underated and pleasantly surprised

[rayfoxlee]

Rolleicord Vb. The f3.5 Xenar rendered skin tones beautifully and was very sharp too. This was bought new - the second Vb was not as good! Light, took 6x6, 6x4.5 and 35mm. Shame I sold it!

CV 24mm Snapshot Skopar LTM. Amazing little gem of a lens. Easy to use.

Ray

 

[dof]

Another vote for the Nikon 50mm f1.8 Series E lens.

The rep on the Holga 120N was pretty dismal when I got mine, but of course has since grown to mythic status on the intertubes. Still, I'd call it a real keeper.

 

[rumbliegeos]

Jupiter 12 35mm LTM and the Nikon 28-70mm 3.5-4.5 D lens, which sells for very little.

 

[bizarrius]

voigtlander 40mm f1.4
AMAZING glass.

 

[Finnegan]

Konica Auto S2. I read a lot of good stories about it's lens but I was still very surprised after looking at the results.

 

[Spider67]

The Canon Serenar 50mm f 1.8 and the CV 35mm Color Skopar. Great lenses for BW

 

[Tompas]

Bessa L with Snapshot Skopar 4/25. The tool too cool. Especially in black.

 

[pvdhaar]

Absolutely brilliant: Nikon 50/1.8E and 100/2.8E SLR lenses. Because they're from the E-series, they've got a so-so reputation and prices to match, but don't let that fool you..

 

[jmkelly]

Sure there have been a number of things that exceeded my expectations: the Contax G1 and lenses, Hexar RF, Sigma DP2 and especially the Epson R-D1.

 

[SteveM(PA)]

Absolutely brilliant: Nikon 50/1.8E and 100/2.8E SLR lenses. Because they're from the E-series, they've got a so-so reputation and prices to match, but don't let that fool you..

haha, my vote goes to the I-10 lens in your avatar, great deal, often for around $20...

 

[dogberryjr]

I'd have to mention the Leica 90mm Elmarit M. It's not exactly condemned, but you don't hear a lot of praise for it either. When I am thumbing through my own photos, I'm surprised at how often the shots taken with this lens leap out at me.

***EDIT*** Wow. After posting this, I checked eBay for current prices. Looks like someone has (re-)discovered this lens. Prices are almost double from a couple years ago.

 

[mastaliu]

Exceeded expectations? I was very impressed with the Minolta 7sii i picked up at a shop for $25. I have found the CV 28 f2 a lens that exceeded my expectations as well.

 

[Brian Legge]

mastaliu, I'm a bit jealous. 🙂 I've given up on a 7sII after buying 3 which had problems. I love the ergonomics of the camera and managed to build an almost working one out of the tree, but even the best ones lens still had a fair amount of fungus. Its one of the cameras i've stopped pursuing as I've already put too much money into it.

Its good to hear that someone fortunate enough to come into a working on likes it though. 🙂

 

[filmfan]

Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AF-D ($90 new)

 

[lxmike]

Oh I forgot to mention, the first time I ever held and used an Olympus 35 RC. it was given to me by my dad about 20 years ago, wow what a performer, no wonder it is so highly regarded by many