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Your favourite sleeper lenses

Pixelpuffin
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

I’d like to start topics away from the current and constant threads on R gear.

Can we discuss old sleeper lenses that you’ve stumbled upon again, maybe ones you disregarded first time round ? But now, learning more you’ve found an appreciation??

I’ll start..
The EF 28-135 IS USM
Bought this new back in the 90’s. Really hated it. Returned and managed to get a refund. Then last year stumbled on amazingly clear pictures online, turns out they were taken on the humble 6D with this very lens….off I went!!
Managed to find a one owner boxed mint with hood for very little outlay. Tried it on my 6D with all the lens corrections turned on… wow!!
Since then I’ve used it on my 5diii too, feels better on the 5diii as the heft offsets the lens weight.

Another is… don’t laugh…ef 22-55. Costs literally pennies but gave really nice results on FF, vignettes like crazy but somehow that’s part of its appeal.

So, come on
Let’s have a discussion…

Update:
Just off out with 6d and… ancient ef 55-200 ultrasonic. Ha Ha 🤣
Liberating 👍🏻 I’ll pop the 22-55 in the bag too!

Sep 08, 2024 at 06:41 AM

IndyFab
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

Zeiss Contax C/Y 100-300 Great lens as a tele for landscape

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/926319/

Sep 08, 2024 at 11:03 AM

EB-1
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

Life is too short to not use the best lenses available within purpose and budget.

Oddly enough, the 28-135 is probably the only EF lens I own that has never been used.
The reason is that I needed a body in a rush and had to buy it in a kit with the lens. The MTF looked pretty bad and I had plenty of other options.

EBH

Sep 08, 2024 at 11:16 AM

rscheffler
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

TS-E 45/2.8. I have owned this lens for about 20 years. In the early digital era its strong CA, especially when shifted, was problematic because it couldn't be easily corrected by a fixed lens profile created with no shift. But software has improved a lot and now it's a single-click for CA correction in apps like LR. IMO it has breathed a bit of new life into this lens, which I always liked for its smooth bokeh/character wide open. The new TS-E 50/2.8L is still a technically better lens but not a bargain like the 45 is now. The first version TS-E 24 also has noticeable CA which modern software effectively corrects.

An EF sleeper lens that I have little experience with but would like to try more is the 100/2. For whatever reason it was never as popular as the 85/1.8 (which I owned until recently)...

Sep 08, 2024 at 11:29 AM

IlyaSnopchenko
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

BTW I was eyeing that lens as well, once, but went for the... 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, of course. It's my entry to this thread, I like it and I've been using it even on Nikon Z9 now. Though the very cheap build quality kinda made itself felt when I had to shoot video with it in a pinch, and zooming would only come in coarse steps because the zoom ring is so harsh and undampened.

Sep 08, 2024 at 11:31 AM

Dave_E
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

I have a lot of RF super telephotos that are excellent but I still keep picking up my old EF 400 DO II for wildlife photography. It pairs wonderfully well with the R series mirrorless bodied R5,R3, and R5 MKIi. Very sharp with and without the EF 1.4 TC.

Sep 08, 2024 at 11:35 AM

Pixelpuffin
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

EB-1 wrote:
Life is too short to not use the best lenses available within purpose and budget.

Oddly enough, the 28-135 is probably the only EF lens I own that has never been used.
The reason is that I needed a body in a rush and had to buy it in a kit with the lens. The MTF looked pretty bad and I had plenty of other options.

EBH

That’s quite sad really, the fact that marketing has brainwashed you into thinking only the very best will do means your shots will be forever clinical, dare I say it…soulless. Unless of course you faff with editing to create what isn’t there??

“Pack shots” as I tend to call them leave me stone cold, very little emotive power just a technically flawless record of what was photographed. If that’s the goal then you have your answer.

I’m no music buff at all. But yesterday I fetched down my old record player along with amp, speakers and cd player. None of it has been touched for almost 30yrs, it’s been stored carefully in the loft.
I put Cher “ turn back time” on both the deck and cd. The cd was clear as a whistle but no emotive power whatsoever, put the 7” single on
Crackled much😂 then it roared, the vocals were so realistic whereas the cd was oversampled so much it was just a clinical noise. I preferred the record as did partner and my 17yr old son couldn’t believe what he was seeing or hearing, bless him!! ..… the belt then snapped 😂

Point is neither was perfect, but to me the record is the one we all preferred. The cd was just clinical noise lacking warmth or subtle nuances it had been oversampled too much. I do still have my old DAC (Digital-Analogue Converter) that used.back in the day but after the belt snapped I decided to abandon the idea and put it all back for another time.

Son still can’t quite believe it tho’ 😂

Edited on Sep 08, 2024 at 12:35 PM · View previous versions

Sep 08, 2024 at 11:53 AM

an_also
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

Timely thread. I still shoot EF bodies and was just recently looking at adding some cheaper older lenses for some general purpose shooting on my 5D4. I was looking into the 24-85 and the 28-135. I’ve never used either so if any users could comment on these two, would be appreciated.

Thx!

Sep 08, 2024 at 12:31 PM

EB-1
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

EB-1 wrote:
Life is too short to not use the best lenses available within purpose and budget.

Oddly enough, the 28-135 is probably the only EF lens I own that has never been used.
The reason is that I needed a body in a rush and had to buy it in a kit with the lens. The MTF looked pretty bad and I had plenty of other options.

EBH

Pixelpuffin wrote:
That’s quite sad really, the fact that marketing has brainwashed you into thinking only the very best will do means your shots will be forever clinical, dare I say it…soulless. Unless of course you faff with editing to create what isn’t there??

“Pack shots” as I tend to call them leave me stone cold, very little emotive power just a technically flawless record of what you saw. If that’s the goal then you have your answer.

I’m no music buff at all. But yesterday I fetched down my old record player along with amp, speakers and cd player. None of it...Show more →

I'm not understanding what/how is a lens clinical. Are you equating human biomarkers with MTF data?

I am an engineer/scientist at heart. MTF is only a summary of the individual aberrations and all of the classic Seidel and others impact the final results. You don't need to know the Zernike polynomials to mentally approximate output when you have used enough lenses and seen enough charts. It's easy when bad is bad and good is good. In between it gets interesting and 2D and 3D lens tests are warranted.

FWIW, in the late 1970s I built phonographs to play the 1930s-1940s 16" "glass" transcription discs and make archives. They were some of the first LPs at 33 1/3 rpm and the grooves started from the inside. Sound quality was not bad, certainly far better than the radios people used to listen. I've also had original 7.5 IPS acetate backup network broadcast audio tapes from c. 1950. I was completely astounded by the sound quality from the perspective of c. 1980.

My point is that using the best technology of an era can produce good results even much later.
I would rather use an excellent sleeper Leica or Zeiss lens of the 1980s than a mediocre Canon zoom.

EBH

Edited on Sep 08, 2024 at 12:38 PM · View previous versions

Sep 08, 2024 at 12:33 PM

Pixelpuffin
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

EB-1 wrote:
I'm not understanding what/how is a lens clinical. Are you equating human biomarkers with MTF data?

I am an engineer/scientist at heart. MTF is only a summary of the individual aberrations and all of the classic Seidel and others impact the final results. You don't need to know the Zernike polynomials to mentally approximate output when you have used enough lenses and seen enough charts. It's easy when bad is bad and good is good. In between it gets interesting and 2D and 3D lens tests are warranted.

FWIW, in the late 1970s I built phonographs to play the 1930s-1940s 16"...Show more →

Fair point 👍🏻

Sep 08, 2024 at 12:37 PM

Pixelpuffin
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

an_also wrote:
Timely thread. I still shoot EF bodies and was just recently looking at adding some cheaper older lenses for some general purpose shooting on my 5D4. I was looking into the 24-85 and the 28-135. I’ve never used either so if any users could comment on these two, would be appreciated.

Thx!

I own both
There’s nothing really to separate the results between them. Tho’ it’s known that the 28-105 4.5-5.6 is definitely worse than the earlier 3.5-4.5. I used the 28-105 extensively in the 90’s then bought the 24-85 3-4yrs ago. I suppose you can’t make the 28 do what a 24 can, but you can crop a 85 to look like 105.
Either way they are both fine. Another is the old arc drive ef28-70ii 3.5-4.5 supposedly fitted with a aspherical element. I have that too 😂 in fact I own most of the budget lenses from the EF era. Also picked up the somewhat scarce EF50-200L 3.5-4.5 again arc drive . Wasn’t much impressed, maybe got a dud? Yet the ef 70-210 3.5-4.5 usm is great. Took a snap years ago of my son using the old 5dc 12.8mp
Could not believe how much detail it resolved. Eyelashes pin sharp, clearly showed the very fine hairs on my sons face !!

Edited on Sep 08, 2024 at 12:50 PM · View previous versions

Sep 08, 2024 at 12:43 PM

rscheffler
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

EB-1 wrote:
My point is that using the best technology of an era can produce good results even much later.
I would rather use an excellent sleeper Leica or Zeiss lens of the 1980s than a mediocre Canon zoom.

+1. IMO there isn't a shortage of great 'vintage' options from Leica and Zeiss. You can add pretty much any now-obsolete system to the list because they all had some great glass, which fortunately can be adapted quite readily to current mirrorless systems. Possibly the best time in the history of photography to be able to use historic equipment.

Sep 08, 2024 at 12:44 PM

MintMar
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

an_also wrote:
Timely thread. I still shoot EF bodies and was just recently looking at adding some cheaper older lenses for some general purpose shooting on my 5D4. I was looking into the 24-85 and the 28-135. I’ve never used either so if any users could comment on these two, would be appreciated.

Thx!

I've had both, and unfortunately, I can't share the appreciation of the OP.

28-135 is just way too soft for me. It's not offensive level of softness, it's mostly that I just couldn't find any appreciable sharpness. And I tried to love the lens, I'd love to have that zoom range on FF, instead I am finally with EF 24-105 IS STM when I want to zoom lighter and further than with EF 24-70L Mk2.

24-85 would be a killer pocketable lens if it wasn't an unsharp mush outside the APS-C crop. I had it for years on crop, loved it. Small, light, ring USM, what's not to love about it. Then I put it on a FF sensor.

Sometimes I go with one or two primes that are either not wide enough or not far reaching enough, and then I love to have some small pocketable normal zoom to save the day. For me this is the first EF 28-80, very old, which has ring USM with an unexpected feature of rotating front element, but I'd say it's better on FF than 24-85. So I have that one. It's very old in the coating department, so it really doesn't like front light and I need to recall that every time. :-) But it only saves the day in case of need so it doesn't see much use.

Sep 08, 2024 at 12:51 PM

Pixelpuffin
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

MintMar wrote:
I've had both, and unfortunately, I can't share the appreciation of the OP.

28-135 is just way too soft for me. It's not offensive level of softness, it's mostly that I just couldn't find any appreciable sharpness. And I tried to love the lens, I'd love to have that zoom range on FF, instead I am finally with EF 24-105 IS STM when I want to zoom lighter and further than with EF 24-70L Mk2.

24-85 would be a killer pocketable lens if it wasn't an unsharp mush outside the APS-C crop. I had it for years on crop, loved it. Small,...Show more →

Obviously there are differences. I too have the 28-80, first edition.. it’s ok but oddly it’s not as nice to use as the 28-105.
I need to empathise this thread isn’t about comparing these older lenses to modern optics. It’s more about how they feel, the look they give, if the focal length feels right. I like the vignetting on older lenses, it produces images that are reminiscent of the film era, before we had bodies that corrected everything that now results in clinically sharp but flat images. That’s how I see it. I honestly couldn’t care less about corner sharpness wide open, who does in the real world?? I’m really not interested in photographing brick walls funnily enough!!

Sep 08, 2024 at 03:35 PM

Scott Stoness
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

I bought the cheap 15macro shift f4 - for 15mm and shift, knowing that at maximum shift it has lots of vignetting on ff, for fun during covid. It is a fantastic backpacking shift lens when you either crop the top or don't shift to extremes. It can do flowers (macro). It is decently sharp. And it's way lighter than my canon ts17. And it was cheap. I am still using it with my EF variable density adapter when I need 15mm shift. The more expensive 15 shift (not macro) Laowa is likely better but I give more weight to function.

Sep 08, 2024 at 03:45 PM

jedibrain
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

EF-m 22mm is a great lens.

I'm not sure the Sigma Art 50mm 1.4 would count as a sleeper, but for the cost (particularly used) and performance compared to the EF L variants I feel its a steal.

Brian

Sep 08, 2024 at 03:51 PM

Gochugogi
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

The old EF 70-300 4.0-5.6L IS USM is a bit of a sleeper—the big brother EF 100-400 4.5-5.6L IS USM II was more popular—but is amazingly excellent and compact. Well, while compact it is a dad burn bazooka. Besides being sharp, the flare control is amazing compared to other 70-300 zooms I've owned.

Okay one more sleeper. The EF-S 60 2.8 Macro USM is silly sharp, petite and fast focusing on my R7. 60mm is a much more useful focal length for macro than my way too long RF 100 2.8L Macro USM.

Sep 08, 2024 at 04:43 PM

garyvot
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

Gochugogi wrote:
The old EF 70-300 4.0-5.6L IS USM is a bit of a sleeper—the big brother EF 100-400 4.5-5.6L IS USM II was more popular—but is amazingly excellent and compact. Well, while compact it is a dad burn bazooka. Besides being sharp, the flare control is amazing compared to other 70-300 zooms I've owned.

Okay one more sleeper. The EF-S 60 2.8 Macro USM is silly sharp, petite and fast focusing on my R7. 60mm is a much more useful focal length for macro than my way too long RF 100 2.8L Macro USM.

Completely agree with both of these picks.

I would probably add the EF 100mm f2, a lovely lens that is overshadowed by all the macro lenses at this focal length.

This is my preferred short tele focal length since the legendary Nikkor 105mm f/2.5. (Another reason I liked the EF-S 60mm macro on crop.)

Sep 08, 2024 at 05:21 PM

stanj
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

I'll go in the spirit of the title, "sleeper lens" without specifying the mount. To me the 24-240 is a total sleeper. No "serious photographer" takes it seriously, yet in most aspects it's better than anything we had in the 1DS days. I was there

Sep 08, 2024 at 05:35 PM

rscheffler
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Your favourite sleeper lenses

stanj wrote:
I'll go in the spirit of the title, "sleeper lens" without specifying the mount. To me the 24-240 is a total sleeper. No "serious photographer" takes it seriously, yet in most aspects it's better than anything we had in the 1DS days. I was there

Better than the EF 35-350L or 28-300L (within the shared range)? I remain curious about the 24-240 in part due to your enthusiasm for it.

garyvot wrote:
I would probably add the EF 100mm f2, a lovely lens that is overshadowed by all the macro lenses at this focal length.

This is my preferred short tele focal length since the legendary Nikkor 105mm f/2.5. (Another reason I liked the EF-S 60mm macro on crop.)

Speaking of the Nikkor 105/2.5, I have the 10.5cm f/2.5 version in Leica thread mount and really enjoy its draw, which is sharp enough wide open with good contrast but with a pleasant, subtle amount of spherical aberration to take the edge off fine details. I believe this is the original Nikon 105/2.5 optical formula that spawned all the subsequent F mount versions and is based on a Sonnar design. I'm a big fan of the Sonnar 'look' and have a few Sonnar designs at 50mm (Nikkor 5cm/1.4 LTM, Zeiss Opton Sonnar 50/1.5 in Contax rangefinder mount adapted to Leica M and 7Artisans 50/1.1 in Leica M).

Sep 08, 2024 at 08:03 PM

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