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Lens you've been impressed by.
In this thread I'd love to hear about -that- lens. You know the one. You picked it up not expecting much out of it and it blew you away. Maybe it was inexpensive, maybe it was a brand you don't like. Tell me about it! Mine is the Nikkor 70-210/F4-5.6 I got this thing for a song as my first Nikon lens and boy has it grown with me. At first I was shooting on a crop body with no AF motor. I did all my focusing by hand and made it work. Back then it was almost like a beater to me. This thing is all metal and glass and since it cost me so little, I gladly brought it with me when I wasn't sure just how safe my or the camera would be. Worst case scenario - I could fend off a would-be pickpocket with this hunk of gear. It probably would work just as well after being used as a cudgel as well. Nowadays on my full frame, with the AF working, this thing constantly surprises me with the detail it picks up. I have grown as a photographer and I feel like it has grown with me. Feb 13 17 09:36 pm Link Nikon 85mm 1.8 because I was used with a kit lens 18-55mm 3.5-5.6. After that no lens has made a tremendous impression on me but only viewfinders and format sizes. Feb 14 17 12:04 am Link this will be of no use to anyone here.. but on my 5x7 camera.. my 240 and 300 Heliars are just otherworldly shooting sheet film with models used to the automatic machinegun fire of digital photography is difficult enough (look..hold still Really Means HOLD.....STILL... ) and those two lenses.. well.. for some reason nearly always produce stellar renderings... Feb 14 17 09:07 am Link Leitz Summicron line, especially the current 50mm apo aspheric, basically the lens which against all others are judged. some favor the 35mm, but i also love the 90mm. http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2010/02/0 … ns-review/ http://www.kenrockwell.com/leica/50mm-s … -table.htm http://blog.leica-camera.com/2012/03/08 … verything/ http://www.overgaard.dk/leica_M4_50mm_s … -M_20.html http://joerivanderkloet.com/leica-50-summicron-review/ http://www.photozone.de/leicam/678-summicron50 the rest is left with the Nikon 55mm f2.8 macro, Nikon 105mm f2.5 and the Canon 135mm f2 Feb 14 17 09:18 am Link The Canon 35mm 2.0 IS, great look to the images! Feb 14 17 09:23 am Link i got a used canon 17-40f4. the zoom ring had a bit of sand stuck in it. but it has become my go-to lens for shooting groups and interiors. i can shoot an indoor wedding reception (except for some detail shots like the rings) with one. in terms of picture quality i've been impressed by my 70-200f4IS. i like the images from this one much better than from my 70-200f2.8 (which i sold). Feb 14 17 10:25 am Link Nikon 100mm f2.8 series E, it's such an underrated little gem! Just don't tell anyone! Feb 14 17 12:47 pm Link The Canon EF-S 55-250mm is a great lens for the money. It was my first upgrade from the kit lens and it worked brilliantly. Feb 14 17 01:03 pm Link I wouldn't say I picked it up expecting very little... Canon 135mm F2L Cheers, Noah Feb 14 17 11:31 pm Link Oh, And a fujinon 55mm 1.8 I was given with an old fujica st705. With a $9 adapter it's a fantastic EF mount video lens. Cheers, Noah Feb 14 17 11:37 pm Link 40+ years ago my buddy ran a Camera Store (remember those?) and in the back I found a box with a lot of stuff including a 25mm Lentar lens with a Minolta mount. I asked how much and he said $10 so I took it. Sharpest lens I ever had. My brother took it on Vacation and took photos from the Eiffel Tower that just amazed everybody. Feb 15 17 10:36 am Link Hands down, the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 It's certainly not my most used lens but it is by FAR my most favorite lens. Feb 15 17 12:17 pm Link The canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II never fails to impress me. I find a way to use it in nearly every shoot I do  Feb 15 17 03:40 pm Link The Nikon 50 mm f1.8 Full Frame. Cost about $150 new and I do maybe 90% of my shooting with it. Feb 15 17 07:06 pm Link Noah Russell wrote: Those are fantastic, Feb 15 17 07:27 pm Link lightyear wrote: agree...stellar lens...but the kit lens 28-135 for a fraction of the price is amazing if you get a good version Feb 15 17 08:28 pm Link I'd want to say the Nikon 35mm f/1.8G DX, except that I did expect a lot out of it. I made a point of getting it right away when I bought my D90. So I'll say the Nikon 24-120mm f/4G. I was getting an "I can do better than this" itch from my 18-105mm kit lens, and so I rented various lenses in a search for an upgrade. I started with the 24-70mm f/2.8 because of its reputation, and found myself underwhelmed. But when I rented and tried out the 24-120mm f/4, I got a strong "I like this lens!" vibe. So now I have my own copy. Feb 16 17 08:42 am Link Absolutely love my Canon 85mm f1.8 I aways have it with me. Feb 16 17 11:34 pm Link canon 85mm 1.2 nikkor 50mm 1.2 pentax smc 50mm 1.4 (m42) those are my picks for 35mm. hands down (to me) the best in that format. medium format: pentax smc 105mm 2.4 mamiya 80mm c 2.8 zeiss planar t* 80mm 2.8 large format: too many to mention Feb 17 17 12:33 am Link Nikkor SW 210mm f/5.6, sharpest lens I have ever used. Feb 17 17 01:10 am Link Leica Elmarit-R APO 100/2.8 Macro - razor sharp and amazing colour rendition Voigtlander APO Lanthar 125/2.8 Macro - got it in EF mount for absolute bargain price. It's a legendary glass! Rokkor 58/1.2 - sofish WO, but at around 1.7 delivers beautiful results. Amazing bokeh at all apertures. CY Zeiss 35-70/3.4 Vario Sonnar - personal work horse. though softish WO at far end and pain to use with polarizers. CY Zeiss 28/2.8 - probably only 28mm favourite. Nikkor Ai-s 105/2.5 - on par with 100mm Leica. Unbeatable colour and contrast on older Canon 5um sensors. Mamiya C80/1.9N - None of my other lenses beat it at f8 and infinity focus. So much so in fact that on occasion it seem to trash Zeiss in microcontrast. Gutted that my copy got clouded rear element. Will have to go pick up a new one. CY Zeiss 100-300/4.5-5.6 - unreal quality telezoom and parafocal (yes it is) as well! Somewhat disappointed in Zeiss 21/2.8 Distagon - flare is not as well controlled as I would expect. Feb 17 17 07:31 am Link The Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8 AI-s http://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-produc … 2f2.8.html Mine was manufactured in 1985 and I've had it for 32 years. It's the sharpest lens I have ever used. Up to and including new glass. Feb 17 17 11:16 am Link Carl Zeiss 180mm 4.0, one of the designers top accomplishmentd, and makes everyone look far better than they are. Feb 23 17 06:54 pm Link  jus' becuzz Feb 23 17 07:19 pm Link My Nikon 80-200 2.8D, is the best of 18 Nikon lenses I have. I love it so much, it's at Nikon right now being rebuilt, and I pray it comes back just as good! Feb 23 17 07:46 pm Link Manual focus era: Before digital, the sharpest (non-large format) lens I owned was a 28mm f/3.5 Nikkor (the original version) that I bought in the 1960s. That wasn't even supposed to be a super-sharp lens, but the specimen I bought was. Next was the 1960s version of the 135mm f/4.5 Mamiya-Sekor for Mamiyaflex C series cameras. Again, it wasn't supposed to be particularly sharp (and some of those used by other photographers I knew weren't). Autofocus era: Although the designs are well over a decade old, the 105mm and 135mm f/2 Nikon AF DC lenses are incredibly sharp, even wide open, and even by current standards. My 35-70mm f.2.8 AF Nikkor is MUCH sharper than my 4-year old 70-200mm f/2.8 G II ED VR lens. My Nikkor 70-180mm F/4.5-5.6 D Micro ED is the sharpest zoom lens I have ever used. Feb 28 17 08:08 pm Link Minolta 50 f 1.7. Always tack sharp. Mar 01 17 12:02 pm Link As stated earlier, the 70-200 Canon 2.8L, love that big gray thing, and my other favorite all-around lens is the 24-70 2.8L - there are apparently good ones and bad ones, but I must've gotten a good example because it does quite well. The 17-40 4.0L is a downright bargain on the used market right now and it's a great lens for outdoor use, especially when stepped up to F8 or thereabouts. Bang-for-buck, as others have also said, the basic 28-135 3.5 IS Canon lens is a fantastic walk-around lens and probably gets more use than any others I have, and the little 50mm 1.8 (preferably with the old metal mount) is still a favorite, along with the 28mm - love both of those and they see a lot of use too. Don't have the 50mm L lens yet - gotta' wait until the wife's in a better mood before I swing for that fence. Mar 01 17 12:06 pm Link The NIKKOR that surprised me is the 70-200 f4 VR. Light and sharp at f11 or 16 unlike my old 80-200 f2.8 ED which I unloaded. The NIKKOR 70-200 is a fantastic lens. Mar 03 17 01:59 pm Link The Canon 70-200 2.8 IS L II is maybe the best zoom lens i've ever used. Also the Canon 85 1.8 is an excellent excellent lens. solid build, faster focusing than its 1.2 brother, and at its price point its an all around impressive lens. On the Nikon side, the 85 1.8D is potentially the sharpest lens i have ever used in studio. It was almost too sharp! Mar 04 17 03:34 pm Link When I bought my Olympus E-M5 I also picked up the 45mm 1.8 because they had everything on sale that day. When I got it home and took it out of the box I thought. " what a piece of shit" I was not used to lenses like that. I had owned all weather sealed lenses and did not think much of this one. But when I seen the images from it I was blown away. Such an amazing little lens for so little money. Mar 05 17 12:02 pm Link Canon 50mm f/1.4. The reds really pop on it when I'm shooting with models. It also brings out more depth with amber, yellow, red, blue and greens when I'm doing night time landscape Photography. Mar 15 17 02:00 am Link Nikon 85 1.8 and their 24-120 f/4 VR II. I have the 85 1.4 and love it, find the 1.8 not so far off and surprisingly cheaper. I guess this is where I started to realise "good enough" is often all you need. The 24-120 is just a great all-rounder, holds focus at 1/10th, gives you near-macro focusing distance. A surprisingly great beauty lens. It's the logical progression for me from my 35-70 2.8 - not as much as the 24-70, longer reach, nice contrast, sharp enough. Mar 15 17 04:45 pm Link I was using a Nikon D800e, and I'd tried the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G, and been highly unimpressed. After good reports of the Sigma Art 35mm I thought I'd give the Sigma Art 50mm a try - it wasn't too expensive, and I was looking for a functional 50mm. I was delighted - the 50mm Art proved to be a superb lens. I used the Art 50mm with the D800e, then the D810. When I decided to return to Canon with a 5Ds, the first lens I bought was a Canon mount 50mm Art. I've never regretted that choice. Mar 17 17 02:44 pm Link Canon 50mm f.1.0 Mar 18 17 08:14 am Link Pentax takumar 50mm f1.4. I absolutely love it on my little mirroless fuji X-M1. Mar 18 17 11:09 am Link I second this vote. It's magic Marty McBride wrote: Mar 19 17 02:15 pm Link My favorite is a 1970s? vintage Nikkor 105/2.5. It's renders skin nicely sharp but not clinical. Give portraits or figure shots a creamy look but not diffused I just love the overall look this lens gives. Manual focus, but it couples with all exposure modes on my Nikon's. Mar 19 17 02:18 pm Link The 105mm f/2.5 Nikkor is legendary. It was first made for Leica screw-mount cameras (pre-M series). Alfred Eisenstaedt of LIFE magazine bought several screw-mount Nikkors in Hong Kong, before Nikon ever made its first camera, back when Nippon Kogaku made mainly microscopes and lenses, and brought them back to the US. The Nikkors were faster than the Leica lenses, and they were just as sharp and, in some cases, sharper. They became very popular in the US, after Eisenstaedt started talking and writing about them. The exact same optical design was used in the 105mm f/2.5 Nikkor-P for Nikon rangefinder cameras, beginning in 1953, and in every 105mm f/2.5 manual focus lens for SLR camera, up to and in including the AI-s model, through 2005. Although the mount and barrel changed along the way, and coatings were added and updated, according to a friend (who was Nikon’s Midwest US rep until he retired a few years ago), the same optics were used in the first 105mm f/2.5 were carried over to all of Nikon’s 105mm f/2.5 lenses, until the f/2.5 AI-s lens was discontinued in 2005. The screw-mount lens was also the first Nikkor lens to use 52mm filters and accessories. Mar 19 17 05:40 pm Link My choice for the type of photography I shoot would be Sigma 18 to 35 ( art ) series lens. Its had it's detractors claiming this series is a marketing ploy since there is no such thing as an art lens, however to this day I consider this my safety lens filling the gaps where my other lenses fall short. Apr 30 17 07:41 am Link |
