Two 50s, do you see a difference?

[Derrel]

Minolta made some exceptional lenses including for Leica (yes!,)

Can you name which Leica lenses?

from: Leica FAQ - Japanese R lenses — any good?

16mm fisheye (Leica still has these in stock AFAIK)
24mm Elmarit-R (early version made by Minolta, current version made by Leica from Minolta design)
35-70 f/3.5 (discontinued, early version made by Minolta, late version assembled by Leica with Minolta optical cell)
80-200 f/4.5 (discontinued)
75-200 f/4.5 (discontinued)
70-210 f/4 (discontinued)
500mm Mirror lens (discontinued)

 

[usayit]

Vivitar (the parent company's name I can't remember.. I recall reading that it was out of California) was an importer of German and Japanese optics.. and rebranded them. At some point in time, they did have a group that designed the lenses that would later be known as the "Series 1" but I think they outsourced their manufacturing of the glass. Those were really good glass (I'm still looking for the K-mount versions). The problem is that they later used the Series 1 naming for lesser lenses as a sheer marketing effort.

 

[MattxMosh]

Vivitar (the parent company's name I can't remember.. I recall reading that it was out of California) was an importer of German and Japanese optics.. and rebranded them. At some point in time, they did have a group that designed the lenses that would later be known as the "Series 1" but I think they outsourced their manufacturing of the glass. Those were really good glass (I'm still looking for the K-mount versions). The problem is that they later used the Series 1 naming for lesser lenses as a sheer marketing effort.

This is how I found a couple 70-210's.

There is a serial number decoder at the bottom that comes in handy, well, for lenses made before 1990ish.

 

[usayit]

from: Leica FAQ - Japanese R lenses — any good?

16mm fisheye (Leica still has these in stock AFAIK)
24mm Elmarit-R (early version made by Minolta, current version made by Leica from Minolta design)
35-70 f/3.5 (discontinued, early version made by Minolta, late version assembled by Leica with Minolta optical cell)
80-200 f/4.5 (discontinued)
75-200 f/4.5 (discontinued)
70-210 f/4 (discontinued)
500mm Mirror lens (discontinued)

Ah .. guess that makes sense.... mostly zooms which (like SLRs) Leica were behind the times. At one time, I considered an R-system and did some research.

During my research, a few reported less than stellar performance from the R-zooms and they were never really widely accepted but none of my correspondence mentioned Minolta's involvement . It also seems that Minolta made the R3, R4 and R5 for Leica (different mount). Other than that... I know that the Minolta/Leica relationship resulted in the CLE and CL (which are good btw) rangefinder cameras with Leica's specs and Minolta's manufacturing. The Minolta M lenses that were mixed Leica manufactured and rebranded as Rokkors along Leica's Summicron-C lenses (branded as Leica). I cannot find any mention of any Minolta glass designs being rebranded as Leica in the M-mount.

Reason why I asked was this comes up every once in a while from the Minolta camp.. as if associating it with the Leica branding brings some sort of validation to Minolta Quality. When asked, very few actually can name examples with certainty ..... the few responses I get are "oh hum". What I find strange was that Minolta glass is indeed good.. (I have a Minolta 7000 with 35-70 and 70-210 zooms. My mother in law is a fan) and association with the Leica branding is unnecessary.

Kinda like me claiming to be this great photo-journalist simply because my Canon 1dmII was purchased from one.



Also interesting thing came up... Leica actually made the first initial R&D effort for Autofocus and even patented it. They later sold those rights to Minolta who eventually came out with the first proper (2nd AF camera) in body autofocusing camera. Apparently, Leica didn't think AF would take off... what were they thinking?

 

[usayit]

This is how I found a couple 70-210's.

There is a serial number decoder at the bottom that comes in handy, well, for lenses made before 1990ish.

Awsome! Thanks... Now I just need to figure out which manufacturers commissioned produced the nicest samples.

 

[MattxMosh]

This is how I found a couple 70-210's.

There is a serial number decoder at the bottom that comes in handy, well, for lenses made before 1990ish.

Awsome! Thanks... Now I just need to figure out which manufacturers commissioned produced the nicest samples.

From the research I did when looking for the best deals I could find on Series 1 Zooms, Kiron and Komine tended to be on the top of the heap. A lot of what I found on them seems to have been long lost. I have been trying to find out which of the 135mm primes are the best and who made the 200mm f3. They both tend to appear on ebay some what frequently for not too much scratch most of the time, but even not too much is usually to much for me, ha.

Edit: Forgot to mention, most of the top notch stuff was made around 1990, but the odd ball apertures and interesting designs were made around 1980. The late 90's Series 1 are the ones to stay away from. They aren't bad, but they are more "consumer" grade.

 

[Ron Evers]

I have a Series 1 version2 by Tokina. Heavy beast on a G1.

 

[Derrel]

That link to the Vivitar manufacturing codes vis a vis their serial numbers is one I had stumbled upon a year or so ago, and I found it pretty handy Vivitar 70-210 Series 1 Macro Zoom Lenses - Mark Roberts Photography

to find out when and by what company a couple of Vivitars I own were made.
Vivitar released a 55mm f/2.8 Series 1 1:1 macro lens in the 1970's, and it's a very nicely-built lens with an incredibly long,precise focusing throw,all the way to 1:1, with a very complete magnification ratio and distance scale. It's a pretty good lens optically, but the mechanics of it are really impressive and what makes it kind of a neat lens. There was also a 90mm macro in the Series 1, built pretty much the same way,with the long, slow helicoid focusing system and impressively complete magny and distance scales, all engraved and filled with colored paint, not just painted on. Both were fairly expensive for their era, with the 55/2.8 retailing for around $340 in the late 70's, which made them more-costly than most first-party macro lenses of that time.

Ah, those were the days...and thanks to these new 4/3 system cameras, a lot of these old lenses have been given new potential uses. I think the Leica R lenses will probably find most of their use adapted off-brand to various Olympus and Panasonic bodies, as well as to Canon d-slr's. Leica's currently without an R-mount body, but I have heard rumors that they are readying a digital camera that can use R-mount lenses (not sure if it's true or not).

 

[MattxMosh]

That link to the Vivitar manufacturing codes vis a vis their serial numbers is one I had stumbled upon a year or so ago, and I found it pretty handy Vivitar 70-210 Series 1 Macro Zoom Lenses - Mark Roberts Photography

to find out when and by what company a couple of Vivitars I own were made.
Vivitar released a 55mm f/2.8 Series 1 1:1 macro lens in the 1970's, and it's a very nicely-built lens with an incredibly long,precise focusing throw,all the way to 1:1, with a very complete magnification ratio and distance scale. It's a pretty good lens optically, but the mechanics of it are really impressive and what makes it kind of a neat lens. There was also a 90mm macro in the Series 1, built pretty much the same way,with the long, slow helicoid focusing system and impressively complete magny and distance scales, all engraved and filled with colored paint, not just painted on. Both were fairly expensive for their era, with the 55/2.8 retailing for around $340 in the late 70's, which made them more-costly than most first-party macro lenses of that time.

Ah, those were the days...and thanks to these new 4/3 system cameras, a lot of these old lenses have been given new potential uses. I think the Leica R lenses will probably find most of their use adapted off-brand to various Olympus and Panasonic bodies, as well as to Canon d-slr's. Leica's currently without an R-mount body, but I have heard rumors that they are readying a digital camera that can use R-mount lenses (not sure if it's true or not).

I've never really read up on these 4/3 system cameras. I hadn't a clue about them aside from the sensor size, and the design reducing the size of lenses. I just did a quick read up, and I may start looking more seriously at them. I love my minolta film cameras, but soometime I don't want to be bothered with film and want to use the lenses. The adapter I have just doesn't work quite right on the Canon.

Hows that G1? :mrgreen:

 

[Ron Evers]

Matt

Hows that G1?

It is discontinued Matt. G2 pending.

Best you stay away from it though, you will just drive up the price of legacy lenses.

Seriously though, it is a very nice camera that can mount any old film camera lens with the appropriate adapter. I have been building (very cheaply) a stable of Minolta & Pentax mount lenses for mine. The native lenses 14-45 & 45-200 I got with mine are great if you have lotsa light & that limitation has me going for fast legacy glass.

Here is a shot from today with the Panasonic 45-200.

 

[MattxMosh]

It looks like it takes quality images.

Research and wife convincing will be in full swing this weekend, ha.

I've been collecting Minolta glass steadily since I my Dad gave me his XG-1 in the early 90's. I have loads of the cheaper stuff, and I find all the ones I want now cost the same as some of the Canon AF lenses I want for my DSLR.

But, if I have a new body to mount all my glass on, I think it may breath new life in to them, and keep meaway from spending a fortune on 16mm rokkor fisheyes or 20mm superwides..or that 35mm shift that cost more than my truck I want. At least for a bit.

I used to shoot almost entirely film, but since my kids were born, my darkroom is a giant baby closet, and I dont really have the time to develop and scan it all. The wonders of internet forum tangents inspiring me to learn about new stuff, heh.

 

[usayit]

Hows that G1? :mrgreen:

Figure I would give it its own thread...

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...-my-thoughts-panasonic-g1-w-manual-glass.html