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Share your photos with legacy lenses

Trying the Nikon 50mm f/1.5 Pre-Ai with the Lumix S5ii:

P1032254-2.jpg
  • Panasonic - DC-S5M2
  • 50.0 mm
  • 1/5000 sec
  • Pattern
  • Auto exposure
  • ISO 100



P1032258-2.jpg
  • Panasonic - DC-S5M2
  • 50.0 mm
  • 1/3200 sec
  • Pattern
  • Auto exposure
  • ISO 100


P1032261-2.jpg
  • Panasonic - DC-S5M2
  • 50.0 mm
  • 1/2500 sec
  • Pattern
  • Auto exposure
  • ISO 100
 
I made an online purchase of a kit that included a Pentax ES II (apparently working except the light meter), a 55mm f/1.8 SMC Takumar, a 24mm f/3.5 Takumar (not known if Super or Super-Multi-Coated) and a 100mm f/2.8 Takumar, plus cases and an original hood for the 24mm. I knew the last of those lenses doesn't exist and looking at the bad pictures I thought it would be a 135/3.5. All I really wanted was the 24mm plus hood and calculated that if the rest was in a good state I could sell it off and the 24mm would be around €70 at the end of the day.

The package arrived today and I've finished checking it out. The 24mm is Super-Multi-Coated and in good condition except for slow aperture blades, not too much of a problem as it doesn't matter on digital and on an M42 film camera I can use it in manual mode instead of auto. The 55mm is fine. The camera is mostly OK but sometimes the mirror sticks up and doesn't come back until I've fired the shutter a few times, I may be able to fix that. And what I expected to be a 135mm f/3.5 is actually a 120mm f/2.8! That's a lens I've had my eye out for for some time, so I was very happy to see it. A closer look shows it has a ring of balsam separation all the way around one of the lens groups, which is a shame but it doesn't seem to affect image quality that I can tell.

So overall I think that worked out quite well, although I'm going to have to gather up some other stuff to sell off if I'm to keep the 24 and the 120.

A few shots with the 24mm wide open where it's certainly not super sharp

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Autumn in park morning light by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

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Start of autumn by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

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Park morning by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

And a few with the 120mm, all wide open except for the butterfly which was taken at f/4 and is cropped to 25% of the original image

54811177628_9474c7b5f5_c.jpg
Light blue butterfly by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

54811178823_3f8ffee4f5_c.jpg
Pod by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

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Small flowers by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

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Rose and stick-y bokeh by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

All of these were taken in the local park, I haven't had a chance to go any further afield yet.
 
Thank you for your very interesting and well-written article. I have been looking into buying a mirrorless camera and one of my main goals is to use old manual lenses (given I prefer to manually focus my modern automatic lenses anyway).

I particularly am glad to know focus peaking works with the old manual lenses because it is my preferred focus method.

Your images are wonderful — as a B&W guy I particularly like “Smoke in the Crystal Palace.” Is the atmospheric aspect of that image due to the site and light that day, or due to the Tamron lens?

Thanks so much for sharing!
 
CaliforniTexican said:
Thank you for your very interesting and well-written article. I have been looking into buying a mirrorless camera and one of my main goals is to use old manual lenses (given I prefer to manually focus my modern automatic lenses anyway).

I particularly am glad to know focus peaking works with the old manual lenses because it is my preferred focus method.

Your images are wonderful — as a B&W guy I particularly like “Smoke in the Crystal Palace.” Is the atmospheric aspect of that image due to the site and light that day, or due to the Tamron lens?

Thanks so much for sharing!
Click to expand...

You're welcome and thank-you. I enjoy using old manual lenses and that enjoyment has increased since I moved to full-frame mirrorless as it's easier to focus precisely get great results. FF mirrorless is the best way to enjoy vintage lenses.

"Smoke in the crystal palace" is one of my favourite photos I've ever taken and probably could have been done without a huge difference using any ultra-wide-angle lens, but the Vivitar/Tokina 17mm f/3.5 was all I had at the time, having owned it for use on film for a few years. Nowadays I could also use the Lumix 16-35mm f/4 and it would likely be a bit sharper and with more contrast but I doubt that would have added anything positive to the image; I like it just the way it is. Interestingly, earlier this year I saw a very, very similar image on Facebook, taken by a Portuguese photographer a few months after my photo was taken. There was a piece about his masterful use of light and shadow, blah blah blah, and I was very tempted to add a comment that it's just a copy of my photo taken a few months earlier, but I resisted.
 
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