Wow Kai and lok sooo much memories.used to watch these guys waaaaaay back in the DigitalRevTV days. I found them when I was getting into photography. Dudes are legends along with miss alamby L
I have that Tamron lens, and being how it is, it’s actually quite superb when it comes to explaining to people/students what PHYSICALLY happens when aperture changes and a few other concept, lenses like that are very good for hands on learning, and makes it easier to bridge the gap between theory and reality, I’ve had many people have the Eureka moment when they suddenly see realize how all of this works, which is harder to achieve with more modern lenses where demystifying basics photographic concepts becomes harder …
Funny how we all love that swirly bokeh on the 50mm f/1 noctilux, but you can get it practically for free on these cheap vintage zooms :) Lok's 80-210mm lens especially had some cool bokeh at around 6 mins.
Adaptall series lenses were seriously impressive. Good glass, and you just bought the Adaptall Ring to switch the mount of the lens. Always love using them.
Totally agree Matthew, it's what many enthusiasts bought, me included. The Tamron Adaptalls were a fantastic idea with their interchangeable ring mounts. I had an Olympus set up back in the 80s and my dad gave me his his Nikon EM, and my girlfriend had a Minolta set up so all I needed to do was change over the adaptall rings rather than buying 3 lenses for 3 different sytems. I still have all my adaptall lenses. Perhaps I should go retro? Nice idea Kai W.
It was the SP series the pros liked. I managed a camera shop and they were popular with some photographer liking them better than the manufacturer's lens.
Back in the days when Allied Impex Corporation distributed the Konica Autoreflex and Tamron lenses, the former was great, while the latter were "subpar accessory lenses" I bought a Tamron short zoom that photographically was a great paperweight. Some years later, Tamron brought out the SP series, and I rolled the dice, since a 35-80mm f/2.8-3.8 zoom lens wasn't a priority for Nikon. That lens and the 90mm f/2.5 were good enough to photograph Orchid club awarded blossoms with Kodachrome 25 and Pantomic-X. Those were interesting days, before the turn of the century, when film photography hadn't been swept into the gutter by digital electronic cameras.;)
Actually this Tamron lens is just more honest than EVERY modern telephoto lens. Because they tell you that the real focal length gets shorter when you focus closer. That is a standard behaviour for basically every internal focusing design, also today. That it goes down to 80 mm to focus to like 1 metre is nothing that a similar modern zoom lens would do any different! They just don't say that anymore...
You guys were the best I used to watch you back in the day I believe it was early 2013 I would always watch your reviews and cool videos like these cameras only cost $50
I got a Hannimex 72-162 f3.5 Macro zoom lens with auto K mount for AUD40. Adapted to a Canon APSC DSLR with AF confirm adapter (cost AUD18), it has reasonable IQ and the dial to instantly switch to macro mode is so handy. With OVF Camera beeps when object is in focus. With live-view, Magic Lantern displays focus peaks in red. Reverse mounted with a 55mm to EF reversal ring (cost AUD9), this lens became a very sharp and versatile MACRO LENS.
Old lens design might be optically imperfect, but if you embrace the imperfections some of these lenses have a gorgeous character. In terms of build quality they would cost a lot of money to manufacture to today, a lot more than the polycarbonate stuff that is rolling out of the factories today. There is a reason why many of the 60-70-80-ies lenses still have decades of life in them if treated right and modern lenses have an ominous logo. Does not mean they are a time bomb, but it does give food for thought if you are not a professional that writes off his gear every 3-5 years or so.
I have several Tamron Adaptall lenses, they gave me a good start when I came back to film photography in 2017. That 80-210 is a decent zoom for very little cash.
Tamron Adaptall is my fav I have so many of them! The 90mm F2.5 macro is really good wide open or stopped down F4 super sharp! And the adapters you can put them on anything!
You got it right, if you're just starting out a vintage lens is great, I still have a couple of Tamron Adaptall2 lenses that I got years ago for basically pennies, and I still use them from time to time.... The glass is still like new
I like how the last video was about the Noct being one of the most expensive lenses ever and this one is about cheap bargains. You just can't get that sort of variety anywhere else.
Yeah I went with vintage adapted lenses a few years ago. Old Takumars and of course the Soviet Helios series. Once you understand the strengths and weaknesses they have much more character than these perfect lenses that Canon and Fuji make. Though the manual only operation does slow one down.
I think once you are used to it, shooting manual with these lenses becomes pretty quick - you're able get focus fast the more you do it. Sure you may miss a few shots but it becomes second nature. The focus peaking function on modern cameras can help but I have found I stopped using it because my eye was better. It's actually the punch-in zoom feature that really helps you nail focus with a manual lens.
I have the Tamron 80-210 with the adaptall 2 / Olympus mount. It’s actually a fun lens, but the built in hood can get in the way of filters like in the video. I bought it with an OM-1 film camera for a bit more than your $5 though…. (still cheap). I just wanted the camera but it needed a lens. It adapts to my Canons nicely.
I am with Lok on the fruit thing - my wife is forever on about "Let's go to the Pick your own blueberry farm! Let's go get some strawberries!" but Wife, they pay people to do that, why would we pay to do it? That's the wrong way round!
Because you can check the fruit you pick has not been nibbled on by critters nor is any of it mouldy like you get from the supermarket even when it is in date. You get a bit of exercise and that feel good sensation from being outside for a bit. Win win 😀
I am always surprised by the results every time I put a vintage or bargain lens on my a6400. I use a suite of CCTV C-Mount lenses on it for anything that I'm doing that is fixed camera, fixed focal plane type shooting. Great for interviews. Sure, you do get vignette on them (especially below 35mm) but the extreme sharpness that comes from the newer lenses can make watching interviews can almost be a distraction in and of itself.
There's no problem with that lens. My Olympus lens does the same. It's because you can't focus as close as the lens will go when zoomed in all the way.
I got the push pull about 6 years ago, it has the most beautiful glass and I love mine. It’s niche because tele manual focus is hard but I love it for portrait and macro work. I think my copy is sharper or more contrasty than that copy though. I also never shot video…
I love shooting with old school lenses. they work very well for softer focus shoots and black and white photography. some of the Russian lenses I use give results that you just can't get with modern glass.
Loks lens with the moving spinny thing is actually pretty intutive to use. Only drawback is that you sometimes change zoom when adjusting focus and the other way around, depends a little how well preserved the lens it. Great to see that Lok is now safely in UK with Kai. A-Team vibes.
push-pull zoom fell out of fashion because they tend to loosen over time, leading to them slipping and zooming on their own when the lens is tilted down or up.
I actually have that 70-150 and a newer version of the other one with no hood conflicts. (46A, you guys have the 03A, there is also 103A, both 46A and 103A are better than the 03A)
It's incredibly ironic I found this video. Literally the same day this video uploaded, I found nearly the same Tamron Adaptall 80-210 f/3.8-4 Macro lens at a garage sale with a Pentax Tele-Takumar 400mm f/5.6 in their original cases for $25! My Tamron 80-210 Macro does not have that loose of a push/pull action, so there's definitely an issue with the lens they're using here. Also, mine doesn't have the built-in hood (which I think means it's a slightly later model), so no issues with using filters at 80mm. I haven't taken any photos with mine yet, but I have used a Tamron Adaptall SP 35-80 f/2.8-3.8 lens with great results with my film cameras and my digital camera. Sure, they're not super sharp. But for casual photography, is super sharp really necessary?
There’s so many cheap junk telephotos around because lots of beginners bought them decades ago. The idea of being able to take photos of stuff from a great distance had a lot of appeal to noobies who’d just bought a camera but couldn’t understand why the pictures taken with a 50mm lens were so boring. How about going to the track and taking a few shots of racing car or guys on motorcycles taking corners really fast? Yeah, that’s more like it - for the first 20 or 120 times, anyway. “If your pictures are no good, you’re not close enough.” And a telephoto never lets you get actually close. Which is why a lot of people eventually gave up taking photos - and put their crappy lenses in a cupboard, until they finally discovered eBay.
A 70-200 is a standard lens to this day. These things are ubiquitous. Its likely that most pro work is done with the Canon L 70-200 line or its equivalents.
not tried the vintage zooms, only ever used the vintage primes, the 50mm Pentacon ƒ1.8 is one of my all time fav lenses, £30 with excellent build and optics, its the renders i love with the vintage ones, the more imperfections the better they can be when you know how to get the best out of them
There are better 50mm then the Pentacon, but few vintage lenses matches the Pentacon in value for money ! It's an excellent first choice, and with the m42 mount, you can get so many others to the same adapter.
Great to see the old Tamrons getting some credit. Those old Adaptall2 lenses are great value for money especially for someone interested in starting a vintage lens collection. The Tamron 80-210mm F/3.8-4 Model 103A version addressed many of the quirks you pointed out. It’s a similar bargain with a removable lens hood and bulletproof build quality.
Very amusing. I have a collection of Canon FD glass and found that the 'ones to go for' are the primes, manual focus with a zoom is quite a challenge. The only downside especially if using them on crop sensor bodies is the crop factor, truly wide angle lenses from back then are rare and very expensive, 24mm and 28mm especially the latter being fairly common and fairly cheap. :)
I preferred the older FL lenses, and I was not a fan of any of the A series Canon's. In fact I had the FT-QL and FL lenses as my first SLR and then Canon came out with the AE-1 which was such a piece of crap I sold it along with the rest of my Canon set-up and switched to the Nikon FE and FM2. It wasn't until the T90 came out that I felt Canon had gone back to making a decent camera again. I've worked in photo retail for over 25 years and used almost every camera made between 1975 until 1997. The Canon FT-QL was one of the very best and way ahead of it's time.
I used a lot of cheap lenses like this when I was first starting out - it helped me figure out which focal lengths I preferred shooting and let me experiment with a lot of different styles. They're all in a box in a closet now. When I hear of people I know getting into photography, I give them a few of these lenses to play around with. I've given away several, but I still have probably 10 of them...
Back in the old times, split screens were not that good when it came to focussing in low light, so people were used to guessing the distance and pre-focussing. That is why all the lenses were marked with all those odd lines and marking. Some of those were also used for infrared as you had to adjust the focus to account for the different focal length. I had the Tamron 80-210 and was a great lens, considered better then the FD from Canon or the Nikon equivalent zoom and that'0s why it sold so well. It was then lens that allowed tamron to come and play with the big boys. The Adaptal 2 system also allowed Tamron to easily fit these lenses on any body, with correct exposure without having to make them specifically for one system. You could easily convert an adaptal lens from AI to Pentax to FD in a few seconds. Unfortunately my lens got foggy between two glued element and I had to "pension" it.
Woah! The Adaptall 03a was the first lens I bought to go with my kit lens when I first got into photography. So cool to see it get featured here! P.S. There is also an updated Adaptall 103a without the integrated lens hood in case you want to use the full zoom range with your step up ring
How to turn a $2500 camera into a $100 thrift store find: Strap on a $5 lens. My opinion: For the most part, the really old after-market lenses were what people bought who could not afford the canon/nikon/minolta/etc. lenses. They were not very good. On the other hand, composition can still make an interesting image. There are old lenses that are very nice. For instance, the Minolta Beer Can lens can be found for a very low price and fits natively on Sony A mounts. The Nikon D lenses can often be found at a low price and they are not bad at all (no VR of course). So a tripod is a good idea for stills with old lenses.
Ah, seeing that lens I was wondering when Kai would do it, he kept it for the end :) I stumbled upon an M42 zoom lens so experimented with it on my DSLR BITD. It was sharper than I thought! Then I read more about the mount, and added a 50mm Takumar which is a pretty cool lens.
Actually the f/3.5 macro version of that older 70-150 is the only lens I had for my D7000 when I first 'switched' to a DSLR. I still have it but the actuator for the iris got lost so it's got to be switched into manual to shoot and back to auto to meter and focus.
I have some Vivitar 17-28 and 28-210 I got for quite cheap, they work really good because there is less glass between the camera and the object, only issue is that they have low contrast and vignettes
I have an old Quantaray tech-10 CN autofocus 1:4-5.6 75-300mm lens. I put it on my Viltrox speed booster and a canon eos-m camera. The photos are really good. I can take 100mm f/3.2 bokeh photos. Sometimes old lenses can really still make great pictures.
It's an interesting idea: used Vintage versus cheap modern at the same price. But I do feel like this video was done pretty lazily. You could have gotten some great results (for stills) by using interesting backgrounds and some controlled light or just a reflector.
One of the beauties of using a Pentax is I can use quite a bit of Vintage glass without an adapter. I do have an M42 adapter for some of my old screw mounts from the 80s. Granted, I don't have auto focus or aperture, but I lived without those before, and I can do it again.
Wow Kai and lok sooo much memories.used to watch these guys waaaaaay back in the DigitalRevTV days. I found them when I was getting into photography. Dudes are legends along with miss alamby L
I was so happy to have found Kai again. My favourite duo
I was so happy to have found Kai again. My favourite duo
Same story here. Found them when getting into photography and deciding which camera to buy. Learned so much while having as much fun!
Same here
Yeah he was the guy i found like in 2013 when i got interested more into cameras
From the $13,000 Leica Noctilux to $5 lenses. Kai is looking out for all of his demographic.
5$ lens vs 13,000$ lens, the buyers guide we all need.
Miss you guys together. Should do consistent stuff like this together, digitalrev was one of the reasons I’m an artist today.
I have that Tamron lens, and being how it is, it’s actually quite superb when it comes to explaining to people/students what PHYSICALLY happens when aperture changes and a few other concept, lenses like that are very good for hands on learning, and makes it easier to bridge the gap between theory and reality, I’ve had many people have the Eureka moment when they suddenly see realize how all of this works, which is harder to achieve with more modern lenses where demystifying basics photographic concepts becomes harder …
Ere ere👍
Funny how we all love that swirly bokeh on the 50mm f/1 noctilux, but you can get it practically for free on these cheap vintage zooms :) Lok's 80-210mm lens especially had some cool bokeh at around 6 mins.
The images from those lenses look quite good actually.
19:04 I was waiting till we'd see the old Kai. He's baaaack!
Clinically sharp lens $1500+
Weird vintage flawed cheap lens full of character - practically free at most thrift stores
This is the most digitalrev style video in years and I love it!!
you should do more cheap / vintage gear oriented videos, it's really interesting
In the 1980s Tamrons were the lenses that every ordinary photographer wanted, almost as good as the crazy priced camera manufacturers' own glass.
Adaptall series lenses were seriously impressive. Good glass, and you just bought the Adaptall Ring to switch the mount of the lens. Always love using them.
the old tamron logo is way cooler than the new one
hasn't really changed over those 40 years Tamron still is up there with the manufacturer glass
Totally agree Matthew, it's what many enthusiasts bought, me included. The Tamron Adaptalls were a fantastic idea with their interchangeable ring mounts. I had an Olympus set up back in the 80s and my dad gave me his his Nikon EM, and my girlfriend had a Minolta set up so all I needed to do was change over the adaptall rings rather than buying 3 lenses for 3 different sytems. I still have all my adaptall lenses. Perhaps I should go retro? Nice idea Kai W.
It was the SP series the pros liked. I managed a camera shop and they were popular with some photographer liking them better than the manufacturer's lens.
I've been a fan of using these old lenses for a while and the results are always amazing
Back in the days when Allied Impex Corporation distributed the Konica Autoreflex and Tamron lenses, the former was great, while the latter were "subpar accessory lenses" I bought a Tamron short zoom that photographically was a great paperweight. Some years later, Tamron brought out the SP series, and I rolled the dice, since a 35-80mm f/2.8-3.8 zoom lens wasn't a priority for Nikon. That lens and the 90mm f/2.5 were good enough to photograph Orchid club awarded blossoms with Kodachrome 25 and Pantomic-X. Those were interesting days, before the turn of the century, when film photography hadn't been swept into the gutter by digital electronic cameras.;)
Actually this Tamron lens is just more honest than EVERY modern telephoto lens. Because they tell you that the real focal length gets shorter when you focus closer. That is a standard behaviour for basically every internal focusing design, also today. That it goes down to 80 mm to focus to like 1 metre is nothing that a similar modern zoom lens would do any different! They just don't say that anymore...
That I.B.I.S. on old lens is amazing
You guys were the best I used to watch you back in the day I believe it was early 2013 I would always watch your reviews and cool videos like these cameras only cost $50
1:18 - The way Kai reaches into his camera bag. Brings me back to the old DigitalRev dirty jokes.
I got a Hannimex 72-162 f3.5 Macro zoom lens with auto K mount for AUD40. Adapted to a Canon APSC DSLR with AF confirm adapter (cost AUD18), it has reasonable IQ and the dial to instantly switch to macro mode is so handy. With OVF Camera beeps when object is in focus. With live-view, Magic Lantern displays focus peaks in red.
Reverse mounted with a 55mm to EF reversal ring (cost AUD9), this lens became a very sharp and versatile MACRO LENS.
I'm loving seeing you both together again and in the UK ... come visit north Wales / snowdon and ill show you around ! some epic locations for you !
Old lens design might be optically imperfect, but if you embrace the imperfections some of these lenses have a gorgeous character. In terms of build quality they would cost a lot of money to manufacture to today, a lot more than the polycarbonate stuff that is rolling out of the factories today. There is a reason why many of the 60-70-80-ies lenses still have decades of life in them if treated right and modern lenses have an ominous logo. Does not mean they are a time bomb, but it does give food for thought if you are not a professional that writes off his gear every 3-5 years or so.
Guildford! My home! Sad I missed you. Love your videos and the banter, keep it up!
The art of photography is not about sharpness. Nice to see Guildford featured!
As far as I understand the reason push-pull lenses aren’t that popular anymore is that the action pulls in dust (or people think so)
I have several Tamron Adaptall lenses, they gave me a good start when I came back to film photography in 2017. That 80-210 is a decent zoom for very little cash.
amazing video about budget lenses, I love how casual you two are
They're both geniuses that's why.
Guildford is my hometown and this makes me feel homesick. I also want the lenses. Amazing video to watch on a Sunday morning, thanks guys.
Tamron Adaptall is my fav I have so many of them! The 90mm F2.5 macro is really good wide open or stopped down F4 super sharp! And the adapters you can put them on anything!
Good to see you two together again.
You got it right, if you're just starting out a vintage lens is great, I still have a couple of Tamron Adaptall2 lenses that I got years ago for basically pennies, and I still use them from time to time....
The glass is still like new
I want Kai and Lok walking the streets of London, making fun of the British equivalent of trolley ladies!
I like how the last video was about the Noct being one of the most expensive lenses ever and this one is about cheap bargains. You just can't get that sort of variety anywhere else.
As someone who only buys 'cheap' vintage lenses I'm not surprised these $5 lenses are quite okay.
The Tamron SP series is just wonderful, covering all focal lenghts with superb optics, for that era.
There are tons of 3D .stl files for printing your own "dumb" adapters for the strangest lens/body combos.
I actually like how soft, a bit muted, and dreamy the pump action tamron is. Will put on my list.
I never wished for this kind of video,but what a fun one. Happy to see the Bokeh Bros making fun videos 🙌🤩
I don’t know why but when Lok said “Bee so phat in Hong Kong”, I spat out my tea.
Fun video Kai and Lok! Oh and Lumix S5's human AF works quite well, but Panasonic really need to add BEE focus mode next!
Did anyone else start to panic slightly when Kai was shaking his camera by the water 😅
Yeah I went with vintage adapted lenses a few years ago.
Old Takumars and of course the Soviet Helios series.
Once you understand the strengths and weaknesses they have much more character than these perfect lenses that Canon and Fuji make.
Though the manual only operation does slow one down.
Pretty much all I use is vintage primes. Hard to beat the Tak 55 1.8 and 50 1.4.
I think once you are used to it, shooting manual with these lenses becomes pretty quick - you're able get focus fast the more you do it. Sure you may miss a few shots but it becomes second nature. The focus peaking function on modern cameras can help but I have found I stopped using it because my eye was better. It's actually the punch-in zoom feature that really helps you nail focus with a manual lens.
I have the Tamron 80-210 with the adaptall 2 / Olympus mount. It’s actually a fun lens, but the built in hood can get in the way of filters like in the video. I bought it with an OM-1 film camera for a bit more than your $5 though…. (still cheap). I just wanted the camera but it needed a lens. It adapts to my Canons nicely.
I am with Lok on the fruit thing - my wife is forever on about "Let's go to the Pick your own blueberry farm! Let's go get some strawberries!" but Wife, they pay people to do that, why would we pay to do it? That's the wrong way round!
Because you can check the fruit you pick has not been nibbled on by critters nor is any of it mouldy like you get from the supermarket even when it is in date. You get a bit of exercise and that feel good sensation from being outside for a bit. Win win 😀
Fresh fruit that you know is fresh because you literally picked it off the plant yourself.
So nice to see you back as a pair! Enjoyed your original ones. / Ulf
12:20 looks berry berry good
Tamron? Luxury! I had a couple of Kiron zooms like this in the 80s...hoo boy they were shocking!
I am always surprised by the results every time I put a vintage or bargain lens on my a6400. I use a suite of CCTV C-Mount lenses on it for anything that I'm doing that is fixed camera, fixed focal plane type shooting. Great for interviews. Sure, you do get vignette on them (especially below 35mm) but the extreme sharpness that comes from the newer lenses can make watching interviews can almost be a distraction in and of itself.
There's no problem with that lens. My Olympus lens does the same. It's because you can't focus as close as the lens will go when zoomed in all the way.
Learning photography from Richard Ayoade is my new favorite thing.
I love the color rendering a lot more on the Vintage lenses I also loved to look of the bokeh a lot more
I got the push pull about 6 years ago, it has the most beautiful glass and I love mine. It’s niche because tele manual focus is hard but I love it for portrait and macro work. I think my copy is sharper or more contrasty than that copy though. I also never shot video…
Vintage zooms are always kinda quirky and they can be interesting if you are looking for a softer look, but they can also be quite clunky to use.
You can't find these lenses for $5 unless the sellers doesn't even bother to check how much these lenses actually costs.
This kind of video has me tearing up, remembering those days when I used to watch these two together
I love shooting with old school lenses. they work very well for softer focus shoots and black and white photography. some of the Russian lenses I use give results that you just can't get with modern glass.
Loks lens with the moving spinny thing is actually pretty intutive to use. Only drawback is that you sometimes change zoom when adjusting focus and the other way around, depends a little how well preserved the lens it.
Great to see that Lok is now safely in UK with Kai. A-Team vibes.
push-pull zoom fell out of fashion because they tend to loosen over time, leading to them slipping and zooming on their own when the lens is tilted down or up.
Cheap vintage lenses are great fun, I picked up a Chinon 135mm f/2.8 for like £7.50 inc p&p and I don't think you could possibly get more for less
Creamy and dreamy footage
Now this is the Kai & Lok shenanigans I want in my life!
I actually have that 70-150 and a newer version of the other one with no hood conflicts. (46A, you guys have the 03A, there is also 103A, both 46A and 103A are better than the 03A)
It's incredibly ironic I found this video. Literally the same day this video uploaded, I found nearly the same Tamron Adaptall 80-210 f/3.8-4 Macro lens at a garage sale with a Pentax Tele-Takumar 400mm f/5.6 in their original cases for $25!
My Tamron 80-210 Macro does not have that loose of a push/pull action, so there's definitely an issue with the lens they're using here. Also, mine doesn't have the built-in hood (which I think means it's a slightly later model), so no issues with using filters at 80mm. I haven't taken any photos with mine yet, but I have used a Tamron Adaptall SP 35-80 f/2.8-3.8 lens with great results with my film cameras and my digital camera. Sure, they're not super sharp. But for casual photography, is super sharp really necessary?
you have to try the old Minolta 's 28-135 & 35-105 mm in the metal macro version. Very sharp and lovely colours.
Pair these low contrast lenses with high contrast films, like JCH Street Pan 400 to balance things out.
Oooh 25% off the Calibrite Colocheckr Passport Video. Thanks! I've been meaning to buy one :)
There’s so many cheap junk telephotos around because lots of beginners bought them decades ago.
The idea of being able to take photos of stuff from a great distance had a lot of appeal to noobies who’d just bought a camera but couldn’t understand why the pictures taken with a 50mm lens were so boring. How about going to the track and taking a few shots of racing car or guys on motorcycles taking corners really fast? Yeah, that’s more like it - for the first 20 or 120 times, anyway.
“If your pictures are no good, you’re not close enough.” And a telephoto never lets you get actually close. Which is why a lot of people eventually gave up taking photos - and put their crappy lenses in a cupboard, until they finally discovered eBay.
A 70-200 is a standard lens to this day. These things are ubiquitous. Its likely that most pro work is done with the Canon L 70-200 line or its equivalents.
@@buwaya4223 For pros yes. Beginners, not so much. These tend to be too expensive.
not tried the vintage zooms, only ever used the vintage primes, the 50mm Pentacon ƒ1.8 is one of my all time fav lenses, £30 with excellent build and optics, its the renders i love with the vintage ones, the more imperfections the better they can be when you know how to get the best out of them
There are better 50mm then the Pentacon, but few vintage lenses matches the Pentacon in value for money !
It's an excellent first choice, and with the m42 mount, you can get so many others to the same adapter.
Great to see the old Tamrons getting some credit. Those old Adaptall2 lenses are great value for money especially for someone interested in starting a vintage lens collection. The Tamron 80-210mm F/3.8-4 Model 103A version addressed many of the quirks you pointed out. It’s a similar bargain with a removable lens hood and bulletproof build quality.
Gave all mine to charity shop
Recycled
Good to see you still on here
I had this 80-210 from 1986 to ~ 2002 on my Pentax ESII - always loved it on Film
Very amusing. I have a collection of Canon FD glass and found that the 'ones to go for' are the primes, manual focus with a zoom is quite a challenge. The only downside especially if using them on crop sensor bodies is the crop factor, truly wide angle lenses from back then are rare and very expensive, 24mm and 28mm especially the latter being fairly common and fairly cheap. :)
I preferred the older FL lenses, and I was not a fan of any of the A series Canon's. In fact I had the FT-QL and FL lenses as my first SLR and then Canon came out with the AE-1 which was such a piece of crap I sold it along with the rest of my Canon set-up and switched to the Nikon FE and FM2. It wasn't until the T90 came out that I felt Canon had gone back to making a decent camera again. I've worked in photo retail for over 25 years and used almost every camera made between 1975 until 1997. The Canon FT-QL was one of the very best and way ahead of it's time.
I used a lot of cheap lenses like this when I was first starting out - it helped me figure out which focal lengths I preferred shooting and let me experiment with a lot of different styles. They're all in a box in a closet now. When I hear of people I know getting into photography, I give them a few of these lenses to play around with. I've given away several, but I still have probably 10 of them...
You wouldn’t mind giving some to a filmmaker in Africa at a point in time ?
I had the FD macro zoom with the pushy-pully collar but it was enormously heavy.
Back in the old times, split screens were not that good when it came to focussing in low light, so people were used to guessing the distance and pre-focussing. That is why all the lenses were marked with all those odd lines and marking. Some of those were also used for infrared as you had to adjust the focus to account for the different focal length.
I had the Tamron 80-210 and was a great lens, considered better then the FD from Canon or the Nikon equivalent zoom and that'0s why it sold so well. It was then lens that allowed tamron to come and play with the big boys. The Adaptal 2 system also allowed Tamron to easily fit these lenses on any body, with correct exposure without having to make them specifically for one system. You could easily convert an adaptal lens from AI to Pentax to FD in a few seconds.
Unfortunately my lens got foggy between two glued element and I had to "pension" it.
Woah! The Adaptall 03a was the first lens I bought to go with my kit lens when I first got into photography. So cool to see it get featured here!
P.S. There is also an updated Adaptall 103a without the integrated lens hood in case you want to use the full zoom range with your step up ring
I have several Vivitar lenses from 70s and I have lot of fun with them, my 75-300mm micro is my most used lens for outdoors photos
How to turn a $2500 camera into a $100 thrift store find: Strap on a $5 lens. My opinion: For the most part, the really old after-market lenses were what people bought who could not afford the canon/nikon/minolta/etc. lenses. They were not very good. On the other hand, composition can still make an interesting image. There are old lenses that are very nice. For instance, the Minolta Beer Can lens can be found for a very low price and fits natively on Sony A mounts. The Nikon D lenses can often be found at a low price and they are not bad at all (no VR of course). So a tripod is a good idea for stills with old lenses.
Ah, seeing that lens I was wondering when Kai would do it, he kept it for the end :)
I stumbled upon an M42 zoom lens so experimented with it on my DSLR BITD. It was sharper than I thought! Then I read more about the mount, and added a 50mm Takumar which is a pretty cool lens.
Actually the f/3.5 macro version of that older 70-150 is the only lens I had for my D7000 when I first 'switched' to a DSLR. I still have it but the actuator for the iris got lost so it's got to be switched into manual to shoot and back to auto to meter and focus.
I have some Vivitar 17-28 and 28-210 I got for quite cheap, they work really good because there is less glass between the camera and the object, only issue is that they have low contrast and vignettes
Old lenses are good. You can get many M42 marvels with wery good image quality.
I love old lenses. I picked up a bunch at an auction and they are all so interesting!
Kai and Lok are the ultimate photog besties 👊🏻
I actully really like the look of the macro lens, the grade compliments it well aswell
1:13 that's not a bee that's a bumblebee.
I have an albinor 70-200mm, cost me $10 at a thrift store. It’s nothing amazing but at golden hour, it gets pretty nice shots.
I was relieved when Lok made the circumcision joke. We were all thinking it, somebody had to say it.
I was thinking of that 100-400 lens DRTV video before you showed it :)
Yooooo Kai!!! That Speedy looks bloody gorgeous!!!
Why is Kai so dreamy over there? 🤣
Love seeing Kai and Loc back again
I've got a Tamron 90mm f/2.5 macro, was like £60 off eBay and it's tac sharp
sharpness isn't everything
@@Noksus its got nice colour and excellent feel too :)
10:13 so essentially they count the focus breathing as part of the zoom range lol
Watch the price skyrocket now
The video quality coming from those lenses are great actually
I have an old Quantaray tech-10 CN autofocus 1:4-5.6 75-300mm lens. I put it on my Viltrox speed booster and a canon eos-m camera. The photos are really good. I can take 100mm f/3.2 bokeh photos. Sometimes old lenses can really still make great pictures.
The accent of the guy in the hat is amazing.. :)
It's an interesting idea: used Vintage versus cheap modern at the same price.
But I do feel like this video was done pretty lazily. You could have gotten some great results (for stills) by using interesting backgrounds and some controlled light or just a reflector.
These Tamron lenses were the best 3rd party lenses on the market in 1970’s
For $5, you really can't go wrong. It may not have the modern features like stabilization or autofocus, but to expand your lens collection, why not?
One of the beauties of using a Pentax is I can use quite a bit of Vintage glass without an adapter. I do have an M42 adapter for some of my old screw mounts from the 80s. Granted, I don't have auto focus or aperture, but I lived without those before, and I can do it again.