MF lenses going mainstream !

[Mir]

I buy alot of photo magazines, mainly in french...

In July issue of Réponse Photo (No.268) magazine, there's a bit on MF lenses !

The man (Philippe Durand), first writes about adapters and then goes on to talk about using:
Helios 44-2 2/58 M42
Vega 12B 2.8/90 Salyut S
Compur No3 4.5/135 Bellows + hole in the camera body cap (!)
Minolta MC Rokkor PG 1.4/50

He finishes his article with two newer lenses:
Lomography New Petzval 2.2/85
Lensbaby Edge 80 2.8/80 +Composer Pro

I guess MF lenses are going mainstream !

Your thoughts...

[ZoneV]

Yes, manual lenses are more and more popular in Germany too. The big magazins started some articles about manual lenses 4 years ago. One headline was ~"Phenomenal image quality - manual focus lenses are better than AF!"

And the newer Zeiss lenses are also very interessting for photographers who search for maximum quality - they get this with the Distagon 15mm and 21mm and the extreme good 55 and 135mm lenses. There even pure AF photographers think twice and buy sometimes the manual lens cause it is so much better.

All this results in higher prices at Ebay. And even on fleamarkets the sellers sometimes give the lenses a more prominent space. Not more a photo bag somewhere bellow the table.

[!Karen]

There have been a couple of articles in magazines about the use of old mf lenses and adapters here in Belgium as well!

It's bad for prices lol hehe

[guardian]

[norland]

Some of the prices are now pretty crazy (not good how on ebay traders bundle "free" 2x or 3x tele-converters to entice prospective buyers, without telling them the snags) ... wonder how many purchasers are unpleasantly surprised to find that using the longer manual tele-lenses in British weather can require a bit more attention than just plug-and-play.

But it can also be strange what prospective lens buyers ignore ... got a Yashinon DX 200mm f4 very cheaply a couple of weeks ago,
perfect condition and a really good lens.

[kryss]

Prices too high??? cheap is not good and good is not cheap, ask someone who owns a Bentley or Aston martin or Digital Hasselblad or the person who bought a photographic print for a million dollars recently.Value is a personal decision in the eye of the purchaser.

[Mark]

Some lenses, like the Biotar 75mm f1.5 go for insane prices; even more than modern, quality AF lenses. Demand for MF lenses seems to increase with popularity of mirrorless cameras. This naturally drives prices high, which makes getting quality MF glass more expensive.

[ManualFocus-G]

Certainly prices are higher than a few years back. But you must look at the alternatives too.

E.g. Minolta 50/1.4 may be £70 whilst an Olympus 45/1.8 is £160 used. Or a Pentacon 135/2.8 may be £60 whilst a Canon 135/2L is about 10x as expensive. There is still great value in MF lenses, it's just that the gap has narrowed

However, to say that MF lenses are sharper than AF lenses is a bit of a mad statement For some really high quality primes than that is certainly the case, but compare a Lumix 20/1.7 to a 19mm Vivitar and the Lumix will blow it away from wide open. Same with a Sigma 30/2.8 which is sharper than a Flek 35/2.4 from wide open.

What MF lenses give us is a feeling of involvement and a certain look to images Plus a cash saving

[woodrim]

[JohnBar]

[Braddanman]

Mirrorless cameras are slowly becoming more popular and eating into the Dslr market and I think that eventually Nikon and Canon will have to join in with a camera that's not a half baked attempt in order to protect their Dslr sales.
Once Nikon and Canon are on board and mirrorless cameras become more mainstream I think we can expect another surge in MF Lens prices.

[Lloydy]

The big local camera fair is always busy, lot's of people looking for bargains. I generally spend most of the day there, it's a social thing for me as much as buying stuff, I know most of the regular stallholders and spend time talking to them. And they all say they can sell the known cheap and cheerful lenses as fast as they can get them, lenses like the Helios 44M, Pentacon 30 and Vivitar 28's. It's the lenses people buy when they venture in to the MF world.
The better lenses do sell, but it's to people like us who are moving on to better lenses. And we tend to do some research, know what we want and what the lens is worth. Some of these dealers bring the same high end lenses time after time, and unless they price to sell they will continue to do so.
The media have whipped up a lot of interest, Amateur Photographer has run a few articles about MF lenses and there's often letters and technical queries about them

And don't forget Attila's efforts on Facebook, that's done a huge amount to promote MF lenses.

[Oldhand]

[peterqd]

[mo]

This may help you understand the smilies,I am only guessing but I think it's a favorite?
http://forum.mflenses.com/minolta-rokkor-pg-50mm-f-1-4-t32268.html

[woodrim]

Good guess, Mo. Mir also knows that I love this lens.

[mo]

You have me looking at minoltas now,not that I have bought any as yet.

[Mir]

[woodrim]