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Now having used Olympus E-system, 4/3 format cameras for almost 3 years and having purchased and tried more than 100 manual focus legacy lenses, I am even happier with 4/3 system than when I started. I guess I am now a 4/3 system true believer. And when it comes to legacy lenses, I am in danger of becoming an Imelda Marcos. I bought too many legacy lenses on eBay and love most of them - except the defective ones, that is. ( About 20% of my eBay purchases are defective. :( )

 

Perhaps one service I can be to Flickr community is to give my honest opinion for each legacy lens I tried. And also my feeling about DSLR cameras I have used.

 

So here it goes: My personal opinion about different lenses and cameras.

  

Lenses: ( All these lenses can be bought at real cheap to quite modest prices on eBay. I tend to stay away from expensive lens. )

 

My 'best pick' for 50mm normal lens: Minolta MC PF 55mm f1.7 lens.

 

Altho I like verstile MD 50mm f1.7 lens a lot, I think MC PF 55mm f1.7 is a timeless classic and it edges out my past favorite. MC PF 55mm f1.7 is very sharp and very contrasty. I am impressed every time I use this lens. I cannot think of any other lens to compare to this old Minolta classic. My personal (and unsubstantiated) suspicion is that Minolta MC PF 55mm f1.7 may be the greatest normal f1.7 lens ever made.

 

Much maligned MD 50mm f1.7 is my second favorite. I may be the lone big fan of MD 50mm f1.7 lens in the Flickr land. But Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 remains a versatile 'wonder lens'. This little lens can do so many things and I just love the Minolta MD color this lens has. Its cousin MD 50mm f2 is also nice and also cheap!

 

I would also make a special mention of little known Mamiya Sekor SX series of normal lens. M42 mount SX 50mm f1.8 and f2 are really outstanding and they are well worth seeking out. ( They usually sell for real cheap on eBay. )

 

Also, as everyone knows, Hexanon 50mm lenses are very sharp and very nice. Late version Hexanon 50mm f1.7 is my all around favorite. I am now starting to play with the last version Hexanon 50mm f1.8 lens ( made by Tokina) and it is also a fabulous lens.

 

( From my wordiness, you can draw a true conclusion. Most name brand 50mm normal lenses are all excellent... )

  

The best 50mm f1.4 lens: Mamiya Sekor SX 55mm f1.4 lens. The sharpest and most colorful, this lens stands out just a bit higher among many, many excellent f1.4 legacy lenses. In reality, all f1.4 legacy lenses are worth collecting. So far I have about 10 and like them ALL - except the ones with defects! They are all excellent. e.g. Auto Mamiya Sekor 55mm f1.4 lens is not as sharp as SX version but it gives wonderful dreamy colors. So I cannot really say one is better than the other.

 

Sears 55mm f1.4 lens ( made by Rokinon ) is also a standout, a very, very special lens!! I also like Minolta MC Rokkor-X PG 50mm f1.4 lens a lot for portraits because its colors are more neutral compared to Mamiya Sekor SX lens. Actually this Minolta MC Rokkor is one heck of a lens, as good as any out there.

 

For portraits I have been leaning recently towards Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm f1.4 lens (later 49mm version) . The coating on this Minolta lens seems to be the best for skin tone - and thus for portraits.

  

The best legacy zoom lens: Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm f2.8-3.5 macro focusing zoom lens by Komine. Do you want the highest image quality from a legacy zoom lens? This is the lens to buy. This is a great lens. I also like to mention Minolta MD 35-70mm f3.5 to be another really great zoom lens. Leica like it so much they sold this lens under Leica name!

  

The best legacy tele zoom lens: Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f3.5 ( Version 2) by Tokina. This is among the finest of tele zoom lenses 80-200mm, 70-210mm variety. Image clarity and sharpness of this lens is really excellent and is the best among those I have tested. ( Tamron SP 70-210mm f3.5 is reputed to be the best of the best but that one is quite more expensive on eBay. ) If you want less weight than Series 1, I highly recommend little known Vivitar 75-200mm f4.5 lens by Bauer ( serial number 42xxxxx ). It is a superb tele zoom lens.

  

The best 28mm wide angle lens: Seikanon 28mm f2.8 macro. Not well known but it is a great lens. ( I believe Kiron made this lens ). Soligor C/D 28mm f2.8 is also very, very good ( I think this one is by Tokina ). Konica Hexanon 28mm f3.5 from my film days is my perennial favorite as well. On a recent tryout at a museum, I found Seikanon 28mm and Hexanon to be rough equals as the best 28mm lenses.

  

The best 35mm wide angle lens: Konica Hexanon 35mm f2.8 lens. Very sharp and very colorful.

  

The best short tele 135mm lens: Konica Hexanon 135mm f3.2 lens. A great example of Hexanon image quality. This is an awesome lens, IMO. Everyone should have one.

  

The best 'no name' lens - Tou/Five Star zoom lenses. Great color and very sharp. I am a big fan of Tou/ Five Star lenses. I esp. like commonly available 35-75mm f3.5-4.8 zoom lens. 75-200mm f4.5 is also one of the bests.

  

Most overrated lens - Russian made Helios 44 lenses. Some people are passionate about the mood. I bought the hype, tried the lens and sold it as soon as I could. I thought my $10 el cheapo Yashinon DS 50mm f1.9 was better! My advise: Don't bother. It is not worth paying the high shipping cost from Russia. ( Update: I really should not trash this lens. I think Helios works really well with APC size sensor DSLR like Canon Rebel. I have seen some great examples.) I am also not to enthused about much esteemed Pentax Takumar lenses. To me the coating of Takumar lenses produce darker images. I prefer Yashinons of the same era. .

  

Some random comments about older version Japanese lenses..

 

Yashinon DX 50mm f2 : This is a real old lens but I find it very special. I would rate it as a timeless classic lens. There is something magical about this lens. Certainly I would never part with my copy of this lens!!! I feel the same way about the oldest version of Hexanons. For some reason, their old, single coat make them really special.

 

I recently tried Yashica ML 50mm f2 lens due to its high regard on the net. It is a very sharp lens but overall I prefer Hexanon 50mm f1.7 which may actually be sharper and have better colors. ( 12/12 )

 

Tokina zoom lenses: I have collected more than 10 of these Tokina zooms and I am trying them one by one. So far my favorite, in term of image quality, is the oldest - Asanuma 35-105mm f3.5. But it is a bit too heavy to carry around. I am rather disappointed by others in my collection.

 

My rule of thumb for legacy zoom is following: Buy only 2X zoom lenses like 35-70mm or 70-150mm. These are usually excellent optically. I am a big fan of superb Minolta MD 35-70mm f3.5 and excellent Tou/Five Star 35-75mm f3.5-4.8 lenses.

 

Among several 70-150mm lenses I have tried, I would recommend Yashica ML 75-150mm f4 as the best and the most useful. More common Vivitar CF 70-150mm f3.8 is only a so-so performer despite its good reputation on the net. On sunny days, it can flare like crazy on my E-PL1.

 

My experience with 3X zoom lenses like 28-85mm by Tokina have been mostly disappointing. Tele zooms with 3X coverage like 70-210mm are very reliable. But legacy zooms covering 28-85mm seem to be the worst optically. Vivitar Series one 28-90mm f2.8-3.5 is a glaring exception. That is a truly excellent lens.

 

But my rule going forward is to stick to 2X zoom lenses only unless it is a tele zoom like 75-200mm.

  

The best DSLR I have used: E-PL1. Yes, I finally tried a m4/3 PEN camera and like it a lot. In a few years, I may try E-M5 if the price comes down. I also tried and like Sony NEX C3 and Samsung NX 100, both with larger aps sized sensors. They produce beautiful images but overall, E-PL1 can do more IMO.

 

Olympus E-510. I consider this camera to be an all time classic, an all around champ. It used to be my workhorse camera and I can't say enough good thing about it.

 

Olympus E-600. With larger 12Mp sensor and improved image processing algorithm. I am finally getting to like E-600 a lot better now after trying a new setting for the camera. This is a very nice camera.

 

Olympus E-500: A nice performer. I took some really beautiful images with E-500. Its Kodak sensor still holds up very well. But its technology is now outdated. I prefer E-510.

 

Olympus E-330: Outdated technology. But I believe the camera's sensor is quite good. E-330 sometimes gives outstanding images. But not always...

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Olympus E-300: Very clean pixel. This was my first DSLR. E-300 is a charming performer.

 

Nikon D60: If you want 'prettified images' D60 can deliver beautiful images effortlessly. Beautiful glow and nice color tones. But Nikon is quite unfriendly towards legacy lenses. And anything beyond kit zoom lens is quite expensive. Not good for my budget.

  

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My overall conclusions are as follows: Olympus 4/3 system is engineered to give the sharpest images possible (edge to edge) while Nikon and Canon give richer, deeper images but not as razor sharp everywhere as Olympus. It is up to a user to decide which is preferable. ( For portraits, sharpness may be a drawback. But in macro work, Oly may kick others' behinds. ) Olympus E-620 has improved on earlier models by increasing its dynamic range. So E-620 may give results comparable to Canon bodies with pro lenses ( because Canon kit lens are just not sharp enough) at much lower cost. So unless one goes for full frame DSLR like Nikon D-700 or Canon 5D II, which give painting like rich images, Olympus E-620 may be an ideal DSLR camera to own. Its combination of razor sharp but still rich images may be hard to beat. Esp. at its price point!! (12/09)

  

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Upon more research, it looks like Olympus E-620 is the best Olympus camera to have in terms of performance per dollar. E-510 has a notable disadvantage - its limited dynamic range which show up as highlight being blown. I have adjusted my E-510 setting to minimize this problem - and I am quite happy. But E-620 overcomes this limited dynamic range to start with. It also has those fun 'creative filters'. So in a couple of years, I may be shopping for a used E-620. ( Unless Canon comes out with full frame Rebel! )

 

So far, I have used Olympus E-300, E-500, E-510, and Nikon D60. I have been happy with all of them. Olympus shines in ergonomic design, its friendliness to manual lenses, and its superb kit zoom lenses. Nikon D-60 gives beautiful images thru its larger CCD sensor with big dynamic range. But for now, I am sticking with Olympus system. (10/09)

  

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Well I have finally given up on Nikon D60 because of its unfriendliness towards manual lenses. I made a gift of it to a relative. Instead I bought a used Olympus E-510 with kit zoom lenses. So I now have Zuiko 14-42mm lens ( which I find is sharper than Nikon 18-55mm VR lens!! ) and Zuiko 40-150mm lens. I guess I am now committed to Olympus 4/3 system. I am quite OK with it despite smaller sensor size. I am very much enjoying E-510 with its superb kit lens, Zuiko 14-42mm and Zuiko 40-150mm zoom lenses. (9/09)

 

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Downside to Nikon D60: Very hard to use manual lenses.

Upside to Nikon D60: The kit lens, Nikkor 18-55mm VR is a nice zoom lens. (8/09)

 

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Instead of Olympus E-510, I went out and bought Nikon D60 with its kit lens: Nikkor 18-55mm VR zoom lens. I figured that is about the only Nikon lens I would ever buy because all other Nikon lenses are sooooo expensive! I decided on Nikon D60 because Olympus E-510 is very similar to E-300. Yes, it would be nice to have camera body based IS but Nikon D60 can do IS with the 18-55mm VR lens ( Image Stabilization is done in the lens ) (7/09)

 

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Another thing I am realizing is that all these prime lenses - Hexanon, Mamiya Sekors, Yashinons etc. They are all good!! They are really wonderful lenses - sharp, bright and colorful. They work well with DSLR. They are all interesting and have their own characters. But I probably collected too many of them! (6/09)

 

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I am making a slow progress in using E-300. I finally got a split circle focusing screen and got it installed (with some difficulty). Boy, that is a big help. I was getting permanently squinted eyebrow trying to use manual focus lenses on E-300! I am also experimenting with different settings on E-300 to get better images. There is a lot to learn! (6/09)

 

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I have been a fan of Konica Hexanon optics for a long time and over the years I collected a number of Hexanon lenses as well as Konica SLR bodies. But after that came digital cameras. And when I bought then my dream digital camera - Panasonic Lumix FZ-20 for some $450 - I stopped taking film pictures altogether. So into the closet went all those excellent Hexanon manual lenses. At one time, I even considered donating them to Salvation Army store! Or at least, selling them on eBay for whatever prices they can get. .

 

But then this year, I happened to stumble across a website that described how a Hexanon lens can be adapted to Olympus 4/3 digital SLR body. Well, that fired up my imagination and I just had to get an Olympus Evolt camera. Thus began my new hobby of digital SLR photography - this past spring. And I must say it has been a fun journey learning about DSLRs and what they could do.

 

I think these DLSRs are just great. I used to be in total awe of what Lumix FZ-20 camera could do. But now, I want even more - I am now thinking Olympus E-510 as my next camera to buy - for its image stabilization feature. (6/09)