Marco Aries

Between the 70s and 80s, zoom lenses were rising in popularity and, after three years of development, Nikon released the 35-200 in 1985. Allegedly, it was a technological marvel at the time, created with the aid of rapidly improving computer processing, allowing manufacturers to push the boundaries of what was previously possible. The lens is made of metal and hard plastic, it weights around 700g, it is 11.9 to 17cm long and it has an external diameter of 70mm, with a 62mm front thread. The iris has 7 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f3.5 at 35mm or f4.5 at 200mm to f22 without half steps. It uses a push pull zoom and focus, with a wide textured grip and it turns 150 degrees. Minimum focusing distance is 1.6 meters throughout the zoom range but if you push this button and turn the barrel it can focus up to 30cm at 35mm and 1.3 meters at 200mm. The Nikon F mount has a flange distance of 46.5mm. Overall build quality is great, but there are a few things that I don’t like ...

The first version of the Super-Takumar 50mm 1.4 was launched in 1964 with an 8 elements in 6 group configuration. One year later it was updated to 7 elements in 6 groups with improved coatings that included thorium oxide so, yes, this is one of those radioactive lenses. The lens is made of metal, it weights around 220g, it is 38 to 45mm long and it has an external diameter of 63mm, with a 49mm front thread. The iris has 6 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f1.4 to f16 with half steps. On the side there is a switch for automatic aperture control for compatible cameras. The focusing ring has pretty shallow textured dimples, it turns 200 degrees and minimum focusing distance is 45cm. It has an M42 mount with a flange distance of 45,46mm. One minor design issue I have with this lens is that the dimples on the focus and aperture rings are spaced differently, so only two of them align at any given point and that triggers my ocd. Other than that, in classic Asahi...

The Takumar 135mm f3.5 is made of metal, it weights around 330g, it is 88 to 103mm long and it has an external diameter of 58mm, with a 49mm front thread. The iris has 6 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f3.5 to f22 with half steps. On the side there’s the auto-manual selector for compatible camera bodies. The focusing ring is textured, it turns 330 degrees and minimum focusing distance is 1.5m. As we can see on the front element, this was the first series of lenses produced by Asahi with multicoating. The M42 mount has a flange distance of 45,46mm. This lens is very compact and light so it feels right at home even on small mirrorless cameras. The focusing ring is very smooth and the long throw makes it easy to be precise. Sharpness wide open is good all over the frame and it only gets better by f8. There is just a bit of Chromatic aberration, mostly in the corners, but it is barely noticeable. Both saturation and contrast are a bit low and colors are qui...

 Amongst vintage lenses, Takumar is one of the iconic names, but are they really that good or is it just internet hype? I’ve been meaning to try them for years, but they are a bit rare here in Italy and due to their reputation prices are often inflated. Last year I was finally able to buy three of them and I’ve been using them on and off since then. Today’s subject is the 35mm 3.5, built sometime between 1971 and 1980 The lens is made of metal, it weights around 150g, it is 34 to 37mm long and it has an external diameter of 58mm, with a 49mm front thread. The iris has 5 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f3.5 to f16. On the side there’s the auto-manual selector for compatible camera bodies. The focusing ring is textured, it turns 150 degrees and minimum focusing distance is 45cm. As we can see on the front element, this was the first series of lenses produced by Asahi with multicoating. The M42 mount has a flange distance of 45,46mm. Get your adapter: Global: https://...

When talking about vintage lenses, everybody will tell you to avoid plastic lenses from the 80s and 90s because build and image quality are terrible. So obviously, I had to try them myself. The lens is made of plastic, it weights around 170g, it is 67 to 84mm long and it has an external diameter of 66mm, with a 52mm front thread and the from element turns when focusing. The iris has 7 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f4 to f22 plus auto. The focusing ring is textured, it turns 70 degrees and minimum focusing distance is 35cm. The Nikon F mount has a flange distance of 46,5mm. This lens uses the screw drive autofocus system and the focusing ring is very narrow and not really meant to be used; nevertheless it is precise. Sharpness wide open is very good with slightly softer corners and by f8 it gets very sharp all over the frame. There doesn’t seem to be much of a difference between the two ends of the zoom range. Chromatic aberration can be spotted wide open in high con...

The lens is made of metal and hard plastic, it weights around 620g, it is 152 to 166mm long and it has an external diameter of 72mm, with a 58mm front thread and the from element turns when focusing. The iris has 8 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f4 to f32 plus auto, with half steps. The focusing ring is textured, it turns 160 degrees and minimum focusing distance is 1.2 meters. At 70mm it can be set to macro mode, reducing the minimum focusing distance to 45cm. The Canon Fd mount has a flange distance of 42mm. As you all know, I don’t like the sliding barrel focus and zoom system, but this specific copy has just the right amount of resistance. Sharpness wide open is all right but not amazing, with slightly softer corners and some noticeable vignetting. Stopping down to f8 it gets very sharp in the center, but less in the corners. There doesn’t seem to be much of a difference between the two ends of the zoom range. Chromatic aberration is present wide open ...

The lens has a plastic body, it weights 240g, it is 58 to 71mm long and it has an external diameter of 67mm, with a 52mm front thread and the from element turns when focusing. The iris has 7 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f3.3 at 35mm or f4.5 at 70mm to f22, without half steps. The focusing ring is textured, it turns 110 degrees and minimum focusing distance is roughly 35cm. The Nikon F mount has a flange distance of 46.5mm.   Adapter: https://amzn.to/3y1dhiP (affiliate link) This little plastic guy is one of the first Nikkor autofocus lenses, specifically the second version of the 35-70 commercialized in 1989. It doesn’t have an internal focusing motor, using instead the screw drive focusing system, meaning that the motor is inside the camera and it couples to the lens via a single screw. It might sound as a bit of a novelty, but I used this lens on the Nikon N70 with the screw drive focusing and it turned out to be much faster than expected and reliable. More ...