Vintage lenses

[Alien 13]

19 minutes ago, Daf1983 said:

Thanks for your reply.

Which vintage lenses have you found are good for astro?

 

My best one was a 135mm f/3.5 minolta MD mount lens but upgraded to a Canon L lens.

The 135/200mm Takumars are good but modern lens technology means that for shorter focal lengths like 50mm or below the cheap nifty fifty or 40mm STM will win.

Alan

Edited October 10, 2020 by Alien 13

[Alien 13]

If you want to play the field then look in charity shops/market stalls etc and pick up various cheap samples of ideally M42 fit lenses even if they have issues (very cheap) and try them out, If you find one you realy like then you can then opt for a better condition one off e-bay or similar...mint condition examples are not cheap though, I paid well over £120 for my 50mm Takumar.

Alan

Edited October 10, 2020 by Alien 13

[happy-kat]

You do need fungus free and working aperture blades and focus ring. Dust inside the lenses is unlikely to be an issue or dents scratches on the lens outer.

Have a look in charity shops or friends and family who might have old gear in the loft. You only need one to get started.

[Daf1983]

Thanks again guys, I will definitley have a look in charity shops etc in hope of picking up a bargain!

[PeterCPC]

Have a look on ETSY and Rocky Cameras.

 

[Davey-T]

1 hour ago, PeterCPC said:

Have a look on ETSY and Rocky Cameras.

 

Was going to buy a lens from Rocky Cameras once but after reading all the complaints about him on Google  I changed my mind.

Dave

[Daf1983]

2 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

Was going to buy a lens from Rocky Cameras once but after reading all the complaints about him on Google  I changed my mind.

Dave

I just googled them, the reviews on trustpilot are a bit worrying😳

[PeterCPC]

I bought some vintage lenses from Rocky but that was several years ago. It was fine but maybe that has been problems more recently. I bought one on ETSY and had no problems at all. Another site I used was West Yorkshire Cameras but E Bay is probably the best place to look.

[Chris33benoit]

I am shopping for a 135mm myself these days.  I have the 50mm f1.8 prime and a 70-300mm f/5.6.  I found that a lower fstop is better (light wise) for images.  I wonder if the 135mm f2.8 (any brand) would be a chellenge.  Any thoughts anyone?  Thanks!

[Daf1983]

2 hours ago, Chris33benoit said:

I am shopping for a 135mm myself these days.  I have the 50mm f1.8 prime and a 70-300mm f/5.6.  I found that a lower fstop is better (light wise) for images.  I wonder if the 135mm f2.8 (any brand) would be a chellenge.  Any thoughts anyone?  Thanks!

I have been wondering the same. I have very little experience with camera lenses, but have done a bit of research online. From what I've read, the super takumar f3.5 is pretty decent wide open, whereas if you went for something faster and cheaper like a pentacon f2.8, you would have to stop that down a fair bit to have any decent images, and therefore defeats the object of getting a faster lens.

There is a super takumer f2.5, but it's much more expensive and harder to get hold of.

I still haven't made a purchase yet, but it's my birthday next month, so my dear wife has promised me a new lens for the occasion😁

At the moment, I'm set on either the super takumar f3.5 or a carl zeiss 135 f3.5, unless somebody can convince me otherwise

[Chris33benoit]

I wish you a happy birthday.  I heard too about the Takumar lens.  My problem is that my tracker (NYX) is a barn door design.  I cannot go more than 18 seconds of exposure (2500 divided by 135mm, rule of 500) if longer star trailing begins.  That is why I need a fast lens...if that make sense   But if at F/3.5 is what I supposed to get I will start my hunt for that as well.  F/3.5 at 135mm is better than F/5.6 at 300mm (for my 70-300mm Sigma lens).   Ebay here I come!  

[Daf1983]

9 hours ago, Chris33benoit said:

I wish you a happy birthday.  I heard too about the Takumar lens.  My problem is that my tracker (NYX) is a barn door design.  I cannot go more than 18 seconds of exposure (2500 divided by 135mm, rule of 500) if longer star trailing begins.  That is why I need a fast lens...if that make sense   But if at F/3.5 is what I supposed to get I will start my hunt for that as well.  F/3.5 at 135mm is better than F/5.6 at 300mm (for my 70-300mm Sigma lens).   Ebay here I come!  

I'm in the process of building a barn door tracker. Why do you use 2500 in your calculation for exposure time?(as opposed to 500). 

[Chris33benoit]

The NYX tracker (the one I bought) the rules of imaging are as follows (see picture/attachment.)  There is about 100 arcsecond (113) of error when the tracker rotates.  So they consider that we use the 2500 rules.  For me with my 70-300 Sigma lens (@ 300mm) I should not go more than 10 seconds of exposure.  Believe me I have tried hehehe.  There is star trailing after 8 seconds!  So I go under therecommended settings.  Again that is why (I think) I should use a "fast" f/stop.