Hello everyone! Need help at deciding what first lens to get

[tdesws]

Hello everyone, I just got my first mirrorless camera - Sony A6000 with 16-50 lenses.

 

The camera is great, but the lenses are not very enjoyable, they don't even have manual focus. I was thinking to get 35mm lens, but they are as expensive as camera itself, so I decided that I should go for some LEGACY lenses, so I could get some 'mad skillz' at manual focusing and working without zoooooooms.

 

But since I've never had bought any lenses in my life, this only leads me to one question, what 30 or 35mm legacy lenses could you recommend and will they need an adapter? Also tell me why do you recommend these lenses.

 

Thank you!

 

EDIT: I tried to do searching by myself, that's the only ones I found right now, any opinions about them?: http://www.skelbiu.lt/skelbimai/revuenon-35mm-f-2-8-su-adapteriu-canon-nex-m4-3-20314886.html

It's Revuenon 35mm f/2.8 with a mount to NEX cameras, costs only $40

Also I found a list of some lens, any PRIMES are worth considering?
http://www.skelbiu.lt/skelbimai/minolta-md-24-28-45-135-200-ir-zoom-13090220.html
 

[steve of stonehenge]

I started off with the A7 ii and Canon L lenses I already owned.  But I was disappointed to not be able to use the great features of the camera like face recognition, eye auto focus, and many others.  So I sold my Canon lenses and am buying Sony/Zeiss glass.  I love the results.  If you do not want to spend a lot of money, only get the Sony 55mm f1.8.  I bought mine used on eBay for about US $600.  It is almost equal to the Zeiss 55mm f1.2 Otus a US $4000 lens.  And now I love all the Sony features I can use.

[nomad]

I still use the same camera next to my A7S for photography and I have a nice collection of legacy glass, mainly Minolta SR, Zeiss C/Y and some Zuiko. But unfortunately your question is a bit too broad. To help you, we'd need to know your shooting style or preferences.

Let me describe the extremes:

 

– are you into landscape with careful observation of weather and time of day, going to the right places and carefully framing your picture? Then it's legacy primes for sure!

 

– or are you into fast action, like sports, kids, dance or such? Then it's modern AF glass for sure, and the speed of the A6000 supports it very well. You'd have no chance to compete with manual lenses and loose most of the best moments. If you want to shoot from a safe distance, the Sony SEL55210 (i.e. 55 to 210mm) comes to my mind. It can be found relatively cheap (I paid 200 €) and has quite nice optical quality, but it's on the slow side (meaning not very wide apertures for low light situations). If you like to go wider, anything visibly better than your kit lens (which admittedly is not great) won't come cheap. The 10 to 18mm comes to my mind, but since that works to some degree even on a full frame A7, it is expensive even in used condition.

 

So, if you tell us a bit more about your preferences, we might be able to help you. BTW, that Revuenon is pretty much crap, it was a re-labeled lens from Japan or Eastern Germany sold by a mail order chain in Germany. There is only one decent Revuenon, but it was in 50 or 55mm. If you want legacy, look for Minolta SR, very nice glass in most cases (kind of poor man's Leica, they had a close co-operation in that period), and since it doesn't fit Canons it's still relatively cheap even in these times, where the Sony mirrorless cameras are heating the market. I recently checked my current lens values by averaging Ebay sales and boy, was that a good investment over the last five years (not even talking about some from my deceased uncle). Beating all stocks which aren't pure gambling!

[tdesws]

Thank you for your responses, the main styles are: people/portraits, landscapes for timelapses and I'm interested in to do some street photography as well.

 

I'm pretty sure that one lens won't fit all the styles, but different suggestions and info is appreciated!

[nomad]

For portraits, get a lens around 85mm, like the pretty small and fast Minolta 85mm 2.0, for landscape a wide one like the 24mm f2.8 or if you like it wider get the 17mm Tokina f3.5 (preferably in Minolta mount, so you need only one type of adapter) and for street the 35mm f2.8, which you'll use hyperfocal, i.e. set to a medium aperture and focus from infinity to maybe 2 meters.

 

Of course, similar lenses from other brands will be fine too, but the price/performance ratio is still quite good for Minolta SR if you have some patience.

 

Please see Phlipp's thread about Minoltas and his tests.

[favol84]

Consider a mc rokkor 85 1.7 . I've found that is a little better than the rokkor 85/2 and performs similarly to the pricier rokkor 58/1.2 in terms of bokeh and 3d rendering.

[tdesws]

Won't 85mm for portraits and 17mm for landscapes  be too much, I want to remind that my camera is APS-C type, not full frame

[Moody]

Have a look at Phillip Reeve's threads about legacy lenses (and his flickr page), you'll certainly find a few gems in there.

 

for example: http://www.sonyalphaforum.com/topic/318-minolta-mcmd-lenses-images-thread/

 

Personally, I have bought a cheap E-mount - Minolta MC/MD adapter to use some old Minolta MC lenses that I inherited back in the 80s...

You can find lots of relatively cheap MC/MD Minolta lenses, not all are great though.

 

Oh, and I use them on the A6000.

As it is an APS-C, you might indeed have more trouble to find old wide-angle MF lenses suitable for landscapes, as those all were made for the FF format back in the film days.

A list of all MC/MD Minolta lenses can be found here, for example.

[favol84]

Won't 85mm for portraits and 17mm for landscapes  be too much, I want to remind that my camera is APS-C type, not full frame

85 mm is ok for portraits on apsc . 17mm is not too wide, i think that a Samyang 12mm is much better

[tdesws]

I've been thinking about samyang 12mm for some time, but I was expecting to find some cheaper legacy stuff, for around 70$ didn't have much luck yet though

[Nordentro]

Zeiss Flektogon 35mm f/2.4 or the older zebra f/2.8 both in m42 mount

 

Look at my results here:

http://manuellfokus.no/carl-zeiss-jena-flektogon-35mm-f2-8/

[tdesws]

Zeiss Flektogon 35mm f/2.4 or the older zebra f/2.8 both in m42 mount

 

Look at my results here:

http://manuellfokus.no/carl-zeiss-jena-flektogon-35mm-f2-8/

 

This flektogon and pictures made with it look real cool! I just got curious, are there any online marketplaces/shops with international shipping which can be trusted for the quality and also not being tricked?

[ViRuS X]

Hello everyone, I just got my first mirrorless camera - Sony A6000 with 16-50 lenses.

 

The camera is great, but the lenses are not very enjoyable, they don't even have manual focus.

 

Just wanted to tell you that all Sony lenses do manual focus all you have to do is to set focus type to MF in camera then rotate the ring on the lens.. Voila

You might notice that after setting the focus to MF and rotate the ring the screen will zoom in to make it easier to manual focus on subjects, you can turn this option OFF in menu , search for Focus Magnifier and turn it off.

 

About the 30mm 35mm legacy lenses , there are many good lenses from various brands, try to search ebay for Minolta MD , Konica hexanon , Canon FD , Yashica , Pentax SMC .. Those used to be good lens manufacturers.

[Nordentro]

Ebay is a good source for every lens, but you must then buy based on the feedback given from other buyers and the description.

 

Leicashop in Austria is very good, I`ve bought some lenses from them.

http://www.leicashop.com/vintage_de/carl-zeiss-jena-f-exakta-35-2-8-flektogon-sku23103-21.html

 

KEH (Atlanta, GA) is very good particularly for those who live in the US but it is sometimes easier to find German glass in Europe

https://www.keh.com/search/mount

[tdesws]

Just wanted to tell you that all Sony lenses do manual focus all you have to do is to set focus type to MF in camera then rotate the ring on the lens.. Voila

You might notice that after setting the focus to MF and rotate the ring the screen will zoom in to make it easier to manual focus on subjects, you can turn this option OFF in menu , search for Focus Magnifier and turn it off.

 

About the 30mm 35mm legacy lenses , there are many good lenses from various brands, try to search ebay for Minolta MD , Konica hexanon , Canon FD , Yashica , Pentax SMC .. Those used to be good lens manufacturers.

well that's emberassing I thought that the ring only zooms in or out. Thanks for your help!

 

Ebay is a good source for every lens, but you must then buy based on the feedback given from other buyers and the description.

 

Leicashop in Austria is very good, I`ve bought some lenses from them.

http://www.leicashop.com/vintage_de/carl-zeiss-jena-f-exakta-35-2-8-flektogon-sku23103-21.html

 

KEH (Atlanta, GA) is very good particularly for those who live in the US but it is sometimes easier to find German glass in Europe

https://www.keh.com/search/mount

Leica shop looks really amazing only 16euros for shipping (20 USD). Now I'm struggling to get the lens or not to :s

Are there any ultrawides in there? I can't seem to find any

[Nordentro]

Forget about ultra wide angle legacy lenses for APS-C, there isn`t any

 

The Rokinon/ Samyang brand have a few nice manual focus models for E-mount

[Nordentro]

Hmm, I did some thinking, and you should really consider to try the Pen F 38mm f/1.8 or 40mm f/1.4 legacy lenses which both are great performers if you can afford it. The 38mm have slightly more character and is a tad wider. The size is also better for the A6000 with small adapters.

 

http://manuellfokus.no/olympus-pen-f-38mm-f1-8/

 

http://manuellfokus.no/olympus-pen-f-40mm-f1-4/

[tdesws]

Hmm, I did some thinking, and you should really consider to try the Pen F 38mm f/1.8 or 40mm f/1.4 legacy lenses which both are great performers if you can afford it. The 38mm have slightly more character and is a tad wider. The size is also better for the A6000 with small adapters.

 

http://manuellfokus.no/olympus-pen-f-38mm-f1-8/

 

http://manuellfokus.no/olympus-pen-f-40mm-f1-4/

 

Thanks for the links! Right now my budget is really small, at the moment I can afford to get only one lens, that's why I'm trying to do as much research as possible

[Golem]

For portraits, get a lens around 85mm, like the pretty small and fast Minolta 85mm 2.0, for landscape a wide one like the 24mm f2.8 or if you like it wider get the 17mm Tokina f3.5 (preferably in Minolta mount, so you need only one type of adapter) and for street the 35mm f2.8, which you'll use hyperfocal, i.e. set to a medium aperture and focus from infinity to maybe 2 meters.

 

Of course, similar lenses from other brands will be fine too, but the price/performance ratio is still quite good for Minolta SR if you have some patience.

 

Please see Phlipp's thread about Minoltas and his tests.

All stock boilerplate advice ... if using full frame,

but the OP specifies an A6000. I mean, those

are all great lenses but, sadly, the descriptions

just don't apply for the APS-C format.

 

`

[Golem]

Won't 85mm for portraits and 17mm for landscapes  be

too much, I want to remind that my camera is APS-C type,

not full frame

True. I wound up getting a focal reducer cuz I already

had such lenses on hand and didn't want them "going

to waste" just when I was shooting APS-C.

 

A 17mm [without focal reducer] is just a medium wide

for APS-C, but will be huge and slow, cuz it's designed

as an ultra wide for FF. The 85 is a fine mid-tele prime,

and not too bulky or slow. You might find it to be quite

handy ... but it's a mid-tele, not a short portrait tele.

 

I'd have little if any use for most of my legacy lenses if I

didn't have a focal reducer, but the 35, 50, and 85 can

be useful [and are usually not too huge] even without a

focal reducer. The thing with the focal reducer is that it

also speeds up the lenses by a full stop, which nicely

justifies the size difference when using FF lenses on a

smaller compact camera.

 

`

[Golem]

This flektogon and pictures made

with it look real cool! ............

Those were shot in FF format. The effect is not

going to be so dramatic cropped down to APS-C.

 

`

[tdesws]

True. I wound up getting a focal reducer cuz I already

had such lenses on hand and didn't want them "going

to waste" just when I was shooting APS-C.

 

A 17mm [without focal reducer] is just a medium wide

for APS-C, but will be huge and slow, cuz it's designed

as an ultra wide for FF. The 85 is a fine mid-tele prime,

and not too bulky or slow. You might find it to be quite

handy ... but it's a mid-tele, not a short portrait tele.

 

I'd have little if any use for most of my legacy lenses if I

didn't have a focal reducer, but the 35, 50, and 85 can

be useful [and are usually not too huge] even without a

focal reducer. The thing with the focal reducer is that it

also speeds up the lenses by a full stop, which nicely

justifies the size difference when using FF lenses on a

smaller compact camera.

 

`

Wow, I've never even heard about focal reducers! Are they made by different brands (just like adapters)? If yes which one to get?

[Golem]

Currently thereare 2.5 brands offocal reducers.

 

The Metabones is king. The Mitakon [has several

other brand names] is the quite useful cheaper

alternative. There's a 3rd brand, slotted between

the two, just coming on line.

 

For info, search on "Metabones Speed Booster".

 

I'm using the Mitakon, and usually it's more

than good enuf, but I'd like to upgrade to the

Metabones for:

 

1. Better coating

2. Tripod interface

3. Better latch

4. Better rear flange

5. Infinity adjustable

 

Thaz a lotta upgrade, but it's a lotta sheckels.

If I'm careful about the infamous blue dot, and

don't need perfect corner sharpness, and don't

beat up the rear flange and the front latch, I'm

OK with the Mitakon. Nothing I can do about a

lack of a tripod fitting or the infinity overrun. The

price difference is 150 vs 400 USD.

 

`

[tdesws]

Thaz a lotta upgrade, but it's a lotta sheckels.

 

LOL, language of the year, imdb: 10/10

Thanks for the info though!

[ethierbach]

Thinking back to your original post, asking about 30-35mm legacy lenses, I have another suggestion for you. Not legacy, but it may be in your budget.  I'm very pleased with the Sigma 30mm f/2.8 E-mount lens.  It's "only" $200, which is cheap in E-mount-land, and very sharp. As someone else mentioned, you can use it in manual focus (MF) mode; you can also use DMF (Direct Manual Focus). In DMF mode, the camera auto-focuses, but then you can manually change the focus with the lens ring.

 

Sigma also makes a 19mm version (I have that one, too, and like it) and a 60mm version, if those are more matched to your style.

 

You can also join those of us who haunt local resale shops and yard sales, looking for that great high-quality-bargain-price lens that others seem to find, but I never do. 

-Ed-