Best "vintage look" rangefinder lenses of all time

What are the best rangefinder lenses (Leica, Canon,Voigtlander, Nikon, Zeiss etc.) for capturing images with the vintage look? Some are well known classics ;others are great buys you might not have thought of. I welcome your nominations and I'll be happy to share my own. Just ask the professor-:)
 
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The Leitz Summaorn 35/2.8. It is sharp, and the lower contrast corners and higher contrast centre creates magic.

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Agree wholeheartedly. It’s a great lens!

Agree wholeheartedly. It’s a great lens!

Deardorff38 said:
As an aficionado of the 35mm lens, I like the 35mm f 2.8 Summaron
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Everybody swoons over the 4th (Non-ASPH) version of the 35mm f/2 Summicron but the 35mm f/2.8 Summaron is a very sharp lens with beautiful bokeh and gorgeous vintage rendition.
 
Jason Schneider said:
Everybody swoons over the 4th (Non-ASPH) version of the 35mm f/2 Summicron but the 35mm f/2.8 Summaron is a very sharp lens with beautiful bokeh and gorgeous vintage rendition.
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I also like the Summaron 35mm f3.5. I still own and use one in early M mount (the one designed for use with an accessory mount finder) and had one in LTM mount when I had an LTM camera.

While it is not technically as good as the later f2.8 lens it has something in its imaging that I find distinctly appealing. And I would describe it as a vintage look.
 
Any of the early Elmars. 35 or 50mm

Then the 50 Cron collapsible is 35 summaron give me what I’m looking for in BW particularly. Loads of midtones
 
peterm1 said:
I also like the Summaron 35mm f3.5. I still own and use one in early M mount (the one designed for use with an accessory mount finder) and had one in LTM mount when I had an LTM camera.

While it is not technically as good as the later f2.8 lens it has something in its imaging that I find distinctly appealing. And I would describe it as a vintage look.
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Peter, I was looking for a 3.5 Summaron and couldn't find one when my 2.8 Summaron LTM came up. I'd certainly be happy with either. I know the Summicron V4 is all the rage.I've used many summicrons over the decades and they all did the job. I do, really appreciate the older lenses in the chromed brass mounts. They're standing the test of time and use very well.
 
All I have to do is to take images with Summarit-M 35 2.5 ASPH on M4-2 and with Ilford HP5+, develop them in HC-110 and print in DR.
Many people who have looked at those prints are saying - "it feels like it was taken decades ago".

Sorry to burst gearheads bubble here.
 
Ko.Fe. said:
All I have to do is to take images with Summarit-M 35 2.5 ASPH on M4-2 and with Ilford HP5+, develop them in HC-110 and print in DR.
Many people who have looked at those prints are saying - "it feels like it was taken decades ago".

Sorry to burst gearheads bubble here.
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I don't think you're bursting anyone's bubble here Ko.Fe. Just the medium looks different than a drugstore 1 hour RC colour print to the casual viewer. The ASPH lenses are sharper & have different character. That's why some of us don't use them. But i think we might agree that some things... like the famous "King of Bokeh"....are smoke and mirrors.
 
Deardorff38 said:
I don't think you're bursting anyone's bubble here Ko.Fe. Just the medium looks different than a drugstore 1 hour RC colour print to the casual viewer. The ASPH lenses are sharper & have different character. That's why some of us don't use them. But i think we might agree that some things... like the famous "King of Bokeh"....are smoke and mirrors.
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No, I bet images in this thread are scans of negatives, if not some tacky processing (sorry for HO) of digital images. We are talking inflatable dolls vs real love making. Except Eric's work which is just as "vintage" as my prints from Summarit-M 35 2.5 ASPH.
 
I don't think there is a 'best' vintage rendering lens. It all depends on the light and the moment. I took this one with the CV Tele-Tessar 4/85 many moons ago:


 
General teply to Vintage Look lens thread

General teply to Vintage Look lens thread

Yes folks the fabled 4-element, 3-group Zeiss Tessar (all focal lengths and formats) and its close relative the 50mm f/3.5 Leitz Elmar certainly provide "vintage" rendition and have very nice bokeh in both coated and uncoated versions. Classic 50mm f/2 lenses such as the Leitz Summar, Leitz Summitar, screw-mount 50mm Nikkor, Zeiss Sonnar and the 50mm f/1.8 Canon also deliver sharp images with "smooth, rounded" vintage rendition. My personal favorites: The uncoated 50mm f/2 Leitz Summar, which is soft at the edges at widest apertures but quite sharp in the center, and simply gorgeous across the field at f/5.6 (make sure to get a really clean example!) and the 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar (coated or uncoated) for rangefinder Contaxes that renders 3-dimensional space in distinctive and exquisite way that surpasses even the very nice rangefinder version of the 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor that's based on the same optical formula. Finally, most versions of the Taylor/Cooke triplet (e.g. the Meyer Trioplan and Zeiss Triotar) capture the vintage look all right, but are often too pricey because they've acquired cult status among digital users.
 
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