Best vintage lenses on Reddit
130 reviews from r/VintageLenses, r/bmpcc, r/cinematography and 13 more subreddits
130 reviews from
and
By Brand
/By Product
#1
Nikon
4.3
(18)
"Its one of Nikons sharpest lens ever."
"Almost a pancake and ideal for street"
"The Afghan Girl lens"
"So small and flat but sharp."
"Nikon AI lenses are my favorites."
"I have the 50mm 1.4 ais as well which is great."
"28mm 2.8 ais is really nice. Super smooth focus."
"One of the sharpest nikkors ever at 2.0 and has a super dreamy bokeh at 1.2"
"The best platform for vintage glass is going to be a full frame mirrorless option."
"I am getting some lovely soft results using a 50mm 1.4."
#2
Helios
4.4
(16)
"I love the Helios 44-2. My go to lens for more cinematic videos."
"Personally I like the: Helios 44-2."
"If you can go full manual find those soviet era ones like the helios ones or the takumar from asahi"
"Check out the Helios 44-2 58mm f2."
"Look for vintage ussr lenses, the Helios 44 models are 58mm."
"Old soviet lenses from ww2. Very cheap, great quality (zeiss design) and built like tanks."
"I just got the Helios 44-2 58mm f2 for $50 and it’s my new favorite lenses."
"Helios 44-2"
"Otherwise Helios lenses are sharp and cheap."
"You can always go for the popular Helios 44."
#3
Canon
4.4
(15)
"Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 is the best bang for your buck!"
"Love the canon fd 24mm f2.8"
"Canon FD's are popular too."
"Canon FL 55 1.2 - lovely flares. Soft and bloomy when wide open."
"Canon FDs have a really nice vintage look."
"They make some incredible images."
"Canon FD glass is nice, has overall good build quality."
"The old 50mm f/1.2 is insanely sharp."
"Old canon FL lenses should give you the look you're after."
"Canon FD with the S.S.C formula are great."
#4
Pentax
4.4
(13)
"I've been really enjoying the Takumar lenses. I haven't found a bad one in the bunch."
"Get a set of good super taks. I find they have the best character amongst the takumars."
"Creamy look and purple haze flares, love it."
"The pentax Super Takumar lenses are very pretty and durable."
"My favorite lens I own is the Super Takumar 85mm. I highly recommend it!"
"The Super Takumar versions of the 50 and 55mm are some of my favorite lenses."
"The takumars are a very good choice... nikons too..."
"I've used a number of vintage lenses like Pentax K-mount and Mir M42-mount."
"You can get a Pentax KM bundled with its 50mm/1.8."
"Buy a 100mm/2.8 and 135/3.5 for little money."
#5
Minolta
4.1
(12)
"I am particular to Minolta and Konica, so there are a few gems."
"One of my favorite lenses to use is the Minolta MC Rokkor - PG 50mm f/1.4."
"I got an MD to MFT adapter and a Minolta Rokkor 45mm f2 lens."
"I paid $28 USD for my Minolta 50mm f1.4 vintage lens."
"Minolta Rokkor lenses have very lively and warm tones."
"Both have the interesting vintage look in the bokeh that will lead to great shots of cars at lower apertures."
"Both have the interesting vintage look in the bokeh that will lead to great shots of cars at lower apertures."
"I know a majority of the Rokkor primes are solid."
"I like Minolta MD lenses on my Fuji. I have a 50/1.4 that hits the spot, buy any are good to use."
"I own a set of Minolta Rokkors, various Soligors, and a set of Canon FDs SSC."
#6
Contax Zeiss
4.8
(6)
"Contax Zeiss lenses are also incredible."
"Contax Zeiss is what you want."
"The Leica consistently blow me away."
"Contax Zeiss, hands down."
"Contax Zeiss are where it's at."
#7
Takumar
4.5
(4)
"I like those 50 f1.4 Takumar."
"I love anything Takumar (M42-FX adapter), Voightlander's M 21 and 35mm Color Skopar lenses."
"My 55mm f1.8 takumar and 50mm 1.7 yashinon dx lenses are quite sharp compared to modern lenses, but still have a vintage look to them."
"Something like a takumar 50mm 1.4 can usually be found for less than $100."
#8
Canon FD
4.7
(3)
"I have a set of vintage Canon FDs (not NFD) the footage is amazing."
"Canon FD all day."
"Most of the canon FD lenses are great, minolta lenses can be found cheap and are fun to work with."
#9
Nikkor
4.3
(3)
"I love the ergonomics compared to modern stills lenses."
"Take a look at vintage Nikkor lenses. They’re not as expensive Contax but quality wise are on par with most standard FD lenses."
"Go for old Nikkor AI lenses."
#10
Olympus
4.5
(2)
"Image quality is great too!"
"Olympus Zuiko lenses are compact and sharp."
#11
Tamron
4.0
(2)
"The Tamron Adaptall 52B 90mm/2.5 macro."
"My favourite vintage lens for that kind of stuff is Tamron 35-210 f3.5-4.2."
#12
Zeiss
4.0
(2)
"A vintage Tessar, or a re-issued Meyer Optik Görlitz Trioplan II 50mm f/2.8 would give you more depth."
"Zeiss Contax lenses are also great if you want a more clinical image."
#13
Super Takumar
5.0
(1)
"I really like my 55mm f2 super takumar m42 screw mount lens on my x-pro3."
#14
Blackmagic
5.0
(1)
"I’ve been collecting and filming with vintage lenses that I use for both documentary and personal content on my Blackmagic cameras."
#15
Voigtlander Nokton 1.5
5.0
(1)
"My favorite is the nokton 1.5 from an old voightlander prominent."
#16
Olympus OM
5.0
(1)
"Anything OM. Olympus had some really great fast compact glass."
#17
Minolta MC Rokkor-PG 58mm f/1.2
5.0
(1)
"My Minolta MC Rokkor-PG 58mm f1.2 almost never leaves my Fuji."
#18
Zeiss C/Y
5.0
(1)
"I love the C/Y zeiss line."
#19
Minolta Rokkor
5.0
(1)
"I Really like those old Rokkor vintage lenses."
#20
Lomos oks
5.0
(1)
"I love love the the Lomos oks lenses."
#21
Zenitar 50/1.7
5.0
(1)
"Zenitar-M 50/1.7. Razor sharp and super bright."
#22
Contax
5.0
(1)
"The Contax Zeiss 35-70mm f3.4 is amazing."
#23
Isco-Gottingen
5.0
(1)
"Isco-Gottingen do a 50 2.8 with a triplet design that is fantastic."
#24
Leica
5.0
(1)
"Leica R"
#25
Pen
5.0
(1)
"Pen F 38mm 1.8 half frame lens."
#26
OM
5.0
(1)
"Both are excellent."
#27
Rokinon 12mm
4.0
(1)
"Try the Rokinon 12mm."
#28
Pergear
4.0
(1)
"It’s a fun lens to shoot that produces very nice results if you are into vintage looks."
#29
Leica-R
4.0
(1)
"I bought a set of Leica-R f2.0 lenses specifically for this camera."
#30
Helios 44
4.0
(1)
"I just did a car show and used a hellos 44 on my fujifilm xt4."
#31
C-Mount
4.0
(1)
"If you want to get a vintage look on a budget and you don't need the lenses to be mechanically comparable to modern designs then you could grab some old C-Mount lenses."
#32
Helios 44-2
4.0
(1)
"You could probably still find a Helios 44-2 that’s not too expensive."
#33
Pentax Auto Takumar 35mm F/2.3
4.0
(1)
"Pentax Auto Takumar 35mm F/2.3, Minolta Rokkor 58mm F/1.2, Super Takumar 50mm F/1.4 8 Element, Helios 44M 58mm F2."
#34
Nikon AiS 50mm f/1.4
4.0
(1)
"Try nikkon AiS 50 1.4."
#35
Industar 69 28mm f2.8
4.0
(1)
"One rare exception could be soviet Industar 69 28mm f2.8."
#36
Pentax 110
4.0
(1)
"Pentax 110 lenses in particular are pretty nice and very small."
#37
Pentacon 29mm
4.0
(1)
"Widest I've found non-fisheye for relatively cheap is a 29mm pentacon lens."
#38
East German
4.0
(1)
"East German stuff can be very good."
#39
Mitakon 35mm f/2
4.0
(1)
"Here are a few inexpensive, high quality modern EF mount lenses."
#40
Yashinon
4.0
(1)
"My 55mm f1.8 takumar and 50mm 1.7 yashinon dx lenses are quite sharp compared to modern lenses, but still have a vintage look to them."
#41
Mir
4.0
(1)
"Maybe the Mir 1b. It's not very cheap but it's one of my favorite soft dreamy lenses."
#42
Soligor 135mm f/1.8
3.0
(1)
"This Soligor 135/1.8 is weird and interesting."
#43
Panasonic
3.0
(1)
"It's a solid lens, but I wouldn't describe it as having vintage character."
#44
TTArtisan
3.0
(1)
"There are a few new Chinese brands like TTArtisan & 7artisans that make lenses for M4/3 and APSC mostly."
#45
7artisans
3.0
(1)
"There are a few new Chinese brands like TTArtisan & 7artisans that make lenses for M4/3 and APSC mostly."
#46
Meike
3.0
(1)
"Meike makes some wide angle lenses for cinematography and whatnot."
Discover your audience
GummySearch is an audience research toolkit for 130,000 unique communities on Reddit.
If you are looking for startup problems to solve, want to validate your idea or find your first customers online, GummySearch is for you.
Sign up for free, get community insights in minutes.
Tell me more
Get started
