A couple years ago, I started hoarding as many manual lenses as I wanted to try in my old Fuji X-T1. Thankfully it lasted only a few months, but I got to gather a good amount of them bought through Ebay or flea markets. Here’s my team, sorted by their focal lenghts:
- Canon FD 28mm f2.8
- Canon FD 50mm f1.4
- Super Takumar 55mm f1.8
- Helios M44 58mm f2
- Contax Zeiss T* 90mm f2.8
- Canon FD 135mm f3.5
- Canon FD 200mm f4
The last one is my longest lens at the moment. I’d love to try a 300 or even 400mm someday but for now, those seven plus the 4 Fujis are more than enough.
I got the 200 from a german shop in Ebay for something around 20 euros. I didn’t expect it to be in a good shape but it really surprised me it came with original lens cap, hood and even a black velvet pouch. It looked quite mint for the price!
It was going too well, but the moment I mounted it on the camera and tried to focus to infinity I discovered why it was listed so cheap. The lens suffered from a serious issue of frontfocus that didn’t let me focus further than 100 meters or so.
For more than a year it was completely neglected in the drawer, grabbing more dust than light. Suddenly I saw a video where a guy –sorry I don’t remember his name!– fixed a similar problem. In the end it was a matter of removing the focusing rubber band and loose a screw to fix the position of the barrel. That’s it, easier done that said.
That very week I took it outside for a test run and the lens performed so good I’m in love with the 200mm focal lenght now. Too bad I can’t justify buying a Fuji XF55-200mm :D
