MF Lens for Sony A6000

ilovelens · Joined: 03 May 2013 Posts: 27 Location: Canada

Hi, guys i want to learn and play around with MF lenses, So i am looking for 2 lenses for my camera i just bought.

1 for portrait and picture of some products and 1 for Landscapes. What you guys suggest?

Dont want to spend over $200

Thanks

thebbm · Joined: 11 Dec 2013 Posts: 294 Location: France montpellier

Hello and welcome on mflenses forum Wink

for portrait with a crop sensor a 50mm is long enough i think. this focal length is generally cheap and offer very good performance if you take a good brand.
I found all this lenses very good :
olympus zuiko 50mm 1.4 & 1.8
minolta rokkor 50mm 1.4 pg
smc takumar 50mm 1.4
contax zeiss 50mm 1.4 & 1.7
rollei zeiss planar 50mm 1.8 ( best sharpness and lowest price )
...

the landscape lens is more expensive but you can take a slowest one ( f3.5 ) to reduce the cost.
I try
Olympus zuiko 28mm f2.8 (good)
Olympus zuiko 28mm f2 (good)
minolta 28mm 2.8 ( not as good as olymus)
pentacon 28mm 2.8 ( bad ! )
yashica 24mm 2.8 ( good )
makinon 24mm ( avoid it ! )

avoid third brand like makinon

rudolfkremers · Expire: 2015-08-08

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

The Pentacon 28mm isn't bad, in fact, it's excellent. However, there were some quality control issues so some copies are not so good. The best way is to buy an earlier metal bodied one, as it is the later plastic ones that vary most in quality. A good copy is one of the better 28mms.

thebbm · Joined: 11 Dec 2013 Posts: 294 Location: France montpellier

my copy should be a bad one ! Wink

i get low constrat

StyxD · Joined: 18 Nov 2014 Posts: 79 Location: Italia

Hi, I've got a Sony A6000.

For portaits you have tons of choices, from 55mm to 85mm I could suggest you:

Minolta Rokkor 58 1.4
Olympus Zuiko 85 2.0
Jupiter 9 85 2.0 (try to get a MC version)

they should all be under 200$.

For landscape, just forget about vintage lenses. Really hard to find a good one under 200$ unless you're really lucky (Mir 20 3.5 or CZJ Flektogon 20 4.0 are the only options).

I'd buy a Sigma 19 2.8 or a Samyang 12 2.0, they're really good and optimized for an APS-C sensor.

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

thebbm · Joined: 11 Dec 2013 Posts: 294 Location: France montpellier

surely !
i just re try it now : very soft wide open and soft at f8.

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

My go to lenses for A6000 are currently, in no particular order -

Mamiya Sekor 55 / 1.8 very good, sharp and great colours. And cheap. ( M42 )
Minolta Rokkor 50 / 1.4 or 50 1.7 either is a good choice ( Minolta MC )
Helios 44-M or 44-2, both are 55 / 2 and wonderful lenses ( M42 )
Takumar 50 or 55, even the slower ones are excellent, ( M42 )
Yashica ML 50 / 1.7 superb lens, NOT the DSB version. ( C Y mount )
Any of the 50mm lenses from Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax - they are all good lenses.

Wider lenses, I'm using a Carl Zeiss Flektogon 35 / 2.4 which is a more expensive option but superb.
For a budget lens I use -
Pentacon 30 / 3.5 which is sharp with lovely colour ( M42 )
Takumar 28 / 3.5 which is superb. ( M42 )
Yashica ML 28 / 2.8 great lens, NOT the DSB version. ( C Y mount )
Vivitar 28mm which comes in many types, most are very good, especially the close focus version. ( most common mounts )
Ensinor 24 / 2.8 or the 28 / 2.8 - this lens is seen with Clubman, Tefnon and a few other names. Cheap and remarkably good. ( most common mounts )
And again, the main brands all have good wider lenses.

All those lenses should be found for a good price, obviously store branded and third party lenses are cheaper, and some are excellent because they were made by reputable lens manufacturers. The problem is - knowing which ones to take a chance on?

miran · Joined: 01 Aug 2012 Posts: 1364 Location: Slovenia

For portraits and product photography on APS-C I think 50-58mm lenses work very well. Most fifties are good to excellent so you almost can't go wrong. There's a lot of them around and many are very cheap. My personal favorite is currently Pancolar 50/1.8. Very good from wide open, not expensive and focuses down to much closer than most 50mm lenses which is good for those product photos.

For landscapes I assume you'd want something wide. The wider the better. I have a Samyang 12mm/2.0 which is a great lens, very good image quality, quite small and light and very wide max aperture. It's not a vintage lens and a bit over budget but well worth the investment.

Mr G · Joined: 27 Jan 2014 Posts: 187 Location: London & Essex

Hi, depending on the products a 50mm macro is also an option, focus in on the detail of products and out for portraits and relatively cheap. Most branded and 2nd party lenses are usually of good quality, ie Canon 50 f3.5 or Sigma 2.8.
Sigma and Vivitar did some wides, 16 & a 17mm Series 1 respectively, and can be had for reasonable prices.

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

I really liked the OM 21/3.5 on my NEX-7 for a wide lens, there are tons of good 50's out there that will do great as a portrait lens, an OM 50/1.4 for an example.

One of my favourite lenses on my NEX-7 is my Leica M 28 Elmarit vII, I just love it's rendering, though it's not cheap.

A differnt option is to search ebay or other sites for focal lengths you want and sort the results by price, you may find a bargain.

ilovelens · Joined: 03 May 2013 Posts: 27 Location: Canada

is Carl zeiss flektogon 3.5/2.4 is it a landscape lens?

ilovelens · Joined: 03 May 2013 Posts: 27 Location: Canada

i was actually looking at the Samyang 12mm/2.0 there is also a Rokinon one are they same thing? oh and i didnt know they were MF. So for landscapes i dont need autofocus right?

ilovelens · Joined: 03 May 2013 Posts: 27 Location: Canada

if i pay over $200 for vintage lens for Landscape than what would you recommend?

thebbm · Joined: 11 Dec 2013 Posts: 294 Location: France montpellier

The sigma 19mm is very very good. good contrast & sharpness. very small and have autofocus and a sun hood. you can found it used for 100e in europe. it's a very good option for landscape. I don't try the rokinon.
you don't need autofucus for landscape.

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

thebbm · Joined: 11 Dec 2013 Posts: 294 Location: France montpellier

the sigma 30mm 2.8 is at the same price than the flek Wink

smallest and optimised for the sensor
i don't try the flektogon but the 30mm is very very good specially for it price

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

If 30mm is wide enough for the landscapes you want to make, it isn't for me, I would want something in the 15-21mm range.
Tokina 17 RMC is another option.
I'm awaiting delivery of an X-Fujinon 19/3.5 at $230USD
Itm # 261662749347 and made an offer.

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

The Tokina 17 3.5, I was using mine today, another great choice. Cool

Aanything · Expire: 2014-05-30

My favorite vintage landscape lens on nex is the flektogon 4/20: it's sharp more than enough, it has good contrast and almost zero distortion, wich is useful.
Also, the mir 3.5/20 is quite good: it suffers more from flare than the flektogon, and borders look less sharp, even if it was completely usable even on full frame.
Another solution could be the cosina made/vivitar 3.8/20. I've had one for a while and it seemed pretty respectable, especially considering that it's not in the same price league as the flektogon.

For wider than 20mm I'd suggest a modern option without hesitation. And that sigma for that price should be kept in mind too.

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

Ive been using the Konica 21/4 quit a bit lately on my A7r.

ilovelens · Joined: 03 May 2013 Posts: 27 Location: Canada

Lenses i already have is all E mount which are: 19 & 30 Sigma, 35 f1.8 , 2 kit lenses 18-55 and 16-50 Just in case if you guys can tell me based on my lenses which ones i need.

Tedat · Joined: 08 Nov 2011 Posts: 800 Location: Berlin/Germany

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

You have nothing longer than 55mm
Tokina 90 macro or CV 90 APO would be nice additions.