recommendations for vintage adapted M43 wides short tele

[Lumiere]

Merry Xmas to you!

I've gone through the honeymoon phase with my GX7 and adapters. Canon FD 50, Minolta MD 50, several Sears (Rokinon), several Pen F, Mamiya/Sekor 55 (Tomioka?), etc. I'm definitely keeping the Pen F 100mm, and 40mm, plus the FD 50mm.

Now I've been searching through the 80-85mm range of vintage lenses to find one that seems to have 'the look', vintage tonal compression, extra sharpness, creamy bokeh . . .you know. I've settled on maybe the Panlocar 80mm, Jupiter 9, or Canon 85mm 1.8 LTM unless you think there is something else. I value the small jewel-like quality of the rangefinder and Pen F lenses.

My question though is really about adapted wides to get a 35mm equivalent. When I shot a Contax RTS2, I had a 35mm and 85mm that I adored and thought were the perfect setup. Finding a vintage lens to adapt at that length seems tricky. Any specific lenses to look for?

[calvin83]

If you don't mind the size, get a Tokina RMC 17mm F3.5 in CY mount. You kit lens or a Olympus M.Zuiko 17 mm F2.8 should perform much better than the Tokina.

[DigiChromeEd]

Tokina RMC 3.5/17 - a superb lens.

[Lloydy]

Yes, the Tokina takes some beating. I tried the Sigma 16 ( maybe 19 ? ) Filtermatic and didn't like it at all.

[listera]

Did you try Sigma 19 2.8 Art? It may be cheapest alternative with sharp WO results, albeit lacking the aperture ring.

[Layer-cake]

if you dont have it already, the 20mm 1.7 is fantastic. a bit pricey but worth every penny, I have never used the gx7 or a viewfinder on my camera and I find using the screen a bit difficult to get proper focus quite hard with anything wider than 25mm.

I agree with Calvin, the cheaper alternative is the kit zoom, its nothing special but gets the job done.

[Lumiere]

Thanks all. Regarding kit zooms - I guess I was looking for MF primes that would serve as alternatives to the kit zoom. When I tested mne against all the legacy primes, it suffered miserably. The Oly 17mm was on my list, but again wondered what might be out there. One lens I wasn't aware of is the Panasonic/Leica 25mm. Wider than I wanted, more $$ than I wanted, but it would do well.

The Tokina and Canon 17mm also look promising.

I gave my Pen 40mm a good real world workout today and it was amazing. I'll post pics soon.

[AlexWicks]

If you're talking about the Canon FD 17mm, steer clear of it. Overpriced for what it is, and it really doesn't work particularly well on digital with a LOT of smearing. The Tokina is a better buy, and cheaper too.

[Gardener]

[ManualFocus-G]

The problem with vintage ultra wide lenses is that they are generally pretty poor. Your kit lens would be the better bet (except right in the centre of the frame). If you really want one, the Tokina/Soligor/Vivitar is a decent option, as is the Tamron SP 17/3.5.