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More 2.0 lenses please
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  • I'm trying to stay away from having 2nd body. GH2 or none. Not saying GH2 is da best.

    I wish the rumored Lumix 12-50/2.5-3.3 Power O.I.S. becomes true. I really don't care how big it becomes. A high quality fast m43 zoom!!! But highly doubtful as Panasonic is focusing more on general consumers. Even if it becomes available, it will be painful to wait until the price drops.

    For now... shutting my eyes and ears to rumors and exotic lenses. Nothing but cheap lenses and more post-processing tricks... for a couple of years. I have Lumix 20.7, Vivitar 28/2.0, Hexanon 40.8, Ai-s 50.4, FD 50.4, Ai 85/2.0, Lumix 14-42. The entire set is about the price of Nokton 25.95. Haha.
  • @agitprop
    I just sold a copy of the FD 28/2. It's also very very nice. Better even than the L version!

  • One really cheap f2 lens is the leica R summicron 50mm (1st modell), I found mine in a leica shop for 125 euros. the 35 f2 is a master piece but a lot more expensive. I do agree about the crop factor. It makes the lens investment much more expensive. I had canon fd but couldn't used the wide open, that why I switched to leica my 28 f 2.8 works great at 2.8, also my 50 f2. I remember I had to stop my canon 50mm f1.4 to f4 to get good contrast. If you search you could find used leicas really cheap. my 90 f2.8 cost 180 euros and the 135 160 euros. But the wide angles, those are really expensive.
  • >One really cheap f2 lens is the leica R summicron 50mm (1st modell), I found mine in a leica shop for 125 euros.

    I must warn readers that people generally like to talk about their lucky deals.
    On ebay I see prices from $400, more like $500-600.
    In reality such price is high and can be compared with F1.2 lenses from other manufacturers.
  • Normally leica r is really expensive but leicaflex lenses con be found in "lucky deals"
    Here is one: 135 f2.8 (165euros)
    http://www.meister-camera.com/berlin/index.php?id=92&tt_products[begin_at]=20&tt_products[product]=3978&cHash=72a010332985f948fa396d9393dda82f

    here is a 90 f2.8 for 190 euros
    https://www.leicashop.com/vintage/elmaritr-11239-2890mm-1model-p-451.html

    when I find the 50 leicaflex I'll post
    :)
    cheers

  • @andres

    Thanks for info.
    What do you think about making separate topic about Leica lenses?
    You could also add more info about them.
  • Noone mentioned Helios 58mm 2.0?! 44-2 and 44-4 are both dirtcheap but great, very characteristic lenses. The 44-4 is of great built quality and reallysharp from f2.0, my 44-2 copy is less sharp wide open but you can get beautiful, artistic, vintage-like lens flares with it. I got both for around 15€ (~20$) each.
  • hmm I'm not an expert but had to do some research when I decided to buy them. I'll give it a try
  • Oly Zuiko 14-35/2.0 and 35-100/2.0... bling bling...

    image
  • @chip I googled and found multiple Helio 58mm 2.0. 44M-4 and MC 44-4. How do they differ? M42 mount?

    edit: MC = multi coating
  • I don't know how good the Helio lens is, but I like the focal length. A nice match to my 2.0 set.

    Lumix 20/1.7
    Vivitar 28/2.0
    Hexanon 40/1.8
    Helio 58/2.0
    Nikkor Ai 85/2.0

    Maybe... I need 135/2.0, too.
  • Stonebat, maybe search for some pictures shot with Helios' wide open, the bokeh is very characteristic but not to everyone's taste. I like it and I like the colors and contrast they produce.
  • >I don't know how good the Helio lens is

    The 44-4 is very sharp at f2.0 and, more important to me, doesn't introduce any halo or glow to the highlights like most lenses do wide open.
  • Thanks chip. Good performance at 2.0. Then I'm sold.
  • >The 44-4 is very sharp at f2.0

    Please be careful with this words, as this is individual lens.
    I heard contradicting reports, especially considering old Soviet lenses.
    This could mean that result can be different according to particular lens you own.
  • My Helios 44m-2 is very sharp as well (it's the older model i think http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~tobiko/helios.html). But not so sharp as my old Summicron 5cm f2. Weirdly it has better edge sharpness though. (Maybe something is wrong with the Leica?) Bokeh is great in both. Contrast in the helios is indeed nice. My Super-Takumar is a nice lens as well (i have the f1.4 50mm) but it has a lot of halo wide open.
    I'd get a Helios or if you have more to spend a Nikon or Canon. I can't say much about the Olympus OM 50mm f1.8 except that i want one as the bokeh seems really nice.
  • I want to comment on the Helios 58mm F2.0 lens. I have the 44m-6 version of the lens, which is the almost the newest version (44m-7). From what I've read the successive generations improve in their multi-coatings. Anyway, I really like my Helios 44m-6. I have compared it to my Canon FD 50mm F1.4. In my tests both lenses have equal sharpness (excellent) in the center. The FD 1.4 holds the sharpness out to the edges of the frame a little better than the Helios. But, in real world shooting I like the characteristics of the Helios 44m-6 more than the FD 1.4. I would absolutely recommend getting the 44m-6. If you have enough patience you can find a USA seller on eBay. Most of the sellers are in Europe.

  • There is a Minolta 24mm at f2 (MD or MC) I think it's reviewed at the rokkorfiles.com My Minolta 24 f2.8 MD is the sharpest full frame wide lens I have

  • Also I second the Helios 58mm F2.0 recommendation, I have 8 of these lenes ranging from the early 60's to the last 44m-7 .. they are all different probably 4 wow ones and 4 blah ones .. there are a few different xxx-4s in amongst them, made in several different factories, only one of the xxx-4 is wow. They are hell cheap .. the most I paid for them was about $55.

  • While the Minolta 24mm 2.8 is really great, the 2.0 is only average wide open. I sold mine again.

  • I do have the canon 24/2, the nikkor 35/2 and the Rokkor 28/2 as f2.0 lenses. In some situations the nikkor is great. But i dont like the nikon color very much. And 70mm is not very usefull to me. But the biggest surpise to me: the rokkor looks much more amazing than the canon does. I do have a 50/1.4 canon fd. And that lens is absolutly great. But the Rokkor is the better partner to that lens, than the canon 24 is. I only need a 16mm 2.0 on the same level and i will be glad. Unfortunately i think nobody has released such a lens.

  • @Gerald Nikkor Ai-s match well with Lumix 14mm 2.5 and 20mm 1.7 in terms of image color. The 14mm becomes 11mm with DMW-GWC1 adapter.

  • While not exactly sharp, the Jupiter 9 85/2 is an awesome lens.

    If you want bokeh circles wide open, wow. :)

  • @Stonebat are you rockin' a Konika Hexanon 40mil. as well? I didn't think anyone else on the planet would even bother! My pastor gave me his father's old photography stuff, and that's the one lens I kept from it, and its my go-to lens now. About the aperture jump, I just balance mine between hard stops, there's enough room for it to just sit there. Even pulling it a hair off of full open cuts 80-90% of the junk and really sharps it up. If I it wasn't my favorite lens right now, I'd just disassemble it and try and declick. I'll let you know if I do at some point.

  • I use it on GF3. Once f2.8 onwards it's sharp enough. I ordered 0.6x adapter for my vintage lenses. Let's see if I can get 24mm FOV from 40mm Konica :)