Old lenses Never Die

[Black Pearl]

New lenses never die.....

They just keep on going with the aid of adapters and that newfangled device that is the mirrorless digital camera

My father bought this 1959 NIKKOR-H 28mm f3.5 lens used from a local dealer back in the early 70's and it has been on every Nikon he and I have ever owned. Of late it has sat beside my computer slightly unloved as I don't have a Nikon DSLR to use it on anymore and while I do own Nikon SLR's its a rare occasion that I use them.



So.....I bought a £12.99 adapter to fit it to my Fuji and you know what - it looks absolutely amazing on it.




I've had it out the last two days for a play and its a cool lens to shoot with. Focusing is easy with the Fuji as I have either Focus-Peaking or a Digital Split-Screen plus I can divide the viewfinder/LCD into two with a full view and a 100% crop side-by-side to help with critical fine tuning. Metering seems to be pretty solid even without any communication between the lens/body and while the lens has had a (very) rough life and it doesn't have the enhanced micro contrast that modern optics do the results are still pretty sharp.

I shot a few images down at the beach then ran them through Lightroom applying either vintage film simulation or a bit on monochrome via Nik SEP2...







I'm not for a moment going to say this will be my main weapon of choice but it will live in my camera bag and I can see me having a bit of fun with it - and that is what photography for me is all about.

[AlwaysOnAuto]

I'm with you Robin. I don't have any native lenses for my Sony mirrorless cameras, but the old lenses I use are all about fun shooting.

[AlwaysOnAuto]

I recently found this Nikkor 50mm f1.2 on a Nikon FM2 camera. Had to buy the camera to get the lens.
I didn't mind, $100 is not a lot to part with for that lens, let alone the camera.

[Black Pearl]

Thats a MEGA lens for any amount of money but for $100 its an absolute bargain.

[AlwaysOnAuto]

I totally agree, I stole it, but, he did say others had wanted just the lens but I wanted the camera too.
Here's a shot taken with it, of one of my other old lens bargains.
Micro Nikkor 55mm f2.8 $128 including shipping. Came to me looking like it'd never been used at all. I was dumbfounded when I opened it up.



f4 at 1/15th sec, ISO 64

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Alan and Robin,

he did say others had wanted just the lens but I wanted the camera too.

Yes some people just don't know how to negotiate successfully

Congrats on the purchases.


Interesting thing about that Micro Nikkor 55mm f2.8; as I recall the focus barrel rotates through more than one circle (> 360 degrees), giving rise to the double focus distance markings we see - I mention this for those that are used to the 'short throw' of modern digital AF lenses. I believe the orange scale is metres, while the white is feet (or inches where " is shown).

The DoF markings for f/11, f/22 and f/32 are coloured to the aperture scale, also show how little DoF there is.

Cheers, Dave

[AlwaysOnAuto]

You're right about the focus Dave. It isn't 'fast' by any means and the DoF is slim, but, when you do hit the focus there is no sharper lens to be found. I consider it one of my 'never let it go' pieces of my collection.

[LePetomane]

Those old lenses have a classy look about them that the newer ones don't have.

[swanseadave]

I have hidden away a Fujica X outfit from the 80s.I`ve often wondered since Fujifilm brought out the new X mount, whether these old lenses would fit on a new Fujifilm?Is the new mount basically the same as the old one and would the lenses fit and work,albeit with MF?

[AlwaysOnAuto]

David - I'm not sure about the Fuji mounts, but from what I've seen adapter wise, you can fit just about anything on any type of camera now days.

[tao2]

I have hidden away a Fujica X outfit from the 80s.I`ve often wondered since Fujifilm brought out the new X mount, whether these old lenses would fit on a new Fujifilm?Is the new mount basically the same as the old one and would the lenses fit and work,albeit with MF?

Hi Dave,

ye can get a generic adapter (around £15-20) which'll allow the old X mount on the new X mount. They're only manual focus though. There're probably chipped ones available now which'll allow focus peaking . Take them tae a shop and try them out...

[Black Pearl]

You don't need any electronics for focus peaking so just get a cheap adapter - the K&F ones are £12.99 which isn't bad. The Fuji will meter with any aperture so you don't even need fancy controls to stop the iris down, you just pre-select it and go.

[RBSinTo]

I have an even better idea.
I use my old Nikkor manual focus lenses on Nikon manual focus film cameras and my old Nikon s-mount lenses on my Nikon rangefinder bodies, and I don't even need adapters.
However, having said that I did buy a very rare custom-made Nikon F-S adapter which does allow me to use some of my very wide Nikon F-mount SLR lenses on my Nikon S-mount rangefinder bodies.

[AlwaysOnAuto]

That's cool Robert. I wish I could afford to shoot film, but as it is $$$$, I'll have to stick with digital. That's not to say I don't appreciate a good mechanical film camera though. That is part of the reason I had an ear-to-ear grin on my face for three days after obtaining my FM2 and lens.

[Black Pearl]

Shooting film is great, I do so a few times a year as I enjoy the challenge but the ability to use old lenses on a digital body opens the creative boundaries for everyday shooting in a way which should never me dismissed.

[tao2]

It's true... old lenses never die......ah end up buying them....all of them... This is about half of ma collection...Just can't let them go...

[AlwaysOnAuto]

No wonder I'm having such a hard time finding more of them!

[Tringa]

A really interesting thread. It is always good to play around with old lenses on current digital cameras. From time to time I get some of my old Pentax lenses out and use them on my K5. The 40+ year old 55mm f1.8 SMC Pentax is probably my favourite.

Good to see a shot of one of my seaside haunts of my childhood, Robin and that is an interestiong collection of lenses and cameras there, Boab. The Zenit C must be 50 years old and the Fed possibly even older - one of my first cameras was a Zenit E with the Helios 44-2 f2/58mm lens.

You are probably correct Alan, there are lots of adaptors around now. In the UK this place ( http://srb-photographic.co.uk/ ) has a good number.

Dave

[Black Pearl]

A really interesting thread. It is always good to play around with old lenses on current digital cameras. From time to time I get some of my old Pentax lenses out and use them on my K5. The 40+ year old 55mm f1.8 SMC Pentax is probably my favourite.

Good to see a shot of one of my seaside haunts of my childhood, Robin and that is an interestiong collection of lenses and cameras there, Boab. The Zenit C must be 50 years old and the Fed possibly even older - one of my first cameras was a Zenit E with the Helios 44-2 f2/58mm lens.

You are probably correct Alan, there are lots of adaptors around now. In the UK this place ( http://srb-photographic.co.uk/ ) has a good number.

Dave

Its a nice spot Marsden though there is a lot less of the rock these days than there used to be.

I use an old (ish) Pentax lens on the Fuji via another of these K&F adapters - I love it for the strong hexagonal shape to the OOF areas from the old fashioned shaped aperture blades.

[dennybeall]

It's too bad we don't have any way to see the history of these old lenses. I know three of mine were used by a working Press Photographer in Washington DC and in the White House. I know they photographed a couple of US Presidents and many events in the streets of DC.