"character" out, "performance" in. - Page 2

tbarker13 · 11-30-2009

This is a topic that has been fascinating to me since first stumbling upon this forum. I've really been enjoying using some of the older lenses that might be considered, at least technically, inferior to modern glass. (an example being a 35 pre-asph lux I bought last year)

I've been venturing into portraiture a lot lately. I started with a 50 pre-asph lux, but I am starting to lean toward a combination of a 1953 J3 and a newer model 50 elmar. These, I shoot along with a Nikon D300 armed with an 85/1.4 that I absolutely love.

I guess a lot of it just depends on what you want to accomplish with your photos. If I were shooting landscapes, I don't think the J3 would be my first choice. But for portraits...

bmattock · 11-30-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Sweeney

Personal cheap favorites, excluding the Jupiters...

$10 50/1.9 Schneider Xenon for the Retina IIIS and $25 90/4 Tele-Arton for the Reflex-S. Kodak Retina outfits offer some bargains.

Really? Interesting - I happen to have the Xenon you mention, but have never used it - always wanted to get a Retina to fit it to but have never done so. Let me ask you this - there is a fellow selling an adapter to fit the compur-mount lenses to M42. Thoughts?

Brian Sweeney · 12-01-2009

Thoughts.... and deeds...

The Retina to M-42 adapter is expensive compared with the price of the lens and camera that it would fit. You can pick up a Retina IIIS for ~$100. The Rangefinder body is much simpler than the SLR. The top comes off easily and the viewfinder is easy to clean. The Compur shutter is easy to flood clean, just take off the lens.

The SLR's: The Retina Reflex-S, either the shutter goes bad or the prism goes bad. Find one with a working shutter and bad prism: buy a parts Minolta XG-1, XG-7, or XG-9. The prism is a perfect fit, and easy to replace. My Reflex-S was $50, the parts Minolta was ~$5.

Retina lenses are cheap as so many SLR's have died. The 35/2.8 Curtagon, 50/1.9 Xenon, 85/4 Tele-Arton, and 135/4 Xenar were ~$100 total. Cheap German Glass. Lots of Character.