Old Lenses Never Die...Still Capture Sunlight...
- Thread starter Locheeboy
- Start date
narabdela
who?
Gromit
Plasticine Dog
+1
Got mine about 10 years ago, paid an extortionate 8 quid for it...including postage.
PaulMB
pfm Member
I had one on a Fed 4 or Fed 3, around 1964. I've still got the 85mm Jupiter version, with the Leica 39mm screw mount, knocking around somewhere.
Nothing wrong with old lenses, and these were considered not excellent in their day. If you look at photos taken with a Tessar or Planar in the '50s and '60s.......
Nothing wrong with old lenses, and these were considered not excellent in their day. If you look at photos taken with a Tessar or Planar in the '50s and '60s.......
Locheeboy
pfm Member
This camera/lens cost me around £28 , 35-40 years ago. It's the copy of the Helios's silver copy, of the original Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar, which I have. The black version is Russian made from the schematics/documents taken from CZJ'S factories in Germany after WW2. The original (silver) Helios was made with 13 shutter blades and some were made with original parts from Germany. My silver Helios has 13 blades and probably some German parts. The number of shutter blades shows that they are genuine Ah have another 4 Helios lenses, 2 (x2)-3-4 , these have 9 shutter blades . These were cheap, all around £20-30 (at the time) very well built...but heavy , as are the cameras. The silver Helios was NOT cheap being a much higher quality. All Russian lenses are well-made but have a reputation ( like the Chinese) for low quality...unfounded 'til at least Glasnost.
This is the silver-bodied Helios...
Hazelberry
sister
I'd like to see classic lens designs like the above reintroduced. I have more respect for older, simpler lenses (e.g. even standard early EF) than some modern ones I've used (e.g later EF & EF-S). I find modern zooms especially frustrating. Oh the sharpness & contrast & stuff is right there, yet they're compromised by a certain sterility, slow apertures, & often sample variation (decentering - which I detest - is common). The fastest are huge, heavy, & expensive. I find bokeh tending towards the weird. Whether all this is a result of complex aspherical designs &/or image stabilization, I don't know. To me it's like audio gear: the more euphonic & slightly blurred yet more musically coherent vs more precisely-spec'd gear that is ultimately tiring to listen to.
boon
pfm Member
Same as, and about the same time frame as well!
Are you aware of ‘The light lens lab’ a Chinese venture recreating classic lenses:
Light Lens Lab
Base in China, Light Lens Lab is an optical company founded by Mr. Zhou, with a group of enthusiast specializing in vintage lens.
lightlenslab.myshopify.com
From what I’ve read in reviews they seem pretty damn good!
Hazelberry
sister
No, I wasn't aware of these. Nice!Are you aware of ‘The light lens lab’ a Chinese venture recreating classic lenses:
Light Lens Lab
Base in China, Light Lens Lab is an optical company founded by Mr. Zhou, with a group of enthusiast specializing in vintage lens.lightlenslab.myshopify.com
From what I’ve read in reviews they seem pretty damn good!
Gromit
Plasticine Dog
There are so many lenses to choose from, and with mirrorless (and the cameras' short flange distance c/w DSLR) the availability of adapters means there's much to explore.
K&F and Fotodiox tend to be pretty good quality-wise and are keenly priced too. It's also possible to use M42 screw mount glass on Canon EF mount. Taken with my old Canon 5D with the Helios 44M...
Helios pop by Boxertrixter, on Flickr