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Ideal lens for DSLR Canon 350D
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By the way, I just got another lens in the post yesterday: Hanimex 80-200mm constant f4 zoom (one-touch). First impressions are that it’s not all that sharp at f4 (although useable for portraits and the like) but plenty OK and sharp enough for landscapes etc by f8. It has surprisingly nice bokeh for a cheap zoom, and came in pristine, shiny and dust-free condition for under ?30 (eBay). And of course like all old lenses, it’s made of metal, focusses and zooms silky smooth, weighs a ton and feels like you could use it as a bludgeon.
SteveFE wrote:
No need to PM Carl, I’m happy enough with the one I got to post the address in public ;)
http://stores.ebay.ie/CIRRUS-ADAPTER-WHOLESALE
But like I say, I’ll definitely follow up this post when the other two arrive, just to confirm if they also infinity-focus OK. It’s always possible I just got a good one out of several junkers, but I’d say if I get three out of three good ones that’d qualify as a firm recommendation from me. Should have them in a couple of days.
Thanks Steve.
SteveFE wrote:Prime lenses, even cheap old ones, will thrash all-purpose zooms, even modern ones, on image quality every day of the week.True Steve,use them always for low light stuff,as they say the best zoom is your two legs :lol:
Ben
8) (Although the L-series from cannon esp the 85mm1.2 and the 24mm-120mm f4 are the superb)OK, said I’d follow up on the cheap adaptors. I got another two and they seem fine, just as well made as the first one. I got a bit of a scare when I thought they’d contact welded themselves to the 50mm Zuiko and Vivitar teleconverter I also have, but it was just a question of sticky release buttons on both lens and TC. A bit of fiddling and they came free and now reattach and detach no problems. Both seem to infinity focus OK on all lenses. A definite recommendation from me.
Oh, and I’ve got an M42 Meyer Gorlitz 135mm f2.8 with FIFTEEN diaphragm blades coming soon, for the princely sum of ?29 inc postage (bought the adaptor already). Hoping for a bokeh monster. I love eBay ;)
Steve, great to hear the adapters worked out well. I will certainly use your contact if I am buying adapters again. There is certainly something sweet about using very inexpensive old lenses on modern DSLRs and getting great quality out of them. Using stopped down metering and manual focussing might not be everyones cup of tea but it gives you a great old world feeling. Could you roll off your entire list of lenses that you use with adapters and give a quick comment (rating) about each. I am sure this would be beneficial to some here. Maybe this should get a thread of its own! :oops:
Quickly:
50mm f1.4 Zuiko. My favourite. Sharp, fast, beautifully built. Obtained second hand and perfect in every way for ?60. For this lens I don’t mind a bit of walking about to frame the scene. I can get handholdable shutterspeeds in the dimmest of pub lighting. My Canon 50mm f1.8 is probably equally sharp, but the AF-hunting was really pissing me off in dim light and you can’t manual focus it, too highly geared and scratchy. The Zuiko’s a brighter view in the finder, much smoother and better to focus manually. I’ve yet to shoot any film with it, but the view with it through my OM10 finder is just sublime and I really should. I’d like an f1.2 but they’re still silly money.
135mm f2.8 Zuiko. Free from a neighbour clearing out his attic. Sharp, fast, beautiful… etc. Bit old and dusty and lacking contrast but nothing a bit of curves in PS can’t clear up. Can’t beat it for ?0. Also absolutely tiny.
135mm f2.8 Meyer Gorlitz (early Pentacon). Why another 135? It’s a lovely headshot portrait length, even at the 216mm equivalent it becomes on DSLR, and the one I ordered (but haven’t got yet, only posted yesterday from UK) purports to be a 15-blade beauty, for which I have high bokeh hopes. Informed sources tell me the 15-blade ones are the ones to have, and the eBay seller said it was clean and all working, so here’s hoping. At ?24 I haven’t lost much if it’s no better than the Zuiko.
Sigma 28mm f2.8 miniwide, OM-mount. Owned for years, it’s an OK sort of lens, fairly wide on 35mm, just a sort of normal length on digital, probably not as sharp or contrasty as my 17-40L. I don’t use it much as it was intended, but do use it a lot reversed on the end of the 135 as a macro supermagnification combo (together they’ll get about 5:1 magnification).
Soligor 35-70mm, f2.5-3.5 zoom, OM-mount. Another old one I used to use with the OM10. Zoom range isn’t incredibly useful on digital but it has a nice macro extension.
Hanimex 80-200mm f4 zoom, OM-mount. Recently bought for peanuts, again in perfect condition. Too soft at f4 but sharp enough by f8. One day I’ll get a 70-200L of some flavour so I can shoot wide open, but until then this one will do on bright days. Unlike modern day cheap lenses, it’s built like a tank and could conceivably be used as an offensive weapon without damage (to itself). Solid, heavy metal.
2x Vivitar OM-mount teleconverter, which is OK with the fast lenses but not much use beyond f4. Too dark. Just got this a couple of days ago so haven’t had a chance to use it in sunshine yet (gotta love Ireland!)
Wow, thanks Steve for the quick respose.
Mark, maybe you could move the last few posts to a new thread entitled “Non Canon (adapter) lenses for Canon mount”My own non-Canon lenses are the following:
Contax/Yashica ZEISS Distagon 28mm f2.8
Contax/Yashica ZEISS Planar 50mm f1.7On testing these lenses on my Canon 350D with my canon primes, at the time there was a certain cleanness about the images from the zeiss lenses that seemed to indicate that the canon lenses introduced a little something that I can only describe as like noise. I know this sounds like madness but the zeiss seemed “creamier” sorta like ISO100 on a Canon 6mp sensor.
The only downside of using these was manual focussing (full-frame will fix this to a certain extent for me next year, getting 5D or whatever) and the relative slowness of using these lenses. The Distagon was the sharper of the two and a benefit of using that distagon 28mm is you can set to f8 and infinity and safely shoot anything from about 12ft outward and not worry about focus, just shoot away (hoping it will be a great landscape lens n FF) . You do need to shield against flair though.
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