ML for A6000, which one to start with?

[cgustav]

Hi there,

I've been playing with my A6000 for a few days only, what a change! I'll sell the 7D for sure

Now, a part from all the incredible features I'm getting acquainted to, there's one that of course that makes this camera really fun to play with, that is mounting a huge variety of lenses!

For instance, one thing I always wanted to try is a CCTV lens: which one could be a good and affordable one to buy?
How about this? Fotasy N35 35MM F1.7 CCTV Movie Lens http://amzn.com/B00KWNA1VS

But then what else? From my Canon experience I've collected Nikons, Olympus Zuiko, Helios and Pentacon. Now that I can mount other lenses, which lens that's really worth or fun to play with, I should buy?
I love architecture, street, macro and video and creamy/crazy bokeh.

My collection goes from 24mm to 200mm already, more specifically:
Nikons
24 f/2.8
50 f/1.4
50 f/1.8 (pancake)
55 f/2.8 macro
75-150 f/.35

OM Zuiko
50 f/1.4
28 f/3.5

Pentacon 50 f/1.8
Helios 44m 58 f/2

Soon or later I guess I'll buy a 17mm (probably Vivitar) as next year I'm thinking to go with a Sony FF and on the FF 17mm should already do its job.
So far what I might have missed, besides the CCTV, I guess is a good Canon FD. What else?

I would buy something for the A6000 bearing in mind I would use whatever I buy on the next FF as well.

Thanks for any hints!

[ManualFocus-G]

That cctv lens is awful other than in the centre of the frame. Fun at first, but ultimately very limiting. It also comes branded as Fujian.

[Lloydy]

I don't have any Nikon's, but all the rest on your list are regulars on my A6000. I think the last 6 months of my ipernity pictures, the link's at the bottom of my post, are shot with the A6000 and all sort of lenses. I can't think of any lens brand or type that I won't use because it's rubbish on the Sony, I have some rubbish lenses - but they'd be rubbish on any camera!

[bernhardas]

Edited

[Layer-cake]

Konica, and you you seem to have a gap in your list perfect for one of their nicest lenses, the 35mm 2.8.

with c mount lenses its hard to find ones in the short range that will cover your sensor, the 35 1.7 does but as ManualFocus-G said its not too great because of corner performance but it will be a fun and cheap lens to use because of the bad corner performance, also there should be quite a few in the 75mm range that will also cover the sensor that won't break the bank.

then theres pen f lenses but they aren't too cheap....

[Lightshow]

One of my favourite lenses on my NEX-7(which has a nearly identical sensor) is my Leica M 28 Elmarit V2.
Rokkor MC 28/2.5
Topcor RE 58/1.8
Canon FD SSC 24/2.8
Topcor R 135/3.5
Most 50ish macros
OM 21/3.5 on my NEX-7 was an awesome night lens, and pretty much any time.
Pen F 38/1.8

I have samples of these in my Flickr feed.

[simbon4o]

First of all - there will be no ML for sony cameras and you can also forget about firmware updates of the current options... sony is not the company that will give you some extra with new firm... they will release A6100 instead.

Still the a6000 is good enough and you can play a lot with lenses and most of all - adapters.

Here are some adapters that you might want to have:
LensTurboII - makes your a6000 a full frame canon body for example. If you buy it with EOS(EF) mount you can mount on it everything that fits EF mount which is nikon F, Oly OM, Konika, Pentax K, M42, M39, ... and all of those will be shooting like on a full frame camera almost... the angle of view is like on full frame, the bokeh almost... depends on the lens, the sharpness is pretty close(only corners can be not as sharp but acceptable. And you have one extra - 1stop light more than if you put the lens on full frame - so you can shoot on 1 step lower iso(1600 instead of 3200)... Also the turbo adapter is shorter in length than standard adapter so the system will be more compact.

Tilt or Tilt-shift adapter - this is also fun. Tilt adapters can be found very cheaply and you can tilt with any lens for full frame on this a6000. The more expensive one is the tilt and shift - you can use it to tilt but also shift - good for landscapes and architecture. Or you can use those as everyday standard adapter for lenses...

Another goodie is the canon EF adapter with AF . You can use modern canon lenses most of them with AF, some of them with MF only on your a6000 and they will work like sony lenses - you will have even exif. I use Canon 10-18 on my Nex6 and it is 3 times cheaper than sony 10-18 but not 3 times worse optically ... it is one great and very cheap lens. Also the 18-55 IS from canon is 3 times better optically from sony 18-55 or 16-50... You can think about that.

About lenses - there is a lot of material in this forum... you can think about it.

[LucisPictor]

[simbon4o]

ML - Magic Lantern, that was my guess about ML

[cgustav]

Lot of interesting stuff already to start seeking for!

So, in order:
- CCTV lenses, it seems better to forget about that.
- Canon FD 100 2.8, that sounds great and price too (I did spot something around $60). I guess SSC means more coating?
- Konica 35 2.8, strange, couldn't find much samples around. Anyway, cannot figure out what's the mount. I've found a Konica Hexanon, perhaps this should work: http://amzn.com/B004EDDBCS
- Rokkor 28 2.5, seems a very nice lens (lovely set Lightshow!)
- Topcor RE 58/1.8 is very pricey on eBay, same goes for the OM 21/3.5. It's a shame, I use OM already and I love them, would have been a nice addition.

[Layer-cake]

Yes, sorry I meant the konica 35mm 2.8, here's a couple of links for info

http://www.buhla.de/Foto/Konica/Objektive/e35_28.html

http://forum.mflenses.com/need-info-on-konica-hexanon-ar-35mm-2-8-ee-t55942.html

I have heard decent things about the Fotasy adapters and the price seems decent

[vlousada]

[Layer-cake]

I wouldnt say all c mount lenses should be forgotten, I found one of these quite a while back, an Elgeet 75mm 2.9 and didn't bother with it for a long time as i was only really after the wollensack 25mm 1.5 lens in the kit.

then there were a couple of threads recently regarding the trioplan lenses and i started seeing the sort of unusual aperture of 2.9 come up often enough for me to tie the 2 together.

Weirdly enough this lens really does give a very trioplanish type bokeh rings, there are some direct trioplan C mount lenses available in this thread here:

http://forum.mflenses.com/meyer-trioplan-75-2-8-c-mount-on-a6000-t68030.html

I'm still doing some comparisons with the maikar 75mm 1.9 I have but here is a test another guy did with this lens

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/42242364

It's a bit glowy wide open but they can be had for cheaper than trioplan labelled ones. also lenses in the 80mm range tend to be quite expensive and sometimes you can pick up a wide variety of 75mm C mount lenses for quite a bit cheaper.

[AstroZon]

cgustav,
What I've noticed with my NEX-5N is that the way a lens performs with a film camera doesn't necessarily translate to its performance with a digital. I tend to use f1.7, f1.8, and f2.0 50s more than f1.4 or f1.2 50s.

I posted a thread about the merits of the Canon FD 50, f1.8 which was a lens sold with many AE-1 and AE-1 Program cameras. These are plentiful and relatively cheap (and often cheaper with the camera attached!)

So you really have to experiment and see what works with your style of photography. Don't be distracted by specs or rarity.

[memetph]

If you are thinking about a Sony FF for next year , you should check that those lenses will perform with a larger sensor.
Especially UWA and WA could have a poor performance out of the center.
Flare and gohsting could appear too.
The SLR oldies that I prefer currently on my A7 and which are good all rounders , without big flaws and not expensive.
Canon FDn 20 2.8
Pentax SMC K 28 3.5 ( not the M)
Rokkor MD W 35 2.8
Rokkor MC 50 1.4 PG
Pentax SMC M 50 1.4
SMC Takumar 105 2.8
Rokkor MD 135 2.8 (4 elements)

[woodrim]

You certainly have the 50mm range covered well enough. I have seen some wonderful pictures, bokeh wise, from the Pentacon 1.8/50.

To keep it simple and with consideration to cost, I will suggest three focal lengths to look at:

RE Auto Topcor 2.8/35

RE Auto Topcor 2.8/100, Meyer Orestor 2.8/100, Kalejnar 2.8/100 (in that order)

Tair-11 2.8/133 or Tair-11A 2.8/135

I could pack those three and be very, very happy.

[simbon4o]

Personally me, if I have to chose 3 lenses for lightweight setup with 3 lenses for the a6000 I will go for the kit lens 16-50 if I can't live without AF and LensTurboII + 28 2.8(small one like the pentax), 50 1.8E nikon or 50 1.7 pentax and something longer like nikon 100 2.8E. This is very cheap but powerful and compact setup I think .

[woodrim]

There are as many opinions as there are people.

[newst]

[woodrim]

[AlexWicks]

[cgustav]

Thank you all for your suggestions,

the list I've got now is very interesting and it's filling the range for sure!

I would definitely go with a 35mm and a 85mm.
100mm could be another interesting choice for my collection, as well as the 135.

As for the FD goes, 35mm seems pricey, but I'll definitely keep an eye on FD lenses, they could be another nice addition.

So, coming to the 35mm, what could be a good price range?
For instance, a reasonable price for the Hexanon 35mm 2.8?

One last thing: I understand FD mount lenses are newer than FL mount. Other than being newer, are they also better in some way?

Thanks!

[thebbm]

my list of lenses who perform well on sony A7 & nex 6 :
leica summicron R 35mm f2; elmarit 90mm f2.8
contax/yashica mount :yashica 24mm, distagon 35mm f1.4, planar 50mm 1.4 , planar 85mm f1.4
olympus zuiko 35mm f2, 50mm f1.8, 85mm f2
minolta rokkor 35-70mm f3.5 macro zoom

favorite 35mm: summicron
favorite 50mm: planar
favorite 85mm : zuiko is very small but at f2 not so good in contrast and sharpness, at 2.8 far better. planar 85mm is better wide open but at 2.8 its very close. the zuiko is twice lighter and smaller.

the sony fe 28-70mm is good on the sony nex 6 but not very luminous

[cgustav]

[Aanything]

for 35mm, the above mentioned RE auto topcor 2.8/35 is a very good choice: I just got one for my nex5r, and I am really impressed by the results in terms of sharpness. The main downside could be size-weight: it's not huge, but there are smaller 2.8/35's.
Topcors tend to be expensive these days, but this can still be found quite cheap with a bit of patience.

Another option can be the meyer primagon 4.5/35, if you can live with the slow maximum aperture: it is a really great performer, and relatively tiny but, again, speed can be a limiting factor.

Finally, my asbolute favourite 35mm on nex is the tiny w.nikkor-C 2.5/35 for nikon rangefinder cameras: not cheap (but not as expensive as the summicron), not extremely common but an excellent all-round lens on aps-c, with the bonus of some swirly funkiness wide open that disappears completely by f2.8-4.