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04-02-2015, 10:34 AM   #16
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QuoteOriginally posted by RKKS08 Quote
Lenses where you should investigate before buying:

Revuenon, Porst, Weltblick.
These were house brands of the big German chains with European wide very high sales numbers, made in Japan, East Germany, or USSR.
Revuenon (from Foto-Quelle) had no really bad ones, they all were between average and good (many lenses were from Chinon). Porst a bit behind (many lenses from Cosina), and Weltblick really mixed. All of them rarely from West German production.

Exakta. Not always to be avoided, but one should investigate. The brand name Exakta (for a long time East German) had been sold, and in the eighties the German market was flooded with these lenses, often even cheaper than Makinon. Some of them were quite good, some should just be used as a paper weight. Right now there are many Exakta lenses from that time (made in Japan) on German eBay.

Makinon. After I changed from (East German) Exakta to Pentax in 1981, for many years I read every comparing lens test published in Germany. Lenses branded Makinon were always the cheapest, and in nearly every test at the bottom of the recommended list. In the paperweight range. Myself I once bought a used 24mm WA (in PK mount), but owned it only till after the first roll of film returned - not sharp enough even for album prints.

@ismaelg
I cannot believe there exist uncoated Takumar SLR lenses. From beginning of the 1960s all lenses for SLRs of every brand were coated.
SMC coating came much later. But even Bayonet Takumars from end 1970s till mid 1980s were not only coated, but multi-coated. They just did not get the special Pentax SMC coating, but a standard multi-coating (as taught in every optical engineers study at university).

@dcshooter
"Various East German and Soviet lenses... ...are usually clones from..."
Not really.
  1. Before WWII, the center of Zeiss was in what became the Soviet sector at the end of the war, so Zeiss was splittet. Both the now 2 Zeiss companies had the right to use the designs from before and during the war, but it is not known that Zeiss Jena "cloned" newer Zeiss Oberkochen designs.
  2. The Soviet lenses (best known are Jupiter and Helios) are a different story. After the occupation of East Germany, the USSR (just like the USA) had the right to access every advanced German technology as war reparations, and they moved some complete Zeiss production lines (including the engineeers) to Russia and Ukraine. They did not invent many outstanding new designs, but over the years improved the Zeiss designs from the 1930s, just as it was done in the two Germanys.
  3. Meyer Görlitz are not known for Zeiss clones; for a long time they had been a tough competitor for Zeiss, many of their lenses being just as good.
  4. In the last decade of the East German state, most of the optical companies were melted to one; the lenses (many of them unchanged) were now called Pentacon, some of the better ones stayed with the Zeiss label, mainly for export. Most of the Pentacon lenses are in fact Meyer/Görlitz lenses, some are Zeiss. Many Pentacon lenses are known for outstanding center sharpness, obviously a legacy of Meyer.
I have a very nice 135mm f2.8 Porst lens with beautiful colours. Postage was more than the lens... others in the forum would hit it with a hammer just for being 'Porst'. just saying.

What I want to add:

'aus Jena'. Since Carl Zeiss Jena was not allowed to use the Carl Zeiss brand in the west, the export lenses were called 'aus Jena'. The prices on ebay are usually very high for obvious reasons.

Soligor: rebranded lenses, from pure crap to surprisingly good. Usually cheap.

04-02-2015, 11:17 AM   #17
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QuoteOriginally posted by Volker76 Quote
I have a very nice 135mm f2.8 Porst lens with beautiful colours. Postage was more than the lens... others in the forum would hit it with a hammer just for being 'Porst'. just saying.

What I want to add:

'aus Jena'. Since Carl Zeiss Jena was not allowed to use the Carl Zeiss brand in the west, the export lenses were called 'aus Jena'. The prices on ebay are usually very high for obvious reasons.

Soligor: rebranded lenses, from pure crap to surprisingly good. Usually cheap.
Porsts - at least some of them - are rebranded Tokinas. There is a Tokina 75-260 in the user reviews that's identical to my Sears, which is identical to Porsts seen out there in the wild of that design.
04-06-2015, 05:30 AM   #18
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QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
...or not. Vivitar are consistently good for most of the brand's history with some (Series 1) being excellent. Most Sears lenses are re-labled Rikenon (Ricoh) and are usually good. Samyang, except for current models, I would avoid.

To the OP...Due to the literally hundreds of brands and thousands of lens models involved, it is usually easier to ask about lens suggestions rather than lenses to avoid.


Steve
You have a point. However, it seemed a good place to start. Your comment about Samyang, for example, is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for. Ditto Sagitta's comments on the Sears 28-70 Macro, and much of RKKS08's post about "Lenses to investigate before buying". At the end of the day, though, it's engendered a useful, educational and enlightening discussion, the results of which I can put together in the context of everyone's input. (Thank you all.)
04-06-2015, 10:58 AM   #19
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As said above manual zooms can less sharper than kit lenses but there are very some good ones too. Good brand old primes should be better than kit lenses, actually I have only one old manual prime made in Korea that is not better than kit lenses.

04-08-2015, 04:49 AM   #20
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Speaking of lenses to avoid on ebay, I just had a thought: if there are any moderators reading this, can we please have a sticky in the Lens forum that shows a good view of the dreaded Ricoh Pin actually in its native position on the lens, so that newcomers don't have to go searching all over the forums for it? Given how much the blessed thing is talked about as a creature to beware of, a good pic or two that shows a full and a close-up view of the mount would be nice so we know what to look for in ebay pics.
04-08-2015, 04:58 AM   #21
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Which cheap manual lenses to avoid on e-bay? ALL OF THEM! ALL OF THEM. !!! Buy one and then you want another...and then another...those 50mm's....Tak's M K A, F2 F1.8 F1.4....28mm's Sigma, Vivitar Cosina STOP STOP....LBA will strike....this way MADNESS LIES (subsides into hysterical sobbing....)
04-08-2015, 05:02 AM   #22
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QuoteOriginally posted by StephenHampshire Quote
Which cheap manual lenses to avoid on e-bay? ALL OF THEM! ALL OF THEM. !!! Buy one and then you want another...and then another...those 50mm's....Tak's M K A, F2 F1.8 F1.4....28mm's Sigma, Vivitar Cosina STOP STOP....LBA will strike....this way MADNESS LIES (subsides into hysterical sobbing....)
The Call of Lensthulhu.

04-08-2015, 05:09 AM   #23
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QuoteOriginally posted by StephenHampshire Quote
Which cheap manual lenses to avoid on e-bay? ALL OF THEM! ALL OF THEM. !!! Buy one and then you want another...and then another...those 50mm's....Tak's M K A, F2 F1.8 F1.4....28mm's Sigma, Vivitar Cosina STOP STOP....LBA will strike....this way MADNESS LIES (subsides into hysterical sobbing....)
agreed; I've bought one (yes, just one) manual prime so far and it has me lusting after more; watching eBay, the classifieds here, craigslist, etc... for 'the next deal!'.....
04-08-2015, 03:40 PM   #24
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QuoteOriginally posted by pathdoc Quote
The Call of Lensthulhu.
That one is just begging for a creepy illustration!!!




Steve
04-10-2015, 04:08 AM   #25
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I know exactly what to draw, but I just don't have the skill for it - a K-3 being brandished in one front claw, the FF clutched in the other, and each of the tentacles that emerges from beneath his chin is clutching one of the Limited, FA or starred primes.
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