Old lenses with beautiful bokeh - Ideas?

[Ronald M]

Summarit 1.5. Will get swirly if background is busy. otherwise flows smoothly.

Summilux ASPH is great. Way better than Summicron or APO Summicron.

My last generation 50 2.8 Elmar M are good, but 2.8 is not as good as 1.4.

 

[Fixcinater]

This is one of my own images shot with a Helios 58mm f2 (optically a copy of a prewar Zeiss Biogon lens). I have to say that I love the rendering of these old Sonnar lenses - both the bokeh which is acceptably soft and billowy and the subtle gradations in tone which I think is the real mark of many Sonnars. I grant you that this is not especially sharp however, though I put that down to me more than the lens. Never the less, a lens perfect for portraits of old ladies and young cats.

Copy of the Zeiss Biotar, and the Biotar is basically a double-Gauss like a Planar. Yes there are differences, but they are relatively similar schemes. The Biogon was another, mostly used for wide angles scheme.

The Soviet copy of the Sonnar is Jupiter in its varieties:

J-3 = 50/1.5
J-8 = 50/2.0
J-9 = 85/2.0
J-6 = 180/2.8
J-11 = 135/4
J-36 = 250/3.5

 

[AFenvy]

Can't forget the early Nikkor-P 105mm f2.5 when it used the sonnar optical formula.

I would also pass the Nikkor 50mm f1.4 for the much more interesting Nikkor-S 5.8cm f1.4.

 

[Strangefinder]

I still love the olympus 38mm 1,8 for halfframe at Fullframe Sony A7.
Though i wish there would be a few mm more glas to get more Fullframe area.
Anyway dont have to add Vignetting.

and i love the mfd of 35cm only, with rangefinder lens its mostly to big.

 

[Fixcinater]

Strangefinder, how do you use that lens on full frame? Sony mirrorless?

 

[kxl]

I have to look through my archives for examples, but the Nikon 85/1.4 AI(s) is the queen of bokeh; the 84/1.4 AFD being the king.

 

[peterm1]

Copy of the Zeiss Biotar, and the Biotar is basically a double-Gauss like a Planar. Yes there are differences, but they are relatively similar schemes. The Biogon was another, mostly used for wide angles scheme.

The Soviet copy of the Sonnar is Jupiter in its varieties:

J-3 = 50/1.5
J-8 = 50/2.0
J-9 = 85/2.0
J-6 = 180/2.8
J-11 = 135/4
J-36 = 250/3.5

You are right of course. I misspoke - call it brain fade (courtesy of a late night posting). It was actually shot I think with another Soviet lens the Jupiter 8 50mm f2 as you suggested. My bad as the kids say on the internet.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Grab a couple old folding cameras, one with a meniscus, the other with a rapid rectilinear lens. They can be amazingly sharp but wide open, the whole world changes.
My 1923 Kodak meniscus lens can give me results that just about match my Fujinon W CM with EBC coating, when it is stopped down. Wider than about f/11 it is a completely different ballgame.
So, take those lenses off their respective cameras, stick them on old salvaged zooms and go have fun.

Phil Forrest

 

[nukecoke]

Jupiter-8 on digital:
under the pear tree by X. Yang, 於 Flickr


無標題 by X. Yang, 於 Flickr

Jupiter-8 on film:
Scan-161015-0026-1 by X. Yang, 於 Flickr


Bell&Howell Super Comat 25mm f/1.9. There are a bunch of those Ernostar type cine lenses for 16mm cine cameras, almost all are 25mm f/1.9 lenses. They got rather expensive when M4/3 cameras started to becoming popular (around 2012-13). They give swirly images, sometimes a little soap bubble light blob as well.

無標題 by X. Yang, 於 Flickr

it gets dark earlier now.. by X. Yang, 於 Flickr

 

[Timmyjoe]

Not strictly bokeh, more bokeh from a Nikkor OC 35mm f2 with the help of a snow streaked 2002 Honda CRV side window.

Best,
-Tim

 

[02Pilot]

All of these examples are wide open.

Nikkor 85/2:

Beat-up Summar that I resurrected with cerium oxide polishing:

And just to make things interesting, an Ilford Craftsman box camera (which I'm sure could be adapted somehow):

 

[dtcls100]

Lenses that I have that have very smooth bokeh include:

OM Zuiko 100mm f2.0
OM Zuiko 90 mm f2.0 macro
Nikon 105 f2.0 DC
OM Zuiko 50mm f2.0 macro
Tamron SP 80-200 f2.8

Here is an obligatory cat (kitten) photo taken with either the 90mm Zuiko macro or the 105 Nikon DC

 

[Musashi1205]

Having adapted quite a few mainly Japanese lenses - Nikon, Canon, Pentax etc plus some Leica glass and confirmed for myself that there are some beautiful performers amongst them, I am becoming more interested in old mainly European glass. I have posted another thread touching on this but I found today some marvellous shots taken with a Dallmeyer Super-Six 102mm f1.9. I presume its for something like the Kowa Super Six medium format camera. I gather too that its a pricey lens - although I have not seen this one on eBay other Dallmeyer glass certainly is pricey. (Dallmeyer is also an old maker who's line of lenses go back to early large format cameras but I imagine that's not what I am seeing here - BTW here is a link exhibiting some of their really big old lenses - and I mean BIG and OLD! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRj17rg91GY )

This lens and some others by this maker produce superb (and slightly funky bokeh which may not be to everyone's taste). But while the "usual suspects" amongst Japanese makers produce some technically brilliant performers, I am interested in more artistic rendition even where this lacks a little in modern technical performance.

It set me thinking about what other options there may be - old glass like this that shoots nicely and in particular produces nice bokeh. A few links and samples from the i'net. Any ideas and samples you folks can offer?

http://toby-marshall.com/galleries/bokeh-tales/dallmeyer-super-six-102mm-f1-9-lens/

The above samples were from this thread.

http://forum.mflenses.com/dallmeyer-super-six-102mm-f19-t77169.html

Hi Peter, As I wrote in my other thread, I like the Olympus Zuiko Auto-S 50mm 1.2, but somehow dislike how it feels and looks on my A7RIII.

 

[peterm1]

Hi Peter, As I wrote in my other thread, I like the Olympus Zuiko Auto-S 50mm 1.2, but somehow dislike how it feels and looks on my A7RIII.

Its odd isn't it! But I too have lenses that are perfectly good, sound, even nice lenses that I do not particularly like either because they look odd or because of their "haptics" (i.e. how they handle).

When I first realised this is how I felt about some lenses I felt myself to be shallow. After all shouldn't the only issue be how well they shoot? But I guess that is not how we humans are so it is nice to hear that other people feel the same way about some lenses. And that I am not that unusual after all. And neither are you of course.

 

[Dguebey]

I enjoyed more than ten years my Tamron SP 80-200mm 1:2.8 LD (82FH).

At last, I thought it allowed better images than the 90mm f/2.5 SP macro I also used extensively.

 

[Musashi1205]

Its odd isn't it! But I too have lenses that are perfectly good, sound, even nice lenses that I do not particularly like either because they look odd or because of their "haptics" (i.e. how they handle).

When I first realised this is how I felt about some lenses I felt myself to be shallow. After all shouldn't the only issue be how well they shoot? But I guess that is not how we humans are so it is nice to hear that other people feel the same way about some lenses. And that I am not that unusual after all. And neither are you of course.

Peter, I totally agree with you, some things are superb in certain matters but on the other hand bother me somehow. Then the whole performance is somewhat undermined by a sort of "incomplete" feeling. For most things I don't care, but concerning my camera stuff, I just can´t.
My camera gear is something between profession and hobby. For my jobs I need mostly modern AF lenses, most of them are clinically and cold feeling tools. For my hobby I want character lenses with also nice haptics which of course should look and fit nicely together.

 

[Erik van Straten]

Now that there is the Nokton 50mm f/1.2, the Nokton 50mm f/1.1 is an old lens too. I very much like the bokeh of this lens.

Leica M3, Nokton 50mm f/1.1, 400-2TMY, Adox MCC 110.

Erik.

 

[Dayrell bishop]

Meyer optik orestor 100mm f 2.8 at 2.8

Meyer optik orestor 100mm f 2.8 at 2.8

 

[Dayrell bishop]

Konica t4 , 50mm f 1.8, Pan f , Rodinal , v700.

Konica t4 , 50mm f 1.8, Pan f , Rodinal , v700.

 

[Nokton48]

Automatic Makiflex 150 Xenotar by Nokton48, on Flickr

Plaubel Makiflex, 6x9cm FP4+ rollfilm, 150mm F2.8 Schneider Xenotar (wide open, with two 4X ND filters attached). Handheld image.

I like the bokeh of the Xenotar wide open.