Is this trade worthwhile

BryceEsquerre · Oct 12, 2011

I have and am considering trading:

Nikon series e 70-210mm
Nikon fg that needs the focusing screen replaced

For a

Working gossen scout 2
Soligor 85-205 f/3.8
Vivitar 90-230 f/4.5
Vivitar 75-205 f/3.8
Working praktica tl

Who is getting the upper hand?

I want these lenses mainly to use on my 60d(which I am getting in a month to make films)

Thanks,
Bryce

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Oct 12, 2011

In my opinion , its a bad deal , you can buy vivitar , soligor everytime , everywhere very cheap. I think their quality might be faraway lower than Nikon. Why you need 3 low quality , similar lens and a east german praktica ? It nuts , service the fg and be happy.
Its like giving a ferrari and buying 3 same model , same color Fiat plus a Truant. Dont do it.

Good luck ,

Umut

BryceEsquerre · Oct 12, 2011

Yeah I know what you mean. The only lens I really want is the 75 to 205

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Oct 12, 2011

You can buy a cheap zoom for your digital camera from APUG members. Digiral is bad and with a cheap bad zoom , it would be worse. Collect money and buy a newer autofocus electronic zoom from keh.com second hand and look at the adorama. When your electronic camera burned down , you stay without nothing. To own a Nikon FG and a Nikon Zoom is good luck , dont ruin it.
May be you can use a adapter and use your 70-210 with your digital also. Open a thread about it and get the answer. Adapters goes from so so 50 dollars.

Umut

BryceEsquerre · Oct 12, 2011

I am in no way going to digital photography. Haha. It's to make 1080p quality videos with. I already have an f4 so an fg doesn't hold much use. I just got a takumar 50mm 1.4 a mamiya sekor 35mm 2.8 and a takumar 135mm 3.5 and a spotmatic for 60 bucks. I just likeed what I saw when I watched some clips filmed with the 75 to 205 so I became interested. I took your advice and told the guy never mind though. I'm probky gonna save a few hundred bucks and get a nice m42 mount zoom. With a fotodiox adapter, you get some incredible image quality out of a lot of m42 stuff on canon dslrs. Before you hate on digi though, keep in mind it is to make 1080p short films and action clips with .

Edit: my fg isn't even functional haha, I'm nit worried about being stuck with nothing if the 60d I am getting has problems. I have several film cameras. And eh I never use autofocus it makes no sense to seek autofocus rather than manual focus for me.

semi-ambivalent · Oct 12, 2011

Mustafa Umut Sarac said:
Its like giving a ferrari and buying 3 same model , same color Fiat plus a Truant. Dont do it.

I love language.

s-a

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Oct 12, 2011

I understand you very well. Cinema is a great point of canon dslrs. If you are willing to spend few hundreds , invest in LOMO Anamorphic Cinematography lenses. Russian lenses and their yellowish brownish hot tones are very matching with canon sensors. But the tones , grades and pure colors are faraway better than the canon lenses. There is a group at APUG on cinema making , there are many experienced apugers there. Do you follow vimeo , there are great shots with lomo anamorph . canon combo. And Leica R Zoom lenses are reachable. It would render like Pink Floyd Pompeii Live. I dont hate digi , cinema works but not photographs. And m42 zeiss lenses are great zeiss biogon or equivalent zenit helios 58 mm. You can use mid format hasselblad lenses also.

Best ,

Umut

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Oct 12, 2011

CGW · Oct 12, 2011

BryceEsquerre said:
I have and am considering trading:

Nikon series e 70-210mm
Nikon fg that needs the focusing screen replaced

For a

Working gossen scout 2
Soligor 85-205 f/3.8
Vivitar 90-230 f/4.5
Vivitar 75-205 f/3.8
Working praktica tl

Who is getting the upper hand?

I want these lenses mainly to use on my 60d(which I am getting in a month to make films)

Thanks,
Bryce

A working FG is a sweet camera but their focus screens are not user swappable. The 70-210 is a slouch compared to the 75-150 E series zoom. Given your interests and what you'd get, I'd say go for it.

BryceEsquerre · Oct 12, 2011

I will definitely look into the apug group and lomo lenses. Do you have any insight on whether or not I got a good deal for the lenses + spotmatic? You are always so friendly and knowledgeable, like many members of this site. I appreciate you trying to help me out! What would you recommend for 400ish ?

BryceEsquerre · Oct 12, 2011

CGW said:
A working FG is a sweet camera but their focus screens are not user swappable. The 70-210 is a slouch compared to the 75-150 E series zoom. Given your interests and what you'd get, I'd say go for it.

I already told the guy no thanks, are you sure about the focusing screen? I'm pretty sure you can.

Rol_Lei Nut · Oct 12, 2011

Nikkor AI 80-200 f/4.5 lenses are excellent and very cheap (the f/4.0 model is also excellent, but slightly less cheap).

No need to to get a Vivitar in this case, even *if* it were one of the better ones.

Also, there aren't many good M42 mount zooms around (M42 primes is another situation entirely).

BryceEsquerre · Oct 12, 2011

I'm not very interested in nikon glass. I have what i need for my f4 already and i never use the fg. i only have interest in it as a backup. What would be a good canon zoom (manual focus) for 400ish tops then?

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Oct 12, 2011

Did you check www.keh.com and adorama used department , by the way b&h ? 400 dollars is lots of money and you can buy a 70-210 zoom from Leica. If you want Leica , ask to APUG members at classifieds. Someone reported , it is better than primes.

BryceEsquerre · Oct 12, 2011

Dead Link Removed

that one?

CGW · Oct 12, 2011

BryceEsquerre said:
I already told the guy no thanks, are you sure about the focusing screen? I'm pretty sure you can.

Nope. Unlike most of the FM/FE variants, there's no way to change the screen without a major teardown. If you want a cheap Nikon back-up, look at AF models like an 8008s/801s or an F90x/N90s--all work nicely as manual bodies and have swappable screens. Failing that, look for an FE or an FM2(n) for more $.

My fave lightweight street kit is a FG+50/1.8E+100/2.8E--love it.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Oct 12, 2011

Yes , it is , you can buy even cheaper.

Rol_Lei Nut · Oct 12, 2011

I recently stated that the Leica 80-200 f/4.0 zoom was generally better than Leica's equivalent non-Apo prime lenses.
(And also far better than the excellent Nikkor 80-200 lenses I reccommended previously in this thread, which makes one wonder what "far better than excellent" really is ).

Other older Leica zoom lenses such as the 70-210 aren't in the same same class as the 80-200 f/4.0: I've heard they are still good (no personal experience), but are essentially Minolta or Sigma designs built to higher specs.

dynachrome · Oct 13, 2011

Vivitar sold at least two 75-205/3.8 manual focus lenses. The original two touch model is a very good performer and was a great improvement over the earlier 85-205. I wrote about it in a CameraShopper article some years ago. The later one touch version is also a decent lens. I still don't know whether the matching 2X Vivitar teleconverter is for the two touch lens or the one touch lens. In either case, a 150-410/7.6 is not easy to use. The FG does not have a very good reputation for reliability and can't always be repaired. If you can manage something a little heavier, an FE is a better choice. The N2020 makes a nice manual focus camera with a good feature set and selles for very little. It also has user interchangeable focusing screens. I would not be interested in an FG until the price got down to the $20 range.

BryceEsquerre · Oct 13, 2011

Ah oh well i can find a good deal on a 75 to 205 later on in time. Im not in the market for a nikon body though ahha i don't know why everyone thinks i am. I already have an f4s. If anything, i might get a new focusing screen for the fg and use it as a backup or as an expendable camera (risky shots and what not).

Is this trade worthwhile

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