Your top 3 favorite Legacy Lenses

[Marc Contaxtonikon]

In this order:

Planar 1,4 / 85

Planar 1,7 / 50 

 

Varion-Sonnar 3.3-4.0 / 28-85 

[Bacil]

On A7 mostly for portraits:

 

1. C/Y Zeiss 85mm 1.4

2. Nikon 105mm 2.5 AI/AIS

3. Voigtlander 75mm 1.8 Heliar Classic

 

Just bought a Nikon 85mm 1.4 AIS that I think is going to become my favorite as well

[JimmyD]

I need to break my answer down into two groups, depending on purpose:

 

Fast / portrait:

1. Canon FD 85mm f/1.2

2. Minolta MC 58mm f/1.2

3. Tie: Nikon AI-s 50mm f/1.2, Canon FD 24mm f/1.4

 

Light / Landscape:

1. Olympus 24mm f/2.8

2. Leica M 50mm f/2

3. Zeiss ZM 85 mm f/4

[Marc Contaxtonikon]

Contax Zeiss all the way

Zeiss Planar 1.4/85

Vario-Sonnar 4.0/ 80-200 

 

 

Vario-Sonnar 28-85

[Golem]

My faves shift according to latest solution to

problem at hand. So now, on an LA EA3, it's

3 old Maxxum mount primes: 50mm f:1.7/1.4

and Sigma 28 f:1.8 and 90 f:2.8 Macro.

 

So WTH is a "50mm f:1.7/1.4" lens ? It's an

shaft-drive 50:1.7 on an alpha where it turns

miraculously into a 50:1.4 ! I've tested this in

various ways, and it's for real :-) 

  

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This lens trio has been de-mothballed cuz I

was gonna use an OLD 28-70:2.8 AF for a

low-light job, but after a real-world test run

a "personal ergonomic" glitch arose with MF

application of the old zoom. Being an old AF

Tokina it's not internal focus and so the big

front end focus barrel is designed to be able

to spin easily via the shaft drive of Maxxum

AF bodies. It's so fee-and-easy that despite

very careful magnifier-aided MF, about 3/4

of my shots were sharply focused about a

foot BEHIND the intended subject ... always

behind, never ahead ... the other shots were

perfectly focused ded-on. I personally could

almost never let go of the very-short-throw

focus ring without dragging it just a tiny bit 

toward infinity focus.

  

The fix for this is to re-lube the focus with a

stiffer lube but then I doubt it would AF well

on my LA EA2 ... and prolly would overload  

the little shaft drive motor in there :-( 

[Golem]

In order of most liked:

 

Zenitar ME1 50mm/1.7

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FullSizeRender7.jpg

image1.jpg

 

Helios 40-2 85mm/1.5

 

Porst 50/1.7 Macro

 

The only one I could find sample shots for on my phone were from the

Zenitar as I had shot it most recently.

 

With regard to the second part of the question, I shoot these on an A7R2.

  

Yowza ! Now I'm no Bokeh Geek. Que sera sera is my attiude toward

out of focus areas. I mean, I consider The Bokeh Cult to be (politely

spoken) just utter dog poop. But to any generalization there's usually

an amazing exception. Yup, I just looooove that squared-edge bokeh

in your samples. Acoarst, I love mirror lens's doughnut bokeh as well,

so no one shares my taste in these matters ... except maybe you !

[Johndizzo15]

Lol. You would be right. I'm a sucker for unique looks. I am no bokeh snob. Just more of a lover of oddities.

[Trad]

We are travelling through Germany at present with my A7ii and my current 3 faves the Contax:

Distagon 28 2.8 MMJ

Planar 50 1.7 AEJ and

Sonnar 85 2.8 MMJ

 

I love the consistency of these lenses In terms of size, weight, feel and overall optical performance in combination with the Sony making this system worth every penny.

[UnSean]

On A7rII in no particular order:

 

Minolta 58mm f1.2

Contax 100-300 f4.5-6.3 + Mutar 2

Nikon 180mm f2.8

Otus 85mm, 55mm

Leica R 28mm f2.8  Rom

Zeiss ZM 35mm f1.4

 

I used to have 10 or more other's but have now moved to native mount glass.

 

I don't have favorites just use the lens for the job.

[Golem]

Not so long ago, I got an LAEA3, so now I can actually enjoy

the convenience of auto-iris again ! Thus, my early Maxxum

lenses are seeing more use lately than my ancient Nikkors.

  

My Maxxum lens set is not so ridiculously seamless across

the FL range as compared to my Nikkors. So, by default, the

3-lens kit that emerges is 24/2.8, 50/1.4, and a 90/2.8 Macro,

the latter being a Sigma. 

  

I also have a 35/2.0, which would definitely be a stand-alone

singular fave lens, but this thread asks for "3 favorite" lenses,

and in my long standing habits of use, the 35/2.0 is not part

of any trio. It's my "one-lens, walk-around, do-it-all lens" for

my personal aesthetic, but too limited for working for clients.      

 

  

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ 

   

  

It's really a treat that old film era Sigmas are still compatible

with current-production Sony cameras. Not so with Sigmas

in other SLR mounts :-(

 

My other film era Sigmas, in Canon EF and Nikon AF mount,

went useless. When mounted on my [now departed] digital

Canons and Nikons those Sigmas shut down those cameras.

 

The Nikon versions can remain in use one a "dumb" E-mount

adapter, cuz they all have an aperture ring. But the Canon EF

version could only be used at max aperture [ = useless junk].

 

One can also use an old Sigma on a digital Nikon, as an MF

lens, by removing the ring of gold contacts so it doesn't shut

down the camera. The auto iris is mechanical so it still works.

I still have an Apo Sigma 80-200/3.8 [constant] which is quite

a sharp lens with a very pleasant overall rendering quality.