p.128 #2 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
Visuals wrote:
Zeiss 35mm f2
It comes attached to my Sony RX1 though :-)
Now that is a very good lens, it has a lot of distortion, though
I just bought a Minolta MD Zoom Rokkor 75-200 mm 1:4.5 for € 12.50
Always wanted to try it out. It is the one without Macro capability but this one is sharper at the longer end.
It is one of the zooms which has a Minolta optical design shared with Leitz.
Like the:
Minolta MD 35-70mm f3.5 macro
Minolta MD 70-210mm f4 macro
Minolta MD 75-200 f4.5
p.128 #4 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
Just ordered a sigma 35 1.4. I already have the contax which I love, but need an AF lens for people so am looking forward to testing them and deciding whether to keep both or not.
p.128 #5 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
sculptormic wrote:
Now that is a very good lens, it has a lot of distortion, though
I just bought a Minolta MD Zoom Rokkor 75-200 mm 1:4.5 for € 12.50
Always wanted to try it out. It is the one without Macro capability but this one is sharper at the longer end.
It is one of the zooms which has a Minolta optical design shared with Leitz.
Like the:
Minolta MD 35-70mm f3.5 macro
Minolta MD 70-210mm f4 macro
Minolta MD 75-200 f4.5
MD Rokkor 75-200/4.5 is ok but sharpness faloff from center of the frame to edges is too much pronounced for me.I resold it.70-210/4 is better with more even sharpness and macro facility.Together with 35-70/3.5 it makes up for a nice set of zooms with IQ close to Minolta primes.
This picture was taken with 70-210/4 md at 210 and f4.This is a heavy crop (about 10%) of the original picture.Some CA visible.
p.128 #6 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
The Nikkor 35mm f/3.5 PC lens (non-AI, c. 1967-ish) arrived. The lens is in excellent condition for its age and all functions operate smoothly.
I'd previously owned a newer "black knob" version (c. 1980) which was a nicer (and faster), but still had many of the same traits and characteristics as this earlier lens. I don't know why, but Nikon has always had a problem with its retro-focus WA designs, at least the 24/2, 28/2, and 35/2 (2 copies) in the A- to AI-s range. For many lenses, they've copied the basic lens designs from the 60s, on up to the more recent AF production. The main main "bad" genetic trait passed down from generation to generation is severe curvature of field, and the unsharpness and other aberrations that attend it.
The first shot is a quick hand held 3-shot pano, shot wide open at f/3.5 -- you can see the severe fall-off/vignetting/softness on the extreme edges -- this effect shows even at the centered position when viewed at higher magnification.
On the plus side, the lens has wonderful color and very good sharpness. Contrast is excellent and very high. If I didn't mention its age, no one would think these images are from an ancient relic of the 35mm film days. Very accurate color on my Canon cameras (tried the 1Ds3 and 5D2 today for quick shots at our house -- Carsten, you are going to hate seeing more of my yard! Sorry! ). Also on the plus side was the price -- $200, the same I paid for the EF 40mm STM "pancake", so that's a bargain and a half.
p.128 #7 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
JohnJ wrote:
I really like this lens, more so than the Contax and Leica R 28 E55, but for it's aberrations and character. I almost always use it wide open.
It's a great lens in tight spots. I preferred the Leica R for landscapes, but the Oly was my go-to for less than 5M and closer when I shot Canon.
p.128 #8 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
Got a good deal on a user-condition Nikon AI 300/2.8. I had to get a front cap separately, but all together I'm only in $700, and mechanically and optically, it's quite the performer. Very center-sharp wide open, and with the a99's SteadyShot, I can get down to 1/200 hand-held without any effort, 1/125 if I'm rock solid in my stance. I'm excited to try it out with extenders now.
I can confirm that the good reputation of this zoom is well founded. Geometric distortions are well controlled, very little lateral CA (better than many primes in this range); good sharpness that sometimes needs a little stopping down (depending on focal length) to extend to the far corners; highly flare resistant.
p.128 #15 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
mpmendenhall wrote: bare-bulb LED flashlight, swirling around during 15s exposure. Either that, or some kind of really terrible green glowing lens fungus.
yeah, after i posted i looked at your exif and figured that must be it. if it's the fungus you should try and grow it to sell (or flee for your life).
p.128 #17 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
Just received an email from PayPal that my payment went through, only I haven't bought anything in 2weeks, so I made a claim and changed my password.
Edit: Resolved.
p.128 #20 · What is your most recent (alt) lens purchase?
Thanks to recommendations from fellow ALT FM'ers, I picked up a used OM Zuiko 50 3.5 Macro lens. Adapting to use it on a Leica rangefinder, is that ALT enough for some of you?
Very accurate color on my Canon cameras (tried the 1Ds3 and 5D2 today for quick shots at our house -- Carsten, you are going to hate seeing more of my yard! Sorry! 
