Vintage Lens Question

[ryankarr]

Hello All!

I want to try some more serious portrait photography, and want to get some kind of related lens. I know there are 100 range primes that work very well for this, as well as a 70-200 or similar zooms. However, I don't want to pay very much. I'll have a tripod, so VR isn't necessary. Manual focus isn't even necessary!

This lead me to vintage lenses, getting the idea from Ken Rockwell's website: Nikon Cheapskate Lenses

How would I go about finding the lenses Ken mentions? Do you think this is a good alternative to saving the money and buying modern lenses? What other vintage lenses (read: sub 150 price tags) should I look into, in general?

Any advice is appreciated!

Ryan Karr

[OsmosisStudios]

Many of the options Ken lists are actually pretty good (one of the VERY few nuggets of useful information). As for finding them: Kijiji, Used sites, Fred Miranda, eBay, Flickr, etc. Just search.

[inkista]

However, <$150 is still going to be limiting your choices. I'd say don't expect too many choices at that price point to be faster than f/2.8 that aren't 50mm . Also, be very careful NOT to get a pre-AI/non-AI lens. Those can damage Nikon dSLR bodies (the D40 is probably the sole exception to this).

You'll also want to do a little bit of research on lens fungus, so you can recognize it when you see it. The main things you'll want to know are whether the lenses are still in working order (biggest issues are usually oil on the aperture blades, and old grease making rings stiff). Do your research on the lens before you plunk down the cash. On eBay, it's not uncommon that someone lists a lens as "mint" while it's in horrible condition.

I tend to haunt KEH.com, B&H, and Adorama for used equipment. They tend to be more expensive, but they're accurate on their grading, fairly priced, and they have return policies.

[vandergus]

There's a group over on flickr devoted to the use of these lenses on modern DSLR's. A few searches over there will yield tons of information.

As far as good cheap lenses for portraiture go, here are a few places to start.

The Nikkor 105 f2.8 Ai is perhaps the most loved. It's one of those lenses with a certain mythology surrounding it. One of its claims to fame is being the lens Steve McCurry used to make the Afgan Girl portrait for National Geographic.

A similar lens is Nikon's 100mm f2.8 Series E. Doesn't have the allure of the 105mm but is still a wonderful lens in a confoundingly small package. I found mine on ebay for $50 and use it all the time.

The Nikkor 85mm f1.8 Ai is a fine lens but you may have trouble finding it for under $150. The 85mm f2 is usually a little cheaper but has kind of a hit or miss reputation. Some people think it's great while others think the images it gives are flat and lifeless.

On the short end, just about any of the 50mm lenses are great performers and could work nicely as a short portrait lens on a DX camera.

That should at least get you started. Older lenses can indeed get you very fine image quality for very little price as long as your willing to do a little of the leg work yourself (i.e focusing and metering).

P.S.

However, <$150 is still going to be limiting your choices. I'd say don't expect too many choices at that price point to be faster than f/2.8 that aren't 50mm . Also, be very careful NOT to get a pre-AI/non-AI lens. Those can damage Nikon dSLR bodies (the D40 is probably the sole exception to this).

D60, D3000, and D5000 can also use non-Ai lenses.

[ryankarr]

Thankyou for all of the excelent advice. These answers raised another question (although semi-unrelated) in my head.

My widest current lens is the 18-55 kit lens. All the way zoomed in, is this lens less "wide" then a dedicated wide angle lens at the same focal length (shooting on a d5000 if that changes anything). Rockwell lists a prime wide angle, but the focal length is longer than my 18mm.

Thanks!

[vandergus]

I think the answer to your question is, an 18mm prime lens will look the same as your kit lens set at 18mm, but I may have misinterpreted.

But old lenses are not the place to look for wide angle bargains. Mainly because lenses that were designed to be wide angle on 35mm film cameras turn out to be not so wide on modern DX DSLR's. For example, the Nikkor 20mm f4 Ai is a great little affordable wide angle lens. On a film camera (or full frame DSLR like the D700) you get a really wide field of view. But on your D5000 it's much narrower and much less spectacular. In order to get the really wide fields of view on your camera, you'll need at least (most?) 14mm, which is either non-existant or really expensive in the old-lens market. So if you want something wider than your kit lens, you're just going to have to save your pennies and get a modern lens.

[ryankarr]

I ended up getting a 50mm Series E, and it is in great condition. I know it doesn't meter, but when I put it on my body (again, a d5000), I can't get it to stop down! What am I doing wrong?

Thanks!

[vandergus]

Are you shooting in M mode? That is the only mode that it will work in. And unlike AF lenses, you'll be controlling the aperture on the lens itself rather than with the control wheel on the camera body. So...

1. Attach the lens.
2. Turn the mode dial to "M".
3. Set the shutter speed using the command dial.
4. Set the aperture on the lens.
5. Shoot.
6. Check exposure and adjust shutter and/or aperture as necessary.

If it's still not working, then there may be some functional problems with the lens.

[ryankarr]

As I mount the lens, the blades (diaphragm?) opens back up. I was playing with the back of the lens, and it looks like theres a lever that moves up (like on my kit lens) that opens the blades all the way back up. Then when I turn the aperture ring, it doesn't do anything. I think it works, I'm just confused.

[Aegea]

That's the lever that the camera uses to stop the lens down when a shot is taken. The lens stays wide open until you hit the shutter, then the camera stops the lens down to whatever aperture you have set on the aperture ring (and opens it back up again as soon as the shutter has closed).

As far as not metering goes, you can, if you are brave and handy, add a chip to the lens that will allow full metering capabilities. See Russian*Communicator Ongabonga