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1939...
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ItsReallyDarren
That's really me
I do the same thing when using older lenses. In my case every lens I have except the new Voigtlanders are older than me. To think what images have passed through the lens, all the people who have used it and where are those pictures now.
M
merciful
Guest
It's about the same for me, too: I'm not sure about the Canon 50/1.8, but I think it's within a couple of years of me, anyway; the Leitz 90/34 predates me by 33 years.
charjohncarter
Veteran
I also think that, but I also think of all the images I've shot though my 50mm Elmar in the last 46 years.
john neal
fallor ergo sum
My Elmar 50mm is 1933, and predates (even me) by almost 20 years - it's only had 3 owners from new and I would love to know what it has seen.
On the other hand, I have a 1943 CZ Sonnar that was issued to the Wermacht, and I don't even want to think about what that saw in its early days.....
On the other hand, I have a 1943 CZ Sonnar that was issued to the Wermacht, and I don't even want to think about what that saw in its early days.....
charjohncarter
Veteran
Some old lenses have seen some interesting things:
From my Dad's collection:
From my Dad's collection:
payasam
a.k.a. Mukul Dube
May I borrow your dad's lens, please?
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
I have Zeiss 16.5cm Jena LF lens that dates back to 1913 from memory ... all I have to do is enlarge the hole in the lens board that I got from Heavystar a while ago and it's right to go on the Crown Graphic.
It truly is a thing of beauty and I can only imagine some of what it has seen!
It truly is a thing of beauty and I can only imagine some of what it has seen!
charjohncarter
Veteran
Pablito
coco frío
Lenses can't see, an earthworm has better vision.
charjohncarter
Veteran
But maybe they are like a mirror and capture a man's soul. To almost quote someone.
Pablito
coco frío
well, a boy scout could use one to start a fire.
jamato8
Corroding tank M9 35 ASPH
While we know the sentiment here, that is a good one. An earthworm. . . I will try one on my Leica tomorrow. :^)
chris7521
Well-known
It is beautiful. I'd say for a dreamer as myself it would be, and is easy to think of where it's been and what light has passed through. It's a nice thought for sure. It's pretty easy to at the very least to appreciate the workmanship of these old lenses and the fact they can still produce nice images in a very appealing way.
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payasam
a.k.a. Mukul Dube
The attraction that old things have should not make us forget that the manufacturers of lenses, motorcycles and what have you have, over the decades, striven to make better products. Thus new is, very often, better. This is of course not true of build quality. Up to around the 1960s, most products of the industrial world were close to indestructible; but then things went down-hill pretty rapidly.
charjohncarter
Veteran
Yeh, like my Oldsmobile.
David Hughes
David Hughes
What gets me is that I'm often - nowadays - using a lens and camera far older than I am and so I wonder what it would have cost second-hand when I started spending serious money on new cameras in the late 50's. Then I figure I should have kept it until the Olympus 35SP came out and then waited for the M7. And an SLR or two but we need not go into that...
Hindsight's a wonderful thing to have.
Regards, David
Hindsight's a wonderful thing to have.
Regards, David
These are the Leica lenses that have a certain "magic" to me... wide open with real B&W film, and these things produce images that are instant old. 🙂
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