Quality Manual Lenses

[nickwees37]

I'm mostly a video shooter with my 60d. I'm on a tight budget so I've been considering old manual lenses, although I'm having a hard time finding reviews for them. Therefore I'm always hesitant to press the buy button, I don't want to end up buying a complete piece of junk.

Are there any manual lenses or brands that you guys enjoy using (for either video or stills)? Any lenses you would stay away from? Thanks for your help!

 

[Rienzphotoz]

I'm mostly a video shooter with my 60d. I'm on a tight budget so I've been considering old manual lenses, although I'm having a hard time finding reviews for them. Therefore I'm always hesitant to press the buy button, I don't want to end up buying a complete piece of junk.

Are there any manual lenses or brands that you guys enjoy using (for either video or stills)? Any lenses you would stay away from? Thanks for your help!

Samyang 14mm f/2.8 manual lens (this is also sold under the brand name "Pro Optic", "Rokinon" & "Bower" but they are all one and the same lens)
Sells for $379

 

[ksagomonyants]

Others will probably be more helpful than I am, but I've heard that old Nikon 105 f2.5 Ai is a very good manual lens. There are plenty of them on ebay for $100-400. Unfortunately, I'm not too familiar with old Canon lenses. Good luck!

 

[Rienzphotoz]

Another good lens is Samyang 24mm f/1.4 (since you say, you are on a budget, I'm not sure if it fits into your scheme of things as this one costs $675)

 

[Artifex]

Samyang products are very high quality product at very reasonable price, so I would definitely recommend those lens, especially for video, if you have the money. You can also find good optics at very low price if you check on the old SMC Pentax-M, Takumar and Super-Takumar lens on ebay. You just need a 5$ adaptor to fit them on your 60d.

 

[tphillips63]

Samyang products are very high quality product at very reasonable price, so I would definitely recommend those lens, especially for video, if you have the money. You can also find good optics at very low price if you check on the old SMC Pentax-M, Takumar and Super-Takumar lens on ebay. You just need a 5$ adaptor to fit them on your 60d.

I second this suggestion. My film camera and lenses are Pentax M lenxes on K mount.

It depends on how wide and fast going with Pentax M lenses though.
50MM f1.4 to f/2 are readily available and somewhat rarer is the 28 f/2.8. I see the 135 f3 or f/3.5 also and some zooms. My Pentax lenses are from the early 80's and work just great to this day.

 

[atvinyard]

Canon cameras have a relatively short sensor to flange distance, so there are tons of old lenses that can be adapted. There is a whole section on FredMiranda.com on alt lenses. There are also flickr groups as well as forums dedicated to manual focus. You should be able to find lots of opinions and sample pictures out there. Contax/Zeiss lenses are popular as well as Leica R. These aren't really budget though (generally speaking). I really like the Olympus OM series lenses. They are tiny, light and have pretty decent quality. A lot of them can be found under $100. The ones with better reputations can be a little more expensive. I've been able to get ahold of a lot of the Olympus OM f/2 lenses for around $200, and they make pretty nice pictures. Also, it's my understanding that with video, since you're recording at a resolution of 1920x1080, sharpness isn't such a big deal. The samyangs are pretty nice too. I have the 35, and it takes great pictures. It's huge though.

 

[samhodde]

You can pick Canon FD lenses very cheaply but they are pretty soft, and the last adapter I tried for them wouldn't lock properly so the lens was pretty loose in the mount.

But another great option is manual Nikons specifically the AI/AIS line. I have a five lens set that I love to use for video work, very sharp and great color.

I've bought a few of the manual Nikon lenses from the B&H Used Dept and keh.com.

This site explains the differences between Non-AI, AI and AIS:
http://rick_oleson.tripod.com/index-153.html

This video is a great overview of using Nikon lenses on Canon cameras:
http://dslrvideoshooter.com/episode-43-nikkor-lens-guide-adapting-nikon-to-canon-and-other-camera-mounts/

 

[EvilTed]

Some people over in Nikon land swear that the Leica R lenses are the best on their Nikon D800E.

http://dearsusans.wordpress.com/2012/12/30/finding-the-perfect-lens-for-the-nikon-d800e-1-leica-summicron-r-352/

I've never tried this, but I have 2x Leica Summiron 50mm F/2 for M mount - one brand new and one from 1957 and they are way sharper than any Canon mount 50 I've tried

Details here:

http://www.pebbleplace.com/Personal/Leica_db.html

ET

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I'm mostly a video shooter with my 60d. I'm on a tight budget so I've been considering old manual lenses, although I'm having a hard time finding reviews for them. Therefore I'm always hesitant to press the buy button, I don't want to end up buying a complete piece of junk.

Are there any manual lenses or brands that you guys enjoy using (for either video or stills)? Any lenses you would stay away from? Thanks for your help!

For video frames that are only 2mp, I'm not that certain that you need a super high resolution lens. There are other lens characteristics that you might want to consider, like viginetting, CA's, and accuracy of the distance scale, or at least repeatability.

The old fully manual lenses were generally fine, don't use a Canon FD, they don't adapt well unless you have a high end one and use a Ed Mikah adapter $$$.

M42 lenses, Nikon Lenses, and Olympus will adapt well. Anything with a flange back distance longer than about 45.5mm works. Since the Canon FL and FD are 42mm, that's a problem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flange_focal_distance

 

[Rienzphotoz]

Also, it's my understanding that with video, since you're recording at a resolution of 1920x1080, sharpness isn't such a big deal. The samyangs are pretty nice too. and it takes great pictures. It's huge though.

+1