I am obsessed with this lens. I bought it after watching this video. The sample images just popped out to me very strongly. I got a copy with a slightly sticky focus ring and a few scratches for around £25 and it did not disappoint me at all. The colors are beautiful and the contrast is fantastic. I think this lens (and the Super Takumar 135mm f/3.5) showed me just how much the "personality" of a lens can affect the images you make. They can breathe life and intensity into a dull scene or turn a lively landscape into a scene worthy of calm contemplation. I've come to realize that sharpness is simply overrated, and that there are many other qualities in a lens that are relevant for the results that they provide. Using vintage lenses can be really fun and rewarding. Thank you so much for showing me that, Zenography!
This is probably my most favorite lens. Picked it up with a SRT102 (both mint) for $25. This is my favorite combo. PHENOMENAL lens, you need a better copy, you won't be disappointed. And I agree with your other followers - MINOLTA LENSES RULE!!!
In terms of difficulty I rate cleaning optics easy, working on aperture medium, working on focus assembly super hard. Also I recommend hydrogen peroxide to really clean a mega fungus problem like that. It kills anything even your hands. That lens looks epic. The colors are noticeably great. I’m very impressed at how such a manky old boy was revived like that. My repairs have been comparatively tame. Except for one with balsam separation. That was a nightmare
Most interesting, I did something very similar with a Leitz Summitar which had been declared as scrap by a well known London dealer who also ,at the time, did Leica CLA work. Using the same philosophy as you , nothing to loose, aided and abetted by my lovely wife we partially stripped it by unscrewing the front group,using a small vice with some old mouse mat material glued to the jaws and the easily accessed lens surfaces were all cleaned in 99% alcohol. Part of the lenses problem was the aperture blades, ten of them, were quite rusty so these were removed, the fine rust was on some of the lens surfaces. My wife got one of those very soft make up removal pads and after the blades had been soaked in lighter fuel they were gently wiped and eventually looked like new. However we have yet to find a way of getting all ten blades located in position as they have to be paced back not only in a certain sequence but I think some have to be placed underneath some that are already in position, or something like that!! We gave up in the end, to protect our sanity. I re assembled the lens and minus the blades it is permanently at f2 and this 'scrap' lens produces gorgeous images particularly on digital cameras, the colours are super and the swirley bokeh is lovely too. I have the blades safely stored in a box so maybe one day I might have another go, it really doesn't matter as I have another Summitar but even an incomplete repair has meant this lens can now be used again albeit wide open........so as I said at the start it appears we share the same philosophy, well done.
That would have been exactly my approach - far better to bring a lens to some sort of working condition rather than scrap it. And like you, I'll come back to the Minolta someday too!
It's incredible. Unfortunately mine is being truculent at the moment, it's sitting in a corner and sulking. I'll get the better of it someday though!
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I bought the same lens 2 days ago. Can't wait to try it on my X-700. You're right, it reminds me the Helios 44-2. Keep up your wonderful work, there is no other channel like Zenography. Bonjour de Montréal ;-)
I recently got the MC version of this lens with a Minolta XE-7 (which it's called in the US. XE-1 and XE elsewhere in the world) for only $20 USD. The aperture ring was fully stuck so I opened it up and the piece that the aperture rings moves had come completely dislodged at some point. I managed to get it all back together and wow is it ever a dreamy lens on my A7III. I've shot one roll of Fiji Superia 400 with it and I'm waiting to get it back from the lab. I have a feeling the photos are going to look amazing.
Love this! Back in May I went through the same process with the same lens. Mine wasn't as old and didn't have any fungus, but the aperture was stuck wide open. I head a very similar outcome in that I was able to clean it very well and get the blades unstuck. However, I accidentally declicked (which tells me I should shoot videos with it haha) and the aperture ring doesn't stay open at F1.4 without holding it with my finger. ....Sort of convenient because it's too soft wide open for most uses. It stays open at F1.8 which I love. Same situation, I may open it up again in the future, but for now I'm enjoying an almost new lens full of character. Thanks for your video, as you can see I was able to see myself in your experience. - Alberto
I love your channel and your appreciation for vintage lenses. You were a big inspiration for the creation of my own TH-cam channel just 2 months ago. Thank you!
I have a Minolta MC Rokkor - PF 58 1.4 that I use, occasionally, on my Sony a6500. The one I have is in very good condition and has no issues. It's a beautiful lens. I don't find it super sharp, wide open. But stopped down a click or two it's quite nice and produces creamy, dreamy bokeh. It's typical of old, high quality lenses. Lots of glass and metal, which makes it a bit heavy. All in all, a wonderful lens. Minolta did produce some very good lenses.
Love this video for the disassemble info. Just a thought, you might want to use it in a reverse mount macro capacity since you are able to manipulate the aperture manually with the pin. Cheers!
I had the same problem with the aperture after taking my Zuiko 50mm apart, its just misaligned somewhere if im right. I guess the person who took it apart before you put it back in the wrong way. From my experience (example) if the aperture ring is at 1.4 and the blades at 8 you get this problem if im right. So if you take it apart again and put the ring at 1.4 and the blades to, and put everything in the right holes you should be fine. A bit hard to explain if your not English. Nice video tho, still learned a thing or two, thank you for that!
I have a trinity (28,50 &135mm) of later Minolta MC/MD lenses that I bought with an XE-5 and a beautiful leather bag for $100 cdn (£50-£60). They are some of my favourite and most used vintage lenses. The XE and XD series of Minolta cameras are also wonderful machines made in partnership with Leica and have metal, vertical shutters (smooth and quiet) with a sync speed of 1/90 or 1/100.
I saw your small boxes in the background with different camera manufacturers and titles like Canon FD, Close focus, Exakta. Based on the handwriting I have a box that had to be yours with the writing Exakta on it and A stamped Nikon-F has been stricken out. I don't own any Exakta gear myself. If I remember correctly the box came in a burnt camera bag I picked up at a local thrift store. It had an immense amount of old camera literature, advertisements, and manuals on a lot of accessories in everything from an Exakta model camera...I can't remember offhand, a key with an old label attached on a string to lock the bag, to such things that were a bit more personal such as a small notebook with some exposure information, and personal information about the owner of the Exakta, a Schneider Kruschev rear cap and a type of filter holder device the likes of which I'd never seen before inside of this box labeled Exakta in a small red box that can be pushed out from the white cover with the blue writing as a described before. When I asked the employee if there was a camera that came with the bag available he told me that someone had purchased it earlier in the day, and didn't want the other stuff. I wasn't so concerned and bought the history of the camera instead.
I love Rokkor lenses, and have been quite shocked by test results from some of my junk shop examples, none of which cost more than a large pizza. Having said that, this particular lens is not one of my favorites, and mine are in good shape. I have never even seen one as early as your example. My repair tech says they have very fragile internal coatings, almost like a drip coating. I have several Biotars in about the same "bottom of a lake" condition as your lens which he says he wouldn't touch with a barge pole.
I was very impressed with this one, and have heard very good things about Rokkors in general. This does seem to be a very early one, which is one of the reasons I want to fix it up properly. At the moment it's sitting in the cupboard sulking though...
I recently cleaned a canon fd 50mm 1.8 and that was quite troublesome, putting the aperture blade mechanism back in and making sure it can stop down to all of them, took me a while lol
It would be helpful in your videos if you tell us what camera you are using so we can better understand the real focal length. Many times I have wondered if you are shooting these old lenses on film and on the original mount (Minolta camera here) or a M4/3 or what have you. Full frame or cropped would be really nice to know. Good video other than that!
Nice review! I also have this lens. And the focus ring also get stuck sometimes. But setting the aperture to 16 I think it was, and pressing the stop down lever will free the focusing ring. Quite strange behavior.
If you can't see the aperture blades moving when you change it, does that always mean that the mechanism's jammed or broken? How long have you been in photography for? Do you have a port folio or gallery?
Not necessarily. Many lenses have pins on the rear that only permits the aperture blades to move when mounted on a camera or adaptor - put it on one to see what's really what!
What if you hold the aperture lever pin so it can't move while adjusting the manual aperture? It looked like one bit of friction (dirt) was taking over as you turned it and that is why the pin moved. A bit more cleaning and I think you will have it.
That's what I thought at first, but it didn't work! I'm not sure if dirt is the main problem here, or whether there's a mechanical fault caused by incorrect reassembly in the past. Guess I'm going to have to be brave and strip it down!
Is lighter fluid really the best for cleaning that? It would seem to have too high of viscosity to really get in the small areas needed to fix that aperture mechanism. Just a thought as I haven't done this.
Lighter fluid (butane) has a very low viscosity and it's high volatility and non-polar balance makes is a fantastic cleaner of oils, adhesives, and dirt which is insoluble to water.
I have one with decoating and scratches on the front element. It is terribly soft and the feel is not good when I turn the controls. I've heard mixed reports of how good it is when in good shape. Some say it was soft anyways, some say there's a good version and two bad versions... I don't know, I don't fool with this lens anymore.
A full video tutorial for the Minolta Rokkor PF 58mm f/1.4 lens by Matt Bierner is available at th-cam.com/video/FEcDaCC3MyI/w-d-xo.html He also has tutorials for the f/1.7 and f/1.2 lenses.
Started testing this lens some days ago, comparing it a bit against a Minolta 50/f1:1.2 and a Leica r mount 50 mm f1:2 on my Sony 7 iii surprisingly good. Leica is overrated at first glance. Minolta cheaper lenses give so much!!!
Lighter fluid was unequal to the task, it's true! It sounds like you have experience with these lenses - do you think it's likely to be just dirty, or do you think this a known mechanical problem, with a known fix?
@@zenography7923 !et's say I repaired few of them.Japan made lenses are more easy to repair since lens group are mounted often without shims.It looks to me that you have old wax grease in the focus helicoil so this one has to be taken apart.Put some teflon grease inside and you good.Other than that most of the time you have to set the lens focus ring to infinity or close focus and make some mark with marker to be able to retain focus throw properly and not to end up 1.5m at infinity.This happen often also to experiance people.Zippo is only temporary softening of the old grease nothing else.
I HATE "Digital", for me it's little more then a Children's TOY! The piss-poor quality "Prints" coming off your average home printer are pure trash! AND FADE AWAY TO MERE SHADOWS in only weeks or months! NOPE! For something beautiful and lasting, give me Genuine Photography every time.
I do like digital photography, though I must agree, home prints don't last well. There's also the issue of digital storage - most digital media will corrupt or break down in time, whereas a negative will last pretty much forever if stored correctly. But, there's only ever one negative, while digital files can be stored in (theoretically) limitless numbers! It's a case of swings and roundabouts I suppose...
![เปิดบ้าน โคตรสวย ป๋องกพล รู้จักตั้งนาน เพิ่งรู้ว่ารวย!!! l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tmgCF_2HfYI/mqdefault.jpg)
I am obsessed with this lens. I bought it after watching this video. The sample images just popped out to me very strongly.
I got a copy with a slightly sticky focus ring and a few scratches for around £25 and it did not disappoint me at all. The colors are beautiful and the contrast is fantastic.
I think this lens (and the Super Takumar 135mm f/3.5) showed me just how much the "personality" of a lens can affect the images you make. They can breathe life and intensity into a dull scene or turn a lively landscape into a scene worthy of calm contemplation.
I've come to realize that sharpness is simply overrated, and that there are many other qualities in a lens that are relevant for the results that they provide.
Using vintage lenses can be really fun and rewarding. Thank you so much for showing me that, Zenography!
Many thanks, glad it was useful!
This is probably my most favorite lens. Picked it up with a SRT102 (both mint) for $25. This is my favorite combo. PHENOMENAL lens, you need a better copy, you won't be disappointed. And I agree with your other followers - MINOLTA LENSES RULE!!!
In terms of difficulty I rate cleaning optics easy, working on aperture medium, working on focus assembly super hard.
Also I recommend hydrogen peroxide to really clean a mega fungus problem like that. It kills anything even your hands.
That lens looks epic. The colors are noticeably great. I’m very impressed at how such a manky old boy was revived like that. My repairs have been comparatively tame. Except for one with balsam separation. That was a nightmare
Lens repair can be tricky - certainly not for the faint-hearted!
Most interesting, I did something very similar with a Leitz Summitar which had been declared as scrap by a well known London dealer who also ,at the time, did Leica CLA work. Using the same philosophy as you , nothing to loose, aided and abetted by my lovely wife we partially stripped it by unscrewing the front group,using a small vice with some old mouse mat material glued to the jaws and the easily accessed lens surfaces were all cleaned in 99% alcohol. Part of the lenses problem was the aperture blades, ten of them, were quite rusty so these were removed, the fine rust was on some of the lens surfaces. My wife got one of those very soft make up removal pads and after the blades had been soaked in lighter fuel they were gently wiped and eventually looked like new. However we have yet to find a way of getting all ten blades located in position as they have to be paced back not only in a certain sequence but I think some have to be placed underneath some that are already in position, or something like that!!
We gave up in the end, to protect our sanity. I re assembled the lens and minus the blades it is permanently at f2 and this 'scrap' lens produces gorgeous images particularly on digital cameras, the colours are super and the swirley bokeh is lovely too. I have the blades safely stored in a box so maybe one day I might have another go, it really doesn't matter as I have another Summitar but even an incomplete repair has meant this lens can now be used again albeit wide open........so as I said at the start it appears we share the same philosophy, well done.
That would have been exactly my approach - far better to bring a lens to some sort of working condition rather than scrap it. And like you, I'll come back to the Minolta someday too!
That lens is certainly worth trying to save! One of my all time favourites. The rendering is magic on that one.
It's incredible. Unfortunately mine is being truculent at the moment, it's sitting in a corner and sulking. I'll get the better of it someday though!
I bought the same lens 2 days ago. Can't wait to try it on my X-700. You're right, it reminds me the Helios 44-2. Keep up your wonderful work, there is no other channel like Zenography. Bonjour de Montréal ;-)
Many thanks, glad you're enjoying the channel!
I recently got the MC version of this lens with a Minolta XE-7 (which it's called in the US. XE-1 and XE elsewhere in the world) for only $20 USD. The aperture ring was fully stuck so I opened it up and the piece that the aperture rings moves had come completely dislodged at some point. I managed to get it all back together and wow is it ever a dreamy lens on my A7III. I've shot one roll of Fiji Superia 400 with it and I'm waiting to get it back from the lab. I have a feeling the photos are going to look amazing.
Love this! Back in May I went through the same process with the same lens. Mine wasn't as old and didn't have any fungus, but the aperture was stuck wide open. I head a very similar outcome in that I was able to clean it very well and get the blades unstuck. However, I accidentally declicked (which tells me I should shoot videos with it haha) and the aperture ring doesn't stay open at F1.4 without holding it with my finger. ....Sort of convenient because it's too soft wide open for most uses. It stays open at F1.8 which I love. Same situation, I may open it up again in the future, but for now I'm enjoying an almost new lens full of character. Thanks for your video, as you can see I was able to see myself in your experience. - Alberto
I see I'm not alone in attempting lens repairs! Even if not fully successful, it's always nice to save one from the scrapheap!
I love your channel and your appreciation for vintage lenses. You were a big inspiration for the creation of my own TH-cam channel just 2 months ago. Thank you!
Wow, thank you, and good luck with the channel!
Zenography Thank you so much.
I have a Minolta MC Rokkor - PF 58 1.4 that I use, occasionally, on my Sony a6500. The one I have is in very good condition and has no issues. It's a beautiful lens. I don't find it super sharp, wide open. But stopped down a click or two it's quite nice and produces creamy, dreamy bokeh. It's typical of old, high quality lenses. Lots of glass and metal, which makes it a bit heavy. All in all, a wonderful lens. Minolta did produce some very good lenses.
I love this lens - its images were a real surprise to me! Not super sharp wide open, as you say, but just lovely - one of my favourites, in fact!
Love this video for the disassemble info. Just a thought, you might want to use it in a reverse mount macro capacity since you are able to manipulate the aperture manually with the pin. Cheers!
Thanks for the tip!
I had the same problem with the aperture after taking my Zuiko 50mm apart, its just misaligned somewhere if im right. I guess the person who took it apart before you put it back in the wrong way. From my experience (example) if the aperture ring is at 1.4 and the blades at 8 you get this problem if im right. So if you take it apart again and put the ring at 1.4 and the blades to, and put everything in the right holes you should be fine. A bit hard to explain if your not English. Nice video tho, still learned a thing or two, thank you for that!
Thanks, glad you liked it. This lens has clearly been put together badly and needs a complete stripdown!
That’s a great lens, 3D pop and saturation are awesome. Reminds me of some takumars.
Yes, it's fantastic, one of the nicest I've used in fact. It's being truculent at the moment though, just sitting in a corner and sulking!
Great presentation and beautiful images.
Many thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
I have one too and I love it, so smooth and soft in 1.4.
It really is a fine lens, no doubt about it!
Very helpful. Lovely art lens.
I have a trinity (28,50 &135mm) of later Minolta MC/MD lenses that I bought with an XE-5 and a beautiful leather bag for $100 cdn (£50-£60). They are some of my favourite and most used vintage lenses. The XE and XD series of Minolta cameras are also wonderful machines made in partnership with Leica and have metal, vertical shutters (smooth and quiet) with a sync speed of 1/90 or 1/100.
I'll check them out, thanks for the tip!
Wow! That is really cool. Seens like you have so much fun.
One tries one's best!
Great episode again
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
I saw your small boxes in the background with different camera manufacturers and titles like Canon FD, Close focus, Exakta. Based on the handwriting I have a box that had to be yours with the writing Exakta on it and A stamped Nikon-F has been stricken out. I don't own any Exakta gear myself. If I remember correctly the box came in a burnt camera bag I picked up at a local thrift store. It had an immense amount of old camera literature, advertisements, and manuals on a lot of accessories in everything from an Exakta model camera...I can't remember offhand, a key with an old label attached on a string to lock the bag, to such things that were a bit more personal such as a small notebook with some exposure information, and personal information about the owner of the Exakta, a Schneider Kruschev rear cap and a type of filter holder device the likes of which I'd never seen before inside of this box labeled Exakta in a small red box that can be pushed out from the white cover with the blue writing as a described before. When I asked the employee if there was a camera that came with the bag available he told me that someone had purchased it earlier in the day, and didn't want the other stuff. I wasn't so concerned and bought the history of the camera instead.
That sounds like an interesting bag full of history! Shame you missed out on the camera.
I love Rokkor lenses, and have been quite shocked by test results from some of my junk shop examples, none of which cost more than a large pizza. Having said that, this particular lens is not one of my favorites, and mine are in good shape. I have never even seen one as early as your example. My repair tech says they have very fragile internal coatings, almost like a drip coating. I have several Biotars in about the same "bottom of a lake" condition as your lens which he says he wouldn't touch with a barge pole.
I was very impressed with this one, and have heard very good things about Rokkors in general. This does seem to be a very early one, which is one of the reasons I want to fix it up properly. At the moment it's sitting in the cupboard sulking though...
I recently cleaned a canon fd 50mm 1.8 and that was quite troublesome, putting the aperture blade mechanism back in and making sure it can stop down to all of them, took me a while lol
You're brave to tackle aperture blades - I usually avoid them, and leave them where they are!
Very informative and enjoyable.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Do you know if these lenses are radioactive ? mine has a slight yellowish coating
It would be helpful in your videos if you tell us what camera you are using so we can better understand the real focal length. Many times I have wondered if you are shooting these old lenses on film and on the original mount (Minolta camera here) or a M4/3 or what have you. Full frame or cropped would be really nice to know. Good video other than that!
Point taken - I'll do so from now on!
Nice review!
I also have this lens. And the focus ring also get stuck sometimes. But setting the aperture to 16 I think it was, and pressing the stop down lever will free the focusing ring. Quite strange behavior.
Perhaps it's a design flaw, made worse in this case by years of neglect and wear. It still makes nice images though!
@@zenography7923 Yes it's good otherwise! And I tested it against the newer MC version and image quality is the same.
Try a Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm 2.8. I can send you one if you like. Thanks for your work and your high art. Dave Postma, West Michigan, USA
Dave, that's a very kind offer but I already have the CZJ 2.8 - it's fantastic!
I Have that lens in mint condition paid $40 a year ago, love it. use it as a portrait lens on my Sony a6000
What adapter do you use? I also want to buy this lens to adapt to my sony
That looks like it has very nice bokeh.
To my surprise it turned out to be an outstanding lens - it's now one of my favourites!
Love Minolta glass and I have this lens, one of my favourites :) Hope you get yours fixed or at least get an excellent version of it.
I hope so too!
If you can't see the aperture blades moving when you change it, does that always mean that the mechanism's jammed or broken?
How long have you been in photography for? Do you have a port folio or gallery?
Not necessarily. Many lenses have pins on the rear that only permits the aperture blades to move when mounted on a camera or adaptor - put it on one to see what's really what!
@@zenography7923 Ahah! Thanks!
What if you hold the aperture lever pin so it can't move while adjusting the manual aperture? It looked like one bit of friction (dirt) was taking over as you turned it and that is why the pin moved. A bit more cleaning and I think you will have it.
That's what I thought at first, but it didn't work! I'm not sure if dirt is the main problem here, or whether there's a mechanical fault caused by incorrect reassembly in the past. Guess I'm going to have to be brave and strip it down!
The pin moves on these lenses whether they're in good shape or not.
Is lighter fluid really the best for cleaning that? It would seem to have too high of viscosity to really get in the small areas needed to fix that aperture mechanism. Just a thought as I haven't done this.
I've found it to be very useful in the past, although it didn't fix the Rokkor!
Lighter fluid (butane) has a very low viscosity and it's high volatility and non-polar balance makes is a fantastic cleaner of oils, adhesives, and dirt which is insoluble to water.
I have one with decoating and scratches on the front element. It is terribly soft and the feel is not good when I turn the controls. I've heard mixed reports of how good it is when in good shape. Some say it was soft anyways, some say there's a good version and two bad versions... I don't know, I don't fool with this lens anymore.
I didn't expect much from this one, but its images have a quality I like very much - quite a surprise!
A full video tutorial for the Minolta Rokkor PF 58mm f/1.4 lens by Matt Bierner is available at th-cam.com/video/FEcDaCC3MyI/w-d-xo.html He also has tutorials for the f/1.7 and f/1.2 lenses.
Thanks, that will be useful when I come back to the Rokkor!
So, what 's happens to this lens? Repaired entirely or not?
No, I bought another for a good price - I'll keep this one for spares - or I may even come back to it someday!
Started testing this lens some days ago, comparing it a bit against a Minolta 50/f1:1.2 and a Leica r mount 50 mm f1:2 on my Sony 7 iii surprisingly good. Leica is overrated at first glance. Minolta cheaper lenses give so much!!!
I agree, this is a really nice lens - so nice I bought another one, in better condition!
Have you ever tried a 50/50 mix of ammonia and hydrogen peroxide for fungus removal?
I've heard of that method but haven't tried it - vinegar seems to work well though.
Man how did you know. My lens broke this week. I may just pay the $50 to get a new one than trying to fix it.
Might be a better plan, especially if you're not experienced in lens repair...?
The cam is falling off of the pin, you need to open it up and bend the cam back to ride over the pin.
Many thanks Mick, I'll give it a go!
I do like a broken lens.
And if by some miracle I manage to fix it it triples in value. The have been casualties.
Same!
Wow! Great
Thanks!
The fix is fairly easy and zippo will not solve the issue. You have to dismantle further.
Lighter fluid was unequal to the task, it's true! It sounds like you have experience with these lenses - do you think it's likely to be just dirty, or do you think this a known mechanical problem, with a known fix?
@@zenography7923 !et's say I repaired few of them.Japan made lenses are more easy to repair since lens group are mounted often without shims.It looks to me that you have old wax grease in the focus helicoil so this one has to be taken apart.Put some teflon grease inside and you good.Other than that most of the time you have to set the lens focus ring to infinity or close focus and make some mark with marker to be able to retain focus throw properly and not to end up 1.5m at infinity.This happen often also to experiance people.Zippo is only temporary softening of the old grease nothing else.
@@zenography7923 Or you can watch this video to see how is done th-cam.com/video/FEcDaCC3MyI/w-d-xo.html, th-cam.com/video/aZZvnzHuwmk/w-d-xo.html
My bro, I love your channel. However, don't put the autofocus on, leave it manual. Your background keeps fuzzing up. Cheers!
You're right, manual next time for sure!
Here is a link for disassembly and reassembly. th-cam.com/video/FEcDaCC3MyI/w-d-xo.html
Thanks, that will be useful!
I HATE "Digital", for me it's little more then a Children's TOY!
The piss-poor quality "Prints" coming off your average home printer are pure trash!
AND FADE AWAY TO MERE SHADOWS in only weeks or months!
NOPE!
For something beautiful and lasting, give me Genuine Photography every time.
I do like digital photography, though I must agree, home prints don't last well. There's also the issue of digital storage - most digital media will corrupt or break down in time, whereas a negative will last pretty much forever if stored correctly. But, there's only ever one negative, while digital files can be stored in (theoretically) limitless numbers! It's a case of swings and roundabouts I suppose...