CMBravo16 wrote:
After many yrs of using NIKON. My camera Nikon d7100 wa stolen. They took everything.kit lens wide angle,my bag my sunglasses ,you name it. Any how I was left with a heavy 70-300(the old model)and a Nikkor s auto 1.4 f=50mm.
Would appreciate some feedback on wide angle lenses adapted to FUJIFILM XT2.Native lenses are outside of my budget right now. (200.00 US).I looked at fuji xf 16,xf14 and 10-24..they r all mucho money. So I thought I would reach out to you guys with more experience than me an amateur .I have adapted the 2 nikon lenses using fotasy and K&F adapters for x mount. also have the 18-55 kit lens ,wich is very good in my humble opinion .
After many yrs of using NIKON. My camera Nikon d71... (
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I just got a Meike 12mm f/2.8 to use on a recently acquired APS-C format mirrorless camera. It was a store's demo unit and cost me all of $125 incl. tax and shipping. Looks like new and came in the original box. I've also gotten a Rokinon 21mm f/1.4, for use on the same camera, used from an eBay auction for $125 including shipping.
Both those are manual focus and manual aperture lenses. I'm just getting started using and experimenting with them, but my initial impressions are that both are surprisingly well built, with metal barrels and optics that appear quite good, high blade-count for very nicely rounded apertures that should make for good background blur transitions and out of focus highlight rendering, as well as very nice feeling controls. The Rokinon (and Samyang) lenses have a pretty solid reputation already. Frankly, I was much more surprised just how good the Meike lens looks and feels. I've been pretty unimpressed with some other products selling under that brand name. I haven't had chance to use the 12mm enough to say if it's going to produce images up to my expectations... but it's going to be pretty fun, and very affordable, to try. The Meike 12mm (and, I think, identical Opteka) sells new for about $199. Some patient shopping might find it for less used, like I did.
With the 12mm lens, in particular, I find manual focus is no problem at all because of the great depth of field that's inherent with such a wide lens. The same would certainly be true of a 10mm, 11mm or... to a lesser degree... 14mm and 16mm. I specifically wanted manual focus lenses, for an "old school/new technology" mix of four fairly compact, manual focus lenses (the other two are short and moderate teles) for use on a more modern mirrorless camera... I'm sort of digitally emulating street shooting rangefinder cameras and lenses I used way back in the Jurassic film era. But for an ultrawide lens, in particular, manual focus should be no problem to use even if the rest of your kit and experience is autofocus.
One of the tele lenses I bought was a Kamlan 50mm f/1.1 "II" (also a used/demo unit). I was really stunned by the quality of this lens at it's price (even the regular list price for new: $250). I'd never heard of the Kamlan brand until recently, but after reading and watching online reviews, jumped on the chance to try the 50mm "II" when I got a great deal on one. Mine isn't a wide angle, but Kamlan does offer a 21mm f/1.8 (and an only slightly wide 28mm). If you're interested in getting a moderately wide lens, as opposed to the ultrawides above, the Kamlan 21mm seems an even better deal at a list price of $180 (possibly less if you are lucky or patiently await getting a used one somewhere). I have to note, it seems more challenging to get sharp and accurate manually focused shots with a moderately wide 21mm, especially at larger aperture settings such as f/1.4 through f/2.8. Though, I'm still learning manual focusing (well, actually, "re-learning")! Unfortunately, Kamlan doesn't appear to yet make a lens wider than 21mm (except for a fisheye... 7.5mm for M4/3 and 8mm for APS-C.... I didn't want a fisheye. At least, not yet.)
When it comes to the manual aperture... I don't know about Fuji, but on the Canon mirrorless camera I'm using there are still a couple auto exposure options: Aperture Priority AE and Manual w/Auto ISO AE both work fine, including "tweaking" with Exposure Compensation. Of course, fully Manual (w/o Auto ISO), also works fine and the camera's internal metering system can be used (as well as a separate handheld incident/flash meter I carry). Program AE and Shutter Priority AE aren't possible, due to the manual aperture control of the lens. None of the "Scene Modes" and full "Auto" will work, either (not that I ever use any of them).
I also had to set my camera to "shoot without lens", since when these non-electronic lenses are installed, the camera doesn't communicate with them in any way, so it doesn't "know" there's a lens attached. There's no lens-related EXIF data being recorded, either (I'll have to keep manual or audio notes about aperture, focus distance and such, if needed... much like back in the days of film).
These third party, manual focus (and manual aperture) lenses appear to offer some really good value. Depending upon how wide you want, I'd recommend them more or less. The ultrawides... focal lengths in, perhaps, the 10mm to 14mm range... are pretty easy to manually focus. Less wide lenses are more challenging, particularly at some of the larger apertures and shallower depth of field that they can offer. Rokinon/Samyang are possibly the most widely recognized brands among all these types of lenses. However, there are some others, including some really impressive and "up and coming" new brands like Kamlan, as well as some other that may surprise, such as Meike/Opteka. But there are also some that appear to be rather junky. Just be sure to do thorough searches for user reviews and more detailed professional reviews of any you consider, to reduce risk of getting something that's less than satisfactory.
Here's a link to a fairly complete list of moderate wide to ultrawide at Adorama (they sell Kamlan, including the 21mm mentioned, as well as a slightly wide 28mm... see the second link):
https://www.adorama.com/l/Photography/Lenses/Mirrorless-Lenses?sf=Price&perPage=30&sel=Focus-Type_Manual-Focus%7cLens-Mount_Fujifilm-X-Mount%7cLens-Format_APS-hyphen-C%7cFixed-Mirrorless-FL_10mm_11mm_12mm_14mm_16mm_20mm_21mm_24mmhttps://www.adorama.com/l/?searchinfo=kamlan+lensesHere's a similar search for moderate wide to ultrawide at B&H (who don't seem to sell Kamlan... Also, all these links are to new lenses. Be sure to check the used dept. at these and other online sellers.):
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/products/Mirrorless-Camera-Lenses/ci/17912/N/4196380428?sort=PRICE_LOW_TO_HIGH&filters=fct_a_focus-type_5738%3Amanual-focus-only%2Cfct_fixed-focal-lengths_2207%3A10mm%7C12mm%7C14mm%7C16mm%7C18mm%7C20mm%7C21mm%7C23mm%7C24mm%2Cfct_lens-mount_3442%3Afujifilm-x-mount%2Cfct_lens-type_3446%3Awide%2Cfct_zooms-primes_5903%3Aprime-lensesMPB, Amazon, KEH, Roberts Camera, Camera Exchange and some more are other possible sources of used or new examples of many of these.
I hope this helps. Have fun shopping!
EDIT: The only minor glitch with the lenses I bought... all of them used or demos... was the plastic, bayonet-mount hood for the Rokinon 21mm is very loose fitting. The hood itself isn't the problem. It's the little "nub" down in the bayonet track on the lens that's missing. As a result, the hood doesn't "click" lock into place. Doesn't matter to me, though, because I had planned on buying and recently got a metal, 58mm screw-in hood, because I will sometimes be using a polarizer with this lens and the screw-in hood is much more convenient when wanting to rotate the filter. (The hood for the 12mm lens is so shallow, a filter can easily be rotated without need to remove the hood, which is also a plastic, bayonet mount, but with a more secure mechanism to lock it in place. The Meike 12mm f/2.8 uses a 72mm filter. The Kamlan 50mm lens uses fairly deep metal, screw-on hood to shade and protect it's rather huge front element. That lens uses 62mm filters, but it's hood is also threaded to use 72mm filters.)