What's your fantasy lens?

holmburgers · Sep 20, 2010

If you could have any lens made to your specifications, what would it be?

CAVEAT: It cannot be a real lens, and you must justify its use. Maybe Carl Zeiss is out there listening.....

For me, I hate zooms, but one zoom that I could get behind is a 40-60mm f1.5. The 1.5 is arbitrary, but I somehow like that number and don't want to be asking too much! I could live with f2.

Although it's a limited range, my thinking is that often times I just need some "tweaking" in that range and perhaps a shorter zoom range would permit the big maximum aperture. But then again, I know nothing about lens design.

Whaddya got?!

dnjl · Sep 20, 2010

I'd like to see Canon remake the legendary (I've never seen one, have you?) 50mm f/1.0 with decent optics. Don't think that's technically possible though

perkeleellinen · Sep 20, 2010

16mm f1.4 fisheye which would be great in lower light.

Dennis S · Sep 20, 2010

waltereegho said:
I'd like to see Canon remake the legendary (I've never seen one, have you?) 50mm f/1.0 with decent optics. Don't think that's technically possible though

I have a Canon 55mm f/1.2 FL lens that is on my T90 95% of the time. It has a great bokeh

Vaughn · Sep 20, 2010

A 150 to 600mm zoom for 8x10. Must fit on a Copol 0 or 1 shutter, f5.6

But I belately realized that this was the 35mm forum...sorry. Still would love a lens like that! LOL!

vaughn

removed account4 · Sep 20, 2010

i would love to have a simple meniscus to shoot portraits with ...
80 or 100mm would be just fine ... for either a leica m3 or a pentax
im not too choosy ... i thought about the lensbaby with the new locking mount
and their soft/portrait lens ( and sink strainer fstops ) kind of like their
take on the imagon ...... but thats too hi-tech

holmburgers · Sep 20, 2010

Vaughn said:
A 150 to 600mm zoom for 8x10. Must fit on a Copol 0 or 1 shutter, f5.6

But I belately realized that this was the 35mm forum...sorry. Still would love a lens like that! LOL!

vaughn

quite alright!

sepiareverb · Sep 20, 2010

A Leica 28/1.4 lens that was the same size as my 28/2.0 Leica one.

Thomas Bertilsson · Sep 20, 2010

The one that I know inside and out.

bblhed · Sep 20, 2010

Hell Fantasy lens, this one is easy for me, i'm going all out.

From or for Nikon F mount, in my fantasy Nikon would make it and sell me one for $20, if you have a problem with that remember this is my Fantasy, in your fantasy you can pay whatever you want to for a lens, my fantasy has money left over for a trip to shoot with the lens as well. *L*

I want an 18-200mm zoom with detentes at the "classic" prime sizes (24, 35, 50, 75, 105, 135) and the ability to stop down to to at least f/1.8 (maybe larger) up to 50mm, and f/2.5 at 105mm. Also it would be able to act like the primes that the detentes are set at, boke, sharpness, and color of a 50mm, sharpness and color of a 105mm and so on. My lens would be light, under a kilo and a half, and it would have the ability to auto focus built into the lens for fast moving objects and when I am being lazy, the auto focus would somehow look back through the viewfinder at my eye so it will focus on what I am looking at, not some other random object. I would be able to adjust the stop on my lens with one finger. Finally it would have a level built into it so I stop taking photos with crooked horizons in them.

My justification is that I want it *L*, no actually I would want a lens like this because I like to travel and hike a lot and it would be nice to be able to take less glass and still get great photos.

Sadly that would be a really nice lens to have, but about all it will do is allow me to carry only that one lens, it wouldn't make me a better photographer, maybe it will come with a few lessons on composition and how to frame a better photo.

Late Edit

The lens would be FREE, fantasy remember!

marylandphoto · Sep 20, 2010

A 14-400mm zoom lens with zero distortion, zero vignetting, and zero color shift. Mountable on FD. :devil:

Jesper · Sep 20, 2010

Imagine a very short wide angle lens (15mm or so) where the image angle didn't start in the lens but instead started some 10 meters in front of it .
You would be standing 10 meters away and get a picture as if the camera was positioned almost inside the picture.

I am certain that it can be done with the creative use of a few black holes.
(Actually I often dream of a lens like that).

holmburgers · Sep 20, 2010

Jesper said:
Imagine a very short wide angle lens (15mm or so) where the image angle didn't start in the lens but instead started some 10 meters in front of it .
You would be standing 10 meters away and get a picture as if the camera was positioned almost inside the picture.

I am certain that it can be done with the creative use of a few black holes.
(Actually I often dream of a lens like that).

:alien:

fotch · Sep 20, 2010

Nikon 8mm f/2.8 AI-s Fisheye. My dream lens.

keithwms · Sep 20, 2010

holmburgers said:
If you could have any lens made to your specifications, what would it be?

I'd like a pinhole with an adjustable diameter hole- you turn a micrometer and get a perfectly circular hole. I think I know how to do it but don't have the shop time nor the funds to make it happen.

I have also thought about putting together a medium format lensbaby that can cover 6x8.

I'd also like just about all of my lenses to have drop-in filters.

I do wish my rz 110/2.8 were more like a 150/2.8, but oh well...

2F/2F · Sep 20, 2010

Tough choice! I am torn...

I'd probably say a lens for 35mm format – 135mm f/1.4 with Image Stabilization that is for Nikon F or Canon FD. It is one of my favorite FLs, but lack of speed combined with the need for a fast shutter speed can make it difficult to use in low light.

Of course, for that to be very usable, I'd also like better focusing screens for both cameras. I want ones that show D of F that accurately represents what will end up on the negative. The ones on there show the D of F of approximately f/2.0.

There are many dream lenses, but this is probably the one that would open up the most photographic opportunity for me, given what I shoot.

Another dream would be if the 210 RZ APO lens was a 2.8 lens.

I guess I am a fan of fast long lenses.

yeknom02 · Sep 20, 2010

a 50-300mm f/1.2-f/1.8 zoom. Both in EF and FD Canon mounts.

keithwms · Sep 20, 2010

2F/2F said:
Another dream would be if the 210 RZ APO lens was a 2.8 lens.

Well there is the 645 apo 200/2.8, which you can affix to your rz... it'll probably cover a bit past 645, or 6x7 if you close focus

2F/2F · Sep 20, 2010

keithwms said:
Well there is the 645 apo 200/2.8, which you can affix to your rz... it'll probably cover a bit past 645, or 6x7 if you close focus

That lens is definitely on my "short list," but still very expensive for one hunk of glass. I am not sure what utility and quality it will provide me on the RZ, though. I want a lens that can focus at a variety of distances, not just up close.

Is there an M645 to RZ adapter, for close focus pix?

Sirius Glass · Sep 20, 2010

An array of Hasselblad lenses that are the same physical strength of the present lenses but each one weighing under 4 ounces or 100 grams.

Steve

bdial · Sep 20, 2010

I'd like to see Canon remake the legendary (I've never seen one, have you?) 50mm f/1.0 with decent optics. Don't think that's technically possible though

I have an f/0.87 76mm lens, but the focus is about 10 mm from the rear element.

I can think of a number of fantasy lenses, but one choice would be a f/1.4 100mm Hasselblad lens, light enough to actually lift.

keithwms · Sep 20, 2010

2F/2F said:
That lens is definitely on my "short list," but still very expensive for one hunk of glass. I am not sure what utility and quality it will provide me on the RZ, though. I want a lens that can focus at a variety of distances, not just up close.

Is there an M645 to RZ adapter, for close focus pix?

I can do a test if you wish. The 200 is one of my very favouritest lenses, it has sweet colour rendition. Price be damned, I got mine for way less than a Nikon 200/2 Ghetto adapter: take a rear lens cap and glue that to an rz body cap, drill out an opening and voila. But yeah, I was (partially) kidding...you can only focus out to a meter or so on the rz body, so you'll probably want to use the 200/2.8 on a 645 body. I do use the 200/2.8 on my nikon though, it is good for that. I simply picked up a little adapter on ebay.

N.b. the RB 210 KL apo is one of the finest lenses I have ever beheld. Amazing piece and priced right. Right at home on an rz too. I guess I'd rather keep those two extra stops in my bank account, even if a 210/2.8 did exist!

keithwms · Sep 20, 2010

P.S. Now here is a nutty thought. If you take the last 2 or 3 inches off the 200/2.8 and remove the helical focusing part, the remaining lens would probably cover 6x7 quite well. The main problem adapting it is simply the flange-film distance of the rb/rz. Hmm...

arpinum · Sep 20, 2010

In a sensible world, an 80/2.8 for the Mamiya 7.
In a not so sensible world, my eye hooked up to some fiber optic cables.

j-dogg · Sep 20, 2010

The only problem with this thread is I already own one of my fantasy lenses, I had wanted a lens with ridiculous zoom range like 18-300 and found out that Tamron actually makes an 18-270 for EOS and Nikon mount, so I bought one.

But if I could have any lens made to my specifications, I want a 400mm 2.8L, which Canon actually makes, but I want one made of carbon fiber.

A side piece, if I could have a fantasy body (other than Scarlett Johannson) it would be a digital back for my Nikkormat FTN, kind of like the DMB Leica back for the M9. Or any of the 35mm Nikons from the 80's converted to digital, they were so stylish.

What's your fantasy lens?

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