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GF1 with a $20 Lens from eBay

Jim Radcliffe

Jim Radcliffe

Member
I recently bought several lenses for my GF1 off of eBay. All of them are Minolta lenses, either MD, MC or Celtic. The shot below was taken with one that I paid $20 for. The Minolta 50mm MD Rokkor-X f/1.4

I went to the mall today to try to find something to shoot because it was just too cold and windy outside. I came across a gentleman from Paraguay sitting in a chair with a music stand, a few CDs and business cards. Here's the shot of his hands while playing the harp.



Not bad for $20.
 
RichA

RichA

New member
Amazing considering a nice new plastic 50mm f1.4 will set you back anywhere from $300-$500, (Almost $800 for a metal one or more, depending on the brand). My current favorite 50mm f1.4 is a multi-coated auto Chinon which turned out to be about as good as my OM Zuiko and has better coatings. Cost? $5.00 in mint condition with Pentax mount.
 
Terry

Terry

New member
Great shot Jim. Not sure how much work you did on this but the lighting looks terrific.
 
R

ReeRay

Member
Wonderful Jim and well in keeping with the great images and advice on your site of which I've a total devotee.
 
L

LoSenior

New member
Jim,
Fantastic picture. I think that this is your best pcture from your various cameras and lens combination.
Thanks for sharing.
Jerry
 
Godfrey

Godfrey

Well-known member
Jim Radcliffe said:
I recently bought several lenses for my GF1 off of eBay. All of them are Minolta lenses, either MD, MC or Celtic. The shot below was taken with one that I paid $20 for. The Minolta 50mm MD Rokkor-X f/1.4

I went to the mall today to try to find something to shoot because it was just too cold and windy outside. I came across a gentleman from Paraguay sitting in a chair with a music stand, a few CDs and business cards. Here's the shot of his hands while playing the harp.

http://www.boxedlight.com/gf1/images/harpist.jpg

Not bad for $20.
Click to expand...
I think your vision outperformed the lens.
 
J

JerryMK

New member
Ofcourse the MD 50mm f1.4 is a nice piece of glass... but to see an take this beautifull shot there is more to it than the lens. You did a great job here! My compliments.
 
davemillier

davemillier

Member
Clearly I was ripped off, my md f1.4 arrived yesterday and it cost.....

..... £26!!! OMG, I want my money back :):):)


It looks brand new to me (despite being 33 years old) - I guess a lot of lenses must spend their entire lives locked in cupboards....

That's a very nice shot, better than an awful lot of shots you see from extremely expensive cameras and a timely reminder that kit is nothing but an enabling tool and the end result is mostly down to the photographer.


Jim Radcliffe said:
I recently bought several lenses for my GF1 off of eBay. All of them are Minolta lenses, either MD, MC or Celtic. The shot below was taken with one that I paid $20 for. The Minolta 50mm MD Rokkor-X f/1.4

I went to the mall today to try to find something to shoot because it was just too cold and windy outside. I came across a gentleman from Paraguay sitting in a chair with a music stand, a few CDs and business cards. Here's the shot of his hands while playing the harp.



Not bad for $20.
Click to expand...
 
Jim Radcliffe

Jim Radcliffe

Member
Thanks for all the kind words about this shot. This is the kind of stuff I like to shoot.

I'm so glad I had the Rokkor with me so that I had a chance to try some manual focus with lenses other than Panasonic. I have the 7-14mm, 20mm, 14-45mm and the 45-20mm but the manual focus experience on all of those is nowhere near as pleasing as using an old manual focus lens like the Minolta Rokkors. So much quicker.. so much easier than the focus by wire method Panasonic has employed.

In addition, with these manual focus lenses you can prefocus and turn the camera off while you wait for that decisive moment. Being able to prefocus is one of the things I appreciate the most about using these old lenses.



Here's the 500MM Mirror Lens I picked up a few weeks ago. That's 1000MM on the GF1.




And for Macro work, check this out... works with the 50mm very well.





I also picked up this Maco lens


All of these lenses work quite well on the GF1 using the Minolta adapter. In addtion their cost is cheap, their finish matches the GF1 and most importantly, the glass is good. Check out eBay for some great buys on this stuff before the owners of the old MF lenses realize it's worth more than they thought. Every single lens that I have bought looks like it was purchased and never been used... they are all in mint condition. No fungus, no scratches, no haze.. what a joy it is to find a lens bargain these days.
 
J

Jonas

Active member
I don't think theimage is a proof of anything technical but surely a very nice image showing a good eye and good PP work. It's a pleasure looking at it!

/Jonas
 
Amin

Amin

Active member
Jim, wonderful photograph. You have a distinctive style that comes across regardless of gear used or subject matter. I always enjoy your posts.

Would be very interested to see some of your photographs made with that mirror lens!
 
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