Nice image qualities (other than sharpness)

farmer35 · May 8, 2015

This was inspired by another conversation on pancake lenses which kind of drifted to a discussion (disagreement) concerning the 17mm f/2.8 pancake.

Sharpness is great in many circumstances but I'd love to see your pictures and hear about your lenses that you like for other qualities.

A lens that I have that would qualify is a Vivitar 70-150mm f/3.8. Manual focus zooms are a bit awkward with dialing in the right focal length for image stabilization but it still works. I really like the colors and the smoothness of the images it makes. Here's a picture I took the other day of some locust blossoms up in a tree:

tt321 · May 8, 2015

I'm not too sure I have a favourite lens for this kind of thing. Here is an example of what the 20/1.7 can behave at f/2.8. In this example, the background is not cooperating - basically the same kind of thing as the in focus part, small flowers in clusters, branches and twigs and bright skylight coming through in small irregular shaped spaces between these.

--

taotie321

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Chi Pham · May 8, 2015

This image has a nice creamy and dreamy effect which makes it feel relaxing to look at.

Other qualities is rendition of bokeh and contrast of color are what I look for.

Bob Topp · May 8, 2015

Your image looks a lot like what I get from my old Minolta 135/2.8 on the EM-1, very dreamy looking. Sharpness is overrated all-to-often.

Bob Topp

papillon_65 · May 8, 2015

This is a nice old legacy lens, not great at infinity (mine anyway) but very nice for portraits and closer stuff. It has lovely smooth OOF rendering and bokeh. It cost me £50, you can't knock it for that price. It's softish wide open but sharpens up nicely by F4, this one is at F3.5 I think.

--
"In a time of universal deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act".
George Orwell.

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dulynoted · May 10, 2015

I use a few legacy lenses. I love the lower contrast and the oof renderings. My canon fl 85mm f1.8 has a character to it that is pretty amazing. This young (I say young but we are both the same age) ukrainian woman I am helping with her photography calls it a magic lens. It really has an organic rendering to images despite being very sharp. I like it so much that I feel like I am getting stuck in that particular focal length.

OrdinarilyInordinate · May 10, 2015

I definitely greatly value color and overall lens contrast. High resolution is great, but those other qualities are important too.

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Marsupialmouse · May 10, 2015

My 2 favourite chracter lenses... First the Minolta MD 35-70 3.5 macro. The 1:4 and 1:7 macro settings are great for plants and flowers.

And the Super Takumar 50mm 1.4 which is sharp and dreamy, with a golden cast from the radioactive thorium in the glass.

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Jessica Markwell

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Steven Wandy · May 10, 2015

Back when I had the EM5 and loved using my old Olympus Zuiko 50mm/1.4 lens.

Chi Pham · May 10, 2015

A perfect example of why legacy lens is so priceless for portrait shot.

Beautiful skin tone coloring and I think too much sharpness would ruin this shot.

And it's affordable too!

Robert Studniczky · May 11, 2015

Hi!

I'm using an old Super Takumar 135/3,5 lens on my Canon 5D, and I love it's image. For this sharpness I have to step it down to 5.6, at opened aperture it's a little bit softy.

But even focus peaking, and enlarging the part of the image for the easier manual focus I don't like these lenses on my micro four thirds cameras. :-( They need the full frame sensor to show their loveliness.

Angyal Bianka

Full sized on Flickr

Hobie65 · May 11, 2015

I'm nostalgic towards our old family Canon FD 50mm 1.4 which despite the innovations in photography over the past 30years, this lens found its way back on my e-m10. This lens brings me back when I was 15 and learning how to capture moments happening in front of my eyes.

Bob Carstens · May 11, 2015

Nice shot, I've got that lens. Will have to use it more.

papillon_65 · May 11, 2015

Bob Carstens said:
Nice shot, I've got that lens. Will have to use it more.

papillon_65 · May 11, 2015

Robert Studniczky said:
Hi!

I'm using an old Super Takumar 135/3,5 lens on my Canon 5D, and I love it's image. For this sharpness I have to step it down to 5.6, at opened aperture it's a little bit softy.

But even focus peaking, and enlarging the part of the image for the easier manual focus I don't like these lenses on my micro four thirds cameras. :-( They need the full frame sensor to show their loveliness.

Angyal Bianka - Full sized on Flickr

Wrong lens for this effect on m4/3's, use a shorter faster/sharper lens such as the OM 100mm F2.8 at F2.8 or the OM 50mm F1.4 at F2 or F2.8, or even the 4/3's Zuiko 50mm F2 at F2. You're at F11 in full frame terms if you're shooting at F5.6. Google Justin Bonaparte or search for Ilyah on here for details on what that looks like.

--
"In a time of universal deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act".
George Orwell.

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Robert Studniczky · May 11, 2015

papillon_65 said:
Wrong lens for this effect on m4/3's, use a shorter faster/sharper lens such as the OM 100mm F2.8 at F2.8 or the OM 50mm F1.4 at F2 or F2.8, or even the 4/3's Zuiko 50mm F2 at F2. You're at F11 in full frame terms if you're shooting at F5.6. Google Justin Bonaparte or search for Ilyah on here for details on what that looks like.

Steven Wandy · May 11, 2015

Chi Pham said:
A perfect example of why legacy lens is so priceless for portrait shot.

Beautiful skin tone coloring and I think too much sharpness would ruin this shot.

And it's affordable too!

Thanks. That is why I should take this lens off the shelf much more often than I do.

108 · May 12, 2015

I was at a café terrace yesterday evening and preparing my G5 with the Zuiko OM 50mm 1.4 on it, wanted to shoot the sunset on a building later on and I took 3-4 pics at random to test the combo and the focus ( great mf assist on the panasonics ) . Got back home later and wanted to send them direct to the trash bin but this one kept my attention and I thought ok which digital (m)4/3 lens would give me that feeling of depth and volume ? ( shot at f4, large jpeg straight out of camera, no pp )

berni29 · May 12, 2015

Hi

Lately I have been using the Voight 17.5mm F0.95 and enjoying it very much.

It does have a nice quality to its output even wide open. Sharpness is not at the top of the list, though its not bad at all.

I still like the Pana 20mm, but use this lens vey differently.

Chi Pham · May 14, 2015

I seem to like this lens more than my other legacy lens.

I am comparing to the Tokina 100-300 RMC, Vivitar Series 170-210 Kirin made, and even the canon FD35-105mm.

The image seems sharp enough wide open, and the color, contrast and bokeh seems good.

Do you think it's worth the $50 or is there another lens I should look into?

Nice image qualities (other than sharpness)

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