Belfast_Dave

Having a considerable number of non-x lenses, i have gotten myself a few adapters and use them fairly much.
 
Here are my findings:
 
For landscapes i own the exceptional 10-24. When i want the camera to fit in my pocket, the voigtländer 15/4.5 is the perfect complement. I also have a sigma 14mm that i can mount on a tilt/shift adapter, its fun to play with but the opticts doesn't really cut it.
 
For street i have gone from the bulky 23/1.4 to the tiny 27mm. I was going to use a voigtländer 40/2 on a speed booster for when i needed the large aperture. I found out that i never do on the street though, but its still a nice combo for wide portraits. I also have a beloved nikkor 24/2.8, sadly it gets so big with the adapter that there is no advantage over the 10-24.
 
I seldom shoot normals, but when i do i use the nikon s 35/2.5 with great joy. Every lens has its own character and this one excells at night with beautiful, almost fuji like, colours and beautiful stars. It works very well with the t/s adapter when the need for that kind of control occurs.
 
For the shirtnportrait range i want tilt. I have a ballhead tilt-adapter and a substantial collection of 55-60mm lenses. The voigtländer 58/1.4 is my default choice, but minoltas, konicas, helioses and zeisses gets used too. This is one of the things i love most with x system. The ability to choose a t/s lens for its character, not just use tge only one there is for the system.
 
For long portraits, I think i could as well have glued my speed booster to my m-g orestor 135. The booster enhances an allready excellent portrait lens with better centre resolution, softer corners and removes the flat back lens problem. Pure love! I have some other 135mm too, but they seldom leave the shelf. A 90/2 is on the wish list as a complement when the sun is in the picture. When i need a pocketable alternative, the super light nikon s 100/2.8 is my choice.
 
Things that dont work so well:
Basically, the fuji lenses are excellent, even the zooms. If you own a 10-24 and an 18-55 there is not much you can adapt if you want better general quality. The old full frame primes can look like a cheap kit-zooms compared to modern fujis. They are made for using the hole frame and the pixel density of a dx sensor is higher than a stretched part of even a good film era prime. A speed booster fixes this, but only in the center and at the expense of softer corners. Very nice for most portraits, but horrible with landscape photography.
 
Adapt when you have the need for something fuji doesnt provide or if you can't afford the fuji alternative or when you want the character of a certain lens.
 
 
 
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f/otographer the more I dive into photography and the more I come to the same conclusions that you exposed in your post. Gear is really a small
part of the creative process, and all comes to the ability of the human behind the camera to use at best what he has. This really puts in another prospective
all the talks about the last gimmick in one body or in another, and so on.
 
That said, I loved using the Helios last night. As this is my first time using a fixed focal lenght lens and also the first time using a manual lens, the learning curve
is steep, somethimes you loose the shot because you didn't have focus in the right position or you can't make a step back or forth to your subject.
But ehy, neither with the best of the best of the shooting gear you have always the photo ensured.
 
By the way there are some of the first shots I took, I hope you enjoy them:D


 

 

Hello everyone, first time poster here. I shoot pretty much exclusively with old 35mm manual focus lenses and have done so for many years now. I can definitely say that they are worth using from both a creative and cost effective point of view.
 
The issue of adapting lenses is really quite simple. Does a lens, be it a new auto focus model or older manual lens, give you what you need to create the shot or vision you are attempting to capture? If the answer is yes then use the lens. It doesn't matter where it was made, or if it was made yesterday or 50 years ago.
 
Now if you are a professional photographer shooting paid work for a client then it is critical you choose the right gear. You will probably see most working photogs using modern auto focus glass that has full functionality with their camera body. This is to be expected since speed is life and AF will help nail shots in critical focus right when you need it. On the other hand, there are plenty of other pros out there using older adapted glass when speed is not as important or when an older lens is lending a desired creative effect to the work being captured.
 
Where you will see much more use of adapted lenses is in the work of non professional photographers and this makes a lot of sense. When you are shooting work/art for yourself (or family/friends) they you have a lot more lee way to slow down and make mistakes while making the capture. And please don't take this in any way as a slam to non pro photogs. I myself firmly fall into this category with only a few small paying jobs under my belt. That is simply not why I shoot photography. It is a common misconception that the goal of photography is to become a professional photographer and nothing could be further from the truth. The goal of photography is to create a compelling image that moves the human soul, or to document something in a visual format.
 
With that in mind it makes sense for non pro photographers to adapt old lenses to their cameras so that they have access to some really wonderful glass, at a fraction of the cost of their modern equivalents. Keep in mind that almost all of the great photographs from all the masters in the 20th century were taken on manual focus film lenses. In the hands of an experienced photographer the lens and camera simply become a tool for the creative process happening in the brain. But it is to easy in this internet forum discussion age to forget this fact and focus instead on the small differences in gear both old an new. People have a desire to min/max everything and will spend countless hours 'discussing' the perfect lens when in fact no such thing exists.
 
I guess the point of all this is....it doesn't matter which camera you hold in your hand. It doesn't matter when the lens you are using was made or who it was made by. It doesn't matter if focus is achieved by a small electric motor and a computer or by the fingers on your hand gripping old worn metal knurls. What matters is the image you create. Is it pleasing to you? Has your art been made manifest? If it is paid work then is your client happy with it?
 

 

 

 

 
 
These are just some examples of my art over the last few years. I currently shoot with a Sony A7 and previously with a NEX 7. You might think it odd that a Sony shooter is posting on a Fuji site, but as I said before the name on the box really doesn't matter as long as it is providing what you need. While I do love my A7 I almost purchased the X-T1 instead when it came out and there was much deliberation between the two before the purchase was made. Having said that I am still giving Fuji a hard look at a possible replacement for my Sony gear. There are several things about the X line that I find intriguing and to be honest I miss using the Metabones Speedbooster for my nex 7 and I believe the Fuji cameras are an excellent body to use as a platform for the SB.
 
If you like you may view my A7 files that have many more examples of manual focus lenses here. https://www.flickr.com/photos/8539414@N07/sets/72157641534772013
And for examples of the Speedbooster on my NEX 7 you may go here. https://www.flickr.com/photos/8539414@N07/sets/72157633126249795
 
I hope the information here helps someone. If you want to try old lenses then I can heartily recommend it. Don't be afraid to try and don't get caught up in the search for gear. By all means educate yourself on the lens choices available but don't let the pursuit of gear be the driving force of excitement in your photography. Just remember that it is the image that is important. Only this and nothing more.

I stole borrowed some ideas from Bill Fortney's blog (www.billfortney.com) and purchased an old (1980s) Nikon 300 f/4.5 lens.
 
Works great with focus peaking and a $25 Fotodiox adapter.  Gives me a 450mm FOV and more reach than my 55-200 can achieve. Not perfect as my MF skills are lacking - but with decent DOF it's possible to get some good shots.
 
I'm looking forward to Fuji's 100-400 offering next year but until then this works. I'd love to try the Nikkor 400/3.5 but don't want to spend $1000 right now.
 
Couple of photos with zero artistic merit as I sat on my back porch playing with the lens and X-T1.