I love this channel. I'm an audio guy by trade and I always tell people to use whatever gear they can afford and just start making stuff. It's great to have fancy equipment but you can absolutely make amazing art with cheap stuff, too. Experience and artistic ability will shine through and practically anyone can start honing those skills right away.
All you need is your imagination - and would do, it doesn't need to be the best, or latest & greatest. A nice composition could being made with any camera, with any lens. peace.
Thanks Nigel for another great episode! Like yourself, I get a kick out of doing more with less. My favorite cheap vintage zoom is the Vivitar\Kiron 70-150mm F3.8. It's one of the smallest (length as well as diameter) zooms out there and I think it produces lovely images on both digital and film.
Another excellent Vivitar zoom is the Series One 70-210mm f3.5 (The serial numbers starting with 22 were Kiron-built and said to be the best). I got one and managed to photograph a hovering Common Tern at full zoom. Heavy old lens but produces lovely images. Vivitar aimed the Series One range at pro photographers who didn't have time to change lenses on a job. They were widely used by professionals.
Great story teller you are… You got me w “ Bags of Blur”… I’ll be taking you up on your suggestion… and just subscribed so I look forward to catching up on some of your previous content.
Thanks for the great video !! What I´ve got as a present some days ago is a Minolta 35-70 3,5 , with original box , nearly unused , is the 2nd version without macro . I have tested it on my Lumix S1R 47mp - Sensor , and it´s no problem for this lens ....the sharpness and micro-contrast in better than with the Lumix 24-105 !!!!!!...and better than the sigma 45mm DGDN Contamporary...unbelievable....and it´s always on ebay under 100€ ....(FYI- this lens was also sold from Leitz as a Leica Vario-Elmar 25-70 3,5 at that time , maybe that explains how good it was-and still is )
Good points Nigel. Due to not wanting to dig too deep into my color film stores given the current shortage in 35mm, my current "film" camera is a Nikon D200 with the plastic 28-80 Nikkor kit lens and Tiffen black mist 1/8. Pretty happy with the results once I dialed in a profile and preset. There's real satisfaction creating nice images with a less than $200 kit including the $75 filter.
If you're a Fuji shooter, the 16-50mm 3.5 OIS Version II will surprise you. Super fast focus on the later bodies. Center sharpness is fabulous, weighs nothing, and closeup is VERY close. And the price...but be sure to get Version II.
Add an old low megapixel DSLR to the cheap zoom and you have a great Kid's camera or one for the beach and bad weather where you don't want to risk better gear - and I'm sure you will get some great pictures from the combo. Carefree camera - If it gets stolen, no great loss.
I use this methodology to save my good gear from getting ruined in the rain. Until manufacturers give an actual water resistance rating I don't believe claims of gear being weatherproof.
@@SheikhDjibouti There was an F1 event in my city today but it rained all day and so my Canon 80D stayed inside. Even though they claim it's weather sealed, they won't accept the warranty claim against it, so it's useless. Only manufacturer that gives proper IP ratings is Olympus, the E-M1 series has some serious water and dust proofing. I'd imagine it would survive a quick dunk in the ocean if it was rinsed and dried fast enough.
Love your channel. I leaned into the Canon and Canon compatibles like the well regarded Vivitar Series One line of zooms that were ground-breaking in their day. Many of these were made by Kiron and others, and the quality was stellar. Better than the OEM Canon versions, and many add the perfect 70s flavor with no work at all on my part. It did take a few tries to get them in good shape. TIP: Japanese sellers on ebay that say "Perfect=Perfect-Perfect Condition" ....Never are in perfect condition. Never once. ;-)
There is nothing like the magic of an SMC Pentax lens. As far as vintage lenses are concerned, as long as the glass is in good shape nothing else matters. Half of the fun of photography for me is finding a great lens at a bargain price. Here in the US I have found 3 sources that give me a 6 month warranty on what ever I purchase. Keep in mind that a lot went into the humble kit lens as it was a new photographers first lens and a smart manufacturer made sure the lens was good quality at least in terms of optics.
I was given a Pentax A-Zoom 28-80mm f3.4-4.5 with 2 Pentax P30's by a friend who just wasn't going to use them anymore.Not the best camera and lens combo, but bloody reliable and will give me decent photo's time and time again. I have the Olympus lens too, it's a great walk about lens, as are all mid range zooms. No need to carry 2 or 3 primes whilst on a photo walk, a zoom lightens the load.
I've got an old Praktica zoom (80-200) and it makes my A7ii look like a tank! Frankly, it's rubbish in every way- slow, hard to focus, not very sharp, etc. But it does make some incredible images by dint of all its flaws. It cost £5 and it's a fun bit of kit to use.
I had ( why I gave it up no clue ) that Tak A 28-80 3.5-4.5 back in the day. Used it on my K100D. Wonderful colour mated up to the K100D's CCD sensor especially in the autumn season. And being an A lens, set aperture ring to A and one can adjust aperture settings via dial on camera body. Very convenient. On the cropped sensor it works out to be a 42-128mm. A nice walkabout range. Also own the following that I use on my Panasonic GX7. Nikon 43-86. Probably the softest lens I own. But it has 'character' lol. Minolta MD 35-70 3.5. Wow! Very sharp and quite light and compact. And a Tokina 28-80 4.0. Canon FD mount. What a beast it's a tank. No complaints over image/colour qualities. As for tele zooms (70-210/80-200/80-210) they can be had for literally peanuts especially off brand copies. My best vintage tele zoom by far and away is my Pentax SMC A 70-210mm f4. Astounding sharpness and beautiful Pentax colours. I've shown people pictures and they couldn't tell the difference between it and my Pentax DA*50-135 2.8. Lovely video. Refreshing to watch a photography channel whose aim is to share the JOY of the hobby.
Having read a review on the Takumar A 28-80....a guy suggested keeping the small rear element extra clean for best IQ... you can back the rear element level with rear of lens for dusting and what not.. Nigel etc etc....
I only still have one vintage manual focus zoom, and it's a good one, the Tokina RMC 35-105mm f3.5-4.3 macro. I don't know what they sell for these days, but I do recommend it for its zoom range, optical qualities, and useful macro function. There's a less than one stop difference between the maximum aperture at the short and at the wide end which is interesting.
I've been enjoying watching your videos since I discovered your channel by chance earlier this year. It actually got me into the idea of using vintage lenses on my Canon 200d with an adapter. I'm finding manual shooting much more interesting than using the auto-focus on my Canon zoom all the time - though I can't see that I could ever capture fast moving subjects like garden birds with a manual lens. However it is nice to have these different options.
Glad you've found vintage lenses - with all manual adjustments they're certainly more involving. And you'd be surprised what it's possible to do with manual focus with a little practice - remember that every image shot pre 1985 or thereabouts is a film image, more likely than not made using manual focus!
There is never a bad day to make a great photograph. And there has never been a bad camera/lens that wasn’t used at some time or another to make a great photo either.
Yes I did get one looked like stuck in drawer for years...and very stiff... but have brought it back to life with some external cleaning and lubing.. And is shiny like yours some wear on it like you said...glass nice and clean... Should be super good and cost around £15 Getting lens shade..... Pretty much looks like new really.... thanks for the tip Nigel... Good video again.. Keep up the good work...
That Pentax zoom is the one that came with my first "proper" camera back in the day (a P30n). I was really chuffed at the time that it was a zoom and not a 50mm prime. It's still upstairs, as good as new.
@zenography… very good point what you make here about the kit zoom lenses. What about good vintage zoom. Everyone says that vintage zoom are bad. Of course they are not as good as vintage prime. I would like to see someone about good vintage zoom, even if they are not so cheep. Thanks a lot!
In case no one has mentioned it, I nominate the Nikon Series E 75-150, going for as little as $30 on E bay. One of my three or four all time favorite Nikkors. I did travel writing/photography back in the '90s and this Series E never let me down. Back when there were no travel vlogs, just newspaper and magazine articles. Sharp, light, easy to handle. Only downside is the zoom ring tends to get loose. I still use mine on my Olympus M4/3, for a nifty 150-300.
Before the days of digital cameras I bought a Sigma 28mm (f4-f22) - 200mm (f5.6-f22) zoom lens. At the time I was not particularly happy with the quality of the photos and used my fixed focal length lenses where I wanted to be confident in the quality of the photos. It also has "macro" at 200mm (although labeled "macro" it of course is close focusing and not true macro). I still have the lens and upon seeing you video it brought the lens to mind, I have dug it out and will give it a try again after a couple of decades of storage. Some people were not impressed with the Sigma brand and it would be particularly difficult to design a lens with those specs. Mechanically it seems just fine and when I get some really good light I will experiment a bit. Thanks for the reminder about zoom lenses.
That's an incredible range, not surprising that some photos weren't perfect. As you may know, zoom lenses come with optical compromises of one sort or another, and the greater the range the more compromises will be needed - as a general rule anyway. Thanks for looking in!
The Cosina ( Vivitar ) 28-210mm f3.5-5.6 zoom is a cheap good lens only thing bad is minimum focus distance. Mine is a bit plastic but light, good trade off. Some people have problems adapting to mirror less because of adapters are off., My setup was ok. Check the Pentax forums for a review, as well as tons of other vintage zooms. It’s an old forum with tons of information and reviews, sample pictures etc.
Great work, you have inspired me to have a go at vintage lens photography. Now that I have been posting some photos for friends and family, I'm getting the old cameras and lenses dragged various sheds given to me. I was today given an Auto Promura 70-220 f4 zoom that I presume is a budget kit zoom as well as a Praktica camera with a Domiplan 50mm (with stuck aperture!). Do you know off hand who makes Promura lenses (or what they may be rebadged as)? There is a similar Tamron lens but the only mention of Promura I can see online is a 135mm and a 28mm. It was a bit dark to try it out tonight but there's always tomorrow!
I have a perfectly nice Vivitar 35-105mm f/3.2-4 zoom in Nikon F-mount. I got it basically for free with a Nikkormat FT2. It does a fine job. I also have a nice Tokina 75-150mm f/3.8 in Minolta SR mount. The lens cost me $20 and it provides me a good long-ish portrait and telephoto option in a compact package.
I inherited a few Sigma and Practika zoom lenses from my father. Sorry to say, I was a fast prime snob and mostly ignored them for years before I decided to try them out. They're really quite nice, still just as flexible as they were when new. I agree that it really is a lot of fun to make the most of their limitations.
I bought a cheap $7 pracktica Pentacon 135mm f2.8 lens so I could use the aperture in a DIY projector lens adapter. So I opened it up to get he aperture. and I realized that it wasn't really broken. The grease had just glued the helicoid. I used mineral oil on it and left it overnight. Next day I disassembled down the smallest part. I put it back together and 3D printed an adapter flange for EF mount. Now I love it. I need a crappy les that I won't feel bad taking parts from it. Any recommendations for the worst lens ever with separable aperture mechanism?
I always look forward to watching your videos on Sundays and I think that your best ones happen when you are out and about. You've raised some good points that I hadn't thought of. I'm going to track down some of the cheapest and nastiest zooms to see if I can discover anything with interesting flaws. As an aside, have you tried any of the new Zenitar lenses? I love my ancient 50 and need to see an honest review of the latest ones hint hint 😊
I bought a sony a6000 but thought the kit lens provided what I thought to being bland images. I considered an expensive replacement but watched videos that were consistently disappointed with them. Remembering a chinon bellami I once owned, I bought some old chinon lenses that produce images that as well as being 'sharp', are 'characterful'. And it seems a more involved and pleasing photographic experience when using these old lenses.
@@zenography7923 Just to add, before the Chinons, I tried old Pentax lenses that I'd used with my ME Super. The film results, as I recall, were colour saturated, but with digital they were bland, almost anaemic. The 'Chinons' seem to work far better.
Again many thanks for an interesting episode. I use MFT and came across some of these vintage zoom lenses for cheap prices, with different experiences. Some were really worn out and optically poor, some are really good. I enjoy especially some of the Olympus zooms, they perform quite well. And it is always fun to try such a lens. If I don´t like it it will be sold again. And I am generally reluctant to spend big amounts for vintage glass. In these cases I prefer the modern lenses.
Recently bought a Chinon 35-100 mm multi coated 3.5-4.2 . very well made ,great fun to use and getting nice results .Hope to find some more gems like this . Thanks for countering the snobbery from some photographers about these zooms :-)
Reminds me about the time I realized that bodies and lenses from the 1980s and early 90s were going for peanuts - this was around 1998-2001 or so. I bought a number of cheap used lenses during that time period, including several cheap zooms. The main problem I came across was sticky diaphragm blades - that 80-200 Vivitar Series One and the 28-70 Kiron (which were raved about in the magazines at the time they came out) were particular disappointments - one day I'll have them serviced. Also picked up 4 or 5 old Pentax and Ricoh bodies - the REALLY cheap ones were Sears-branded Ricohs. I suppose I'm covered for zoom lenses these days, though - the Pentax 18-55 and 18-50 (collapsible, weather-proof) "plastic" kit zooms aren't bad, also have a 50-200 and I'm looking at buying a 55-300 kit lens. They don't cost very much, either. I am looking at buying one or two Russian primes, though - lots of them available on Ebay at this time from Ukraine.
Like this episode!! And the person behind the camera indeed makes the 'art'... As a student I earned some money as a wedding photographer… with 'cheap' lenses... a Sigma, Vivitar... (on an Olympus OM1 and OM2). But the wedding photos were fine with satisfied customers.
Thanks you for the video! It made me rethink about how I buy lenses. I was yesterday near to buy a 200usd vintage lens. But I'll stick with the cheapest opportunities, I have lenses that I got for 10usd or other I got near free when buying a camera and then selling the camera for the same price and keeping the lens. I don't have a reason to spend more, I'm not a pro, I'm not talented, but I enjoy taking photos and bringing to life old lenses. I have some old zooms from Sigma, Vivitar, etc in different mounts, I will use more that little zooms. Sorry for the digression, your video made me think.
Quite some time ago, I've bought a couple of zooms. One that surprised me was the Soligor MC Zoom-Auto 35-70 2.5-3.5. I didn't expect much, but I have quite some fun with it. Nice colors, a (small) built-in hood and a bit of macro. I also like the Canon FD 35-105 3.5-4.5. It is compact, very light and sharp like most of the Canon FD lenses. Unfortunately, I don’t use it much, because I'm not a fan of the push-pull zooms.
HI Nigel could you possibly make a video on how to remove mist specifically from a vintage Tamron SP 2x converter. I have several Tamron SP lenses including a 350mm mirror lens that I have kept from my film shooting days and now have given them a new lease of life matching them to my Fuji cameras.
I must say I greatly enjoyed this video , as I do with your other ones . Only recently discovered them . I have the same liking for using cheap or unloved gear to do what I want . I still have the 3 old film SLRs that I bought as 20+ year old cheap cameras and their associated lenses when I was a young man in my late teens to early 20s. 20 years later I’m still using them .
Another great episode! Wholeheartedly agree with you. I love my Pentax A 35-70 on the K100d or K5. A little bit more expensive but a gem none the less!
I have a couple of those Nikon 48-86mm zooms- a 1963-1976 version that's been Ai-converted, and a 1976-1982 version. I don't recall what I paid for them, but it was almost nothing in each case. I gave a second copy of the '76 version to a friend as well. The Takumar-A version of that Pentax zoom was my first SLR lens, which came with my K1000 ca. 1990- it was the only lens I had for that camera until I finally got the 50mm f/2 in 2016. I still have it, of course- it's the only vintage lens for which I can claim to be the original owner! I should do some shooting with it and see what I can make it do, as my skills have probably improved a bit in the intervening 30+ years...
I had one SMC Pentax-M 28-50mm F 3.5-4.5 and it was a wonderful lens i was really impressed with it i wish i didn't sold it it was around 60€ but it was in really good condition i don't think i would find one in the same condition
@@zenography7923 yes indeed since I'm not collecting anymore i'm trying to find out what can add something I don't have to my lenses. I just got a Minolta AF 50mm F3.5 macro lens it's going to be my first Minolta lenses after I sold the others I had and I never had it I think one 20 years lens can be called "vintage" let's call it vintage plastic 😅. One time I sold a little kit of raynox macro lenses called Raynox CM-2000 1.5x and 2.5x MacroExplorer Lens Set i got lucky and manage to get another used set. This macro lenses attached to a sel55210 OSS with 49mm filter its really good. the OSS helps a lot on focusing and photos are sharp and with great colours. I do belive that with this setup you can achieved better results than a prime macro lens. You can used too on a sal55200 Sam an achieved better shots but it's better to used on manual I think it's amazing how OSS have a good performance managing to achieve macro shots with autofocus on sel55210 + raynox 1.5x or 2.5x or both stacked.
I too own the Pentax 28 - 80 3.5 - 4.5. I think I payed less than £5 from a charity shop for my copy. Only used it a couple of times, I guess I'd best get it out again and give it another look 😊
Thanks for supporting the old zoom lenses, it's a shame they are so derided when they actually can be quite good! I have several - don't really care for the push/pull kind (zoom creep can be a problem, or too stiff adjustment), but the 2-ring design works well for me. Some of them can be expensive (such as the olympus 35-70mm f3.6, a great lens!), but most are cheap and definitely worth a try.
Nice episode Nigel....this has got to be entertainment too yeh I got the olympus 35 - 70 f4 still waiting for adaptor Nice pentax lens for the money too.... Many thanks..
Some context of some of these old lenses. Back in the day (80's), many of the zooms were not that great. If you needed really good images from the limits of 35mm film, you picked your glass carefully. Although not a big deal if you didn't print any bigger than 5x7 for most of your snaps. Besides my sharp Nikon fixed focal length lenses I had a very useful Vivitar 28-90mm. It was useful for some things. Nikon 35-70 was good. Nikon 43-86 not so much. Nikon 80-200 f/4.5 was very sharp.
I guess back in the day the game was slightly different - I would think that today most of us shoot these older lenses for their aesthetic value - I guess using them as a tool you'd need to select more carefully. Thanks for looking in!
I am getting ready for a vacation and went investing options for an inexpensive longer zoom. I purchased a Tamron adaptall 60-300mm for $35 U.S that was okay though on the bulky size. One of my favorite lenses the Pentax-m 135mm 2.5 is cropped in is as sharp or sharper than the Tamron at 200mm & 300mm. I also paid $90 U.S for the very heavy and bulky Adaptall 80-200 f2.8 that is almost as sharp as my Nikon 200mm and Takumar 200mm. The vacation is 2 weeks away and I still have not decided what gear I am taking. While watching Ebay prices I noticed my Nikon 28-85mm keeps losing value. A very good zoom that is now selling for around $50 U.S.
It sounds like you're into longer lenses - for which there's always a size penalty I guess. Have you considered something shorter but more portable, like a vintage 135 f3.5?
@@zenography7923 I have the Pentax 135mm F2.5 (one of my favorite lenses) that I am still debating about taking instead of a zoom. The Takumar 200mm F3.5 is a contender to take too. As you know, the good thing about vintage lenses is they are inexpensive. The bad thing is that they are inexpensive and I now have several bags full of lenses I have tried. I sold about 20 lenses a few months ago and plan to sell some more later this year. Cheers.
Helo Nigel. I am back from my Holiday to Alaska. Everything is so BIG there that I used my Tamron 17-50 95% of the time on my Pentax K-S1. On occasion I used my Pentax 135mm and 200mm Nikon for detail shots and close ups of mountain goats. Love your videos. Jim
I thought they were getting cheaper. Every time I go to re-sell a Nikkor AI/AIS I see they dropped in price, and I have to sell them for the new price PLUS the ebay fees so I'm out like $20 to $30 bucks a time lol.
Hi Nigel, many thanks! Two vintage zoom lenses I highly recommend: The Minolta MD 3.5/35-70 mm Macro and the Nikon AI-S 3.5-4.5 / 28-85 mm. They are both fantastic lenses. Did you try one of these? If you wish I can send you some images. Best and have nice day! Ralf
The last time I tried a vintage zoom I was left VERY disappointed. Sold it at a loss. It might not have been a good copy, but still, I could tell it wasn't much, if it did work good. It was the nikkor 70-210 AF F4 constant aperture. I have a feeling the budget E version would have probably been better... but I've got no interest in trying. They're mostly slow glass and just not the quality of vintage primes. They're cheap for a reason. They shoot slow and soft. Just not worth the time imo.
lovely video 🙂 i got some, let's call them, interesting results using an old Nikon 75-150 E series lens on a D700. colours were lovely and the bokeh pleasing. all in all not bad. I alsu regularly use a Nikon 28-70 on my D700. it is surprisingly sharp and produces some great results
Some lenses look bad/bland in jpg out of the camera but contain plenty of information when processing raw. If a lens can't put good information on the sensor however, some lenses are duds no matter what. You might not know if the sample pictures on the web were not processed properly, or on an old sensor that lost color and luma detail. Some look bad because of glass in front of the sensor, film didn't have this glass. Leica sensors have thinner glass for example.
I guess there are a thousand and one factors that can affect how an image looks, some are under the control of the photographer, some not. But - I don't think we should worry too much about that, rather, just pick up the kit you have and shoot! Thanks for looking in John.
There's some truth to this. A really good shot could be had on MOST cameras and the audience wouldn't bat an eye. People shoot on tmax 3200 on purpose for heavy grain. A mediocre lense wont make or break a great shot. That being said, processing is so expensive these days I would personally be more purposeful about what gear I shot on. Shoot REALLY shit gear for effect, or nice gear when I want things to look proper and nice. Not sure if I could get myself to shoot a roll on a 90's point and shoot. I would either have to shoot the proverbial "holga" or shoot some really nice glass. The random in between I'm not so sure about. (I remember having a Minolta Maxxum in the 90's with a kit zoom. Sure, I was shitty back then, but the photos all looked shitty as well. Switching to a 1970's pentax my image quality instantly upgraded. Then my dad saw some nice shots I made and was really impressed. Offered to get me a nice camera for my birthday. I went with a Contax G1, and there was a noticeable step in quality there as well... so ya, go shit quality if it's on purpose and for a look. Otherwise I wouldn't bother. Nicer zooms are pretty good quality though. Save you some dough.)
Hi. Curious if you have ever tried the Mitakon 85-300mm? Found dirt cheap and had surprisingly good results with it. I mentioned id bought on a facebook wildlife photography group and almost seemed to get laughed at that i was using. Quite new to photography but i think i'm largely with you on this. I've not fully tested it properly under good light (also using a cropped sensor camera as well as x2 converter), but to my surprise recently shot a video with it fully zoomed in on a buzzard in a tree, good lighting there was actually which i'm sure helped, but paused sections of the vid really did look pretty sharp and detailed to me. Oh and this was shot probably twice as far away as you're supposed to for optimal sharpness, plus was also cropped, so my point is if it looked pretty good in that situation and for video surely stills should come out great you'd think..Have you used (or anyone)?
Greetings, I recently signed up and I'm thrilled! You are a true professional. I ask you to help me choose a camera for my blog, I'm a beginner and I don't know if I will like it or if I will succeed. I wouldn't want to spend a lot of money on this at first. I have only 200 bucks in my pocket, I wanted to buy gh2, but in my country they sell it for no less than $ 300. Are there any other options? I like every video, thank you in advance!
If you want micro four thirds you might consider the gh1 - that too can make nice video but needs to be hacked to get the best from it. If you have a smartphone made within the last five years or so, you probably have a camera capable of producing vlogging quality video. Hope that helps!
Nobody talks about the Vivitar 100-200mm f4. It's built like a Vivitar series 1 lens but more compact and focuses very close at 1m. And is of course very inexpensive
Nice episode Nigel! Really surprised by the great images from that Pentax lens. Got the same one, as well as a 50mm 1.7 and a 28mm 3.5 Takumars but I always felt the image resolution and detail was not as good on my Fuji as with other vintage lenses I've tried (Zuiko for example). Have you noticed any of this with your XT? I love the look and feel of the lenses but stopped using them as I wasn't happy with the results.
That's surprising, I've always found Pentax lenses to be really nice, the only one I didn't really get on with was the 50mm 1.4 Super Tak, which goes somewhat against current opinion. I actually prefer the older Takumars (m42) to the K-mount lenses, and one of the nicest Pentax lenses I've used is the Auto Takumar 50mm f1.8 or f2 (same lens). This one is really cheap and will blow you away with its results - on any camera!
Well, much like modern lenses, some have a bit and some don't. The worst I've found so far was a Nikon 50mm f1.4 AI shot wide open, so a big name is no guarantee. Having said that I'm personally untroubled by a bit of CA, but I know many don't share that view.
An excellent episode, Nigel! You're so right, the eye is most important, and with these lenses you can just go out and have fun almost for free. Often you can get such lenses just as a bonus when buying a camera. Build quality isn't very impressive though, my Zuiko 35-70 mm f4 is a mess, then again I've taken nice pictures with a Canon FD equivalent.
You always thank your subscribers, but in reality it should be us thanking you, Nigel, for giving us top quality content, week after week. Cheap zoom lenses - nothing wrong with them, and if it's all you have you will still make great pictures, limited only by your imagination.
All your vintage lenses are MF lenses or will turn into MF lenses by due to adapting. There are lots of less aged lenses without aperture ring you cannot use adapted with modern cameras. Are they worth to be collected? Under which circumstaces will they be usable?
Question. on holiday in poland i buyed Zorki 2c with industar lenses. What lenses for portraits and candid pictures you recomend to buy ? Black and white photography
The Jupiter 9 80mm f2 is a good option for portraits, or the less expensive Jupiter 11 135mm f4 is a second possibility. The Leica 90mm f4 is nice too. Remember you'll need a separate viewfinder for each different focal length.
Perfect type of lens to learn to use manual exposure and manual focus! Found my 80s Tamron 70-210 an absolute pain at first despite allegedly knowing what I was doing.
I love this channel. I'm an audio guy by trade and I always tell people to use whatever gear they can afford and just start making stuff. It's great to have fancy equipment but you can absolutely make amazing art with cheap stuff, too. Experience and artistic ability will shine through and practically anyone can start honing those skills right away.
Really glad you're enjoying the channel - and I couldn't agree more - art can be made with any form of camera.
All you need is your imagination - and would do, it doesn't need to be the best, or latest & greatest. A nice composition could being made with any camera, with any lens. peace.
Uuh no bro,but i get your point
Peace to you Mark, thanks for dropping by.
@@-_--le3zk If you think different, then you're a GearHead or TechFreak...or just someone with G.A.S. syndrome, always buying the latest.
Thanks Nigel for another great episode! Like yourself, I get a kick out of doing more with less. My favorite cheap vintage zoom is the Vivitar\Kiron 70-150mm F3.8. It's one of the smallest (length as well as diameter) zooms out there and I think it produces lovely images on both digital and film.
Hey Russ, I'll look out for one, thanks for the tip!
Another excellent Vivitar zoom is the Series One 70-210mm f3.5 (The serial numbers starting with 22 were Kiron-built and said to be the best). I got one and managed to photograph a hovering Common Tern at full zoom. Heavy old lens but produces lovely images. Vivitar aimed the Series One range at pro photographers who didn't have time to change lenses on a job. They were widely used by professionals.
Great story teller you are… You got me w “ Bags of Blur”… I’ll be taking you up on your suggestion… and just subscribed so I look forward to catching up on some of your previous content.
Hey thanks Brian, welcome aboard!
Thanks for the great video !! What I´ve got as a present some days ago is a Minolta 35-70 3,5 , with original box , nearly unused , is the 2nd version without macro . I have tested it on my Lumix S1R 47mp - Sensor , and it´s no problem for this lens ....the sharpness and micro-contrast in better than with the Lumix 24-105 !!!!!!...and better than the sigma 45mm DGDN Contamporary...unbelievable....and it´s always on ebay under 100€ ....(FYI- this lens was also sold from Leitz as a Leica Vario-Elmar 25-70 3,5 at that time , maybe that explains how good it was-and still is )
Good points Nigel. Due to not wanting to dig too deep into my color film stores given the current shortage in 35mm, my current "film" camera is a Nikon D200 with the plastic 28-80 Nikkor kit lens and Tiffen black mist 1/8. Pretty happy with the results once I dialed in a profile and preset. There's real satisfaction creating nice images with a less than $200 kit including the $75 filter.
If you're a Fuji shooter, the 16-50mm 3.5 OIS Version II will surprise you. Super fast focus on the later bodies. Center sharpness is fabulous, weighs nothing, and closeup is VERY close. And the price...but be sure to get Version II.
That sounds an interesting lens, I'll look out for one!
I adore the super takumar 135. The images it produces can be sublime. I use it for also for pseudo macro shots.
A very nice lens indeed - enjoy!
Add an old low megapixel DSLR to the cheap zoom and you have a great Kid's camera or one for the beach and bad weather where you don't want to risk better gear - and I'm sure you will get some great pictures from the combo. Carefree camera - If it gets stolen, no great loss.
I use this methodology to save my good gear from getting ruined in the rain. Until manufacturers give an actual water resistance rating I don't believe claims of gear being weatherproof.
@@SheikhDjibouti There was an F1 event in my city today but it rained all day and so my Canon 80D stayed inside. Even though they claim it's weather sealed, they won't accept the warranty claim against it, so it's useless.
Only manufacturer that gives proper IP ratings is Olympus, the E-M1 series has some serious water and dust proofing. I'd imagine it would survive a quick dunk in the ocean if it was rinsed and dried fast enough.
Love your channel. I leaned into the Canon and Canon compatibles like the well regarded Vivitar Series One line of zooms that were ground-breaking in their day. Many of these were made by Kiron and others, and the quality was stellar. Better than the OEM Canon versions, and many add the perfect 70s flavor with no work at all on my part. It did take a few tries to get them in good shape. TIP: Japanese sellers on ebay that say "Perfect=Perfect-Perfect Condition" ....Never are in perfect condition. Never once. ;-)
Your words speak from my heart and soul Sir, and i'm a professional filmmaker. Thanks so much for your work here!
There is nothing like the magic of an SMC Pentax lens. As far as vintage lenses are concerned, as long as the glass is in good shape nothing else matters. Half of the fun of photography for me is finding a great lens at a bargain price. Here in the US I have found 3 sources that give me a 6 month warranty on what ever I purchase. Keep in mind that a lot went into the humble kit lens as it was a new photographers first lens and a smart manufacturer made sure the lens was good quality at least in terms of optics.
I was given a Pentax A-Zoom 28-80mm f3.4-4.5 with 2 Pentax P30's by a friend who just wasn't going to use them anymore.Not the best camera and lens combo, but bloody reliable and will give me decent photo's time and time again. I have the Olympus lens too, it's a great walk about lens, as are all mid range zooms. No need to carry 2 or 3 primes whilst on a photo walk, a zoom lightens the load.
Indeed it does - enjoy!
I've got an old Praktica zoom (80-200) and it makes my A7ii look like a tank! Frankly, it's rubbish in every way- slow, hard to focus, not very sharp, etc. But it does make some incredible images by dint of all its flaws. It cost £5 and it's a fun bit of kit to use.
That rubbish lens sounds wonderful - enjoy!
I had ( why I gave it up no clue ) that Tak A 28-80 3.5-4.5 back in the day. Used it on my K100D. Wonderful colour mated up to the K100D's CCD sensor especially in the autumn season. And being an A lens, set aperture ring to A and one can adjust aperture settings via dial on camera body. Very convenient. On the cropped sensor it works out to be a 42-128mm. A nice walkabout range. Also own the following that I use on my Panasonic GX7. Nikon 43-86. Probably the softest lens I own. But it has 'character' lol. Minolta MD 35-70 3.5. Wow! Very sharp and quite light and compact. And a Tokina 28-80 4.0. Canon FD mount. What a beast it's a tank. No complaints over image/colour qualities. As for tele zooms (70-210/80-200/80-210) they can be had for literally peanuts especially off brand copies. My best vintage tele zoom by far and away is my Pentax SMC A 70-210mm f4. Astounding sharpness and beautiful Pentax colours. I've shown people pictures and they couldn't tell the difference between it and my Pentax DA*50-135 2.8. Lovely video. Refreshing to watch a photography channel whose aim is to share the JOY of the hobby.
Very glad you enjoyed the video Ken, and thanks for letting us know about your adventures with zooms!
Having read a review on the Takumar A 28-80....a guy suggested keeping the small rear element extra clean for best IQ... you can back the rear element level with rear of lens for dusting and what not.. Nigel etc etc....
Thanks for the tip Phil!
I only still have one vintage manual focus zoom, and it's a good one, the Tokina RMC 35-105mm f3.5-4.3 macro. I don't know what they sell for these days, but I do recommend it for its zoom range, optical qualities, and useful macro function. There's a less than one stop difference between the maximum aperture at the short and at the wide end which is interesting.
That's quite a range, it sounds a really versatile lens. Not quite constant aperture (the same at both ends), but almost!
Thank you those takumar A zoom 28-80s are great lenses.
They are indeed, I really enjoyed using this one. Thanks for looking in Kryst!
I've been enjoying watching your videos since I discovered your channel by chance earlier this year. It actually got me into the idea of using vintage lenses on my Canon 200d with an adapter. I'm finding manual shooting much more interesting than using the auto-focus on my Canon zoom all the time - though I can't see that I could ever capture fast moving subjects like garden birds with a manual lens. However it is nice to have these different options.
Glad you've found vintage lenses - with all manual adjustments they're certainly more involving. And you'd be surprised what it's possible to do with manual focus with a little practice - remember that every image shot pre 1985 or thereabouts is a film image, more likely than not made using manual focus!
I totally agree. Two months ago I used a Minolta MD Zoom 28-70 (10€ lens) and the results where very good
There is never a bad day to make a great photograph. And there has never been a bad camera/lens that wasn’t used at some time or another to make a great photo either.
Absolutely, I couldn't agree more!
Yes I did get one looked like stuck in drawer for years...and very stiff... but have brought it back to life with some external cleaning and lubing..
And is shiny like yours some wear on it like you said...glass nice and clean... Should be super good and cost around £15
Getting lens shade.....
Pretty much looks like new really.... thanks for the tip
Nigel... Good video again.. Keep up the good work...
Thanks Phil, glad you enjoyed it!
That Pentax zoom is the one that came with my first "proper" camera back in the day (a P30n). I was really chuffed at the time that it was a zoom and not a 50mm prime. It's still upstairs, as good as new.
@zenography… very good point what you make here about the kit zoom lenses. What about good vintage zoom. Everyone says that vintage zoom are bad. Of course they are not as good as vintage prime. I would like to see someone about good vintage zoom, even if they are not so cheep. Thanks a lot!
In case no one has mentioned it, I nominate the Nikon Series E 75-150, going for as little as $30 on E bay. One of my three or four all time favorite Nikkors. I did travel writing/photography back in the '90s and this Series E never let me down. Back when there were no travel vlogs, just newspaper and magazine articles. Sharp, light, easy to handle. Only downside is the zoom ring tends to get loose. I still use mine on my Olympus M4/3, for a nifty 150-300.
Glad to see it's still being used - enjoy!
I have a few cheap zooms and they can be hard work but when you nail it there's a great set of satisfaction
Absolutely - I couldn't agree more! Thanks for looking in.
@@zenography7923 Just remembered one exception,the Sirius 18-28 is truly awful on full frame
Before the days of digital cameras I bought a Sigma 28mm (f4-f22) - 200mm (f5.6-f22) zoom lens. At the time I was not particularly happy with the quality of the photos and used my fixed focal length lenses where I wanted to be confident in the quality of the photos. It also has "macro" at 200mm (although labeled "macro" it of course is close focusing and not true macro). I still have the lens and upon seeing you video it brought the lens to mind, I have dug it out and will give it a try again after a couple of decades of storage. Some people were not impressed with the Sigma brand and it would be particularly difficult to design a lens with those specs. Mechanically it seems just fine and when I get some really good light I will experiment a bit. Thanks for the reminder about zoom lenses.
That's an incredible range, not surprising that some photos weren't perfect. As you may know, zoom lenses come with optical compromises of one sort or another, and the greater the range the more compromises will be needed - as a general rule anyway. Thanks for looking in!
The Cosina ( Vivitar ) 28-210mm f3.5-5.6 zoom is a cheap good lens only thing bad is minimum focus distance. Mine is a bit plastic but light, good trade off. Some people have problems adapting to mirror less because of adapters are off., My setup was ok. Check the Pentax forums for a review, as well as tons of other vintage zooms. It’s an old forum with tons of information and reviews, sample pictures etc.
The Pentax forums are a good source of info.
@@grahvis I'm on them a lot that and the buhla dot de for konica. Lets hope they stay up.
Great work, you have inspired me to have a go at vintage lens photography. Now that I have been posting some photos for friends and family, I'm getting the old cameras and lenses dragged various sheds given to me. I was today given an Auto Promura 70-220 f4 zoom that I presume is a budget kit zoom as well as a Praktica camera with a Domiplan 50mm (with stuck aperture!). Do you know off hand who makes Promura lenses (or what they may be rebadged as)? There is a similar Tamron lens but the only mention of Promura I can see online is a 135mm and a 28mm. It was a bit dark to try it out tonight but there's always tomorrow!
I have a perfectly nice Vivitar 35-105mm f/3.2-4 zoom in Nikon F-mount. I got it basically for free with a Nikkormat FT2. It does a fine job. I also have a nice Tokina 75-150mm f/3.8 in Minolta SR mount. The lens cost me $20 and it provides me a good long-ish portrait and telephoto option in a compact package.
You have some nice lenses there - enjoy!
Thought provoking and surprising.
I inherited a few Sigma and Practika zoom lenses from my father. Sorry to say, I was a fast prime snob and mostly ignored them for years before I decided to try them out. They're really quite nice, still just as flexible as they were when new. I agree that it really is a lot of fun to make the most of their limitations.
Indeed, fun is the key here! Glad you've discovered these willing little lenses!
I bought a cheap $7 pracktica Pentacon 135mm f2.8 lens so I could use the aperture in a DIY projector lens adapter. So I opened it up to get he aperture. and I realized that it wasn't really broken. The grease had just glued the helicoid. I used mineral oil on it and left it overnight. Next day I disassembled down the smallest part. I put it back together and 3D printed an adapter flange for EF mount. Now I love it. I need a crappy les that I won't feel bad taking parts from it. Any recommendations for the worst lens ever with separable aperture mechanism?
Great video , bought a few secondhand lenses and whilst not high tech or new , produce incredible results.
Nigel, I think you may have missed my name, a patron. No big deal. I love your reports. They are so similar to mine as we learn. What fun.
Hi David, so sorry, I don't know how that happened! I've put you back on the list, so you'll be back next week! All the best my friend!
Great video. I just got a tokina 80-200 with certain doubt but know i cant wait to have it. Thanks a lot!!!! Great video.
Words of wisdom............expensive gear is no substitute for seeing a good shot
I always look forward to watching your videos on Sundays and I think that your best ones happen when you are out and about.
You've raised some good points that I hadn't thought of. I'm going to track down some of the cheapest and nastiest zooms to see if I can discover anything with interesting flaws.
As an aside, have you tried any of the new Zenitar lenses? I love my ancient 50 and need to see an honest review of the latest ones hint hint 😊
I'd love to try a Zenitar - maybe someday!
@@zenography7923 I will happily lend you my M42 one
I bought a sony a6000 but thought the kit lens provided what I thought to being bland images. I considered an expensive replacement but watched videos that were consistently disappointed with them. Remembering a chinon bellami I once owned, I bought some old chinon lenses that produce images that as well as being 'sharp', are 'characterful'. And it seems a more involved and pleasing photographic experience when using these old lenses.
Somehow it's just more fun with this type of kit - as you've found!
@@zenography7923 Just to add, before the Chinons, I tried old Pentax lenses that I'd used with my ME Super. The film results, as I recall, were colour saturated, but with digital they were bland, almost anaemic. The 'Chinons' seem to work far better.
Again many thanks for an interesting episode. I use MFT and came across some of these vintage zoom lenses for cheap prices, with different experiences. Some were really worn out and optically poor, some are really good. I enjoy especially some of the Olympus zooms, they perform quite well. And it is always fun to try such a lens. If I don´t like it it will be sold again. And I am generally reluctant to spend big amounts for vintage glass. In these cases I prefer the modern lenses.
Recently bought a Chinon 35-100 mm multi coated 3.5-4.2 . very well made ,great fun to use and getting nice results .Hope to find some more gems like this . Thanks for countering the snobbery from some photographers about these zooms :-)
Some of the Chinon lenses were outstanding - it sounds like you have a nice one there! Thanks for looking in.
Reminds me about the time I realized that bodies and lenses from the 1980s and early 90s were going for peanuts - this was around 1998-2001 or so. I bought a number of cheap used lenses during that time period, including several cheap zooms. The main problem I came across was sticky diaphragm blades - that 80-200 Vivitar Series One and the 28-70 Kiron (which were raved about in the magazines at the time they came out) were particular disappointments - one day I'll have them serviced. Also picked up 4 or 5 old Pentax and Ricoh bodies - the REALLY cheap ones were Sears-branded Ricohs. I suppose I'm covered for zoom lenses these days, though - the Pentax 18-55 and 18-50 (collapsible, weather-proof) "plastic" kit zooms aren't bad, also have a 50-200 and I'm looking at buying a 55-300 kit lens. They don't cost very much, either. I am looking at buying one or two Russian primes, though - lots of them available on Ebay at this time from Ukraine.
You have some nice zooms there for sure, and many of those FSU primes are very hard to beat!
Like this episode!!
And the person behind the camera indeed makes the 'art'...
As a student I earned some money as a wedding photographer… with 'cheap' lenses... a Sigma, Vivitar... (on an Olympus OM1 and OM2). But the wedding photos were fine with satisfied customers.
Glad you enjoyed it Sake, thanks for looking in!
Thanks you for the video! It made me rethink about how I buy lenses. I was yesterday near to buy a 200usd vintage lens. But I'll stick with the cheapest opportunities, I have lenses that I got for 10usd or other I got near free when buying a camera and then selling the camera for the same price and keeping the lens. I don't have a reason to spend more, I'm not a pro, I'm not talented, but I enjoy taking photos and bringing to life old lenses. I have some old zooms from Sigma, Vivitar, etc in different mounts, I will use more that little zooms. Sorry for the digression, your video made me think.
Love those test shots you took. Is the eye not the lens.
Quite some time ago, I've bought a couple of zooms. One that surprised me was the Soligor MC Zoom-Auto 35-70 2.5-3.5. I didn't expect much, but I have quite some fun with it. Nice colors, a (small) built-in hood and a bit of macro.
I also like the Canon FD 35-105 3.5-4.5. It is compact, very light and sharp like most of the Canon FD lenses. Unfortunately, I don’t use it much, because I'm not a fan of the push-pull zooms.
Most of those off brands are rebrand from other companies, so possibly a good known lens from a different brand.
I haven't tried either of those - I'll look out for them, thanks!
HI Nigel could you possibly make a video on how to remove mist specifically from a vintage Tamron SP 2x converter. I have several Tamron SP lenses including a 350mm mirror lens that I have kept from my film shooting days and now have given them a new lease of life matching them to my Fuji cameras.
I so liked your Pentax 28-80 am getting one for under £15 for my Chinon SLR...
Really like it 💷!!!
It's a really nice lens - enjoy!
Yeh it's coming soon like that it's branded Takumar too... Great channel keep up the good work....Nigel
I must say I greatly enjoyed this video , as I do with your other ones . Only recently discovered them . I have the same liking for using cheap or unloved gear to do what I want . I still have the 3 old film SLRs that I bought as 20+ year old cheap cameras and their associated lenses when I was a young man in my late teens to early 20s. 20 years later I’m still using them .
Glad those lenses are still being used! Thanks for looking in.
Another great episode! Wholeheartedly agree with you. I love my Pentax A 35-70 on the K100d or K5. A little bit more expensive but a gem none the less!
A gem indeed, glad you enjoyed the episode!
I have a couple of those Nikon 48-86mm zooms- a 1963-1976 version that's been Ai-converted, and a 1976-1982 version. I don't recall what I paid for them, but it was almost nothing in each case. I gave a second copy of the '76 version to a friend as well.
The Takumar-A version of that Pentax zoom was my first SLR lens, which came with my K1000 ca. 1990- it was the only lens I had for that camera until I finally got the 50mm f/2 in 2016. I still have it, of course- it's the only vintage lens for which I can claim to be the original owner! I should do some shooting with it and see what I can make it do, as my skills have probably improved a bit in the intervening 30+ years...
I think that zoom is overdue for an airing! Thanks for looking in.
I had one SMC Pentax-M 28-50mm F 3.5-4.5 and it was a wonderful lens i was really impressed with it i wish i didn't sold it it was around 60€ but it was in really good condition i don't think i would find one in the same condition
I'm sure there are plenty around if you really want one!
@@zenography7923 yes indeed since I'm not collecting anymore i'm trying to find out what can add something I don't have to my lenses. I just got a Minolta AF 50mm F3.5 macro lens it's going to be my first Minolta lenses after I sold the others I had and I never had it I think one 20 years lens can be called "vintage" let's call it vintage plastic 😅. One time I sold a little kit of raynox macro lenses called Raynox CM-2000 1.5x and 2.5x MacroExplorer Lens Set i got lucky and manage to get another used set. This macro lenses attached to a sel55210 OSS with 49mm filter its really good. the OSS helps a lot on focusing and photos are sharp and with great colours. I do belive that with this setup you can achieved better results than a prime macro lens. You can used too on a sal55200 Sam an achieved better shots but it's better to used on manual I think it's amazing how OSS have a good performance managing to achieve macro shots with autofocus on sel55210 + raynox 1.5x or 2.5x or both stacked.
Hi Nigel, there's also a nice zoom lens around: The Minolta MD 4.0/70-210mm. Please check it out. I think you won't regret ist. Best, Ralf
I too own the Pentax 28 - 80 3.5 - 4.5. I think I payed less than £5 from a charity shop for my copy. Only used it a couple of times, I guess I'd best get it out again and give it another look 😊
Definitely worth taking for a spin! Thanks for looking in.
I own the 98' Nikkor 30-80mm 1:4.5.6D which came on the Nikon consumer SLR's of the time.
It is the only lens I have on my D3000.
Glad to hear it's getting some good use - enjoy!
@@zenography7923 Oh it certainly is. Thank you.
Thanks for supporting the old zoom lenses, it's a shame they are so derided when they actually can be quite good! I have several - don't really care for the push/pull kind (zoom creep can be a problem, or too stiff adjustment), but the 2-ring design works well for me. Some of them can be expensive (such as the olympus 35-70mm f3.6, a great lens!), but most are cheap and definitely worth a try.
Absolutely, I couldn't agree more!
Nice episode Nigel....this has got to be entertainment too yeh I got the olympus 35 - 70 f4 still waiting for adaptor
Nice pentax lens for the money too.... Many thanks..
Thanks Phil, glad you enjoyed it. I think you're going to like that Olympus!
Some context of some of these old lenses. Back in the day (80's), many of the zooms were not that great. If you needed really good images from the limits of 35mm film, you picked your glass carefully. Although not a big deal if you didn't print any bigger than 5x7 for most of your snaps. Besides my sharp Nikon fixed focal length lenses I had a very useful Vivitar 28-90mm. It was useful for some things. Nikon 35-70 was good. Nikon 43-86 not so much. Nikon 80-200 f/4.5 was very sharp.
I guess back in the day the game was slightly different - I would think that today most of us shoot these older lenses for their aesthetic value - I guess using them as a tool you'd need to select more carefully. Thanks for looking in!
excellent content, thanks sir
I am getting ready for a vacation and went investing options for an inexpensive longer zoom. I purchased a Tamron adaptall 60-300mm for $35 U.S that was okay though on the bulky size. One of my favorite lenses the Pentax-m 135mm 2.5 is cropped in is as sharp or sharper than the Tamron at 200mm & 300mm. I also paid $90 U.S for the very heavy and bulky Adaptall 80-200 f2.8 that is almost as sharp as my Nikon 200mm and Takumar 200mm. The vacation is 2 weeks away and I still have not decided what gear I am taking. While watching Ebay prices I noticed my Nikon 28-85mm keeps losing value. A very good zoom that is now selling for around $50 U.S.
It sounds like you're into longer lenses - for which there's always a size penalty I guess. Have you considered something shorter but more portable, like a vintage 135 f3.5?
@@zenography7923 I have the Pentax 135mm F2.5 (one of my favorite lenses) that I am still debating about taking instead of a zoom. The Takumar 200mm F3.5 is a contender to take too. As you know, the good thing about vintage lenses is they are inexpensive. The bad thing is that they are inexpensive and I now have several bags full of lenses I have tried. I sold about 20 lenses a few months ago and plan to sell some more later this year. Cheers.
Helo Nigel. I am back from my Holiday to Alaska. Everything is so BIG there that I used my Tamron 17-50 95% of the time on my Pentax K-S1. On occasion I used my Pentax 135mm and 200mm Nikon for detail shots and close ups of mountain goats. Love your videos. Jim
I thought they were getting cheaper. Every time I go to re-sell a Nikkor AI/AIS I see they dropped in price, and I have to sell them for the new price PLUS the ebay fees so I'm out like $20 to $30 bucks a time lol.
Hi Nigel, many thanks! Two vintage zoom lenses I highly recommend: The Minolta MD 3.5/35-70 mm Macro and the Nikon AI-S 3.5-4.5 / 28-85 mm. They are both fantastic lenses. Did you try one of these? If you wish I can send you some images. Best and have nice day! Ralf
Hey Ralf, how are you? I think I may have that Minolta somewhere but not the Nikon - it would be interesting to see the images - thanks!
@@zenography7923 Hey Nigel, thanks, I’m fine. Yes, soon you’ll get images via e-mail.
I also get a buzz out of using cheap gear and am rather chuffed when I look at the photo and it comes out rather nice.
It's pretty cool isn't it? Fun is definitely the key here!
@@zenography7923 Defo.
The last time I tried a vintage zoom I was left VERY disappointed. Sold it at a loss. It might not have been a good copy, but still, I could tell it wasn't much, if it did work good. It was the nikkor 70-210 AF F4 constant aperture. I have a feeling the budget E version would have probably been better... but I've got no interest in trying.
They're mostly slow glass and just not the quality of vintage primes. They're cheap for a reason. They shoot slow and soft. Just not worth the time imo.
I use different products to clean and restore and lube lenses /camera bodies what is IPA please if you can tell me I would be grateful.....
I just bought one 19.95 USD on Ebay. Should be interesting
lovely video 🙂
i got some, let's call them, interesting results using an old Nikon 75-150 E series lens on a D700. colours were lovely and the bokeh pleasing. all in all not bad.
I alsu regularly use a Nikon 28-70 on my D700. it is surprisingly sharp and produces some great results
It really doesn't matter what kit you use - if the image works, it works!
Fantastic channel by the way.
Thanks, glad you're enjoying it!
Some lenses look bad/bland in jpg out of the camera but contain plenty of information when processing raw. If a lens can't put good information on the sensor however, some lenses are duds no matter what. You might not know if the sample pictures on the web were not processed properly, or on an old sensor that lost color and luma detail. Some look bad because of glass in front of the sensor, film didn't have this glass. Leica sensors have thinner glass for example.
I guess there are a thousand and one factors that can affect how an image looks, some are under the control of the photographer, some not. But - I don't think we should worry too much about that, rather, just pick up the kit you have and shoot! Thanks for looking in John.
I love you. Thanks for your videos
There's some truth to this. A really good shot could be had on MOST cameras and the audience wouldn't bat an eye. People shoot on tmax 3200 on purpose for heavy grain. A mediocre lense wont make or break a great shot. That being said, processing is so expensive these days I would personally be more purposeful about what gear I shot on. Shoot REALLY shit gear for effect, or nice gear when I want things to look proper and nice. Not sure if I could get myself to shoot a roll on a 90's point and shoot. I would either have to shoot the proverbial "holga" or shoot some really nice glass. The random in between I'm not so sure about.
(I remember having a Minolta Maxxum in the 90's with a kit zoom. Sure, I was shitty back then, but the photos all looked shitty as well. Switching to a 1970's pentax my image quality instantly upgraded. Then my dad saw some nice shots I made and was really impressed. Offered to get me a nice camera for my birthday. I went with a Contax G1, and there was a noticeable step in quality there as well... so ya, go shit quality if it's on purpose and for a look. Otherwise I wouldn't bother. Nicer zooms are pretty good quality though. Save you some dough.)
Hi. Curious if you have ever tried the Mitakon 85-300mm? Found dirt cheap and had surprisingly good results with it. I mentioned id bought on a facebook wildlife photography group and almost seemed to get laughed at that i was using. Quite new to photography but i think i'm largely with you on this. I've not fully tested it properly under good light (also using a cropped sensor camera as well as x2 converter), but to my surprise recently shot a video with it fully zoomed in on a buzzard in a tree, good lighting there was actually which i'm sure helped, but paused sections of the vid really did look pretty sharp and detailed to me. Oh and this was shot probably twice as far away as you're supposed to for optimal sharpness, plus was also cropped, so my point is if it looked pretty good in that situation and for video surely stills should come out great you'd think..Have you used (or anyone)?
Greetings, I recently signed up and I'm thrilled! You are a true professional. I ask you to help me choose a camera for my blog, I'm a beginner and I don't know if I will like it or if I will succeed. I wouldn't want to spend a lot of money on this at first. I have only 200 bucks in my pocket, I wanted to buy gh2, but in my country they sell it for no less than $ 300. Are there any other options? I like every video, thank you in advance!
?
If you want micro four thirds you might consider the gh1 - that too can make nice video but needs to be hacked to get the best from it. If you have a smartphone made within the last five years or so, you probably have a camera capable of producing vlogging quality video. Hope that helps!
@@zenography7923 Thank you)
Nobody talks about the Vivitar 100-200mm f4. It's built like a Vivitar series 1 lens but more compact and focuses very close at 1m. And is of course very inexpensive
Hmm, thanks for the tip, I'll look out for one!
Thanks, great episode !!!
Thanks Aurelio, very glad you enjoyed it!
Nice episode Nigel! Really surprised by the great images from that Pentax lens. Got the same one, as well as a 50mm 1.7 and a 28mm 3.5 Takumars but I always felt the image resolution and detail was not as good on my Fuji as with other vintage lenses I've tried (Zuiko for example). Have you noticed any of this with your XT? I love the look and feel of the lenses but stopped using them as I wasn't happy with the results.
That's surprising, I've always found Pentax lenses to be really nice, the only one I didn't really get on with was the 50mm 1.4 Super Tak, which goes somewhat against current opinion. I actually prefer the older Takumars (m42) to the K-mount lenses, and one of the nicest Pentax lenses I've used is the Auto Takumar 50mm f1.8 or f2 (same lens). This one is really cheap and will blow you away with its results - on any camera!
@@zenography7923 I'll give those a try. 👍
Love this, reminds me not to "judge" cheaper lenses. BTW how do you find Chromatic Aberration on vintage lenses in general?
Well, much like modern lenses, some have a bit and some don't. The worst I've found so far was a Nikon 50mm f1.4 AI shot wide open, so a big name is no guarantee. Having said that I'm personally untroubled by a bit of CA, but I know many don't share that view.
An excellent episode, Nigel! You're so right, the eye is most important, and with these lenses you can just go out and have fun almost for free. Often you can get such lenses just as a bonus when buying a camera. Build quality isn't very impressive though, my Zuiko 35-70 mm f4 is a mess, then again I've taken nice pictures with a Canon FD equivalent.
Hope you're able to sort out the zuiko - thanks for looking in Kalle!
You always thank your subscribers, but in reality it should be us thanking you, Nigel, for giving us top quality content, week after week.
Cheap zoom lenses - nothing wrong with them, and if it's all you have you will still make great pictures, limited only by your imagination.
Absolutely - couldn't agree more!
All your vintage lenses are MF lenses or will turn into MF lenses by due to adapting. There are lots of less aged lenses without aperture ring you cannot use adapted with modern cameras. Are they worth to be collected? Under which circumstaces will they be usable?
Question. on holiday in poland i buyed Zorki 2c with industar lenses. What lenses for portraits and candid pictures you recomend to buy ? Black and white photography
The Jupiter 9 80mm f2 is a good option for portraits, or the less expensive Jupiter 11 135mm f4 is a second possibility. The Leica 90mm f4 is nice too. Remember you'll need a separate viewfinder for each different focal length.
i forgot to mention, there are reviews on youtube,
Indeed there are! Thanks for looking in Henrik.
What's the worst lens you ever owned?
Is there any video of Jupiter 3 on your channel? I wasn't able to find one.
I've never tested a Jupiter 3 on this channel - though I'd very much like to!
Perfect type of lens to learn to use manual exposure and manual focus! Found my 80s Tamron 70-210 an absolute pain at first despite allegedly knowing what I was doing.
I hope you're now older and wiser Tom! Thanks for looking in.
Or become your video sponsor will get your contact details?
An another tasty crispy creamy lens
Indeed! Thanks for looking in Tolga, hope all's well.
@@zenography7923 always
My first zoom was the Nikon AiS 35-70. Not that great a lens! So I hope no one has a hankering for it. But a few lenses in this video have promise.
They can be very nice, no doubt about it!
Heard today that a rare Nikon lens went to auction for $200K.....not in our league Nigel....
Not a fan of zoom lenses for a variety of reasons. God bless those that love to zoom.
Fair enough - not everyone's cup of tea. Thanks for looking in sir!
I have many worthless zooms, I prefer to use my legs though 😀
That's certainly one way of doing it - cheers Aidan!
Takumar 35mm f2 £5 charity shop
Wow, that was a bargain for sure!
No, never !