I know this question has been asked before, but I can't find it

(I might even have asked it myself!)

I really love the XF14mm, but I can't afford it.

I bought a Helios 44mm and I really love it.

So... I've been thinking of buying a legacy m42 lens to use as a wide angle. But, when I look at them, I can't quite figure out if I can use any of them in the way I want (or whether it's wise).

The XF14mm is listed as equivalent to 21mm on a 35mm camera. So I was thinking of getting a lens somewhere along those lines, but then I thought that, since it's a crop, it would actually work in the other direction: that is, if I bought a legacy 21mm lens, the Fuji crop would turn it into a 35mm field of view.

By this logic, I should be looking for something like an 8- or 9-mm lens in 35mm format. But those are very, very few and far between.

Can someone recommend something to me?

cantanima bis wrote:

(I might even have asked it myself!)

I really love the XF14mm, but I can't afford it.

I bought a Helios 44mm and I really love it.

So... I've been thinking of buying a legacy m42 lens to use as a wide angle. But, when I look at them, I can't quite figure out if I can use any of them in the way I want (or whether it's wise).

The XF14mm is listed as equivalent to 21mm on a 35mm camera. So I was thinking of getting a lens somewhere along those lines, but then I thought that, since it's a crop, it would actually work in the other direction: that is, if I bought a legacy 21mm lens, the Fuji crop would turn it into a 35mm field of view.

By this logic, I should be looking for something like an 8- or 9-mm lens in 35mm format. But those are very, very few and far between.

Can someone recommend something to me?

It’s not clear what you’re confused about.  It seems you want a 14mm lens.  Buy any 14mm lens.  Focal length listings on lenses are absolute.  A 14 is a 14 is a 14.  As to which 14mm... I have no suggestions.  Most of the 3rd party lenses are going to be manual focus.

The focal length and angle of view will be identical between modern and legacy lenses so if you like 14mm on the APSC sensor that's what you need to look for.

Which leads to a fundamental problem with legacy lenses...14mm wasn't really a thing back in the 35mm film era.  Wide angle lenses tended to be 35mm, 28mm or 24mm with occasional forays below that... For example the excellent Pentax SMC 20/4M.

So legacy isn't easy if you're looking for a comparatively wide angle lens... Some of the newer manual focus lenses available in X mount such as those from Samyang/Rokinon are well worth considering but you won't get them for legacy M42 money.....

michaeladawson wrote:

It’s not clear what you’re confused about. It seems you want a 14mm lens. Buy any 14mm lens. Focal length listings on lenses are absolute. A 14 is a 14 is a 14. As to which 14mm... I have no suggestions. Most of the 3rd party lenses are going to be manual focus.

I'm talking about field of view. A 14mm lens is a 14mm lens, but the field of view is different depending on the sensor size, isn't it?

For instance, I understand that the 44mm Helios I currently have with the cheap $10 adapter turns into something closer to the field of view of a 60mm lens. I was under the impression that this was part of the reason for things like Metabones adapters: they adjust the image circle so as to maximize what the APS-C sensor sees.

Does that help?

I think you should save up for the 14mm. If you want cheaper go for samyang. No AF on samyang though.

The only AF lenses you can get for your Fuji camera are Fuji and Zeiss Touit lenses and the only 14mm choice is the Fuji. The APS-C crop factor is 1.5 so take any lens you are looking at and multiply it by 1.5 and you get the FOV you will have on your Fuji camera. As pointed out, 14mm is not that common among legacy lenses. The image below was taken with a Voigtlander 15mm f4.5 m-mount lens using a Fotodiox LM/FX adapter on an X-E2. 15mm is more common and there is little difference in the FOV. I had the 14mm and got Voigtlander. It's less than half the size of the Fuji 14mm, even with the adapter.

Jon Schick wrote:

(snip)

So legacy isn't easy if you're looking for a comparatively wide angle lens... Some of the newer manual focus lenses available in X mount such as those from Samyang/Rokinon are well worth considering but you won't get them for legacy M42 money.....

+1 to this.  The latest manual focus offerings from China are amazingly good for the price, and many of them are short FL. You might get a bargain price on one from FleaBay if you do some searching.

The 12mm manual-focus Samyang lens might work for you.

https://www.dpreview.com/products/samyang/lenses/samyang_12_2

Go back and read your original post.  You said that you liked the Fuji 14mm lens but that it was too expensive.  Is that the case?  Do you really like the 14mm lens and want to get another lens like it?  Then get another lens in the 14mm range.  Why are you talking about needing to look for a lens in the 8mm range?

You are correct that a 14mm lens will have an angle of view on a Fuji crop sensor something like a 21mm lens on a full frame sensor.  But all lenses are labeled with their true focal length regardless of crop factor.

Lens focal length tells you something about field of view only if you know on which system you will use them.

If you like 14 mm FOV on your Fuji, you need 14 mm lens from whichever system to get the same FOV on Fuji.

Because of sensor / film size difference, 14 mm Fuji lens on Fuji camera offers same field of view as 21 mm lens on full frame / 135 film.

In film days wide angle lenses were expensive and not as widely spread as normal lenses as Helios 44 you mentioned, which was a kit lens for Zenit cameras produced in 10 of millions. In eastern block, from where the cheapest M42 lenses come from, Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 20 mm F/4 (and later 2.8 version) and Mir 20 were practically the only choices. But they still fetch quite high prices if in good condition due to rarity (200 EUR +). These lenses offered on film slightly wider FOV as 14 mm offers on Fuji - which was quiet enough and thus there were no common wider lenses available.

For more recommendations on vintage wide-angle-lenses, you could revert to the adapted lens forum.

But keep in mind that ultra-wides are either bulky (if for SLR) or expensive (if for rangefinder), or both. Another thing to keep in mind is that 16mm on FF is already in fisheye-territory if not corrected; this will be less obvious on APSC but could still give a different effect than what you expect. So do your research on potential candidates in order to avoid surprises

Another option would be a 3rd-party lens such as e.g. from Samyang (affordable even new; also sold as Rokinon, Bower and Walimex) or Voigtlander (can be found at acceptable prices used)

7artisans also has a pretty affordable 12mm f/2.8.

*EDIT* manual focus shouldn't be a concern, especially at these focal lengths with huge depth of field