Which SLR camera system carries your favorite lenses and why?

I've actually had only okay results scanning negatives from my Minolta A-Mount series lenses (Minolta AF 50mm F1/4 New, Minolta AF 28mm F/2 New and my third party lens: Tamron SP 35mm f/1.8 Di USD (a much more modern lens) that I use with my Minolta Maxxum/Dynax/a-7. I use my Sony a7R IV exclusively for scanning my film negatives, which usually provides phenomenal results for my medium format negatives (particularly using my Sony a7R IV's 16-shot 240mp pixel shift mode with my Voigtlander MACRO APO-LANTHAR 110mm f/2.5). With this setup, I'm mirrorlessly scanning all my Minolta Maxxum-Dynax/a-7 negatives typically with okay results, but while I've had semi-okay to okay results scanning my, say Fuji 400, negatives taken with my Minolta Maxxum/Dynax/a-7 utilizing my Sony a7R IV w/240mp pixel shift/Voigtlander MACRO APO-LANTHAR 110mm f/2.5, the images are just ok, but not great. The scanned images are a bit too soft. I have this nagging feeling that the autofocus on my Minolta Maxxum/Dynax/a-7 is a bit off. It's always a pain to refocus manually without there being any focust assist (split image/microprism) on the focusing screen. Minolta never made any focusing screens for the Minolta Maxxum/Dynax/a-7 that has any focus assist like a split image and/or microprism.

It's making me consider selling my entire Minolta Maxxum/Dynax/a-7 set and jumping to the another camera system, but I'm not sure which one.

I already know you guys are tired of being asked which lens brands are the 'sharpest.' While that's just one component, I'm also interested in the lens's other features like contrast or issues like vignetting, or even sharpness across the frame at all apertures.

That said, which SLR lens ecosystem would you consider to be the best - for any reasons, including sharpness across frame at all apertures, contrast, character, durability etc.? Of note, I think I'd be looking for my classic 4-lens arrangement like a 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm.

Anyway, thank you guys ahead of time so, SO much!!!

Canon EOS, unlike Minolta A, all full frame F mount lens including VR will work on any of the full frame bodies. I am very heavy invested in Minolta and Sony A mount, so for me it is a bit of buyers regret. I would go with a EOS 1N, 50, 28, and 85mm. Only issue that I have read over the years is as a micro motor driven lens, AF on early kit zooms lens can be slow. Other option is Pentax, stay away from entry level AF bodies, stick with a PZ or MZ bodies, again same set of lens.

manfrominternet said:

I've actually had only okay results scanning negatives from my Minolta A-Mount series lenses (Minolta AF 50mm F1/4 New, Minolta AF 28mm F/2 New and my third party lens: Tamron SP 35mm f/1.8 Di USD (a much more modern lens) that I use with my Minolta Maxxum/Dynax/a-7. I use my Sony a7R IV exclusively for scanning my film negatives, which usually provides phenomenal results for my medium format negatives (particularly using my Sony a7R IV's 16-shot 240mp pixel shift mode with my Voigtlander MACRO APO-LANTHAR 110mm f/2.5). With this setup, I'm mirrorlessly scanning all my Minolta Maxxum-Dynax/a-7 negatives typically with okay results, but while I've had semi-okay to okay results scanning my, say Fuji 400, negatives taken with my Minolta Maxxum/Dynax/a-7 utilizing my Sony a7R IV w/240mp pixel shift/Voigtlander MACRO APO-LANTHAR 110mm f/2.5, the images are just ok, but not great. The scanned images are a bit too soft. I have this nagging feeling that the autofocus on my Minolta Maxxum/Dynax/a-7 is a bit off. It's always a pain to refocus manually without there being any focust assist (split image/microprism) on the focusing screen. Minolta never made any focusing screens for the Minolta Maxxum/Dynax/a-7 that has any focus assist like a split image and/or microprism.

It's making me consider selling my entire Minolta Maxxum/Dynax/a-7 set and jumping to the another camera system, but I'm not sure which one.

I already know you guys are tired of being asked which lens brands are the 'sharpest.' While that's just one component, I'm also interested in the lens's other features like contrast or issues like vignetting, or even sharpness across the frame at all apertures.

That said, which SLR lens ecosystem would you consider to be the best - for any reasons, including sharpness across frame at all apertures, contrast, character, durability etc.? Of note, I think I'd be looking for my classic 4-lens arrangement like a 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm.

Anyway, thank you guys ahead of time so, SO much!!!

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I had issues with autofocus on A7 before I started back focus. the 50mm F1.4 I used I taught is not focusing correctly

Exakta and M42 systems are my favorites. I like the older German lenses, as well as some Japanese that come especially in M42.

I prefer the Nikon AF 35mm SLR cameras. I have the N75, N80 and F100 bodies, three AF Zoom lenses, a 28mm PC lens and assorted wide angle lenses from 16mm to 35mm.

I love the Nikon Ai and Ai-S prime lenses. They stand up favorably to current production primes and are built like tanks. They are also largely a great deal right now as people move toward digital and the lighter, plastic autofocusing lenses.

I shoot with Nikons and Nikkors exclusively.

You can should test whether the focusing is accurate or not before you question the while system. It could also well be that your scanning lens doesn't work well at 1:1 magnification or you're stopping it down too far.

I would "argue" that the brand is almost meaningless..

Much more important is that you like the way the gear fits you.
And........do you have or can you buy a
24mm - 28mm
35mm - 50mm
85mm -105mm

IME the photographer's eye is the biggest, limiting factor, in what creates a "good photograph".

What accounts for "good" guitar tone.?
Is it a $7,000.00 Custom Shop Fender................or the fact that it is in the hands of.....
Martin Barre
Jimi Hendrix
Bonnie Raitt

Sirius Glass said:

I prefer the Nikon AF 35mm SLR cameras. I have the N75, N80 and F100 bodies, three AF Zoom lenses, a 28mm PC lens and assorted wide angle lenses from 16mm to 35mm.

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More specifically Nikon 20mm to 35mm AF zoom lens, Nikon 28mm to 200mm AF zoom lens, Tamron 28mm to 300mm AF zoom lens, Nikon 16mm Fisheye lens, Nikon 28mm PC lens, but the favorite lens is the lens that I need at the time I start composing the photograph.

Favorite? Nikon Ai and Ai-s Nikkors

Best? Don't know, don't care.
If I'm not satisfied with a photo I made with a Nikkor lens, it's not the fault of the lens.

Nikon F mount. Somehow managed to acquire around 40 Nikkor's from Pre AI to AF-G.

In terms of keeping your A system, you could upgrade to a Minolta 9, it will take time to find a 9 that has been factory upgraded to work with SSM lens. For a split screen or microprism focusing screen: I salvaged a spit screen from a Miranda and cut it to size to fit a Pentax SF1N to use with non AF K and M42 lens. I have a 9 that has not been upgraded, it is a heavy monster, stainless steal, weather sealed, the predictive AF like the 7 is pretty good. To lighten the load I will take off the vertical grip and use the CR3 batteries. I tend to use the 7 when using my few SSM lens, otherwise the 9, 800SI or 9XI.

grain elevator said:

You can should test whether the focusing is accurate or not before you question the while system. It could also well be that your scanning lens doesn't work well at 1:1 magnification or you're stopping it down too far.

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I think this comment is spot on: Sounds your problem is not the lens system, but the scanning approach. Check your photos with a 10x loupe. Are they sharp? Or send it to a drum scan service. In my view most films beside slide film or Adox CMS20 don’t have the potential to bring prime lenses to their resolution limits. I can’t see a real difference in my negatives coming from Pentax, Zeiss, Sigma, Nikon, Voigtländer or Leica prime lenses. Maybe in slide projection with Provia/Ektachrome slides…but even here this has no real relevance.

For me, Pentax K-mount system is great for me, mainly due to that a large chunk of Kmount manual & AF lenses (with a aperture ring) out there (even 3rd party ones) from 1975 to early 2000's, will work fine on my Pentax MZS & Kalimar K-90 TTL1000 (3rd party kmount manual body) without any compatability* isssues.

*The small list of lenses that wont work on them are ones without a aperture ring (lenses made from ~2007 onward), Ricoh "K/R"-lenses from the 80's/90's that have the "Ricoh pin" that get stuck/causes issues.

Edit: forgot to add, have in total 3 K-mount lenses. The two main lenses I use is a Tamron 28-75mm f2.8, and recently got a Tokina 19-35mm f3.5-4.5 lens. The 3rd lens is a Sigma 50mm f2.8 DG Macro, got it mainly to use for when I (eventually) digitize my film.

Nikon F mount both manual focus and auto focus. Have used Pentax screw mount, K mount. Canon FD, Minolta SR, Minolta A, Olympus OM. Never used Canon EF.

Pentax fits me perfectly. I use M42 mount and K mount lenses whenever I get the urge.

Over the past couple of years I have really enjoyed using the Pentax Limited lenses on my K1000 and LX. Even though they are autofocus lenses they seem to work perfectly well with manual focus as well.. I think those lenses are my favorite SLR lenses of all time though the K-mount Voigtlanders have wormed their way into my lens rotation quite a bit lately as well.

grain elevator said:

You can should test whether the focusing is accurate or not before you question the while system. It could also well be that your scanning lens doesn't work well at 1:1 magnification or you're stopping it down too far.

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I should have expounded on this a little further because it is a good point. Anyway, I’ve been using this same scanning setup for the last 3 years without any problems from my medium format and large format negatives using Negative Supply DSLR/mirrorless scanning gear/carriers, which keep the negatives/slides nicely flat. I did a lot of rigorous testing to get the best lens I could for my Sony a7R IV, using and returning a couple of lenses until I got to the Voigtlander 110mm Macro APO, which made my scanning setup as close to ideal as reasonably possible. Note that the Voigtlander 110mm Macro APO lens is manual focus only, with a very large throw to help you nail the focus. I recently bought a brand new Negative Supply 35mm film carrier and, as I did when I first scanned my medium format negs/slides, I did as much testing as I reasonably could.

Anyway, with my 35mm negatives from my Minolta Maxxum/Dynax lenses, I also, as just mentioned, did a lot of testing - changing the Voigtlander’s “scanning” lens’s f-stop, changing the distance between the Voigtlander lens and the 35mm negative, scanning many different negatives multiple times. After so much testing, I can only conclude that the autofocus on my Minolta Maxxum/Dynax 7 either just isn’t hitting the mark, seeming like it autofocuses in the area just before my target, or the lenses are just lackluster. On the negatives where I luckily nailed the focus, the images are still coming out soft. Of course I know I can’t compare 35mm negatives to medium format negatives, but I scanned a 645 negative as a control and it came out flawlessly.

While it’s obviously to those in the know that my medium format negatives should look better anyway, given the size of the negative, I did not expect the 35mm negs to be so soft and not very appealing to the eyes.

I’m really, really bummed out about it, but for my 35mm setup, I’ll likely either get a new Minolta body (perhaps the Maxxum/Dynax/a-9 or even the Maxxum/Dynax/a-7 again), or just move onto another system with “better” lenses, not that Minolta Maxxum/Dynax lenses are anything to scoff at (at least that’s what I hear).

Many people here mentioned that they really like their Nikon Nikkor lenses, so I might either get a Nikon F100, a Nikon F4, and (if I really spring for it) a Nikon F6, and go with Nikon glass as I think I should have originally done.

Alternatively, since I love night photography, I wonder if getting a manual focusing-only Pentax LX with its amazing -6.5 to 20 EV light meter that apparently works among the best for night photography, along with the well-known ‘Limited’ Pentax series lenses - SMC FA 31mm f/1.8, SMC FA 43mm f/1.9, and the SMC FA 77mm f/1.8 would be a better idea. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I’m open to anyone’s suggestion here.

manfrominternet said:

I’m open to anyone’s suggestion here.

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I recommend the F801s/N8008s or F90x/N90s (both with optional J type screen), and the early long barrel Nikkor 35mm f/2.8 Ai, late 50mm f/2 Ai and 105mm F/2.5 Ai lenses.

If you need a wideangle, the Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 Ai-S.

If you decide on Nikon, spring for the F6, it is still being serviced by Nikon, at least for the next few years. The F6 will work with most F mount lens the exception being the last E lens. With an adaptor F lens will work on Nikon Z mirrorless bodies.

Canon EOS.

Unless you're going for the top level Nikon and pro lenses the EOS system is the way to go. For manual sure, Nikon was the best but as autofocus goes nothing came close to EOS. You can grab an entry level Canon body and some mid level fast lenses and beat the pants off anything else.

I'm running a Rebel G with a 40 2.8 right now and it blazes past any of the Nikon stuff I own of similar range. And then once you move into the pro stuff like the L line, it just works with no fuss. On every EOS camera ever made. Not just the L stuff, even the plain ol' stand standard 28, 35, 50 etc...

EOS might be boring but it works with no fuss.

The thread title refers to "favorite" lenses, not necessarily the best lenses, so my favorite SLR system is is the Olympus OM-1 for the Zuiko lenses, for their small size and overall quality. I used the 24mm, 50mm macro and 100mm. Those three lenses and 2 bodies weighed less than many current digital lenses by themselves.

My feeling about trying to get max detail out of a 35mm system is:

- check the focus / focusing system. Such as, it is moderately easy to test between the alternatives that your system is front-focusing, back-focusing, or not-sharp-enough. Take photos of a subject angled obliquely to the camera (such as a fence or yardstick running from near to far), noting carefully the point you focused on, and examining the negative to see where the point of best focus is. If it's at the place you focused but you're still unhappy with the image, then it's not the focusing system.

- You can help the system out a lot by conservative imaging choices. Such as, name brand fixed focal length lenses in good condition (not dropped/crooked) shot at f/5.6-8 with a camera support. Virtually any lens like a 50/1.8 shot at f/5.6 should not be the limiting factor in your images.

manfrominternet said:

Many people here mentioned that they really like their Nikon Nikkor lenses

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A great deal of that is because that's all they've ever experienced. I'm not sold on most of the classic non-ai/ ai/ ais Nikkors in the 35-50 range, I find them both rather harsh in rendering and not spectacularly sharp. On the other hand, they built some AF-D/ AF-S lenses that are astonishingly good at balancing those. The Voigtlander 40/2 is an excellent modern lens, the classic 2nd version of the Leitz Summicron-R 35 renders very well, I'm not super sold on the Olympus 35/2 (though that might have been due to a Konica Hexar AF, which will run rings around most 35mm lenses in terms of sharpness) - though many other Zuikos are astounding - otherwise, Zeiss and Pentax may be worth your time. Or just dive into rangefinders...

And don't forget that a properly high res scan (like you are doing) will be quite brutally revealing of the shortcomings of a 35mm format lens, in much the same way as a 30x or more enlargement with an optimised enlarging lens.

manfrominternet said:

That said, which SLR lens ecosystem would you consider to be the best - for any reasons, including sharpness across frame at all apertures, contrast, character, durability etc.? Of note, I think I'd be looking for my classic 4-lens arrangement like a 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm.

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As for my favourite SLR lens ecosystem, I don't think it's generally the best - but I personally prefer C/Y Zeiss lenses, especially 35mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.4, 135mm f/2, 180mm f/2.8. From time to time also 35-135mm f/3.3-4.5.

Combined with Contax RTS II bodies they are very comfortable for available light, landscape and architecture.

I like the pictures' character, their colours and also how the lenses feel: massive and precise . It also seems to me that T* coating works very well.

Michael