5 Favorite/"Best" Lenses

Of lenses I have used or at least had some experience with:

Canon 85mm 1.2L - Don't particularly like the focal length but this is one amazing lens
Canon 35mm 1.4L
Canon 24mm 1.4L
Zuiko ZD 7-14mm f4
Zuiko ZD 14-35mm f2 - christ.. what a freakin HONEY of a lens this is. Near "unfaultable" in every way...

I'm sure if I tried or owned some more of the voigtlander/leica/zeiss optics they'd be in there too. For instance I was very tempted to put the 35mm 1.2 voigtlander nokton in there even though I have never actually used one or even seen one. Just the images that come from that lens are nothing short of superb.
 
Most used, as I don’t know all the lenses ever made.

35/2 Biogon ZM
50/1.5 C Sonnar ZM
35/2 Distagon ZF (with eos adaptor)
50/1.4 Canon EF
Parse from 28/2.8 Distagon (C/Y mount), 85/1.8EF and 100/2.8 macro EF

Bit of a theme to the first 4 really…

Mike
 
My Favs though not the sharpest or overall best in my collection :

Carl Zeiss Jena 2.8/35mm Flektogon
Nikon P-Auto Nikkor 2.5/105 (Sonnar)
Leitz Leica Summar 2/50
Industar 50 (Ltm)
Nikon H-Auto 2/50
 
if i could take only five lenses with me among the ones I own, based on design, personal love, importance, historic value, quality and some rational thinking.

21/2.8 Biogon G
28/2.8 Elmarit R I
35/1.4 Distagon QBM
50/2 Summicron IV
Zeiss 100/2 MP ZE

I realized I do not think I could live with only 5 lenses, which i am not very happy about.

100/2 over 85/1.2 FD and cron the toughest calls.
 
I don't have so many favorite lenses but those:

1. DR or Riggid Summicron 50mm f/2
2. M-Hexanon 28mm 2.8
3. Ultron 35mm 1.7

Now I just have to buy 'em back 🙂

Regards,

Boris
 
I'll bite:

Leica 35/2 ASPH M.
CV 50/1.5 M (had the LTM before, can't tell any difference in results, but I like the closer focus of the M mount)
Carl Zeiss Jena 165/3.5 Tessar T (for large format, made in 1950 or so.)
200/8 Nikkor-M (another large format, and if I only carry one LF lens on a shoot, it's this one)
Leica 90/2.8 Tele Elmarit "Fat." In theory, I should look for one of the later "skinny" 90/2.8's or the last generation M version, but I've always been happy with the results of this lens.
 
Interesting!!!

1-Elmar 5cm f3.5
2-ZM c-sonnar
3-Zeiss Contax G planar 45mm f2
4-Summicron 35mm 3rd version (the most unwanted one)
5-VC 21mm f4...the viewfinder that comes with a lens!😀

Of course there are better and more expensive lenses that are gorgeous like the 50mm asph lux...but it´s not my preferred one.

🙂
 
By RFF standards I have owned relatively few lenses but five that stand out for me that I own or have owned are:

Hexar AF 35/2
Planar 50/2 ZM
Auto-Takumar 55/2
Canon FD 80-200 4/L
Takumar 28/3.5

I recently acquired a Summicron 35/2 IV and that may bump one of the above from my list.
 
Personal favorites:

1. Tie: 24/2.8 Elmarit ASPH, 25/2.8 Biogon
1. Ricoh 28/2.8 (in GR-1)
3. ZM 35/2.8 C-Biogon
4. Tie: 50/1.4 SuperTak; 50/2 DR Summicron; 50/2 Summicron v. 3.
5. Nikkor 180/2.8 ED AIS
 
I have many lenses I enjoy working with. It would probably be easier to list the ones I don't like. But truthfully, I can only think of 4 that I would have a very hard time working without.

Elmar 50/3.5
SMC Pentax FA 31mm Limited
Zeiss Sonnar 50/1.5
Pentax 645 FA 45-80

EDIT - I was wrong, there are five. I completely forgot one sweet little lens that is almost continually on the front of my ZI.

MS Optical Sonnetar 50/1.1
 
Last edited:
Pioneer said:
I have many lenses I enjoy working with. It would probably be easier to list the ones I don't like. But truthfully, I can only think of 4 that I would have a very hard time working without.

Elmar 50/3.5
•••SMC Pentax FA 31mm Limited•••
Zeiss Sonnar 50/1.5
Pentax 645 FA 45-80
Click to expand...

The 31. I would *really* like to get my mitts on one of those.
 
Here is why threads should remain open forever, as questioned in another thread a few weeks ago. I was reading through the lists (and baiting) on my iPod, and the screen was expanded, so I could see neither the poster, nor the date of the post. All of a sudden, I came across a post that seemed to like lenses I also liked! "Wow", I thought, "Here's someone with exactly my taste in lenses!"

I shrunk the screen down to see who this fortunate person was ... 😱

Chris101 said:
After a few days thoughts on this:
24-120vr Nikkor (it does it all)
85 f/1.8 Nikkor (it takes killer portraits)
21 f/2 Zuiko (it does stuff no other lens can do)
35 f/1.7 Ultron (it's my only lens for my Leica)
and my very favorite lens ever, my grunge-photo special, the infamous, earliest model, AI'd, 43-86 f/3.5 Nikkor (I like it because nobody else does.)
Click to expand...
 
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