Brutally sharp in a budget?

[williams473]

So I'm not the most technical photographer, and I know some of you guys live for this kind of softball, no one's wrong question, so here it is:

What's the sharpest lens I can get on an affordable rangefinder or P&S? By affordable, I mean under say, $150 U.S. I'm not particularly concerned about the feature sets of the camera - it just has to be small, 35mm, and have a killer lens. I don't have the cash for a Hexar, Leica, or Contax.

I've heard good things about the lens on the Olympus XA, and also the Yaschica T4, which I'm leaning towards. I would use the Canon GIII QL 17 which I've enjoyed for a while, but recently the film door broke and it's on the shelf. Are there any other affordable, knock-your-socks-off lenses out there coupled with affordable and/or unpopular bodies? Thanks all.

Matt

 

[regularchickens]

Zorki or Fed with an Industar-61 L/D, maybe?

 

[hans voralberg]

Check the Olympus RF sub-forum for lots of XA/XA2/XA4 sample, seems like the XA4 is the fav in there.

 

[photogdave]

Olympus Stylus Epic!

 

[ItsReallyDarren]

I've been very impressed with the sharpness of the lens on the Yashica GSN's. The Lynx 14 has more manual controls if AE is not preferred.

 

[monochromejrnl]

Olympus SP - the 42/1.7 lens is very sharp... it's built very well and has a spot meter that comes in very handy... the viewfinder is bright and it's reasonably compact... if I lost my job tomorrow and was forced to sell all my rangefinders, I'd buy a SP and not ever worry about sharpness

 

[kxl]

What about a small SLR?

Right now, at KEH, there is a Nikon 24/2.8 AI for $109 and a Nikon EM for $27 or if you can stretch the budget a bit, the FM for $53.

The 24/2.8 is very sharp and highly regarded, and the FM is a full manual camera that will operate without a battery (battery needed for metering).

 

[RF_newbie]

for RF's
XA will be cheaper than an XA 4 and they are both very nice.
If you want to go a little larger try a Yashica CC or even better a Yashica GX. Then there is Oly Sp, and SPn and even smaller the Oly RD
all of these can be had for 45-100+ for user. "Mint" is a little more money of course. You can pick up another GIII for maybe 50 or so on ebay , change the seals and off you go again. If that is all you need (a gIII) send me a pm maybe i can help you out.

 

[kxl]

BTW, if you do want a P&S or RF...

1) P&S - Yashica T4, but you'd have to be very patient to find one in your price range.

2) Small RF - I second the Oly SP with that 42/1.7 Zuiko lens or the Konica S3 with its 38/1.8.
CAVEAT: don't know how much either is going for these days.

 

[Ducky]

A fixed lens RF, almost any of the popular cameras mentioned here on the forums.

 

[regularchickens]

I have to second the recommendation for the Olympus Stylus Epic. It's a gem, aside from it being fiddly to disable flash.

 

[Uwe_Nds]

Vivitar 35 ES/ Revue 400SE

Vivitar 35 ES/ Revue 400SE

Sharp enough?

Crop:

Cheers,
Uwe

 

[dfoo]

The Nikon 24/2.8 is a *very* sharp lens. I use it on my FE2 and FM2 and the results are very impressive! That image was taken with the lens. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mnewhook/3252217996/

 

[ray*j*gun]

Another vote for the Yashica GSN....I also have an MG1 which is also quit sharp.

Ray

 

[jmkelly]

Matt (OP) - I agree with your first instinct. The Yashica T4 is a great little camera with a VERY sharp Zeiss Tessar 35mm f3.5 lens - made of glass IIRC, which was unusual in its price segment. I have used a number of the Olympus p&s film cameras (my first and only SLR is the OM-1 and it has made me a fan of the brand) but none of them could equal the T4.

Last year auction prices for the T4 were relatively stratospheric but they seem to have come back to earth.

 

[Peter_Jones]

Yashica GTN/GSN etc ate very good. I will not know how good the Konica S2 is until Monday when I get the film back, but the reputation is very good.

From results posted on RFF, practically any fixed lens RF with a 40/45mm lens should be plenty sharp.

As for compacts - someone has mentioned the Olympus Stylus Epic (which I think is the Mju II in UK - f/2.8 lens) which are very good optically and accurate metering.

 

[williams473]

Thanks all - I appreciate your taking the time to reply. I am going to be patient here, so I've made a list from all your opinions and will start looking here this week. What I end up with will probably have a lot to do finding the right deal at the right time. Thanks again!

Matt

 

[chrishayton]

yashica t5/t4 super. Mine was amazing. Got it for £35 off ebay in new condition. dont think the seller knew what he was selling.

 

[Krosya]

Konica Auto S or S2 - superb lens, great camera and you can find one for $20-30 on ebay. I really like my Auto S. You can check out this thread about it

 

[Brennotdan]

I can vouch for the auto s2, electro gtn(gsn), and vivitar 35es. All were under $20, but they all needed some work. After lurking and asking around here I was able to make the necessary adjustments to the vivitar. The GTN went to Mark Hama, who did an excellent job with it. I tried an XA2, but I couldn't get on with the vignetting and lack of exposure information. The GTN and Auto S2 are as big as my canon AE-1 (slr), get one with the 50 1.4, you'll be in business.


Uwe, does your vivitar have swirly bokeh wide open? just curious.