What is your best "sleeper lens"?

narsuitus · Dec 26, 2014

Tamron 28-200mm f/3.8 to f/5.6 Zoom auto focus

I received this lens as a gift from a colleague who was abandoning film for digital. The strong performance of this lens as a head & shoulder portrait lens changed my negative opinion of third-party lenses.

https://flic.kr/p/8XTJQ8

bdial · Dec 26, 2014

I think the sleepiest sleeper I have is a LTM Jupiter 12.

alanrockwood · Dec 26, 2014

58mm f/2 Zeiss Auto Biotar.

50mm f/1.4 Canon (modern mount).

Poisson Du Jour · Dec 26, 2014

Canon's 17-40 f4L. But is shares equal-first sleeper place with the TS-E 24 f3.5L. My Pentax 67 MF system has myriad sleeper lenses -- very difficult to settle on one stellar performer over others...

flavio81 · Dec 27, 2014

Nikon 58/1.4 pre-AI, the king of bokeh.
Apart from that, the Canon EF 28-70/3.5-4.5 which is a overlooked high-quality zoom from 1987.

miha · Dec 27, 2014

Mamiya f/4.5 180mm SUPER.

darinwc · Dec 27, 2014

Nikkor 50mm f1.8 AI long-nose -bleeding sharp. The longer barrel is easier to focus. The longer barrel act as both a hood and helps to keep clumbsy fingers off of it.

Niikor 55mm f2.8 Macro. -Better than any other nikon lens at any of the apertures it can use.

Olympus 200mm f4 OM Zuiko -Very, very happy with this lens. Compact, sharp, and not chromatic aberations. i use it on digital, but it would be great on film as well. -And I only paid $20 for it.

darinwc · Dec 27, 2014

"Canon's 17-40 f4L. But is shares equal-first sleeper place with the TS-E 24 f3.5L. My Pentax 67 MF system has myriad sleeper lenses -- very difficult to settle on one stellar performer over others... "

-How are any of Canon's L series a sleeper? They are expensive, built to be better than other lenses, and have the reputation as such. A 'sleeper' is one that is great but no one knows about. Maybe confusing with 'ringer' which is that one that everyone knows is better than the rest but you sneak it onto your team to win the game.

Cultural terms can be difficult, i guess.

blockend · Dec 27, 2014

darinwc said:
"Canon's 17-40 f4L. But is shares equal-first sleeper place with the TS-E 24 f3.5L. My Pentax 67 MF system has myriad sleeper lenses -- very difficult to settle on one stellar performer over others... "

-How are any of Canon's L series a sleeper? They are expensive, built to be better than other lenses, and have the reputation as such. A 'sleeper' is one that is great but no one knows about. Maybe confusing with 'ringer' which is that one that everyone knows is better than the rest but you sneak it onto your team to win the game.

Cultural terms can be difficult, i guess.

These threads always disintegrate into my-favourite-lens debates, with names like Zeiss, Leitz and Angenieux bandied about as "sleepers". I assume we're talking about lenses that can be bought on ebay for £150, often under £100 and sometimes for less than £50. A Canon L lens rarely qualifies.

macfred · Dec 27, 2014

narsuitus said:
Nikon 75-150mm Series E Zoom f/3.5 AIS

This low-cost lens produces great images

I second that !! Like it very much on my old Nikon FM.

AllanD · Dec 27, 2014

Bargain lenses that are surprisingly good:

Chinon 50/1.9. Mine is the PK version.
Chinon 50/1.4. Again, PK mount. As good as my Pentax 1.7s, but a 1.4. However, mine had sticky aperture blades. I got mine with a Chinon CE4s, a sleeper camera if ever there was such a thing, all for £10.
Helios 50/2.0. This was an old 39mm mount version with 8 aperture blades. Awkward to use, but worth the £2 it cost me.
Pentax M 35/70 F2.8/3.5. I was pleasantly surprised by this lens, for a zoom, although the edges can be iffy. It is 2.8 nearly all the way through.

Special mention:
Not a sleeper, or particularly a recommendation, but if someone wants a dabble with super wide angle on 35mm, the budget choices are limited and prices have been forced up. This lenses failings are well documented, and allowance has to be made for above average distortion and definition fall off at the edges. Being manual focus, it is of little interest to digital users, so prices are low. If it is left at 18mm/F8, it can render surprisingly good images. The lens - the Samyang 18-28 F4.0/4.5 (you can stop laughing now). Tape the focus at the hyperfocal point, the zoom ring to 18mm and keep it set to F8, then go and have some wide angle fun!

http://www.lensporn.net/2011/12/review-samyang-18-28mm-f4-45.html

Mick Fagan · Dec 27, 2014

blockend said:
These threads always disintegrate into my-favourite-lens debates, with names like Zeiss, Leitz and Angenieux bandied about as "sleepers". I assume we're talking about lenses that can be bought on ebay for £150, often under £100 and sometimes for less than £50. A Canon L lens rarely qualifies.

To me a sleeper lens is something that does something it isn't expected to do. Usually this means a cheap lens that is actually equal to, or better than, a hero lens of the same designation from a prime camera manufacturing company.

I have one outstanding sleeper lens. It's a Sigma Super Wide II f/2.8 24mm lens with a Nikon AIs mount. Uses 52mm filters, runs through to f22 and has half stop click stops, something no Nikkor lens does, as far as I know anyway.

The quality, whilst not equal too or better than Nikkor lenses, is nonetheless, extremely good to very very good. I actually bought this lens duty free just prior to leaving Australia, with the idea to use it on a European holiday then flog it when I got back home. The lens was so good I couldn't contemplate moving it along, plus, it was cheap as anything compared to anything Nikon, but more expensive than comparable after market manufacturers like Tamron.

Mick.

benjiboy · Dec 27, 2014

Mick Fagan said:
To me a sleeper lens is something that does something it isn't expected to do. Usually this means a cheap lens that is actually equal to, or better than, a hero lens of the same designation from a prime camera manufacturing company.

I have one outstanding sleeper lens. It's a Sigma Super Wide II f/2.8 24mm lens with a Nikon AIs mount. Uses 52mm filters, runs through to f22 and has half stop click stops, something no Nikkor lens does, as far as I know anyway.

The quality, whilst not equal too or better than Nikkor lenses, is nonetheless, extremely good to very very good. I actually bought this lens duty free just prior to leaving Australia, with the idea to use it on a European holiday then flog it when I got back home. The lens was so good I couldn't contemplate moving it along, plus, it was cheap as anything compared to anything Nikon, but more expensive than comparable after market manufacturers like Tamron.

Mick.

I have one of these lenses bought it for £25 ($39) mint boxed second hand with hood at my local pro dealer as a temporary measure until I could get a Canon FD one and intended give it to my niece when I did. As Mick writes it's a very good performer much better than I expected that I'm happy to keep and shoot with, and no longer want the Canon FD one.

hamradio · Dec 27, 2014

Mick Fagan said:
I have one outstanding sleeper lens. It's a Sigma Super Wide II f/2.8 24mm lens with a Nikon AIs mount. Uses 52mm filters, runs through to f22 and has half stop click stops, something no Nikkor lens does, as far as I know anyway.

I've used this one in Nikon F and Canon EF, and it is indeed a fantastic lens. I think my Canon-mount copy set me back $40. The AF is slow and sounds like an angry robot, but it's still a gem.

I'll toss another vote in for the Helios 44 58/2. I have two copies, and neither are particularly sharp wide open (that's putting it nicely), but the effect is very pleasant. They clean up well by f/4. Neither have great color rendition, but look very nice with b&w.

I got a screw mount Vivitar 50/1.8 with an m42 body. Threw it on a 5D and grabbed a few test shots before getting rid of it...surprisingly decent and well behaved for a super cheap piece of glass. No really remarkable characteristics, but it performed about the same as a Nikkor 50/2 Ai that I compared against it.

Black Dog · Dec 27, 2014

SMC Pentax-M 135 mm...tiny and cost practically nothing thanks to all those zooms!

ME Super · Dec 27, 2014

I feel the same about my Pentax M 50mm f/2. Got it on the ME Super back in 1988. Small lens and good quality. Faster than those zooms too!

astroclimb · Dec 27, 2014

Does the Nikkor 20-35/2.8 D count as a 'sleeper'? If not, well its a great lens no matter what.
,

darinwc · Dec 27, 2014

ME Super said:
I feel the same about my Pentax M 50mm f/2. Got it on the ME Super back in 1988. Small lens and good quality. Faster than those zooms too!

I have two of the 50mm f1.7s. Neither are as good as my Olympus or Nikon f1.8s. Do you like the f2 version better than the f1.7?

Pioneer · Dec 27, 2014

I too love the Pentax M 50/2. I have other 50mm lenses from other manufacturers that are both faster, and a LOT bigger, but no better. I also own the M 50/1.7 and 50/1.4 and I like them, but the 50/2 is one I have on the camera most of the time.

flavio81 · Dec 27, 2014

miha said:
Mamiya f/4.5 180mm SUPER.

But that one is well known and regarded as the best lens in the lineup...

flavio81 · Dec 27, 2014

Mick Fagan said:
I have one outstanding sleeper lens. It's a Sigma Super Wide II f/2.8 24mm lens with a Nikon AIs mount. Uses 52mm filters, runs through to f22 and has half stop click stops, something no Nikkor lens does, as far as I know anyway.

I also have this lens. It is very good indeed, and i will not sell it.

Poisson Du Jour · Dec 28, 2014

darinwc said:
"Canon's 17-40 f4L. But is shares equal-first sleeper place with the TS-E 24 f3.5L. My Pentax 67 MF system has myriad sleeper lenses -- very difficult to settle on one stellar performer over others... "

-How are any of Canon's L series a sleeper? They are expensive, built to be better than other lenses, and have the reputation as such. A 'sleeper' is one that is great but no one knows about. Maybe confusing with 'ringer' which is that one that everyone knows is better than the rest but you sneak it onto your team to win the game.

Cultural terms can be difficult, i guess.

You might be surprised how many digital photographers are NOT aware of the best lenses in Canon's line up. A lot of people actually see me out there and remark, "gee, I've never seen a Canon lens like that..." (e.g. the TS-E 24mm). BTW, any L-series lens was way more expensive in 2004 than they are now. People take a while to cotton-on to quality...

Russ - SVP · Dec 28, 2014

That's a Cosina built lens. And not a bad one.

Russ - SVP · Dec 28, 2014

snapguy said:
I am stunned by the quality of the images I get from my 19mm f3.5 Vivitar wide angle.

That's a Cosina built lens, and a pretty decent one at that.

Russ - SVP · Dec 28, 2014

benjiboy said:
Tamron SP 17mm f3.5 the best rectilinear ultra-wide angle I have ever used, lenses of this type are very difficult to manufacture.

I'll have to take mine out more often.

What is your best "sleeper lens"?

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