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I’m Getting Started with Vintage Lenses!
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 11, 2021 7:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Congrats on getting the Helios, they're a nice interesting lens, the design(Biotar) was the precursor to a number of more modern designs so it's quite capable, it's also loaded with character, something I think many newer designs are lacking, sure they're sharp and have smooth bokeh, but they have no soul. The 44-2 is a preset, my favourite flavour of lens, some don't like it, I really like the infinitely adjustable iris, it helps me avoid predetermined f stops and lets me set it to what I feel the subject needs.

You may also want to try out a few rangefinder lenses, they are nice compact lenses that are well suited to travel and hiking as well as every day carry, my smallest lens is a Canon S 35/2.8 in LTM, it is a great little optic, Super Rokkor 45/2.8 is another small lens worth a look.

I may be biased towards wider focal lengths, they are more fun/interesting to me, my Voigtlander 15mm v3 VM mount is an interesting little lens, I know many shooters don't seem to like shooting that wide, but I think it's only because they haven't used any lenses that wide for any length of time to really get a feel for wide fields of view, I worked hard to exercise my minds creative eye at all focal lengths/fields of views... To see as many possibles that you can with a subject before even reaching for the camera, and hopefully some of those possibilities will spark some inspiration as you shoot them and lead you to new exciting compositions.

A lens that I love on my NEX-7 is my Leica M 28/2.8 v2, I absolutely love it's rendering.


PostPosted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 12:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I just wanted to note that I’m having a lot of fun with the Helios; a Minolta 1.7/55 is on its way to me; and I appreciate your encouragement to consider wide-angle lenses!


PostPosted: Sat Feb 13, 2021 1:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Lightshow wrote:

I may be biased towards wider focal lengths, ... 15mm ... is interesting ..., I ... really get a feel for wide fields of view, I worked hard to exercise my minds creative eye ...


I remember well when, back in 1988 at the age of 19, I was about to buy my first wideangle for the Minolta AF 9000 SLR. I was aiming at the Minolta AF 2/28mm, but the local photographer strongly encouraged me to go wider first. So it became a 2.8/20mm ... and I never ever did regret that buy. In fact, soon 40% of my images were taken with the 20mm. These days, both the 16-35mm (at f=16mm) and the 17mm shift have become my "standard" lenses.

S


PostPosted: Sat Jun 26, 2021 1:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
It's been a while, but I thought I should follow up and say I have a) quite the collection of Minoltas now b) some nice Nikon glass like I used to own back in the late 90's, including my favorite 85mm f/1.4 portrait light cannon; and c) way too many mirror/reflex lenses. I mean, WAY too many. Dozens. It is long past the point of absurdity and I'm still finding more obscure mirror lenses I want.


PostPosted: Sat Jun 26, 2021 6:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
xaprb wrote:
It's been a while, but I thought I should follow up and say I have a) quite the collection of Minoltas now b) some nice Nikon glass like I used to own back in the late 90's, including my favorite 85mm f/1.4 portrait light cannon; and c) way too many mirror/reflex lenses. I mean, WAY too many. Dozens. It is long past the point of absurdity and I'm still finding more obscure mirror lenses I want.


Like 1

It happens! Wink

Old Nikon lenses are great for adapting. Minoltas too, of course.

FWIW, for me it always starts not with a particular lens, but with an adapter for a particular mount. I find a system I like, and I get several lenses for that mount to see what they're like.

BTW, the only mirror lens I have is the Tamron 500 f/8 BBAR in Nikon-F. It's great fun by itself, but with a Nikon 1.4x teleconverter added it's extra-special fun.
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