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About Vintage Camera Lenses

Home
Adapter guide
Lenses
Cameras
Shutter-chatter
About Vintage Camera Lenses

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Vintage Camera Lenses

Vintage Photography from Analog to Zeiss

Cameras

Overview of camera related articles:

Leica

M39 screwmount Leicas:

Leica I Model A
Leica I Model C
Leica II Model D
Leica II Model F
Leica III A Model G
Leica III B
Leica I C
Leica III C
Leica II F
Leica III F
Leica III G
- Leica M39 screwmount cameras FAQ

Voigtländer

Voigtländer Prominent 6X9 folding camera

Zeiss Ikon

Piccolette Contessa-Nettel

Other camera related posts:

A brief history of camera cases & the best modern bags
Classic camera straps

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vintagecameralenses

What shooting combination did you use over the fes

What shooting combination did you use over the festive season❄️? Mine was a #leicam6 with the first version of the #summicron35. Although the camera and the lens saw the light of day decades apart they work (and look) like they were always meant for each other. The retrospective compatibility is one of the beautiful aspects of the #leica experience. The #summicron35mm is a beauty of a lens. Review on the website!

Help #VintageCameralenses: Someone was kind enough

Help #VintageCameralenses: Someone was kind enough to send me this picture of the the first version of the #Leitz #elmarit135mmf28 for #LeicaR (review is on the website!). You too can help! Write a #lensreview of your favourite #classiclens, send me some pictures of lenses I dont have pics of or showcase your videos you shot with a specific #vintagelens. Any help is welcome! This is a one man show and free time becomes more and more sparse!

Unsung hero! The #planar50mm17 is often overlooked

Unsung hero! The #planar50mm17 is often overlooked but it should not be! #niftyfifty

🤓 oh yeah you read that correctly: 135mm 1.8 💥 New lens review - link in bio! Anyone else got this lens that was branded in a myriad of ways including Admiral, Sun, Spiratone, Soligor etc?

We also have a review of this unsung hero over on

We also have a review of this unsung hero over on the website (link in bio): The Pentax Takumar 35mm 3.5. Takumars are great and totally underrated! What do you think?

New lens review of the #prakticar50mmf14 from #car

New lens review of the #prakticar50mmf14 from #carlzeissjena. Link in bio!

My rather battered #widelux model F V. This was th

My rather battered #widelux model F V. This was their first version if I am not mistaken. The lens rotates when you take a picture on 35mm film and you get a super wide angle of view of 140 degrees. #panon camera shoko, the company that made these in Japan made a few more versions after these but they don’t exist anymore (I think?). The framing is more of a guesstimation as the viewfinder is not accurate. Still a very fun and obscure camera to use.

Do you know what they say about men with big lense

Do you know what they say about men with big lenses??
The #admirallens #135mmf18 is a beast I have never seen or heard about until very recently. Couldn’t resist buying it for 60 euros. This one comes in #nikonf mount. It will obviously be reviewed on the website. Does anyone have this lens? What are your thoughts? Any infos you might have are also welcome as I have not seen much background about this huge 135 mm lens!

The #helios44 is one of the lenses I always recomm

The #helios44 is one of the lenses I always recommend to people who want to start using vintage lenses - especially if they are based in Europe. The #Helios are affordable, fun, easy to use lenses that are famous for their swirling bokeh. All these lenses are based on the #CarlZeissBiotar lens formula and are technically a Soviet copy of the #Biotar58. There are different versions of the 58mm Helios lenses - this particular model is the last version: #helios44_3

Working on a new lens review of the #summicronr50f

Working on a new lens review of the #summicronr50f2 in the Alps. A lovely allrounder lens!

The #Distagon 25mm is a great #CarlZeiss wideangle

The #Distagon 25mm is a great #CarlZeiss wideangle lens that has been manufactured for decades for various camera types. This is probably the most affordable version of the #distagon25mm 2.8 in #rolleiqbm mount. A full review is over in the website!

New lens review (link in description) of the fancy

New lens review (link in description) of the fancy #leicasummilux 35mm 1.4. The big brother of the #summicron35

My sister recently opened a Hotel & Restaurant (pe

My sister recently opened a Hotel & Restaurant (perfect timing, I know!). I already know that my #flektogon20mmf2_8 will be in full swing for their interior shots for their website. Any tips & ideas for interior shots of hotels, bars and restaurants?

My next review will be about this little puppy. A

My next review will be about this little puppy. A lens I never actively seeked to own, but which simply found its' way towards me in a bundle with other things. Well, worst things can happen...

I always wanted to get my hands on one of these bu

I always wanted to get my hands on one of these but it never really materialized (literally). the #Ernemann #Anastigmat #Ernostar 10cm f2. The optical designer Ludwig Bertele made many groundbreaking designs including this super fast lens that was released in 1923 (!!) for the #Ermanox cameras. Folks: an f2 100mm....100 years ago 🤯

I could not believe the price evolution the #summi

I could not believe the price evolution the #summicron40mm went through. I rarely buy glass nowadays but when I did, 10 years ago - the #summicron40 was always smeared at by #Leica aficionados. "It's not a real #Leitz lens" they would proclaim. That is because this lens was made with #Minolta. I always thought it was a great lens - as is the #LeicaCL. Small, compact, easy to use, with a beautiful rendition of colours and contrast. What more do you want? Back in the day you could find a CL with the Summicron 40 mm lens for 200 Euros, sometimes 300 when mint. Now prices have doubled or tippled. Maybe if you get the Minolta branded version it might be cheaper?

The original #voigtlander Prominent. The first cam

The original #voigtlander Prominent. The first camera with an integrated #lightmeter - very hot stuff in the 1930ies. The Prominent is a marvelous folding camera that was released in 1933 for 120 #rollfilm in 6X9 and 4.5X6. Besides the groundbreaking lightmeter it also had another neat feature: it unfolded automatically when you pressed a button, very sexy! No wonder #Voigtländer reused the #Prominent name when they launched the classic 35mm rangefinder camera: The Voigtländer Prominent of the 1950ies.

Bought this one years ago online when you were sti

Bought this one years ago online when you were still able to score oddities at low prices. I remember browsing through ebay looking for some Zeiss glass - it must have been about 10 years ago. Suddenly this weird little lens popped up. I had never heard of it. It did not mention the mount. But I thought that a 25mm lens at f4 must be either something rare or interesting. I bid 150 Euros out of a total gut feeling because the auction literally ended minutes after I found it. 3-2-1...it ended at 147 Euros. I kind of regretted it immediately. I was actually cursing myself: why did you just spend so much on a lens you know nothing about. What an idiot I thought I was: as far as I knew this could be a C mount lens worth nothing. I did a quick Google serach after winning the auction: nothing. No information whatsoever. I felt like a fool but paid anyway, the lens arrived a few days later. It was in good nick, surprisingly light and had tiny optics. Still, I had no idea what this thing was. I went to a camera repair shop in Berlin where I lived at that time - they know their Zeiss stuff: he said he did not know either. Only later I found out it is a Contax RF mount lens using the external mount mechanism. Also: it turns out Zeiss only made 300. My gut feeling wasnt that bad after all: it brought me one of the rarest lenses I own - and for those interested sample shots and the review is on the website!

Another one of these lens families that does not g

Another one of these lens families that does not get much credit, but they should: the lenses made for the #Rolleiflex #SL35 camera system - the last German made SLR. These lenses used the #RolleiQBM mount. They are not super common to come across as these cameras were not a smashing success. But they were very well made and are excellent optics. I personally also like the sleak design of the camera very much - it handles very well. A system worth looking into!

Much rarer than the #carlzeissbiometar80 for #Pen

Much rarer than the #carlzeissbiometar80 for #Pentaconsix is the #biometar80mm for 35mm film format. These lenses were made for #Praktina, #Exakta and #M42 mount. Marvelous little gems! The #lensreview is over on the website!

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Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 2/58
M42 / Pentax mount adapter
Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50mm 1.8
Pentacon 135 2.8
Helios 44 58mm f2 lens review
Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm 2.4

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1.8 2.8 35mm 50mm 135mm adapter Biotar bokeh camera Canon EOS Carl Zeiss Contax exa exakta Flektogon Jena Leica Leica III Leica M leitz lens lsm M39 M42 Meyer-Optik mft Nikon Oberkochen PB mount Pentacon Pentax Pentax K pk mount Praktica B praktina prime screwmount Sony-NEX Takumar tele voigtländer West Germany wide-angle Zeiss Zeiss Ikon

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