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Favorite wide open lenses.

zenrhino said:
Ooh, when you get some shots with that 35/2 SMC please post them. That's one of my dream lenses. Is it K or M42?
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I bought it in Europe, so it's being sent to my dad who lives in Sweden. From there on I'm not sure how long it takes to get it here...
But I'll do that for sure. I love this lens too. It's a K-mount for my KX cameras.
 
The lens who outperforms everything else I have is the Hasselblad 40mm F/4 Distagon CFE T*, expensive as hell, but what a landscape/wide lens. Love it
 
I've tried various lenses over 30 odd years of which my favourites are the Zuiko 135mm f2.8 for portraiture, the Zeiss lenses generally for my Contax G2 but especially my large format (4x5) Cooke PS945. I wish there was an equivalent lens for the Nikon FX series cameras (which I intend to opt for once the replacement for the D700 becomes available). The PS945's effects at f4.5 are simply stunning. I have been using it for photographing flowers, usually at f4.5-f8. The main limitation is the max shutter speed on a Copal 3 shutter of 1/125s, which obliges me to use Lee's glass ND 0.9 (at 1/125) and ND 3.0 (if I want to use a slower shutter speed) filters.
 
M-35lux, M-90 Cron, Canon 35 f1.4L, 50 f1.2L, 85 f1.2L, Nikon 180mm F2.8, 135 3.5 (not very wide)
 
Mir 1V 37mm f/2.8

Great lens! I love the colours and how sharp it is even at 2.8, considering I got it for $50 it's a steal. lol

(I shoot this on my Canon)
 
I like all my lenses that way.

Nikkor (all are Pre AI): 24mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2.0, 50mm f/1.4, 135mm f/3.5
Canon FD: 28mm f/2.0, 50mm f/1.4 (one S.S.C., one new FD), 50mm f/1.8, 55mm f/1.2, 200mm f/2.8 (one new FD, one IF)
Canon EF: 50mm f/1.2L
Pentax M42: 28mm f/1.9 (Vivitar), 35mm f/3.5, 50mm f/1.4
Leitz M39: Summar 5cm f/2, Summitar 5cm f/2 (though I would not say that they have high resolution or a lot of sharpness wide open...but that is part of why I like them)
Nikonos: 35mm f/2.5 (seems to be good wide open, but getting accurate focus with a scale can be a pain)
Yashica: 45mm f/1.7 on my Electro 35's

The lenses I have not liked, I have got rid of. They were all either off-brand or low-end brand-name zoom lenses (including a Viv. Series 1).

Sorry if that s not helpful, but I really have been pleased with almost every lens I have ever used, over the entire aperture range.
 
Wide open

I am astounded, in this whole thread no one has mentioned the Leitz Summar f2... in a class by itself, apparently........ A completely underrated, beautiful lens.
 
Bill Harrison said:
I am astounded, in this whole thread no one has mentioned the Leitz Summar f2... in a class by itself, apparently........ A completely underrated, beautiful lens.
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That is funny. Look at the post right above yours, posted a few minutes earlier.

It is completely beautiful. I wouldn't call it very sharp or high in resolution, though, especially wide open.
 
Canon 50mm F1.4, Yashica Minister D @2.8 and a Sigma 75-300 f3.5 that is soft and beautiful wide open. Sadly the barrel has turned to jelly and Sigma aren't acknowledging responsibility.
 
The Summar and Summitar are two of my all-time favorites when used wide open. As said above, resolution and sharpness have very little meaning, especially with a well thought out composition and/or a fleeting moment. Those lenses can surely make a special image in their own unique ways. For clinical perfection, look elsewhere.
 
I don't think I have ever used any of my lenses wide open.
 
benjiboy said:
I don't think I have ever used any of my lenses wide open.
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For many years I believed a lens was at its highest resolution about F8 or F11. Since I learned they're best only two stops down, and many are close to their optimum only one stop down, I'm happier shooting wide open.
 
Contax Zeiss 55 1.2 Planar - an astonishing, if herniatic, piece of glassware - especially when added to those heretical DSLRs. Cool colours and soft bokeh but bitingly sharp at the point of focus - with a very, very shallow dof. The same applies to both versions of the 85 1.2. I also love the Yashica 55 1.2 ML - softer wide-open that its Zeiss eleder brother but quite dreamlike and then a very good standard lens from f2.8.
 
SMC Pentax-M 50 f/2. Sure, there were only about 40 billion of these made, but *my* copy is freaking awesome wide open.
 
I'll add the Canon FD 85mm f/1.2 and the FD 135mm f/2.
 
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