt down nasty cheapo lenses on the 'Bay or CL or whatever. I've been browsing around for the past half hour but I haven't found anything yet.

My aim is to get some super crappy cheap lenses, and dedicate a thread to them and the pictures we take with them.

I don't know if any of you guys do this or if you know or OWN said types of lenses Would love to see pictures of them, or hear recommendations of lenses I should hunt down.

Requirement: Has to be less than $50 in value. Anything above that probably has half decent optics. :P

Why would anyone really want to waste time on crappy pictures? Yes, cheap lenses can produce good results. I have 8 that cost me less than $100. and they produce great pix. But, nasty is not a term that comes to my mind.

Dirtiest, nastiest, cheapest lens I ever bought was on a cheap spy camera advertised on a bubble gum wrapper. I'm certain it was plastic.

Dirtiest, cheapest lens I ever bought in the last few years has to be the one on my cell phone.

honestly? 17-40mm f/4L is about as cheap as i've ever gone with a lens other than Tokina WA and FE, i definitely used both of them more often.

i don't dig on cheap glass nor trust low prices on optics. period.

saiminyaku wrote in post #6847683
honestly? 17-40mm f/4L is about as cheap as i've ever gone with a lens other than Tokina WA and FE, i definitely used both of them more often.

i don't dig on cheap glass nor trust low prices on optics. period.

^so you base your lenses off its price?

how many people have bought the SMC takumar 50 1.4 for less then $100 and had beautiful results. not to mention a lot of vintage manual focus glass that were more than great.

let your eye define the quality of the lens, not your wallet.

This is purely for fun - of course if you're a perfectionist who simply has to have the highest standards of optical excellence, then this topic probably isn't for you

EDIT: Please note my dripping sarcasm

GetOnMyLevel wrote in post #6847708
^so you base your lenses off its price?

how many people have bought the SMC takumar 50 1.4 for less then $100 and had beautiful results. not to mention a lot of vintage manual focus glass that were more than great.

let your eye define the quality of the lens, not your wallet.

notice that i separated my remark about cheap optics and low priced glass.

i think this was about the "cheapest, dirtiest, nastiest, ect" and by no means does the SMC takumar fall into this generalization.

spare me the argumentative responses, i even said my lower priced Tokina WA and FE saw more play than the L.

selectively read much?

I actually rented a Quantaray 100-300 4.5. Probably the second week after I bought my 300D.. Got some decent shots, seeing as how I had no idea what I was doing.

Any old m42 mount lens with the name Hanimex, Vivitar, JCPenney

Oh yeah, and that Phoenix 28-105(softest lens ever) that I traded in for a sensor cleaning

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BrandonSi wrote in post #6847769
I actually rented a Quantaray 100-300 4.5. Probably the second week after I bought my 300D.. Got some decent shots, seeing as how I had no idea what I was doing.

The name Quantaray makes me laugh for some reason Sounds like a superhero from the 80's or something...

Pray, tell, do you have any sample photos?

A very flare prone lens. The Helios 44-2 58mm f2. Honesty I love the softness of the colors that this lens produces and it's pretty sharp even wide open.

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i use to have a 50mm f/1.4 FD lens that I hooked up to a 5D with an adapter, it was dam sharp.

I've been meaning to attempt some projects I've found online that fall into this vein. I'm a big fan of lomography, so this sort of stuff is really fun to me.

anyway, do some google searches, and you'll find instructions on how to mount a holga toy camera lens on a body camp for use on an SLR, and my new fascination: pringles can macro lenses.

check it out.

darosk wrote in post #6847793
The name Quantaray makes me laugh for some reason Sounds like a superhero from the 80's or something...

Pray, tell, do you have any sample photos?

In fact I do These are some of the first shots I took, and hadn't quite mastered any PP techniques. Maybe I'll go back and get the RAW's and see what I can pull out of it knowing what I know now.

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I have a Hanimar 135mm f/3.5, M42 mount. Surprisingly good considering I got it for CAD$7.

I also have a $30 SMC Takumar 55 1.8, but I like that lens better than the 50 1.4 , which I've since sold.