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Vintage Lenses


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Hello guys,

 

I bought three vintage lenses from an old photography shop.

 

IQBogJU.jpg

 

The lenses are :

- Pentax 50mm 1.4

- Canon FD 28mm 2.8

- Olympus OM Zuiko 35mm 2.8

 

Each one for the equivalent of 25USD.

 

What are your thoughts and experiences with them?

 

Also, I'm planning on buying a Panasonic GH4, so, excuse me for being a newbie, should I buy some metabones only? I mean no need for adapters, I find the right speed booster for each type of lens? As I want to have the full frame.

 

And, about the mount, correct me if I'm wrong, Canon is FD, Olympus is OM and Pentax is PK, right?

 

I love vintage lenses for the image they give, I don't care about auto focus.

Edited by Jihed Ben Hammadi
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You don't need a speed booster, just an adapter to mount the lens on your camera if it's possible to do so. Fotodiox makes good adapters that are much less expensive than a speedbooster..

 

The GH4 has a crop factor of 2.3x, so your 35mm equivalent focal lengths are 50mm x 2.4 = 120mm, 28x2.4= 67mm, 35x2.4=84mm. A speed booster can reduce the focal length somewhat but nowhere near the full frame equivalent marked on the lens. If you want wide angle you will need to buy the wide angle lens for your GH4.

Edited by Bob Speziale
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You don't need a speed booster, just an adapter to mount the lens on your camera if it's possible to do so. Fotodiox makes good adapters that are much less expensive than a speedbooster..

 

The GH4 has a crop factor of 2.3x, so your 35mm equivalent focal lengths are 50mm x 2.4 = 120mm, 28x2.4= 67mm, 35x2.4=84mm. A speed booster can reduce the focal length somewhat but nowhere near the full frame equivalent marked on the lens. If you want wide angle you will need to buy the wide angle lens for your GH4.

 

Thanks for your input, I have an other option that I might go for, I'll maybe buy Nikon D5300 instead of the GH4 due to unavailability where I live. What's the mount of the D5600, what are the adapters I should buy to use use these lenses with it?

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Thanks for your input, I have an other option that I might go for, I'll maybe buy Nikon D5300 instead of the GH4 due to unavailability where I live. What's the mount of the D5600, what are the adapters I should buy to use use these lenses with it?

 

The D5600 has a Nikon F mount, which is one of the longest flange depth mounts out there. The flange depth is the distance from the mount to the sensor/film plane. Adapters are needed for cameras not only for allowing the lens to attach but also the put the lens the proper distance away from the sensor. If the lens is not the right distance then your focus marks will be way off and the lens may not focus to infinity or reach the min focus distance marked on the lens.

 

I am not sure what mount all of those lenses have but the Canon FD and maybe the others if they are not Nikon mount will most likely have a flange focal distance that is much less than the F mount on the D5600 and will not focus to infinity. Not all lenses can be adapted to any camera system.

 

The GH4 has a very short flange focal distance and can be adapted to many more lenses than a Nikon as a result but as noted above there is no speedbooster in existance that can give you full frame from a M43 camera.

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The D5600 has a Nikon F mount, which is one of the longest flange depth mounts out there. The flange depth is the distance from the mount to the sensor/film plane. Adapters are needed for cameras not only for allowing the lens to attach but also the put the lens the proper distance away from the sensor. If the lens is not the right distance then your focus marks will be way off and the lens may not focus to infinity or reach the min focus distance marked on the lens.

 

I am not sure what mount all of those lenses have but the Canon FD and maybe the others if they are not Nikon mount will most likely have a flange focal distance that is much less than the F mount on the D5600 and will not focus to infinity. Not all lenses can be adapted to any camera system.

 

The GH4 has a very short flange focal distance and can be adapted to many more lenses than a Nikon as a result but as noted above there is no speedbooster in existance that can give you full frame from a M43 camera.

Ahaaaah, fair enough. Thank you!

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For a Pentax K lens to Nikon body...

 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/995090-REG/fotodiox_pk_nk_g_pro_nikon_f_mount_lens.html/?ap=y&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5J3Mx9j83gIVY__jBx2gmQI0EAQYASABEgLg3fD_BwE&smp=Y

 

For a Canon FD or FL lens (from a Canon film SLR) to a Nikon body ... verify this is the type of Canon lens you have ...

 

https://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Lens-Mount-Adapter-Built/dp/B003EB0H5U

 

For an Olympus OM lens to Nikon body...

 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/995089-REG/fotodiox_om_nk_g_pro_nikon_f_mount_lens.html/?ap=y&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8-uY5Nr83gIVYZJbCh3jOgwNEAQYAiABEgIxtPD_BwE&lsft=BI%3A514&smp=Y

 

Thanks for your input, I have an other option that I might go for, I'll maybe buy Nikon D5300 instead of the GH4 due to unavailability where I live. What's the mount of the D5600, what are the adapters I should buy to use use these lenses with it?

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Canon's line of FD lenses are good for that vintage look while retaining sharpness. They can also be modified with focus rings and cine rings. A good set would be a 28mm, 50mm, and 85mm. You can mount a Lens Turbo to the GH4 and then swap out the three lenses as if the camera is an FD mount camera.

 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1218399-REG/mitakon_zhongyi_mtkltm2fdm43_canon_fd_lens_to.html

 

I'd recommend getting lenses from the same brand (all Canon or all Pentax, etc.) because the appearance of your shots will vary by lens brand. Canon has a different coating on their glass than Pentax.

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I would like to add to this that while these will work they are optical adapters like teleconverters and could degrade image quality of the lenses.

 

I would recommend as others have stated as well to decide what lens mount you want to go with either by choosing lenses first, choosing a camera body first or both (Mirrorless Sony's for example can be full frame and adapated to a wide range of lens mounts). I wouldn't recommend having mixed lenses from lots of different mounts and trying to adapt them all individually.

Edited by David Hessel
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I would like to add to this that while these will work they are optical adapters like teleconverters and could degrade image quality of the lenses.

 

I would recommend as others have stated as well to decide what lens mount you want to go with either by choosing lenses first, choosing a camera body first or both (Mirrorless Sony's for example can be full frame and adapated to a wide range of lens mounts). I wouldn't recommend having mixed lenses from lots of different mounts and trying to adapt them all individually.

 

I've found that optical adapters with built-in ND filter rings heavily reduce the image quality of the shot. The bloom is unbelievable.

 

But, I have a Lens Turbo and a straight glass-free adapter. The image quality of the Canon 50mm FD lens converted through the Lens Turbo is very good, suitable for 4K work, and is indistinguishable in sharpness at around f/2.8 compared to the adapter without the glass. I agree that most of the time adapters with glass reduce the quality of the shot, but I think with the case of the Lens Turbo, the compression of the light onto a smaller sensor compensates for a decrease in sharpness as a result of a second layer of glass. I could be wrong here. Just my thoughts from using the 50mm on both types of adapters.

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Canon's line of FD lenses are good for that vintage look while retaining sharpness. They can also be modified with focus rings and cine rings. A good set would be a 28mm, 50mm, and 85mm. You can mount a Lens Turbo to the GH4 and then swap out the three lenses as if the camera is an FD mount camera.

 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1218399-REG/mitakon_zhongyi_mtkltm2fdm43_canon_fd_lens_to.html

 

I'd recommend getting lenses from the same brand (all Canon or all Pentax, etc.) because the appearance of your shots will vary by lens brand. Canon has a different coating on their glass than Pentax.

 

 

 

I would like to add to this that while these will work they are optical adapters like teleconverters and could degrade image quality of the lenses.

 

I would recommend as others have stated as well to decide what lens mount you want to go with either by choosing lenses first, choosing a camera body first or both (Mirrorless Sony's for example can be full frame and adapated to a wide range of lens mounts). I wouldn't recommend having mixed lenses from lots of different mounts and trying to adapt them all individually.

 

Thanks guys, well, I'll be experimenting and trying all of them, they're cheap so no worries. The shop I bought from has also Canon FD 50mm 1.8, but I already have the Pentax and another Olympus Zuiko for the 50mm, maybe I'll buy it in future.

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