Advice for purchasing a wide angle MF lens

vincent0924 · Joined: 24 May 2013 Posts: 5

Hello Everyone!

First, I'm a beginner to MF lenses and also new in here so I would like to say a big hello to everyone here!
And English is not my first language, so please be patient.

Now I'm looking for a wide angle fast MF lens which can be mounted on my Nex-5N as well as my EOS 50D. I plan to mainly use this wide angle lens to shoot some video indoors with Nex-5N, and if it can also be mounted on the EOS body with glass-less adapter ring it will be great.

Cost is a big issue for me so I would like to find something cheap but with good performance. Maybe below 100 usd is a good starting point for me.

Now I have Sony E18-55 kit lens, EF 18-55 kit lens and EF 50 1.8 prime lens. My problem with the Sony kit lens is that this lens has a very long turn-around distance on the focus ring, I mean it's difficult to rock focus when shooting video. So I want to find a MF prime lens that has moderate rotation degree of the focus ring. And in my mind prime lens would also produce better image quality than the Sony kit lens.

Since Nex-5N and EOS 50D are both crop sensor cameras, so I want to find a 24-30mm range prime lens for indoor use. Otherwise I think it either would cause too much perspective distortion or is too long to use indoors with a crop sensor. I thinks 28mm is a good focus length to fit my needs.

Base on the above requirements I found the following lenses.
Olympus Zuiko OM 28mm f2.8
Vivitar 28mm f2.8 and 28mm f2.0
Pentacon PRAKTICAR 28mm f2.8
Pentax M28mm f2.8
MEYER-OPTIK 28mm f2.8
Super/SMC takumar 28mm f3.5
However, I know very little about these lenses. For example how long will the focus ring turn; how about the image quality compared to each other; etc.

Can You give me some advice on these lenses?
And if you have other recommendations, it will be even better.

Thanks a lot in advance!

Pancolart · Expire: 2013-11-18

Hi Vincent!
You might want to use forum's Search option. You'll see there are many topics already covering your question. Besides you can Flickr, Picasa or Google Image search for specific lens and compare photos to get broader perspective on those all-fine lenses counted.

Aanything · Expire: 2014-05-30

All the ones you cited are fine, I'd add to the bunch the RMC Tokina 2.8/28, which is really good and can be had for way less than your budget limit.

That said, searching for samples is definitely the best way to make your own idea, since there are so many cheap and decent 28's that you'll end up with a lot of reccomendations for a lot of different lenses.

buerokratiehasser · Joined: 12 Jun 2011 Posts: 470

I am not sure your idea is that great.
You cannot pay for any serious 35mm UWW so the 18mm is your best bet already.

For iq,
Sigma Super wide 24,
Sigma (or rebrand) 24-70 but the right one (the UC supposedly designed by uh.. another famous manufacturer)

There is also Soligor/Vivitar/whatever 19-35 but I don*t know about its iq. I seem to think people buy this one for the comparatively cheap 19mm at full frame - which you dont need.

Don't know about focus lengths. Most of these analogue lenses feature medium to long focus distances since people are supposed to fine-focus manually with them. Do you even need this or would af cam just do what you want?

new_berlin · Joined: 27 Mar 2011 Posts: 37

I am familiar with the super and smc takumar 28mm f3.5, and also the pentax takumar bayonet 28mm f2.8. The super multi coated (smc)lens is superb -- sharp and excellent color reproduction across the entire APSC-frame. If your camera can shoot high isos well, the lens speed (f3.5 versus f2. Cool

won't matter at all.

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

If money is matter really look Prakticar , Konica, Minolta they often go for very little money and especially Konica is very good.

philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4744 Location: Cheshire, England

With wides the focus throw can be quite long. If you plan on focusing when taking video it may be worth making a lever of some sort to go round the focusing ring. I use one when taking video with my Nikon DSLR, it smooths the focus, less jerky. (One on the zoom too.)

buerokratiehasser · Joined: 12 Jun 2011 Posts: 470

Correction, Sigma 28-70 (the right one) of course

Lightshow · Joined: 04 Nov 2011 Posts: 3666 Location: Calgary

I can recommend the Zuiko OM 24/2.8 and 28/2.8 (the multicoated versions) as there are both good lenses, I really like the OM 21/3.5 on my NEX-7, as I do prefer the look of wide angle lenses, the focus throw on the OM's is not that much, and they are very compact.

vincent0924 · Joined: 24 May 2013 Posts: 5

vincent0924 · Joined: 24 May 2013 Posts: 5

vincent0924 · Joined: 24 May 2013 Posts: 5

vincent0924 · Joined: 24 May 2013 Posts: 5

buerokratiehasser · Joined: 12 Jun 2011 Posts: 470

I meant the 28-70 3.5-4.5 UC that was said to be sold as Leica Vari. Of course, better glass selection with that one. And with the plethora of 28-70 Sigma sold, you can never be sure.

Both lenses came for a variety of AF and non-AF mounts - eh wait a minute, are you telling me you can't MF with an AF lens? Not that it matters, the AF versions are usually more expensive.

Also, I still think you will spend quite some money on a too long lens.

buerokratiehasser · Joined: 12 Jun 2011 Posts: 470

FWIW (my eulogy will probably have "Gave 9001 advice and wiki fixes" as accomplishment #1)

My exakta (relabel very very probably) UC has a focus throw of about 120° from inf to 0.5 m. That's one slick wrist turn. It's HIGH SPEED AF!!! you see. Yeah yeah this also seems to miss focus on a lot of AF shots.

I still think it's not a bright idea, (it is said to have distortion at 28 so maybe it will be even longer)
but these lenses can be had cheap some times, because they look like some standard yeahwhatever and the UC lenses are generally hated. Of course if a seller writes Leica on it it's over, but "Exakta 28-70 i found in uncle's cabinet and i has no clue" doesn't draw too much attention.