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Archive 2014 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?

  
 
jbourne
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


I'm considering toying around with a manual focus lens for landscape/outdoor photography. The last time I worked with a manual lens was many, many years ago, where it was a Soviet Rangefinder clone, and a Zenith (Industar)-based camera. Since then, I regressed into auto-focus.

Now that I got a 6D, I'm thinking of getting one or two lenses that would somehow magically look better than my 24-105L for some very specific tasks. Admittedly, I don't know what I'm looking for, but I'm thinking I should get my hands on a prime of some kind, maybe 35mm or so, to capture forests, temples, and that sort of wondrous stuff.

The catch: I don't want to spend a lot on it. I'm not splurging for a Zeiss, or anything of the sort. In fact, if I can find something for under $100, I will be ecstatic. I'm planning on trolling some used-camera stores in Japan in search of some lenses, so I'm setting myself up with some background knowledge before I do.

Is there anything I should consider, or am I out of my mind? I suspect I'd need some kind of a lens mount adapter (FD maybe? I guess it depends on what the suggestions will be). If I understand correctly, some of the FD mount adapters feature focus confirmation, which is probably a good thing?



Mar 05, 2014 at 03:21 PM
onegreatcity
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


You'll no doubt get some good ideas here but consider placing this on the Alt Gear Thread as well. Those folks will be chock full of ideas!


Mar 05, 2014 at 03:31 PM
jbourne
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


onegreatcity wrote:
You'll no doubt get some good ideas here but consider placing this on the Alt Gear Thread as well. Those folks will be chock full of ideas!


Ooh, I figured since the body's a Canon, it belongs in the Canon forum I'll keep that in mind when this thread gets huge and unruly, haha.



Mar 05, 2014 at 03:45 PM
jasonpatrick
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


Screw mount (M42) lenses are great for something like this. The adapters are inexpensive (even with focus confirmation), and the lenses are usually cheap and have good to great image quality. Unlike a FD mount adapter, there is no glass required in the adapter for screw mount lenses.

I used several Super Takumar/SMC 50mm, 28mm and 135mm M42 lenses. Definitely hit up the Alt forum. There are issues with some alt lenses clearing the mirror on full frame cameras at infinity focus. No clue how these fare with the 6D - I can tell you that a 40 or 50 dollar m42 lens will give you similar IQ to much much more expensive lenses.

Also if you're using for video, the focus rings amazing compared to comparable autofocus lenses.



Mar 05, 2014 at 03:49 PM
chez
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


The Zuiko 21mm 3.5 lens is fantastic for landscapes. Make sure to get the multi-coated version. Very small compared to today's behemoth lenses yet delivers amazing image quality.


Mar 05, 2014 at 03:50 PM
jcolwell
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


The Contax Carl Zeiss 35-70/3.4 is nice.


Mar 05, 2014 at 04:01 PM
weezintrumpete
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


There are LOTS of options. Forget about the FD lenses...they aren't one of them (they don't adapt well to the EOS bodies ironically).

I have had great success with my Takumar 50/1.4 (M42 mount) and Olympus 50/1.4 (OM). Both are great lenses, and can be had for cheap.

Many, many more options exist. The Alt. forum is a great place for this.



Mar 05, 2014 at 04:15 PM
jbourne
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


Ok. I guess I will take this thread to the Alt forum. M42 sounds good - when I was thinking my old Industar, it was a screw mount as well. I did read somewhere that FDs don't mount, but I like the idea of even older lenses - some were fairly impressive. Thanks for the advice!


Mar 05, 2014 at 04:16 PM
jcolwell
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


You should start with the Alt FAQ sticky, https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1009663


Mar 05, 2014 at 04:26 PM
Gunzorro
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


jcolwell wrote:
The Contax Carl Zeiss 35-70/3.4 is nice.



Ha-ha! You and Chez must have found the Canadian mother lode of Alt lenses from under $100 if you found that Contax 35-70 and Chez found the Oly 21/3.5 for that price!! What, buried by aliens under the Great Slave Lake



Mar 05, 2014 at 04:47 PM
Ian.Dobinson
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


jbourne wrote:
Ooh, I figured since the body's a Canon, it belongs in the Canon forum I'll keep that in mind when this thread gets huge and unruly, haha.


yeah but its more of a 'ALT' question , and you'll get much more and better info over there .

I've always thought if i was to go down the alt lens route on a canon body (assuming I wanted to keep things in a sensible budget) I'd probably look toward the Zuiko lenses



Mar 05, 2014 at 06:03 PM
Pixel Perfect
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


A Zuiko lens is always a good option; tiny size, big IQ. I have the 28 f/2 and I went for this over the f/3.5 since the f/2 has floating rear element, and has better IQ near mfd. They also make a 24 f/2 and 21 f/2. The latter is supposedly excellent, but not cheap, although much cheaper than the Zeiss 21 f/2.8.


Mar 05, 2014 at 06:24 PM
mMontag
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


It's not hard to find a "old" manual focus prime lens to "magically" look better than the 24-105 at the given focal length - but doubtful at $100. You might be able to watch auctions on E-bay and be lucky to find an Olympus 24/2.8 (avoid the H. Zuiko) - but then adding a decent adapter is another $15 to $70 depending on your choice.

Let me save you some money & much time - forget about Canon FD lenses adapted or converted to Canon EOS mount. The E-bay adapters with glass optic are junk & though I have several converted FD's that are among my favorites - that effort is not for first timers.

Best "economic" manual focus landscape lens kit: Contax 28/2.8 - Contax 35-70/3.4 - Contax 100/3.5 - sell the 24-105 & buy that kit - a landscape photographer's heaven for the price. Add the Contax 21/2.8 when experience and money allow - if you're serious on landscape photography you won't regret it. jmho!!

Be careful buying "old" manual focus lenses - "just to try" - without knowing what you're getting. Many will be disappointing when comparing to modern lenses and may be hard to re-sell. Plenty of information on the Alt Forum - some of the most knowledgeable photographers on the internet hang out there & a great community.

BTW - there is the "Manual Focus Forum" (MF lenses) and many others - if you'd like to really step out a bit from the autofocus world.....

http://forum.mflenses.com/

Oh WOW! - That was my 2000th post - must be posting here too often & not getting out enough.....



Mar 05, 2014 at 09:08 PM
XsigmaSD
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


I'll pile on for the m42 mount 50mm 1.4 Super Tak. Cheap, sharp, fun to play with.
It has launched many, many persons obsessions with vintage lenses.



Mar 06, 2014 at 09:37 AM
jbourne
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


XsigmaSD wrote:
I'll pile on for the m42 mount 50mm 1.4 Super Tak. Cheap, sharp, fun to play with.
It has launched many, many persons obsessions with vintage lenses.


Does it work with a Canon 6D, i.e. clear the mirror, etc?



Mar 06, 2014 at 09:38 AM
XsigmaSD
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


jbourne wrote:
Does it work with a Canon 6D, i.e. clear the mirror, etc?


I've used it with a cheap Photodiox m42 adaptor with no issues.
Changing the focus screen in the 6D to the "Eg" variant, greatly helps with manual focus. The trade off is a darker view when using lenses with minimum f-stops greater than 2.8



Mar 06, 2014 at 09:43 AM
Joe Garner
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


mMontag wrote:
Olympus 24/2.8 (avoid the H. Zuiko)


I have an H.Zuiko and it is a perfectly fine lens.



Mar 06, 2014 at 11:18 AM
jbourne
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


XsigmaSD wrote:
I've used it with a cheap Photodiox m42 adaptor with no issues.
Changing the focus screen in the 6D to the "Eg" variant, greatly helps with manual focus. The trade off is a darker view when using lenses with minimum f-stops greater than 2.8


I ordered a Big_is adapter for $15 or so, which even claims a focus confirm. I imagine I should give this one a try?

I guess the difficulty that I am currently having is to understand which lenses I should be considering that would give me something my 24-105 would not, in terms of either image quality or uniqueness. Maybe I should have phrased my original question this way, eh. The idea is, I don't want to get a manual focus lens because I enjoy the vintage aspects - just like I wouldn't drive a 1960s Challenger because I enjoy the shifter on the steering column. I would want the latter because it's noisy, stinky, and fast as hell; so I would love to be able to find some vintage lenses that give me something neat (like the Helios 44's cat-eye effect, I guess?).

So that's where my dilemma lies.



Mar 06, 2014 at 01:38 PM
mMontag
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


Joe Garner wrote:
I have an H.Zuiko and it is a perfectly fine lens.


The Oly 24/2.8 "H. Zuiko" is a single coated lens - the non-H. Zuiko's (with MC or just Zuiko) in the faceplate are multi-coated. The multi-coated lenses have a higher contrast and more flare resistant.



Mar 06, 2014 at 07:31 PM
mMontag
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Suggestions for a(n old) manual lens for a 6D?


jboure

I'm missing it on the car analogy but if you're looking for "unique" rendering try:

Meyer Trioplan 100/2.8 - Helios 40-2 85/1.5 - Biotar 75/1.5 - more than $100 though.

Unfortunately I'm now seeing the Trioplan & Biotar prices has really advance in the last so many years - I bought them back when no one was interested.

Edit to add: Tair 11a 135/2.8 - $200-250usd

Edited on Mar 07, 2014 at 02:10 PM · View previous versions



Mar 06, 2014 at 08:01 PM
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