Lenses advice request

[anbe]

Hi all.

In my presentation Attila wrote

[Orio]

Andrea, I don't know the M42 to C/Y body adapters, so I can not advice.

As for the lenses these are my suggestions, very "budget wise":

35mm. your best bet is I think a Yashica ML 35mm. I have one, and it performs at the same quality as the Contax Distagon 35mm. The yashica one usually sells at around 50 Euros. Sometimes less.
Then there would be the Mir-24M, which is faster than the Yashica (it's a f/2 while Yashica is a f/2., but it's very difficult to find in M42 mount. You can find it often in Nikkor mount.

135mm: Jupiter-37, any version. If you are careful you can buy it with 10-20 Euros.

200mm.: Jupiter-21M, another terrific lens, in my 200mm test it arrived close second after the CZJ Sonnar 2.8/200, and before the Pentacon, Nikon, and others. You can buy a Jupiter-21M for around 20-30 euros.

If then you want to get wider with a 20mm and can spend around Euro 150, I strongly advice the CZJ Flektogon 4/20. Avoid the 2.8/20 version, it costs more and performs worse.

[Borges]

Can't resist:
Mir-1b 37mm it's very "flektogonish" for small budgets.

Michael

[Attila]

I fully agree with above opinion.

Don't forget Tamron SP zooms, they provide same quality as prime lenses and C/Y adapter widly available.

My favorite lenses in M42:

Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm f/2.4
Meyer-Optik Görlitz Primagon, Lydith

Jupiter-9, Asahi Pentax Takumar 85mm f/1.8

Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 135mm f/3.5
Pentacon 135mm f/2.8
Asahi Pentax Takumar 135mm

Meyer-Orestegor 200mm f/4
Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 180mm, 200 mm


not for M42 but all Nikkors are very good lens in any focal length.

You have lot of choices if you select any lens czj, jupiter, tamron I guess you will not disappointed.

[LucisPictor]

These are the mf lenses, I would recommend:

Primes:
180°-Fisheye: Peleng 3.5/8 (What else?)
Fisheye: Zenitar 2.8/16

28mm: Vivitar Auto Wide-Angle 2.8/28
35mm: That's tricky... Two favourite lenses: Asahi SMC Takumar 3.5/35 & MIR-1B 2.8/37
50mm: Pentax SMC 1.7/50 (K-mount) & Mamiya Auto Sekor 1.8/55 (M42)
85mm: Jupiter-9 2.0/85
100mm: Meyer Optik Trioplan 2.8/100 V (but the Hanimex Tele-Lens 4/100 is also very nice!)
135mm: Oh, even harder! Three favs: Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 4/135 1Q & Jupiter 37-A 3.5/135 & Pentacon 2.8/135
(But my Greens London 3.5/135 and my Weltblick 3.5/135 are also really nice, much better than I've expected.)
200mm: New favourite... Telear-N 3.5/200 (That is a fantastic lens!)
300mm: Tair 3-S 4.5/300
500mm: Beroflex -5°- 8/500

Zoom lenses:
Wide/normal zoom: Sigma Zoom-0 II 3.5-4.5/28-85 MC
(And the Tokina SZ-X 4-5.3/28-105 SD is not bad either!)

"megazoom": Soligor C/D 1:3,8-5,3/35-200 MC Zoom+Macro

tele zooms: Soligor MC 3,5/70-220 Macro & Tokina RMC II 4/80-200


And from 28mm to 500mm these lenses are quite affordable.

If you feel like starting with a M42-allround-prime-equipment on a rather tight budget, I would recommend these lenses:

- Vivitar Auto Wide-Angle 2.8/28
- MIR-1B 2.8/37
- Mamiya Auto Sekor 1.8/55
- Meyer Optik Trioplan 2.8/100 V
- Jupiter 37-... 3.5/135
- Tair 3-S 4.5/300

You should be able to get the whole bunch for under € 200,-
And you'll have great lenses that are versatile and good enough for almost any case.

Carsten

[naplam]

[Orio]

[LucisPictor]

Hi, napalm!

Welcome here! I'm sure you'll enjoy shooting with mf lenses.
Once you got the virus, it is hard to get rid of it again.

Orio is right, although I never was dissatisfied with the sharpness of my MIR-1B, at least from f4 onwards.
The Asahi SMC Takumar 3.5/35 is sharper when wide open.

Still, I (similar to Orio) love the MIR-1B.

I'm looking forward to your experiences, napalm.

Carsten

[Orio]

[Attila]

I like this typing mistake Napalm funny.

[LucisPictor]

[anbe]

Ok, I've followed your advices, so I made first two purchases:

CZJ 135/3.5 MC (I know that someone adviced Jupiter 37 or Takumar 135 but there is something in CZJ that attracts me)
MIR-1B

Now it's time I look for an adapter, but, in the meantime, as I have an adapter M42-EOS, I will test the lenses, as soon as they will arrive, on my EOS3. I'm simply bursting...

Andrea

[Attila]