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What 180 primes there are?
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 8:49 am    Post subject: What 180 primes there are? Reply with quote
Zeiss and Jupiter of course and Canon FD.
I had a T-mount Soligor but stupidly sold it.


PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 9:09 am    Post subject: Re: What 180 primes there are? Reply with quote
kansalliskala wrote:
Zeiss and Jupiter of course and Canon FD.
I had a T-mount Soligor but stupidly sold it.


You could always treat yourself to a Canon FD 200mm f1.8 L Wink


PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 9:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nikon,tamron,Schneider,Leitz,Mamiya Sekor,konica,Meyer,Angenieux,Olypus,Tokina, and Komine. I'm sure i'm forgetting a few. Very Happy


PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 9:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
walter g wrote:
Nikon,tamron,Schneider,Leitz,Mamiya Sekor,konica,Meyer,Angenieux,Olypus,Tokina, and Komine. I'm sure i'm forgetting a few. Very Happy


Thank you
Nikon and Tamron AF only?
Zuiko and Leitz pretty expensive .. Confused
Schneider and Mamiya Sekor LF and MF?

edit: actually the 2.8 zuiko is not that expensive.

Last edited by kansalliskala on Sat Nov 19, 2011 9:45 am; edited 2 times in total


PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 9:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
There are plenty of 180mm lenses. Most makers of the 1950's-1960's made at least one type, though many are rare. I think there is even an AF Nikkor 180

Some of the common ones -

There are at least 6 versions of preset 180mm (all f/3.5) in the Soligor brand, maybe more
Makers are:
Tamron - this is the early preset T-mount Tamron - a much later one below -
Tokina
Nittoh/Komine
Kawanon
Sun (I think this was established as the maker of the "silver ring" presets)
One unknown

Most of these are also found in other brands, including their makers own brands.

Others -
Nikkor 180/2.8 - there are several generations of these from the 1950's
Olympus Zuiko 180/2.8
Tamron SP 180/2.5
Piesker 180/5.5 (often also seen in other brands)
Meyer Telemegor 180/5.5, Primotar 180/3.5
Isco 180/2.8, there may be several versions of this, and I think a smaller aperture type also
Kyoei Acall 180/3.5 (seen in other brands as well, including Petri)
Schneider - I think two versions at least, one was f/5.5 from the 1930's-50's, there may be another
Vivitar - 180/3.5 - one of the early presets, maker still unknown, different from the ones sold as Soligor.

Then there are others from Angenieux, Delft, Rodenstock, etc.

There are certainly others but I can't think of them at the moment.


PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 9:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thank you again, seems that 180's are either rather old or alternatively very fast and expensive lenses? More modern lenses are usually 200mm. Why I don't want 200? Because it is too much difference from 120 I want to use.

edit: Ok .. Tamron 180/2.5
"was produced in limited numbers, just 3,000 being manufactured"

edit: edit:
Nikkor pretty reasonable prices.


PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 10:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
There is a great manual Nikkor pre-AI (I think it's called Nikkor-P) which is a very faithful copy of the original Olympia Sonnar
and I think the price of it is also very reasonable.
I never owned the lens, but everybody who have or had it speak of it in very positive terms.

You can also consider 150mm lenses as an alternative which is closer to 120.
There are cheap but good ones (Kaleinar) and expensive ones (Hasselblad)


PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 2:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Just a few more: Sigma Apo Macro in f/2.8, f/3.5 and f/5.6 versions and an EL-Nikkor 180/5.6 I sometimes use on a set of bellows.


PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 2:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I did try and hold many of them my hint list is next.


1) CZ Sonnar 180mm f2.8 Contax
2) CZJ Sonnar Olympic 180mm f2.8 P6
3) CZJ Sonnar 180mm zebra,MC, leatherette etc finish P6
4) Nikon 180mm f2.8 ED
5) Nikon 180mm f2.8 non-ed
6) Olympus 180mm f2.8 OM

1) Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 200mm f2.8 M42 and PB
2) Konica Hexanon 200mm f4, f3.5 any version
3) Soligor 200mm f2.8


PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 3:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I bought a Soligor 180mm/3.5 the other day but waiting for delivery next Thursday.

Will post pics of the lens and samples.

Seller says its a good lens with 15/16 blades.


PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 4:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
It depends on what you consider old.

The Japanese preset 180/3.5 lenses were made from maybe 1961-1972 depending on the maker.
These are usually quite cheap (under$30 on US ebay), and if what you want is sharpness they are very good.
I have five different types and they are all competitive with my S-M-C Takumar 200/3.5

The Nikkors look like an excellent choice, you should be able to find the Nikkor-P (1960's-70's, non-AI) for maybe $100-150 if you hunt for a while. The later ones are much more expensive, the same as Zeiss.

Then there are those that are BOTH old and expensive, like the Isco 180/2.8


PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 5:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Voigtländer 180/4 APO.

I want one for my Pentax!


PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 6:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The "perfect" 180 for me is the Leica Elmar 4/180: fantastic image quality and due to the f/4 still pretty compact and light, even usable on a NEX!
And along the Summicron 50 and the Elmarit 135, probably one of the most affordable Leica R lenses!


PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 6:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I forgot to say Tamron SP 180mm f2.5 Adaptall-2 lens.


PostPosted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 3:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
At 180 you'll be hard pressed to top the nikkor 180/2.8 ED AIs which can be found for around 240USD. Widely considered one of the best MF nikkors ever. Read Bjorn's glowing report.

It's not to small, but not huge, plenty fast for indoor work:



Incredible for long range shots


and shoots like a late model summicron at 50ft


PostPosted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 4:08 am    Post subject: a couple of 180 Nikkors Reply with quote
Here's the Nikon version of the Sonnar 180/2.8, on the left (the P.C version is multi-Coated), and Nikon's own design on the right...
the newer version, called ED, is a bit more compact and said to be THE 180 to have....but both are fine lenses



Mint Nikon Sonnars typically sell for under $200, the ED version for (well) over $200 and $300 (though I've seen the reverse)


PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 12:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
My copy of the Nikon 180mm f/2.8 ED AI-S seems to give pretty good results:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/s58y/6252515920/in/photostream

Note that this greatly enlarged star test shot is designed to bring out the worst in the lens. It's interesting how there is asymmetric chromatic aberration at the center. Note that the original full-frame test shot at 3x enlargment would be several feet across, depending on your monitor.

The Leica APO Telty-R seems to be a bit better for astroimaging, but won't do f/2.8.


PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 7:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Attila wrote:
I did try and hold many of them my hint list is next.


1) CZ Sonnar 180mm f2.8 Contax
2) CZJ Sonnar Olympic 180mm f2.8 P6
3) CZJ Sonnar 180mm zebra,MC, leatherette etc finish P6
4) Nikon 180mm f2.8 ED
5) Nikon 180mm f2.8 non-ed
6) Olympus 180mm f2.8 OM


I tried many, too. My list, sorted by the order of preference:

1) CZ Sonnar 180/2.8 Contax - superb in all respects!
2) Nikkor*ED 180/2.8 - superb, but bokeh can be harsh when stopped down (very smooth wide open);
3) Nikkor 180/2.8 Ai (non-ED) - superb, but slightly (very slightly) inferior to its newer *ED counterpart;
4) Leitz (Leica-R) 180/2.8 - almost as good as the Ai Nikkor, but not quite;
5) Olympus Zuiko 180/2.8 - sharp but LOTS of purple fringing wide open (very creamy bokeh though!);
6) CZJ MC Sonnar 180/2.8 - both Sonnar and Jupiter share similar optical construction. Both very heavy and very impractical in use.
7) Jupiter-6 - same as the Sonnar, slightly lower contrast (single-coated lens).


PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 7:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote



that's the nikon ed ais

looks like the contax is about 100 more----if these guys say it's even better i believe them.

then there's also the elmarit-R and the telyt APO which are even more pricey.

the older nikkors non-ED are prolly the best value.


PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 7:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Please stop making me drool. Smile


PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 8:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
If you can believe the contents in this link there are lenses that sort the men out from the boys:-
http://www.photozone.de/active/survey/querylens.jsp


PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 8:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
aoleg wrote:


I tried many, too. My list, sorted by the order of preference:

1) CZ Sonnar 180/2.8 Contax - superb in all respects!
2) Nikkor*ED 180/2.8 - superb, but bokeh can be harsh when stopped down (very smooth wide open);
3) Nikkor 180/2.8 Ai (non-ED) - superb, but slightly (very slightly) inferior to its newer *ED counterpart;
4) Leitz (Leica-R) 180/2.8 - almost as good as the Ai Nikkor, but not quite;
5) Olympus Zuiko 180/2.8 - sharp but LOTS of purple fringing wide open (very creamy bokeh though!);
6) CZJ MC Sonnar 180/2.8 - both Sonnar and Jupiter share similar optical construction. Both very heavy and very impractical in use.
7) Jupiter-6 - same as the Sonnar, slightly lower contrast (single-coated lens).


Thanks a lot for sharing the short review. I had the Nikkor ED Ais but keep curious about the Contax and Leica. And now the Olympus adds more to my curiosity list Smile


PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 10:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Would you consider pentax K200/2.5 as 180-ish?

Pentax does not have 180 prime, but the 200/2.5 should be interesting match.


PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 9:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
dropmyload wrote:
I bought a Soligor 180mm/3.5 the other day but waiting for delivery next Thursday.

Will post pics of the lens and samples.

Seller says its a good lens with 15/16 blades.


I am curious if it is the same as mine:


I find it quite good, but I hardly have experience with 180 and 200mm lenses.
Had tested the Soligor for sharpness against a S-M-C 4/200 and the Soligor is sharper, specially at corners and open apertures


( on Pentax *istDs )


PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 9:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
This is the "unknown" one I mentioned - I don't recall if it was supposed to have been made by Kino or Sun.
All of the other types of these Japanese 180/3.5 presets I have tried are very good indeed.
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