Marco Aries

Leica is a luxury brand with a cult following and, allegedly, iconic colors and I’ve always been both curious and reticent about it. Most probably it is just overpriced and overhyped, but I couldn’t form an opinion without trying it. And that’s where my opening statement comes into play: it is a luxury brand, something I most definitely cannot afford. Luckily for me, a fellow photographer and vintage lens user has loaned me this lens to try, but I have to warn you: it has been slightly modified. The lens is made of metal, it weights around 380g, it is 52 to 59mm long and it has an external diameter of 65mm, with a 55mm front thread. It also has a built in sun hood. The iris has 6 blades, the aperture would normally be clicked, but this was declicked and it goes from f1.4 to f16 - with half steps. The focusing is rubberized, it turns 270 degrees and minimum focusing distance is a little less than 50cm. The Leica R mount has a flange distance of 47mm, but this copy has been converted to

The Nikkor 85mm 1.8 D was sold from 1994 to 2015, it autofocus and many people would not consider it vintage. Personally, I don’t care what you call it, so, let's take a closer look. The lens is made of hard plastic with a metal mount, it weights around 370g, it is 59mm long and it has an external diameter of 71mm, with a 62mm front thread. It uses a rear focus system, so the front doesn’t extend when focusing. The autofocus is screw driven.  The iris has 9 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f1.8 to f16 without half steps.  The focusing ring is rubberized, it turns 90 degrees and minimum focusing distance is 85cm.  The Nikon F mount has a flange distance of 46.5mm. The plastic body doesn’t feel great, but it is well put together.  The focusing ring is very light and narrow, a bit too much of both, but it is very precise.  The aperture ring is even more narrow and it can be tricky to use.  It is just a little bit front heavy, but it feels right at home both on Nikon

The lens is made of plastic with a metal mount, it weights around 250g, it is 44 to 52mm long and it has an external diameter of 65mm, with a 52mm front thread. The iris has 7 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f1.4 to f16 without half steps. The focusing ring is textured, it turns 160 degrees and minimum focusing distance is 45cm. The autofocus uses the screw drive system. The Nikon F mount has a flange distance of 46.5mm. The plastic body doesn’t feel amazing, but it is well put together. The focusing ring is a bit narrow and smooth, while the aperture is big but only partially textured and not the most practical to use. It is a small and light lens so it doesn’t throw off the balance of the camera, whether adapting on mirrorless or on Nikon srls. Sharpness wide open is lacking all over the frame, but it improves stopping down and gets really sharp by f8. Chromatic aberration is present at all apertures, but rarely distracting and highlights bloom at wider a

In 1966 Minolta introduced their first meter coupled lenses, from which the MC stamp on the front, recognizable by the unpainted aperture ring. They seem to be considered not great and therefore can be found for cheap so, obviously, I had to give it a try The lens is made of metal, it weights around 220g, it is 45 to 49mm long and it has an external diameter of 63mm, with a 52mm front thread. The letters HG on the front indicate the optical design of 6 elements in 7 groups. The iris has 6 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f2.8 to f16 with half steps. The focusing has textured dimples, it turns 160 degrees and minimum focusing distance is a little less than 40cm. The Minolta SR mount has a flange distance of 43.5mm. Both aperture and focus ring are a bit light on my copy, but overall it feels solid like most lenses from this era, plus it is light and compact.   Sharpness wide open can be fairly good in the center, but it quickly falls off towards the corners