What maybe happening is that these shows will eventually die, when all that's left are the large vendors. I have been making conscious efforts to skip the commercial vendors' tables, since they seldom have any good deals. If the shows ever end, that will be a very sad day.
I did spent more than I should have at today's show, as it usually happens. One of the items I bought was the Voigtlander Prominent with an Ultron 50mm f2 lens. I have been looking for this lens for a very long time, and I bought one today at a reasonable price, but the lens has separations in the rear elements. From experience, this hardly causes any issues with image quality, and I hope I am right about this one.
Voigtlander Prominent with Ultron 50mm f2
One good deal today was the RE Topcor 135mm f3.5 for $5. Every time I go to a camera show, I keep any eye open for the Topcor lenses, since Steve mentioned them in the comment section of this post. They are not very common here in Toronto as I don't see them often. I am happy to find another one for the collection for a low price. But his one has a modified EXA mount which won't fit the Exaktar adapters.
RE Topcor 135mm f3.5.
Found another Vivitar 2X Macro Teleconverter for $15. I have 6 or 7 of them now and I usually pick them up if they are under $20. I use them as focus helicoids for those lenses that don't have focus mechanism. In the What Was I Thinking Department, I bought a C-mount 75mm f1.4 lens, hoping it would at least be usable in APS-C sensor, but the image circle is rather small. Works well on the E-M5 though. I haven't used C-Mount lenses for a while, and I really don't understand why I bought it. Finally, a couple of broken rangefinder cameras that I will remove the lenses from. A Nikkorex Auto35 with a Nikkor-H 48mm f2, and a Minolta AL with 45mm f2 lens. Hopefully I will be able to make the lenses work.
No-Name (but 90% certain it's a Cosmicar) 75mm f1.4.
I have a Cosmicar 75mm f/1.4 that I rather like on M43. Not so sharp wide open, but still makes for nice wide open portraits of more aged subjects. :)
ReplyDeleteYes wide open at f1.4 lacks bite and contrast, but as you said, good for portraits of the aged :)
DeleteI am very keen to see how you will adapt the lenses from the broken rangefinder cameras. Personally I prefer to see a lens adapted to a digital body where the adapter is small/short instead of long one where the lens then sticks out dis-proportionally. I understand that the flange distance for a rangefinder is way shorter than a SLR. Some vintage lenses are rather small (if f2.8 or smaller max aperture) and when adapted to lets say a mirrorless digital look out of place. Small is beautiful :-)
ReplyDeleteThese rangefinder lenses are indeed very short on flange. At the moment, I don't have a helicoid that's capable of focusing them to infinity. I would either have to buy a larger diameter helicoid where the body of the lens can go inside, thus making the rear closer to the sensor, or buy a thinner helicoid. You can see the Minolta 45mm f2 here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lensbubbles/22316279635
DeleteI am confused: don't these rangefinder lenses have a focusing mechanism that is usable when adapted to digital?
DeleteI have seen one "transplant" where the flange distance whas just enough to be used on a Olympus M43, but utilized the focusing mechanism of the lens that came on a (from memory) Yashica 35GS
Many of these rangefinders have part of the focus mechanism built into the body. I am not skillful enough to reconstruct the focusing.
DeleteReally sad state of affairs with those camera shows :-(
ReplyDeleteBut look on the bright side: we don't have ANY shows over here in Germany...
I see you got another 50 for your collection - that makes it 124 *ggg*
all the best
mike
Mike, I am incurable, but that's OK. Secretly, I keep telling myself I don't have gear addiction, and I think I am slowly believing in myself :)
DeleteI too was at the "Big One" last Sunday and sadly it is no longer so Big, there were no young people who are interested and the dealers that are still alive are asking big bucks for tired old stuff. Needless to say I made many offers (and offended a few dealers) and did not connect. Nonetheless, I found a Zuiko lens that I have been looking for some time (100mm at $80), 3 trays of Kodachrome slides ($6 total) and some filters that will protect my digital lenses ($3 each).
ReplyDeleteSo, all in all, it was a productive outing.
Professor, I thought it was just me who thinks the prices of these old stuff have gone crazy. Sadly, it will get worse, to the point that I probably will stop going to these shows. Happy you found some good stuff.
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