Vintage Lenses reviews from Reddit
Summary
We analyzed 162 Reddit reviews across 16 subreddits and 53 posts to rank the best Vintage Lenses brands recommended by redditors, including communities like r/Leica, r/VintageLenses, r/cinematography, r/fujix, r/bmpcc. Top-rated brands include Canon (4.3/5), Helios (4.4/5), Pentax (4.1/5).
Stats
Reviews162
Subreddits16
Posts53
Brands38
Products85
162 reviews from
and
By Brand
/By Product
#1
Canon
4.3
(27)
"Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 is the best bang for your buck!"
"Canon FD 50mm f/1.2 SSC Aspherical"
"Canon FD's are popular too."
"Canon 50mm f/1.4 LTM is a great one."
"Canon FDs have a really nice vintage look."
"I have Canon FD 7.5mm / 17mm / 20mm / 24mm / 35mm / 50mm (and up) and have a decent size set of Russian / m42 glass as well."
"I use with my a6600 canon FD great lenses. Like in my 50mm f1,4 S,S,S,C picture quality is amazing"
"They make some incredible images."
"Canon FD I feel is just solid. Soap bubbly bokeh. Usually pretty sharp in the center. Slightly desaturated colors. Looks pleasing and a bit "vintagey"."
"I have a few Canon FD lenses that I mount on a pixco FD-X speed booster that I think came off Amazon."
#2
Helios
4.4
(18)
"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."
"50mm Helios 44-2 M42 mount is the king of Swirly Bokeh"
"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."
#3
Pentax
4.1
(16)
"I've been really enjoying the Takumar lenses. I haven't found a bad one in the bunch."
"I like the Pentax super takumars, pretty much can't go wrong at any focal lengths."
"Get a set of good super taks. I find they have the best character amongst the takumars."
"Pentax SMC Takumar 55/1.8 - excellent lens, with beautiful rendering."
"I would also say Pentax-K."
"Cheap, multi coated, well built, sharp."
"Pentax-M lenses are quite cheap, lightweight and good quality."
"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 do also really like some pentax K lenses"
#4
Leica
4.3
(15)
"I've played with a few leica and voigtlander lenses and been really impressed by their quality."
"Leica Summarit 5cm in m-mount"
"This is a superb lens with an incredible build. Its even illumination and corner to corner sharpness make it a must have."
"+1 for the 50mm rigid. I use the dual range version and it’s an awesome lens."
"The very best is Leica M, you adapt anything mirror less to the M mount and then all your vintage lenses to that M."
"Summaron 2.8!"
"Love the suggestions of the f1.5 Summarit."
"If swirly and distortions are something you really want, look no further than the 5cm f/1.5 Summarit."
"Try shooting portraits with a summarit 5cm 1.5 wide open on low contrast film, it's really interesting."
"Leitz 50mm Summarit f1.5 (m mount or ltm): unique bokeh."
#5
Minolta
4.0
(14)
"I am particular to Minolta and Konica, so there are a few gems."
"My Minolta MC Rokkor-PG 58mm f1.2 almost never leaves my Fuji."
"Maybe Minolta?"
"Two minolta lenses that are very cheap but awesome are the MD Rokkor 45 and 50 f2."
"The Minolta glass are good budget options."
"I love the rendering of my 58 1.4."
"45mm f2.8 Minolta Chiyoko Super-Rokkor. It's ultra compact and has a great vintage look."
"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."
"I know a majority of the Rokkor primes are solid."
#6
Nikon
4.3
(11)
"New nikons have really nice MF assist (I think starting from ZF)"
"I have a Nikon Zf and the manual experience is great. Subject detection with one button auto zoom to eye and a couple different ways to manage focus indicators."
"Nikon AI lenses are my favorites."
"Nippon Kogaku Nikkor 5cm f/1.1"
"Nikon AI feel like they have more character to me"
"Nikon 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 AF-D"
"Nikkor 50mm f2 HC ltm: cheap and solid build. Great sonnar rendering."
"I quite like Nikon F mount because I also use those lenses on film nikon F cameras."
"Nikon ai-s are affordable, readily available, and are still sold today."
"Nikon AI-S lenses have always given a nice vintage look."
#7
Voigtlander
4.2
(9)
"I primarily use Voigtlander and vintage Nikon lenses."
"The Voigtlander Heliar 50mm f1.5 is crazy good."
"Super sharp, tons of character, reasonably priced usually."
"Nokton 1.5 off a voightlander prominant. 2nd fav is a hexanon 57 1.2 for flowers."
"Voigtlander 35mm 1.4 ii is a recreation of the pre-asph summilux and has a fairly similar coma and glow."
"Voigtlander 21/4 Color Skopar VM for a song. It has its issues but it’s tiny, sharp and cheap."
"The VM 35 mm f1.4 Classic mk ii Single Coated is a must try. Its dirt cheap and gives you the classic look."
"I am a big voigtlander fan but the 35 f1.4 is not comparable to the pre-asph summilux."
"I bought a 50mm summilux v2 expecting a lot of character but apart from a bit softness wide open it looks surprisingly modern to me."
#8
Takumar
4.3
(6)
"I like those 50 f1.4 Takumar."
"I love anything Takumar (M42-FX adapter), Voightlander's M 21 and 35mm Color Skopar lenses."
"The Takumars often get mentioned there, I would also say Pentax-K."
"It's cheap, but I am always blow away by it's rendering."
"I have many of the Canon FD, Takumar m42 and Soviet M42 offerings. They usually perform pretty wonderfully and have infinity focus."
"Something like a takumar 50mm 1.4 can usually be found for less than $100."
#9
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."
#10
Contax Zeiss
4.7
(3)
"Contax Zeiss lenses are also incredible."
"Contax Zeiss, hands down."
"Contax Zeiss are where it's at."
#11
K&F
4.7
(3)
"Another vote for the K&F. I have one for my old Ai-S 50mm f/1.4 for my Z6. Works great, didn’t break the bank. Recommended."
"K&F have surprised me with their high quality. I own many of their pro line adapters."
"There are adapters for most of the different mounts (m42, canon FD, Nikkon F, etc..) made by K&F as well as other manufacturers."
#12
Tamron
4.3
(3)
"I have to voice my support for the Tamron recommendation as well, especially the Adaptall-2 line in particular"
"Tamron 28mm 2.5"
"The Tamron Adaptall 52B 90mm/2.5 macro."
#13
Nikkor
4.5
(2)
"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."
#14
Konica
4.5
(2)
"Big one is a Konica Varifocal Hexanon AR 35-100mm f/2.8"
"The smaller is a Konica Macro-Hexanon AR 55mm f/3.5"
#15
Jupiter
4.0
(2)
"I personally would recommend for a 50mm a Jupiter 8."
"I love the old Jupiter 8 lenses, or exacta lenses moded to M."
#16
M42 lenses
4.0
(2)
"Super cheap adapter ($11 for the M42 one I'm using), IBIS, focus peaking and focus zoom, and easy to carry around."
"I do also really like some m42 lenses as well."
#17
Super Takumar
4.0
(2)
"Doesn't have the reputation of the 1.4/50 and as such it is quite a bit cheaper but IMO not any worse."
"Super Takumar 55mm f1.8 or f2.0 is one of the best value lenses out there."
#18
Olympus
4.0
(2)
"Olympus Zuiko lenses are compact and sharp."
"Olympus Zuiko lenses with a low element count, and no fuzzy corners because of the crop factor."
#19
Pentacon
4.0
(2)
"Pentacon auto 1.8, cheap and sharp."
"Pentacon auto 1.8, cheap and sharp."
#20
Vintage Lenses
3.5
(2)
"I use vintage lenses for pretty much everything... I find that if you stop vintage lenses down they get pretty tack sharp."
"If you're trying to save money, there are some vintage lenses that create great, sharp images."
#21
Vivitar
5.0
(1)
"My favorite vintage lens is a 90mm f/2.8 Vivitar macro with FD mount."
#22
Sony
5.0
(1)
"I'm using the Sony A7iv and I am enjoying it with all my manual lenses."
#23
Schneider
5.0
(1)
"Find some 16mm prime cine lenses. Schneider or Zeiss are amazing."
#24
Fotasy
4.0
(1)
"Fotasy are surprisingly decent considering the price, I've never had any focusing issues with any of my vintage glass."
#25
Viltrox
4.0
(1)
"I've heard nothing but good things about the viltrox 75mm f1.2, though it is an auto focus lens."
#26
TTArtisans
4.0
(1)
"TTArtisans 50mm 1.4, the performance is comparable to the Summilux and I even like it better than Zeiss or Voigtlander's offering."
#27
Light Lens Lab
4.0
(1)
"Light Lens Lab 35mm summicron 8 elements is a bargain."
#28
Zeiss Jena
4.0
(1)
"M42 mount is full of amazing lenses (Zeiss Jena, Asahi, Meyer Gorlitz, etc) with character that work very well with an adapter."
#29
Asahi
4.0
(1)
"M42 mount is full of amazing lenses (Zeiss Jena, Asahi, Meyer Gorlitz, etc) with character that work very well with an adapter."
#30
Meyer Gorlitz
4.0
(1)
"M42 mount is full of amazing lenses (Zeiss Jena, Asahi, Meyer Gorlitz, etc) with character that work very well with an adapter."
#31
Rodenstock
4.0
(1)
"Rodenstock-Heligon 35/2.8. The rendering is very vintage."
#32
Kiron
4.0
(1)
"The ones with best price/quality ratio are Konica lenses."
#33
Soviet
4.0
(1)
"I have many of the Canon FD, Takumar m42 and Soviet M42 offerings. They usually perform pretty wonderfully and have infinity focus."
#34
Russar
4.0
(1)
"Russar MR-2 20mm f/5.6. Great lens."
#35
Mir
4.0
(1)
"Mir-1B
It‘s almost like a Helios 44 but in 37mm"
#36
Canon, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax
4.0
(1)
"It's hard to go wrong with lenses made by major camera manufacturers... Canon, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, etc."
#37
Carl Zeiss Jena
4.0
(1)
"Another favourite of mine; the CZJ Sonnar 135/3.5 (or the Jupiter clone)."
#38
Rokinon 12mm
4.0
(1)
"Try the Rokinon 12mm."
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