New digital photos with old glass

[Dennis Gallus]

Classic Nikkor-S 50mm/1.4

If you’ve been reading Graham Serretta’s thread, “Old Glass Still Shines”, or my thread “Manual Focus Macro Lens on DSLR”, you’ve seen that several of us want to get our old lenses out, acquire whatever adapters may be necessary, and take some pictures using more modern digital cameras.  I’m volunteering to start right now with one of the most famous Nikon lenses of the 1960’s, the Nikkor-S 50mm/1.4


Here is my sample on a Nikon F3 in my front yard.  My lens has been AI’d, so it mounts to my Nikon D200 without a problem.  Please consult your camera’s instruction manual to see if old lenses will adapt.   For example, non-AI lenses do not have a channel cut around their base, so they could crush the little coupling blade on the lens mount of a Nikon DSLR.


Sharp?  I think so.  All of these images except the last were taken at f/8 and ISO 200.  I have not adjusted sharpness, brightness or contrast on any of them.


Parsley, a Jack Russell Terrorist


Backlit performance:  That’s Piper, whose back is lit.  She’s a terrorist too.


Performance at f/1.4:  If you got the big aperture, might as well use it.

Please add your old glass/new digital photos to this thread.  You folks with the 4/3 cameras make me jealous, being able to add almost any kind of lens.  I’m looking forward to seeing what you can produce.

Thanks for viewing and contributing,
Dennis

[br1078lum]

I'd love to be able to put my PC Nikkor on my Panasonic TZ-3, Dennis.  Guess I need to get me a serious digital camera someday.

I like the look on Parsley's mug.  "This is MY rock, get away!"

PF

[brazile]

Great idea for a topic: here's some of mine, a mixture of Russian and German glass, all M42.

Sigma SD14 + Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon MC 35/2.4


Before the pie by rbrazile, on Flickr


Untitled by rbrazile, on Flickr


Pre-bread I by rbrazile, on Flickr


SDIM3107 by rbrazile, on Flickr

Sigma SD14 + Pentax Super-Macro-Takumar 50/4


SDIM6150-rd by rbrazile, on Flickr

Sigma SD14 + Pentax Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 28/3.5


New kitchen side-table by rbrazile, on Flickr

Sigma SD14 + Pentax Super-Takumar 50/1.4


Young Master Kevin by rbrazile, on Flickr


SDIM2829 by rbrazile, on Flickr

Sigma SD14 + Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 135/3.5


Girl with earrings by rbrazile, on Flickr

Sigma SD14 + Jupiter-9 85/2


SDIM4571 by rbrazile, on Flickr

Sigma SD14 + Helios 44-M-4 58/2

SDIM4717 by rbrazile, on Flickr

Sigma SD14 + Mir-1Ш 37mm/f2.8


SDIM4779 by rbrazile, on Flickr

Sigma SD15 + Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50/2.8


SDIM0359 by rbrazile, on Flickr

[jamesmck]

Dennis - Thanks for starting this thread.  Here are a few shots from a while back done with a Panasonic Lumix G1.  The large one is with an Olympus Zuiko 135mm (= 270mm with the G1).  The first thumbnail is with the same lens, and the second thumbnail is with a Kiron 85-200mm in Pentax K mount.  My shots with the Kiron generally weren't as sharp as with the Zuiko, but the Kiron is a very bulky lens.  I used a tripod but no cable release, so I suspect there was some slight camera movement.  I am going to try some shooting with LTM glass (Summitar and FSU) and will post these later.



 

[Graham Serretta]

Great thread, Dennis.  I just hope no-one is on dial-up.....


CZJ Flektogon 35mm f2.5 on a Pentax K10D

[Dennis Gallus]

Robert, James, Graham,

Thanks for coming in so fast and getting this thread off to a good start.  Robert, your tour of your lens collection is simply dazzling.  Every shot is a keeper.  I particularly admire the portraits of the women, and the young boy. 

I have lots more old glass, and hope to submit a post using several more lenses.  Everyone, please keep the images coming.

A final realization:  Usually, I get gear envy for the newest equipment.  With this thread, I find myself coveting some really mature stuff.  Oh, to have that CZJ Flektogon!

Dennis

[moose1010]

55mm Micro Nikkor f/3.5 on a Canon XT:

[brazile]

Oops, Graham, yes, I probably got carried away there. Sorry about that.

Dennis: Thanks for your comments. My favorite of them all is the one you identified: the CZJ Flektogon 35/2.4. Can't even tell you what specifically I like about its image quality, but it just seems to generate a high percentage of keepers when I use it.

I also quite like the other Flektogon I picked up a few years ago, a CZJ Flektogon 20/4, but it doesn't do as well on my digital cameras; a tendency toward vignetting and color shifts that I think stem from a mismatch between its design and the angle of incidence required by digital sensors (or, at least, the Foveon sensors in my DSLRs).

Fortunately I picked up these lenses just before the mirrorless cameras were released and the hungry hordes began driving up the prices of these old beauties.

On the other hand, accumulating the pile of M42 glass caused me to pick up a Spotmatic cheap ($15, like new! Amazing what people do and don't value) so I can try it out on a camera designed for it. Have to get out and shoot a roll in it soon.

Robert

[Kalkadan]

Some delicious stuff above!
Here are some of mine from the D200 and a loaner M9 I had for a while -

D200 &  (1975 lens) nikkor 28mm f3.5 Ais @ f3.5 - 1/50s - ISO 800


M9 & (1951 lens) Elmar 90mm f4.0 @ f8 - 1/350s


Battle Hymn of the Republic
D200 & nikkor 28mm f3.5 Ais @ f4.0 - 1/60s - ISO 1250


D200 & (probably 1970s) micro-nikkor 55mm f3.5 Ais @ f11 - 1/30s - ISO 1250


M9 & (1959 lens) Summaron Ltm 35mm f2.8 @ f11 - 1/500

[Graham Serretta]

Robert's comments on the CZJ 35mm f2.5 Flektogon mirror my thoughts precisely!  There's just something about that lens that is out of the ordinary.  here's another favorite CZJ of mine - the venerable 50mm f2.8 Tessar.  This is taken with a Canon 7D, jpeg small basic.

[br1078lum]

This thread just keeps getting better.  I may have to sell some gear to get me a DSLR.

PF

[Mike Kovacs]

Posted elsewhere but fits here too: D300S w/ AI 80-200/4.5

[jamesmck]

I took a Panasonic Lumix G1 micro 4/3 (m4/3) camera fitted with an LTM adapter, and three Leica thread mount (LTM) lenses down to the U.S. National Mall in Washington, DC today.  The lenses were an Industar-61 L/D 2.8/53mm, a Jupiter-8 2.0/50mm, and a Leica Summitar 2.0/50mm.  Keep in mind that on a m4/3 body, the effective focal length is doubled.  So, we are dealing with about 100mm here.  I wanted some bright color, so I chose some of the creatures residing in the carousel (along with a couple of shots with the Summitar from the nearby sculpture garden).  My bottom line from the carousel shots is that the three lenses were about equal (with maybe a very slight edge to the Summitar).  I should mention that a 100mm focal length was not optimum for my subjects, but I did the best I could.  For those that may envy the ability of the m4/3 to mount virtully any lens, I should point out that manual focusing is a great deal more involved than it is, for example, with a Nikon or Pentax dSLR using legacy manual focus lenses of the same brand.  The dSLRs have better focusing screens, focus confirmation aids, etc.  Nonetheless, it is fun to have a camera that'll mount almost anything (with an adapter, of course).

The large photo below is with the Summitar, and the thumbnails are arranged by lenses used.  Thanks for looking.

James



Industar-61 L/D 2.8/53mm

 

Jupiter-8 2.0/50mm

 

Summitar 2.0/50mm

   

[wlewisiii]

Nice.

Right now my Nikkor 24/2.8 lives on my E-PL1 unless I need the kit zoom. I really should get a LTM adaptor and use my Summitar as well. It's too nice a lens to be gathering dust. 

[Raid Amin]

Nice.

Right now my Nikkor 24/2.8 lives on my E-PL1 unless I need the kit zoom. I really should get a LTM adaptor and use my Summitar as well. It's too nice a lens to be gathering dust. 

I just bought an EPL1,  William. Do you like the camera? I have a LTM adapter for tne EP2.