28mm and 35mm are very common focal lengths in the olden days. Partly because these are comfortable focal lengths for most people. Anything wider and it becomes difficult to control. Also, they are relatively easy and cheap to make, for most of them.
For the 28mm, my favourite is the Leica-R 28mm f2.8 Elmarit. As with all Leica lenses, it's very well made. The only concern I have with this lens, is that one version of it has the pins on the lens where the hood attaches to, and these two pins are easy to become loose and comes off with use. I had one like that, and the hood can no longer be attached. The do not remove the hood on the one I have now. The lens is optically very good and I love the colours from this lens. The only complain about it is the pretty severe vignette wide open. The other favourite 28mm is the Pentax original K-Mount 28mm f3.5, whose design was derived from the famous and popular Takumar 28mm f3.5. Compact and sharp, and focuses so smoothly that in itself, is a joy.
The 35mm focal length is a bit tough, simply because I have so many of them and I also like many of them. I wrote about them here before, and I will reuse the picture below:
Fast 35s
My favourite is still the Leica-R 35mm f2. This is a lens that never fails me in giving me pictures that I like. The colour and contrast of this lens is so pleasing to my eyes. The other 35mm lenses I like a lot is the Minolta MC 35mm f1.8 and the Olympus 35mm f2, in that order. I kind of regretted selling the MC 35mm f1.8. Really should have kept it. In the list above, I still have all of them except the Nikon 35mm f1.4. I got rid of it since I didn't like it much. The first lens on the list is the Takumar SMC 35mm f2 which I traded for the OM 35mm f2 from Adam. I like the OM better than the Tak, although the Takumar 35/2 is harder to find.
There are so many fine lenses in the 28mm and 35mm that are very good. If you just started with manual focus lenses, I would suggest something cheap, like a Vivitar, Soligor, Minolta or even some less known third party marque like Makinon, which sells next to nothing, but many of them are surprisingly good.
Thanks for a very informative and oft updated blog, my daily refresh is often rewarded with (always) interesting new content.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever tried RE Auto-Topcor lenses? I'm a big fan and of my current collection the 35mm f/2.8 really shines, especially for its close focus ability. The 58mm f/1.4 is a jewel also, though the f/1.8 is not far behind and half the size. I'm missing the (pricier) wides and rare 85mm, but all seem to have a good rep, yet little publicity.
Steve: I don't believe I have any Topcor lenses. They are not very common and are hard to come by. I do believe they use the Exaktar mount, no?
DeleteLB: Yes Exakta mount, well a slight variation of. They adapt very easily to Sony Nex via any standard Exakta adapter, but due to an extra pin EOS mounts must have a specific Topcor cutout. Most 'Exakta/Topcor' labelled EOS mounts do not have the cutout and do not work.
DeleteIn Europe and Asia/Japan (strangely) Topcor are reasonably uncommon and expensive, when available, but I have found the US to have a good steady supply at quite reasonable prices. US auctions often end at 1/3 - 1/2 the typical global Buy It Know prices. Topcon cameras were quite popular in the US in the 60's, both under the Topcon name and rebranded as Beseler. They were also selected over more mainstream names as the camera of choice for the US navy for a period.
RE Auto-Topcors or Topcor GN (multicoated) are the ones to look for. UV, Unirex and plain Auto Topcor were later budget ranges and nowhere near the high standard of the RE or GN models. There was a very limited edition Nikon mount version of the 58/1.4 that now goes for up to $2k and the Cosina made Voigtlander Nokton 58mm f/1.4 was said (by Cosina themselves) to be heavily inspired by the RE 58/1.4, but the optical formula is said to be different.
They are beautifully built lenses, perhaps superior even to Takumar in overall quality and definitely worth seeking out if you have any spare room on that shelf.
@Steve: Thanks for the information on Topcor. I lied yesterday that I don't have any Topcor lens. I actually have one sitting on my desk for many months. It's a UV Topcor 35mm f3.5, but it's not the Exaktar mount, but one with aperture control on the body of the camera, similar to the Kodak DKL mount. The lens is in excellent condition, but I doubt there is any adapters out there for it. Now that you provided such valuable information, I will keep my eyes open for them in the next camera show. Thanks again!
Delete@LB: No problem :) Just a quick correction to my earlier info, 'RE Topcor' is one of the budget Topcor ranges to avoid (cheap Cosina based models) rather than the plain 'Auto-Topcors' I mentioned (which don't exist). 'RE Auto-Topcors' are the ones to go for...
DeleteWow, that's an impressive collection of 35s! I hope one day I can have a fast one like that.
ReplyDeleteI love your blog, keep it up! :D
So no FD lens neither in 24 or 35?
ReplyDeleteI used the FD 24mm f2.8 briefly and didn't like it much. I read that the 24mm f2.0 is much better, but I don't have access to one. The FD 35mm f2 is pretty good, but I like the others better.
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