#Best bokeh lens serial numbers
#Best bokeh lens plus

Whichever configuration you choose, Nikon’s 105mm f/2.5 is one of the greatest portrait lenses ever, and delivers awesome performance in a robust, durable package. Nikon’s classic 5-element, 3-group 105mm was first released in Nikon F mount along with the landmark Nikon F in 1959, but its roots go back even farther to the legendary Nikon rangefinder and Leica screw-mount versions of the mid 50s that were prized by photographers of the day and are now prized collector’s items. The lens will also work, albeit less conveniently, on old Exakta 35mm SLRs. The slightly longer than normal focal length is excellent for portraiture, and provides a 1:1 viewing image in the Topcon’s pentaprism viewfinder. The 6-bladed diaphragm does tend to produce artifacts in out-of-focus image areas, but it has beautiful bokeh at f/2 and focuses down to about 18 inches for impressive close-ups. It’s sharp wide open and takes beautiful pictures. for its Topcon SLRs, this 7-element, 5-group modified Planar design is considered to be one of the best high-speed normal lenses of its era.

#Best bokeh lens serial numbers

Frankly, any older 35mm f/2 Summicron will take beautiful pictures, but bokeh fanatics should look for the Type 4 with serial numbers in the 2,974,000-3,731.000 range. The one to look for is the older Type 4 introduced in 1979, a 7-element design known as the “Bokeh King” because of its exquisite bokeh that’s partly attributable to residual coma and astigmatism in the outer zones.ĭespite these minor defects it’s a very sharp lens overall, especially in the center of the field. Introduced in 1958 as an 8-element design that’s still regarded as one of the best performing non-aspheric lenses ever, the current version is the Leica 35mm f/2 Summicron-M ASPH that uses a different formula. The only downside: It won’t mount on digital Leica Ms. Icing on the cake: If you want to get closer than 27.5 inches, slide on the optical “goggles” before you mount the lens and you can focus down to 19 inches with reasonable parallax compensation. It performs amazingly well even wide open, and spectacularly at its optimum aperture of around f/5.6 where it ‘ll give any modern 50mm a run for the money. I got mine with my first Leica M3 and this 7-element chrome-finished beauty, produced from 1956 to 1968, delivers amazingly high resolution (over 100 lines/mm according to contemporary tests) along with excellent contrast and beautiful bokeh. But if you want to capture images that have that distinctive look, they’re still a bargain and a great way to make your imagery stand out.

Indeed, many savvy shooters now use classic lenses like these for shooting art stills and vintage-look videos, which is one reason prices have crept up in recent years. While these classic lenses are no longer in production, all can be found in the used departments of camera stores and on eBay, and all except one can be adapted to fit current digital cameras and camcorders. You’ll have a better idea of what makes each of them special when you read the detailed descriptions below, but even that is no substitute for shooting pictures. It’s not bokeh exactly-that refers to smooth transitions and shape retention in the out-of-focus areas of the image-although these lenses all have gorgeous bokeh as well.

#Best bokeh lens plus

That’s because they capture beautiful images that have “the look”-an elusive quality that may be a combination of excellent detail and sharpness plus a natural roundness in their rendition. I’ve shot thousands of pictures with hundreds of great lenses over the past 40+ years, but the following seven favorites have a special place in my heart.