I have a real weakness for these sorts of videos! always makes me smile when they pop up in the new videos notifications. it's nice to see such a suite of different lenses & bodies, and to experience the surprise at the same time as you.
I do this with massive lens packs a lot. Mostly cheap broken lens. I disassemble them and remove the elements and then create my own "Frankenlenses" with pretty cheap 3D printed cases holding the lens blocks and a simple M42 helicoid adapter for focusing. Veryyyyyy experimental, often "unusable" in the traditional sense, but the results and practice is fun and beautiful to me. So that's all that matters.
I have this lens, I use it on my Minolta A9 and Sony A77ii. It's a unique lens being the only reflex lens to have auto focus. It's a nice lens but quite soft, but that's basically all reflex lenses anyway. It's the auto focus that makes it worth it.
The Minolta 9Xi was their second professional auto focus camera. It's a great camera which while it looks a bit strange feels amazing in the hand. Being a Minolta it probably had some cool technological firsts compared to other brands that I don't remember. it does have a whoping maximum shutter speed of 1/12000!
Their #1 pro was the Minolta Alpha/Maxxum/Dynax 9, also with 1/12000s shutter speed. (different names for different countries - US/EU/Japan) Well, into the AF days. Back into the 35mm SLR manual focus lenses days, it was a different Story. Still enjoy my XD7.
@@unbroken1010the debunking was debunked. The photo is real and the equipment he used is real. And the Northrops jumped onboard the #metoo train and got that whole story wrong.
Id suggest when looking on eBay selecting sold listings that way you can see what people are actually paying. Plus you can see more "rare" items if there are currently none up for sale.
yes! I use that feature and also ebay's terapeak to see longer history. Obviously there's way more that goes into selling, like an item that has sold for an amount but just has low market is gonna sit for a long time. So, I take all that into account as well in my estimate.
As an adaptall collector I recommend checking some of them out. Tamron really made some outstanding lenses at the time, which admittedly can be hideously expensive today. If you can find one for a reasonable price, i recommend checking out the 17mm F3.5, just for the beautiful lens flare, even if the image quality is pretty bad. A lesser known of their lenses is also the 38-100 f3.5, massive flares and can get slightly swirly altho not nearly as much as the helios 44.
That L39 mount Nikkor P should br worth more then $50. With the correct adapters it can be used on M mount rangefinders and countless mirrorles digital cameras.
It's Nikon S mount for the Rangefinders. With an Amedeo adapter or similar you can mount to Leica M. If it's marked "C" on the barrel (underneath if mounted to camera) it's for Contax Rangefinders, which have a different focusing helicoid pitch. Clean they go for $150 and just kinda tank in price from there. Not a super desirable lens - though very sharp. I've got one for Exakta and Contax Rangefinder mount. Renders beautiful bokeh and sharp in the center wide open.
I have that same 70-210 sigma. Got it for 5-10$... Some rubbing alcohol and some swabs cleaned off the rubber gunk. It's not a terrible lens, but its basically a 3rd party kit lens. That 500mm AF mirror is a dream lens.. The only reason I'd ever shoot Sony would be for that lens to fully work. But ideally a Minolta DSLR would be better.
In addition to fungus there are other factors to consider. How about oil on the aperture blades. How about scratches. How about coating separation. How about excessive internal dust. How about looking at actual sales instead of listings.
Dood, never used Adaptall? Those are epic man. I have on I use regularly on five different mounts - the 35-80mm F2.8-3.8. It has amazing macro capabilities on top of matching or exceeding the performance of pro-grade manual focus lenses of the era. I use it on Canon FD, RF, m4/3s, K, and F.
I'll throw in my 2 cents... Im really upset about the recent change in American tax law. My understanding is that for an individual (not a corporation), you have to declare the sale of anything you sell (i think total minus tax and shipping???) on ebay as ordinary income if the amount of all stuff you sell is greater than $600 for that year. That seems fair if you found stuff in the alley for free, but if you are selling off your old equipment, you are already selling it at a huge loss. The IRS doesn't care if you have the original receipt - you can't treat it as capital gains/losses. Total rip-off. I have tons of optical equipment that i bought off of ebay at great prices, but its still depreciating so i dont think its worth my effort. Im probably going to give that stuff away or leave it to whoever has to cleanup after i die.
I can have some of it now instead of waiting on the will. 🤷. You can thank Sleepy Joe for more tax 💩 laws. Wait till they try to tax you on "future capital gains" it's such bs.
You were pretty generous with grading some of the fungus lenses, imo. Who's going to give you 20$ for a lens with front and back elements made of fungus that caught a bit of glass? 😅 You should also try to filter for items sold, since that gives you a much better approximation of what you can expect to get if you find any results, compared to the ridiculous prices a lot of people THINK they can ask. Cleaning all the lenses, taking pictures of them, creating offers, waiting months for most of them to sell, plus packing and shipping them seem quite the effort for a little extra money one may make over the course of a few months or so. I wouldn't even feel comfortable with selling lenses that I don't have a camera for and therefor can't sell as tested and working. But that's another story. Still an interesting video with a lot of very neat looking vintage lenses. Thanks, and have a good one! ^^
Question, because I'm always cautious: is it safe for lenses without fungus to be stored with a lens with fungus? Or is the fungus something embedded in the coating at the factory and it can't jump to a new host? Likewise, is it safe to use a lens with fungus, especially a zoom which blows air back into the camera body, with a modern digital camera? I hesitate at the idea of using some lenses at risk of a mouldy sensor.
There's probably a more scientific answer, but I think it's safe to. The reason being that as long as the environment isn't conducive to fungus, it should keep growing or spreading. But like I said, it's probably more nuanced than that. I just feel fine using them anyway. I will be cleaning some of these easier ones to clean though.
I bought a lot like this about 5-6 years ago. I sold some, I kept some, then I bought another lot and another lot. Haven't used anything. It's really an addiction if you ask me. No I did not make a profit I'm actually in the red!
Fun video. My immediate impression is that your price estimates might be a bit high, but whatever the market will bear. A few years ago I was contemplating making a buy-lots-sell-individual lenses as a profit-making venture but decided there were too many variables and unknowns. You're showing you might net $500-600, so about a 100% profit, but how many dozens of hours are you required to research, photograph, describe, post, correspond about, pack & ship each item? Can you make even minimum wage? Not a criticism as such, but it does give one pause. My own personal observation regarding Takumar lenses: I know they are coveted, and I purchased and used several. Even though they were all in pristine condition, their performance was substandard, even acknowledging their "vintage" status. By comparison, I have purchased, and now own, several Olympus OM Zuiko lenses, which are uniformly exceptional. Despite that I have modern lenses, I frequently use these in professional applications. My personal favorite is a 90mm f2 Macro, which is an absolute gem. I did pay over $900 for it, but worth every penny.
I've been buying and selling since a kid, and you are right about factoring in the time being important. As I grew up, the amount I could make with my time doing other things increased, making it less valuable. But I have a shipping station I built, a spot for photos, etc - so the listing and shipping items is actually pretty fast now. Definitely more than minimum wage - but less than when I was a software engineer. Maybe more than what I make as a teacher now lol! I've heard great things about the older Zuiko lenses. I have many of the Four Thirds DSLR lenses from Olympus and they are outstanding, so I don't doubt it!
@@snappiness That's great, and commendable! Of course, having a system will certainly streamline things and increase your hourly income. I expect, however, you are doing this less as a "practical income-source" and more as a passion-project that can still provide some financial compensation. I also presume that, as your channel grows, that should also supplement the bottom line. So, kudos. Meanwhile, I encourage you to look further into OM Zuiko, if you haven't already. Not sure why this lens line doesn't get the love that Takumar gets (albeit my first camera was a borrowed Pentax Spotmatic back in 1977 or so). I have a 24mm f2.8, 28mm f3.5, a 35mm f2, 50mm f1.4 and f3.5 macro, the aforementioned 90mm f2 macro, and a 135mm f2.8. They are all beautifully made, very compact, and almost like little gems. I researched each of my purchases carefully, including looking into which version of a given focal length should be best, and never anything less than pristine condition; for the most part each performs nearly as well as modern optics... the 50 f1.4 is a little wispy wide open but still sharp. Of course, no EXIF data or auto-anything, but I cut my teeth on a stop-down meter Spotmatic and worked for years with Nikon Ftn Photomics, etc., so working manually is second nature to me. Don't get me wrong, I love my modern Canon gear, but still have great affection for vintage lenses, be they Zuiko, Helios, or Zeiss. But, as I said, if you're looking for sharp images (bokeh and dreaminess notwithstanding), I don't think that Takumar, based on my experience, measures up. Best to you from California.
Look at your hands, how skillful. I watched the whole video but I didn't understand anything about the work you do. I just watched your hands & it made me look longer. ❤
That Barcelona'92 Olympics camera might be something, James. Check it out well, maybe it was a model released just for the Olympics or for their professionals. And yes it's nice to see Barcelona (my city) here :)
First! I really loved it the last time you did the mystery lot video years ago and I'm very excited to watch this one. Also, I recently learned about the old Vivitar Series 1 lenses and thought they're really cool maybe you can make a video about them. Thanks!
What a haul! I was collecting about 8 years ago, but I pared them down several years ago when the resell prices were pretty good - I had about 50 cameras and well over 100 lenses! I have Sony emount adapters for pretty much every mount. I’ve kept just a handful of cameras and lenses but I still have quite a bit to get rid of. Maybe we could work out a trade? I can send you a list of things I have (including a few digital cameras) along with that Canon Powershot N you want!
I've been using that same version of the Nikkor 105 a lot recently and have looked up some tests online. Total sleeper of a portrait lens. Stands up well in sharpness and contrast to modern lenses. Great bokeh too. It's an older version of the 'Afghan Girl' lens. Mine though, apart from being clean, luckily, has been factory converted to the 'modern' aperture system which yours has not - meaning it's a bit risky mounting it on DSLRs or the Z-mount-F-mount adapter. I don't know how the later versions with the rubberised focus ring feel but I'd urge any user of Nikon lenses to pick up this version if it's been factory AI-converted. It has the most delicious focus throw of any lens I've used - trivial to nail focus with the focus confirmation on a DSLR or late '90s AF SLR. And I'm a little envious of the hood - so I'd imagine you can get something decent for it even if the lens is too much of a fungus playland to be worth much.
I had the 500mm Minolta lens, great overall, the only problem is that donut shaped bokeh that people don't tend to like but sometimes it looks good. Another problem with the lens is the drop-in filter release mechanism, that tiny pin that you turn to change the filter can break because Minolta didn't use metal or a good quality plastic for it but there are work-arounds to replace it in case it breaks. But for the size and the focal length you can get in that relatively small package, its worth it in my opinion.
@@EddoWagt Lol I never had people in the background but I trust you. Many out-of-focus objects tend to look little weird sometimes. I found that if you have a ton of objects, like leaves for example, in the background, it just looks really busy and sometimes distracting. I used it mainly for taking pictures of the moon or far away landscapes and it was great
The Nikkor 105/2.5 was the lens used to photograph that young girl in Afghanistan back in the 80s for a famous National Geographic cover. the Takumar 200 with 2 aperture rings are for earlier preset Pentax cameras. Check the blades and see if there's more than 10 - it might be a good bokeh lens.
That is not the lens that was used for that photograph. The one he unwrapped is a Nikkor-P. It's the lens that came two generations before the lens that took that image. They are refered to as "Pre-AI" lenses. Steve McCurry used a Nikon 105/2.5 AI-s. The lens he opened up is much older. While the optical formula may be the same, the construction and lens coatings are very different. Still an interesting lens that can be adapted using the proper adapter for whatever mirrorless camera you have. Or use it on any of the many Nikon F mount cameras.
I have the "sticky" SIgma 70-210 for PK. It is a quite nice lens and my compact tele solution for my K1 - there are some cleaning liquids to remove the sticky surface , but this will remove the printing on the outside too.
How well does the AF on the Minolta 500mm reflex lens work? I have a couple of manual focus mirror lens, which are good, but incredibly difficult to focus. I really like the idea of such a long focal length on such a small lens so a mirror lens for a modern mirrorless camera really intrigues me! How well does the Minolta reflex actually work in terms of focus and image quality?
Those Minolta AF lenses are a great find - and of course they work on Sony DSLR cameras as well, so while they might not be that valuable, they are a really nice option for A-mount shooters.
The Ricoh rikenon p lens was designed for the Xrx and other Ricoh auto focus film single lens reflexes and I’m unsure if it would work on any other camera body.
The sigma 70-210mm is a canon EF lens, I had one and the exact same thing happened to the rubber. Gave it to a friend because it was just taking up space on the shelf.
The double aperture is cause the clicky one serves as a stop at the selected aperture and the smooth ring will go from wide open to your selected max aperture. Not sure what the history is but people use it on the Helios 44-2 for video aperture pulls.
P series Ricoh lenses have the infamous Ricoh protruding pin for electronic aperture, be careful when mounting it on a Pentax dslr as it'll get permanently stuck and will be a HUGE pain to remove
And my SMC Pentax got stuck on a Zenit! Pins of death. Though, I think I have a Ricoh lens from an XR-P and it mounts fine on my Pentax.. and more importantly, comes off.
The 50mm macro minolta is a rilly good lens and is a good macro lens, and most minolta lenses come with uv filters because the front element is easy to scratch.
I've seen some of these at my local shops, mostly ef lenses but I could find a similar to the vid. What would be a good fixed video wildlife Among your stashe?
I bought a box of some gear for $200AUD that if I cleaned it all up I’d be over $1500. But I’m lazy, have adhd, and can’t bear selling some of the weird random stuff I’ve got
I'm not sure about the methodology of counting profit. I know that those lenses "sell" normally for certain amount but am not sure how many actually sell since there are some items like this on ebay for normal prices that I have in whatchlist for months that just aren't selling
I have always hesitated to purchase from Japan because of the unknown "duty". The $120 shipping cost, was that also the Duty fees? Super enjoyed this video... I recognised many as items I used or sold when I worked in a retail camera store in 70's/80's. Thanks for sharing!
@@unbroken1010 I know but those are DSLTs and not DSLRs. Different technology and the AF works differently and slightly worse because of the translucent mirror with the Minolta lenses.
Hey James! I sent you a message on Instagram asking a little bit about your Olympus infrared conversion, but I’ll just ask here for convenience: I was able to do the IR conversion and I’m super excited to try it out. My only issue is, as this is my first micro 4/3 camera, I don’t have a variety of lenses to test on it. And, like you, I didn’t want to pay $99 for clear replacement glass. In the video you mentioned that you had a few prime lenses that were able to focus to infinity properly. What lenses were those specifically? Did you test any zoom or vintage lenses on it? Thanks!
It's not just a matter of focusing to infinity, it's also about passing lots of IR light rather than blocking it, and not having a hotspot. I've found Panasonic lenses are generally better than Olympus for IR. The 14mm f/2.5 is famous for IR, and the 14-45mm is a well-regarded zoom, but not as good as the 14mm prime.
@@StephenStrangwaysthanks for the reply! The 14mm prime is what I was planning to get. Is there a Panasonic 14-42mm zoom? I know Panasonic has a 12-35mm(?) zoom. Or are you talking about the m zuiko zoom?
@@Hugh_Jundies Panasonic has a 12-32, 12-35, 14-45, and three different 14-42 lenses! The 12-32 is decent for infrared, the 14-45 is great, and although I have not tested any of the 14-42 lenses, the general consensus online seems to be that the 14-45 is better.
I'd be super interested in a follow up on what actually sold and what didnt. Looks like a nice little profit if it actually works. I kinda doubt many of the lenses are actually gonna be bought
I find it weird that people sell the paper work and empty boxes on Fb market place. It's nice nostalgia wise but obsessing over it and actually asking money for old boxes and instruction manuals verges on having t d s
Enjoyed the video. A suggestion is to not include anything that worth $20 or less bc it’s less like that you will list them individually on eBay for sale. To make a profit you’ll have to sell them in bulk, again.
The 105 2.5 is one of the better nikkor lenses ever. Cleaning the fungus is extremely easy as long as its not in an element group that is cemented together. Im pretty sure you could teach most chimpanzees to overhaul old primes like that. Just make sure you use acetone on the screws around the mount. You probably already know that, but its so easy and fast that its not really worth selling as is
They produce a donut shaped bokeh. No Problem when watching objects in the sky, bc the „out of focus“ area is dark anyway. But quite annoying when using optics to produce images.
If you ever need to remove fungus, put athletes foot creme on and leave it overnight. Then in the morning clean it off with lens fluid... Not only does it remove the fungus, but it kills it too. Massively reducing the chance of it returning
No way I am as brave as you to even try this 😂. Even with the profit the process to go through selling and shipping for these many items would be such a hard grind
No, do not oil the aperture or the focus helicoil! They need to be disassembled and cleaned. Pour oil into the lens and sell it; guaranteed return and mad buyer!
How wide? Lots of sensors struggle with extremely wide-angle lenses, and particularly wide rangefinder lenses. Fewer problems with SLR lenses, but they still occur.
I often buy job lots. The trouble is that I usually keep the good stuff for myself because I can't bear to get rid of it, which means the crappy stuff that I sell doesn't earn me much money. I'm now broke and I have one less usable room in my house, but I have lots of camera goodies to play with 😃
just so you know, that minolta 9xi has maximum shutter speed of 1/12000 of a second. I don`t know if any camera had that speed in that period of time. I know also Maxxum/Dynax 9 also have the same shutter speed but that camera came out in 1999.
I haven't done this in a while, let me know if you want to see more of this kind of stuff or not!
yes more
Please continue. It vicarious fun for me.
love this series, maybe with a few sample pictures from the most interesting ones, it would be so nice :)
More please. As a tech necromancer, this is my kind of porn.
I have a real weakness for these sorts of videos! always makes me smile when they pop up in the new videos notifications. it's nice to see such a suite of different lenses & bodies, and to experience the surprise at the same time as you.
Dude, that Takumar 200mm f3.5 is an absolute gem. 18 blades. Renders beautifully.
Renders great at the p Diddy /Snoop Dog after parties
@@unbroken1010 savage
I do this with massive lens packs a lot. Mostly cheap broken lens.
I disassemble them and remove the elements and then create my own "Frankenlenses" with pretty cheap 3D printed cases holding the lens blocks and a simple M42 helicoid adapter for focusing.
Veryyyyyy experimental, often "unusable" in the traditional sense, but the results and practice is fun and beautiful to me. So that's all that matters.
Suggest a exact place where you can get a decent cheap helicoid adapter.
Suggest a exact place where you can get a decent cheap helicoid adapter.
Please show your results, sounds quite interesting to me! :)
What do you do when the fungus is in the blocks lol who has an optical bench , leitz wetzlar?
@@unbroken1010 I just use the M42-NEX helicoid adapters which are pretty cheap most places online. 3D printed M42 threads directly into them.
buying lots and attempting to “repair” fungused lenses is how I grow my collection of small screws. Good luck!
haha!!
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one 😂
I'd love to see a video on that AF 500 reflex.
could be a nice owl lens
I use it to shoot the moon! It’s a good lens for the price
Same.
I have this lens, I use it on my Minolta A9 and Sony A77ii. It's a unique lens being the only reflex lens to have auto focus. It's a nice lens but quite soft, but that's basically all reflex lenses anyway. It's the auto focus that makes it worth it.
Holy Hannah, and I thought my backlog of "need to sell" kit was big. You dwarfed it in one fell swoop 😁
@@jw48335 me explaining to my wife: "...and then I'll sell them all and make a profit!"
Wife: 🙄
@@snappiness
I'll sell them!
Also me: 0 sales listings
The Minolta 9Xi was their second professional auto focus camera. It's a great camera which while it looks a bit strange feels amazing in the hand. Being a Minolta it probably had some cool technological firsts compared to other brands that I don't remember. it does have a whoping maximum shutter speed of 1/12000!
Looks beautiful imho
Their #1 pro was the Minolta Alpha/Maxxum/Dynax 9, also with 1/12000s shutter speed. (different names for different countries - US/EU/Japan) Well, into the AF days. Back into the 35mm SLR manual focus lenses days, it was a different Story. Still enjoy my XD7.
this Nikkkor 105mm is a gem, best portrait lens nikon ever made, try to clean it and keep it!
It is in great shape for pre-ai lens. Only problem it cant be mounted on nikon dslr without modification.
Yes except the "story" that propelled it in to fame By Steve Mcrurry is a total lie 😂
@@unbroken1010 Still a excelent portrait.
@@stanislavnepochatov8381 iIn a mirrorless age, this is really not a problem
@@unbroken1010the debunking was debunked. The photo is real and the equipment he used is real. And the Northrops jumped onboard the #metoo train and got that whole story wrong.
Id suggest when looking on eBay selecting sold listings that way you can see what people are actually paying. Plus you can see more "rare" items if there are currently none up for sale.
yes! I use that feature and also ebay's terapeak to see longer history. Obviously there's way more that goes into selling, like an item that has sold for an amount but just has low market is gonna sit for a long time. So, I take all that into account as well in my estimate.
As an adaptall collector I recommend checking some of them out. Tamron really made some outstanding lenses at the time, which admittedly can be hideously expensive today. If you can find one for a reasonable price, i recommend checking out the 17mm F3.5, just for the beautiful lens flare, even if the image quality is pretty bad.
A lesser known of their lenses is also the 38-100 f3.5, massive flares and can get slightly swirly altho not nearly as much as the helios 44.
i got mine Tamron 35-80mm FD for $17 its a fun lens but the adapter seems stuck when i set my aperture lower than f8
The Fact that Blob of a Box made it on a plane and truck is the actual mesmerizing topic of this video 😂🤣
😂 😂 😂
It is a pity that a thinner shipping cardboard could not be found.
That L39 mount Nikkor P should br worth more then $50. With the correct adapters it can be used on M mount rangefinders and countless mirrorles digital cameras.
Please stop whining about prices being too cheap, you sound like you have t d s when you say such nonsense
Was my thoughts too
It's Nikon S mount for the Rangefinders. With an Amedeo adapter or similar you can mount to Leica M. If it's marked "C" on the barrel (underneath if mounted to camera) it's for Contax Rangefinders, which have a different focusing helicoid pitch. Clean they go for $150 and just kinda tank in price from there. Not a super desirable lens - though very sharp.
I've got one for Exakta and Contax Rangefinder mount. Renders beautiful bokeh and sharp in the center wide open.
Would be interesting to see a follow-up after you’ve sold them to see how close you were with the price estimates.
I have that same 70-210 sigma. Got it for 5-10$... Some rubbing alcohol and some swabs cleaned off the rubber gunk. It's not a terrible lens, but its basically a 3rd party kit lens.
That 500mm AF mirror is a dream lens.. The only reason I'd ever shoot Sony would be for that lens to fully work. But ideally a Minolta DSLR would be better.
Those Tamron adaptall lenses are great! I have a 80-210 with pentax mount. Great optical quality and coating.
I used to own the Pentax-K series version of that 35mm F3.5 and it was a great lens. Sharpness and rendering is really impressive for its age.
In addition to fungus there are other factors to consider. How about oil on the aperture blades. How about scratches. How about coating separation. How about excessive internal dust. How about looking at actual sales instead of listings.
Be careful of the infamous Ricoh pin when mounting the lenses onto your K mount camera, it might never come back off if handled improperly.
Dood, never used Adaptall? Those are epic man. I have on I use regularly on five different mounts - the 35-80mm F2.8-3.8. It has amazing macro capabilities on top of matching or exceeding the performance of pro-grade manual focus lenses of the era. I use it on Canon FD, RF, m4/3s, K, and F.
2:49 Damn that's one to one the sound of the Minecraft bow
I'll throw in my 2 cents... Im really upset about the recent change in American tax law. My understanding is that for an individual (not a corporation), you have to declare the sale of anything you sell (i think total minus tax and shipping???) on ebay as ordinary income if the amount of all stuff you sell is greater than $600 for that year. That seems fair if you found stuff in the alley for free, but if you are selling off your old equipment, you are already selling it at a huge loss. The IRS doesn't care if you have the original receipt - you can't treat it as capital gains/losses. Total rip-off. I have tons of optical equipment that i bought off of ebay at great prices, but its still depreciating so i dont think its worth my effort. Im probably going to give that stuff away or leave it to whoever has to cleanup after i die.
I can have some of it now instead of waiting on the will. 🤷. You can thank Sleepy Joe for more tax 💩 laws. Wait till they try to tax you on "future capital gains" it's such bs.
flea market for cache
@@ironman8257 you sound like you have t d s?
You were pretty generous with grading some of the fungus lenses, imo. Who's going to give you 20$ for a lens with front and back elements made of fungus that caught a bit of glass? 😅
You should also try to filter for items sold, since that gives you a much better approximation of what you can expect to get if you find any results, compared to the ridiculous prices a lot of people THINK they can ask.
Cleaning all the lenses, taking pictures of them, creating offers, waiting months for most of them to sell, plus packing and shipping them seem quite the effort for a little extra money one may make over the course of a few months or so. I wouldn't even feel comfortable with selling lenses that I don't have a camera for and therefor can't sell as tested and working. But that's another story.
Still an interesting video with a lot of very neat looking vintage lenses. Thanks, and have a good one! ^^
Question, because I'm always cautious: is it safe for lenses without fungus to be stored with a lens with fungus? Or is the fungus something embedded in the coating at the factory and it can't jump to a new host?
Likewise, is it safe to use a lens with fungus, especially a zoom which blows air back into the camera body, with a modern digital camera? I hesitate at the idea of using some lenses at risk of a mouldy sensor.
There's probably a more scientific answer, but I think it's safe to. The reason being that as long as the environment isn't conducive to fungus, it should keep growing or spreading.
But like I said, it's probably more nuanced than that. I just feel fine using them anyway. I will be cleaning some of these easier ones to clean though.
I bought a lot like this about 5-6 years ago. I sold some, I kept some, then I bought another lot and another lot. Haven't used anything. It's really an addiction if you ask me. No I did not make a profit I'm actually in the red!
Same here!! 😂
Fun video. My immediate impression is that your price estimates might be a bit high, but whatever the market will bear. A few years ago I was contemplating making a buy-lots-sell-individual lenses as a profit-making venture but decided there were too many variables and unknowns. You're showing you might net $500-600, so about a 100% profit, but how many dozens of hours are you required to research, photograph, describe, post, correspond about, pack & ship each item? Can you make even minimum wage? Not a criticism as such, but it does give one pause.
My own personal observation regarding Takumar lenses: I know they are coveted, and I purchased and used several. Even though they were all in pristine condition, their performance was substandard, even acknowledging their "vintage" status. By comparison, I have purchased, and now own, several Olympus OM Zuiko lenses, which are uniformly exceptional. Despite that I have modern lenses, I frequently use these in professional applications. My personal favorite is a 90mm f2 Macro, which is an absolute gem. I did pay over $900 for it, but worth every penny.
I've been buying and selling since a kid, and you are right about factoring in the time being important. As I grew up, the amount I could make with my time doing other things increased, making it less valuable. But I have a shipping station I built, a spot for photos, etc - so the listing and shipping items is actually pretty fast now. Definitely more than minimum wage - but less than when I was a software engineer. Maybe more than what I make as a teacher now lol!
I've heard great things about the older Zuiko lenses. I have many of the Four Thirds DSLR lenses from Olympus and they are outstanding, so I don't doubt it!
@@snappiness That's great, and commendable! Of course, having a system will certainly streamline things and increase your hourly income. I expect, however, you are doing this less as a "practical income-source" and more as a passion-project that can still provide some financial compensation. I also presume that, as your channel grows, that should also supplement the bottom line. So, kudos.
Meanwhile, I encourage you to look further into OM Zuiko, if you haven't already. Not sure why this lens line doesn't get the love that Takumar gets (albeit my first camera was a borrowed Pentax Spotmatic back in 1977 or so). I have a 24mm f2.8, 28mm f3.5, a 35mm f2, 50mm f1.4 and f3.5 macro, the aforementioned 90mm f2 macro, and a 135mm f2.8. They are all beautifully made, very compact, and almost like little gems. I researched each of my purchases carefully, including looking into which version of a given focal length should be best, and never anything less than pristine condition; for the most part each performs nearly as well as modern optics... the 50 f1.4 is a little wispy wide open but still sharp. Of course, no EXIF data or auto-anything, but I cut my teeth on a stop-down meter Spotmatic and worked for years with Nikon Ftn Photomics, etc., so working manually is second nature to me. Don't get me wrong, I love my modern Canon gear, but still have great affection for vintage lenses, be they Zuiko, Helios, or Zeiss. But, as I said, if you're looking for sharp images (bokeh and dreaminess notwithstanding), I don't think that Takumar, based on my experience, measures up. Best to you from California.
It's great watching This and Tom Ayling's new video back to back!
Look at your hands, how skillful. I watched the whole video but I didn't understand anything about the work you do. I just watched your hands & it made me look longer. ❤
Awesome video! I'd love to learn the process of you actually selling the lenses and seeing the final amount! Fun series
The AF Minolta mirror lens was cool! I only just learned it existed so seeing you get one was neat
I owned a minolta 500 reflex. Cool lens. Neat video!
Yes, please more, I love these kind of videos!!
Props to the seller for good packaging with boxes and bubble wrap
That Barcelona'92 Olympics camera might be something, James.
Check it out well, maybe it was a model released just for the Olympics or for their professionals.
And yes it's nice to see Barcelona (my city) here :)
Nothing special about the camera, but that box included a special "Minolta Barcelona '92" neck strap that appears to be missing.
@@StephenStrangways well, it's something
First! I really loved it the last time you did the mystery lot video years ago and I'm very excited to watch this one. Also, I recently learned about the old Vivitar Series 1 lenses and thought they're really cool maybe you can make a video about them. Thanks!
What a haul! I was collecting about 8 years ago, but I pared them down several years ago when the resell prices were pretty good - I had about 50 cameras and well over 100 lenses! I have Sony emount adapters for pretty much every mount. I’ve kept just a handful of cameras and lenses but I still have quite a bit to get rid of.
Maybe we could work out a trade? I can send you a list of things I have (including a few digital cameras) along with that Canon Powershot N you want!
Empunt adapter?
Empunt adapter?
@@unbroken1010 - E MOUNT. Stupid spellcheck 😆😆😆
i love discovering old film lenses. didnt know so many were adaptable to EOS!
I've been using that same version of the Nikkor 105 a lot recently and have looked up some tests online. Total sleeper of a portrait lens. Stands up well in sharpness and contrast to modern lenses. Great bokeh too. It's an older version of the 'Afghan Girl' lens. Mine though, apart from being clean, luckily, has been factory converted to the 'modern' aperture system which yours has not - meaning it's a bit risky mounting it on DSLRs or the Z-mount-F-mount adapter.
I don't know how the later versions with the rubberised focus ring feel but I'd urge any user of Nikon lenses to pick up this version if it's been factory AI-converted. It has the most delicious focus throw of any lens I've used - trivial to nail focus with the focus confirmation on a DSLR or late '90s AF SLR.
And I'm a little envious of the hood - so I'd imagine you can get something decent for it even if the lens is too much of a fungus playland to be worth much.
I'm excited to try and clean it and use it!!
Brilliant video! Awesome finds, some of those lens would love to see how they look ( vintage) Thanks for sharing Snaps! Nice haul!
I’m pretty new to photography but I honestly learned a lot just from watching you identify and appraise the condition of all those lenses.
Thanks for stopping by and letting me know :)
I had the 500mm Minolta lens, great overall, the only problem is that donut shaped bokeh that people don't tend to like but sometimes it looks good. Another problem with the lens is the drop-in filter release mechanism, that tiny pin that you turn to change the filter can break because Minolta didn't use metal or a good quality plastic for it but there are work-arounds to replace it in case it breaks. But for the size and the focal length you can get in that relatively small package, its worth it in my opinion.
The bokeh can look really cool, but when faces are out of focus they just look demonic
@@EddoWagt Lol I never had people in the background but I trust you. Many out-of-focus objects tend to look little weird sometimes. I found that if you have a ton of objects, like leaves for example, in the background, it just looks really busy and sometimes distracting. I used it mainly for taking pictures of the moon or far away landscapes and it was great
I really enjoyed this. You should definitely do more. Was like toy unboxing for adults
The Nikkor 105/2.5 was the lens used to photograph that young girl in Afghanistan back in the 80s for a famous National Geographic cover. the Takumar 200 with 2 aperture rings are for earlier preset Pentax cameras. Check the blades and see if there's more than 10 - it might be a good bokeh lens.
We know and Steve lied about the entire story. She was not even a refugee. Mcrurry lies a lot
That is not the lens that was used for that photograph. The one he unwrapped is a Nikkor-P. It's the lens that came two generations before the lens that took that image. They are refered to as "Pre-AI" lenses. Steve McCurry used a Nikon 105/2.5 AI-s. The lens he opened up is much older. While the optical formula may be the same, the construction and lens coatings are very different. Still an interesting lens that can be adapted using the proper adapter for whatever mirrorless camera you have. Or use it on any of the many Nikon F mount cameras.
I have the "sticky" SIgma 70-210 for PK. It is a quite nice lens and my compact tele solution for my K1 - there are some cleaning liquids to remove the sticky surface , but this will remove the printing on the outside too.
Nikon's 105mm is really good, i have the f4 "K" version
How well does the AF on the Minolta 500mm reflex lens work? I have a couple of manual focus mirror lens, which are good, but incredibly difficult to focus. I really like the idea of such a long focal length on such a small lens so a mirror lens for a modern mirrorless camera really intrigues me! How well does the Minolta reflex actually work in terms of focus and image quality?
Love these videos! Please make more
My favorite item is the Minolta 500mm mirror lens. it's the only mirror lens to ever have AF.
My favorite find in this was the 135mm lenses.
Those Minolta AF lenses are a great find - and of course they work on Sony DSLR cameras as well, so while they might not be that valuable, they are a really nice option for A-mount shooters.
The Ricoh rikenon p lens was designed for the Xrx and other Ricoh auto focus film single lens reflexes and I’m unsure if it would work on any other camera body.
Other than the Nikon 105mm there's a lot shelf-sitters. If they sell, it'll probably take forever.
The Nikon-Q 200mm f/4 has the ai ring upgrade, which is a hard to find part! It allows the more modern SLR's and DSLR's to couple for TTL metering.
Nice collection! Those Pentax lenses are sweet!
It would be great to see some of these lenses n action in a follow up video.
That dual Fstop is for 1 setting the max aperture you want and the 2nd ring is for actually controlling the Fstop but smoothly.
That nikon rangfinder lens at the end is pretty cool. I love the nikkor s mount stuff. very much in the same vein as 1960s leica quality.
They are fun but so far I'm not having much luck with adapting them to mirrorless.
The sigma 70-210mm is a canon EF lens, I had one and the exact same thing happened to the rubber. Gave it to a friend because it was just taking up space on the shelf.
Adaptall lenses are worth trying, even the zooms. You might be pleasantly surprised!
Loving the long Pentax with the preset lens - stop that down to 5.6 and it will be sharp. Bet it has loads of blades too!
The double aperture is cause the clicky one serves as a stop at the selected aperture and the smooth ring will go from wide open to your selected max aperture. Not sure what the history is but people use it on the Helios 44-2 for video aperture pulls.
I had no idea - very cool!
P series Ricoh lenses have the infamous Ricoh protruding pin for electronic aperture, be careful when mounting it on a Pentax dslr as it'll get permanently stuck and will be a HUGE pain to remove
Good to know, thank you!
And my SMC Pentax got stuck on a Zenit! Pins of death. Though, I think I have a Ricoh lens from an XR-P and it mounts fine on my Pentax.. and more importantly, comes off.
I'll me interested to see what you can get, all in all. Please post an update when / if you sell!
Never thought I'd watch a lens gambling video, neat.
Hey James, great lot and a great video! What can I do to get the Tokina 100-300?
Shoot me an email or instagram DM!
18:37 I think that beauty is m39 lens for nikon s rangefinders. Quite a good find!
Wow, that reminds me. I need to take my FD 135 2.8 out for a couple snaps on my M6II.
The 50mm macro minolta is a rilly good lens and is a good macro lens, and most minolta lenses come with uv filters because the front element is easy to scratch.
I've seen some of these at my local shops, mostly ef lenses but I could find a similar to the vid. What would be a good fixed video wildlife Among your stashe?
@snappiness a good video would be how to use those Japan sites for buying stuff from there
I bought a box of some gear for $200AUD that if I cleaned it all up I’d be over $1500. But I’m lazy, have adhd, and can’t bear selling some of the weird random stuff I’ve got
I get that :)
I'm not sure about the methodology of counting profit. I know that those lenses "sell" normally for certain amount but am not sure how many actually sell since there are some items like this on ebay for normal prices that I have in whatchlist for months that just aren't selling
Wow I would have bought it also :D
I have always hesitated to purchase from Japan because of the unknown "duty". The $120 shipping cost, was that also the Duty fees? Super enjoyed this video... I recognised many as items I used or sold when I worked in a retail camera store in 70's/80's. Thanks for sharing!
I LOVE THOSE MINOLTA AF LENSES. I would love to try them on a Sony a900 or a a850 ... to bad Sony stopped making FF DSLRs after just these 2 cameras.
They made the a99 ff in 2 versions. There are more than the two you just mentioned
@@unbroken1010 I know but those are DSLTs and not DSLRs. Different technology and the AF works differently and slightly worse because of the translucent mirror with the Minolta lenses.
Hey James! I sent you a message on Instagram asking a little bit about your Olympus infrared conversion, but I’ll just ask here for convenience:
I was able to do the IR conversion and I’m super excited to try it out. My only issue is, as this is my first micro 4/3 camera, I don’t have a variety of lenses to test on it. And, like you, I didn’t want to pay $99 for clear replacement glass. In the video you mentioned that you had a few prime lenses that were able to focus to infinity properly. What lenses were those specifically? Did you test any zoom or vintage lenses on it? Thanks!
It's not just a matter of focusing to infinity, it's also about passing lots of IR light rather than blocking it, and not having a hotspot. I've found Panasonic lenses are generally better than Olympus for IR. The 14mm f/2.5 is famous for IR, and the 14-45mm is a well-regarded zoom, but not as good as the 14mm prime.
@@StephenStrangwaysthanks for the reply! The 14mm prime is what I was planning to get.
Is there a Panasonic 14-42mm zoom? I know Panasonic has a 12-35mm(?) zoom. Or are you talking about the m zuiko zoom?
@@Hugh_Jundies Panasonic has a 12-32, 12-35, 14-45, and three different 14-42 lenses!
The 12-32 is decent for infrared, the 14-45 is great, and although I have not tested any of the 14-42 lenses, the general consensus online seems to be that the 14-45 is better.
I'd be super interested in a follow up on what actually sold and what didnt. Looks like a nice little profit if it actually works. I kinda doubt many of the lenses are actually gonna be bought
Who doesn’t enjoy a bargain! Great haul.
Can I buy from u that Canon 70 - 210? I'm searching it that model in Romania from almost 4 years. Btw, great video mate
9:44 I have a beat to heck version of that 105/2.5, but optically clean 😅🤷♂️😸
What ever the net result, a hobby where expenses are covered!?! That's a win.
This is how I originally paid for camera gear years ago!
The Minolta Collectors group would love those boxed lenses with all the paperwork still with them.
I find it weird that people sell the paper work and empty boxes on Fb market place. It's nice nostalgia wise but obsessing over it and actually asking money for old boxes and instruction manuals verges on having t d s
Love my minolta af 500mm great find!
Enjoyed the video.
A suggestion is to not include anything that worth $20 or less bc it’s less like that you will list them individually on eBay for sale. To make a profit you’ll have to sell them in bulk, again.
The 105 2.5 is one of the better nikkor lenses ever. Cleaning the fungus is extremely easy as long as its not in an element group that is cemented together. Im pretty sure you could teach most chimpanzees to overhaul old primes like that. Just make sure you use acetone on the screws around the mount. You probably already know that, but its so easy and fast that its not really worth selling as is
where do you sell these lenses? I'd be interested in acquiring a vintage lens collection. Btw I think I'm in the same town as you
Fascinating stuff! Can you tell me why reflex/mirror lenses are so derided for cameras when the same system works so well for telescopes? :) 🇬🇧
They produce a donut shaped bokeh. No Problem when watching objects in the sky, bc the „out of focus“ area is dark anyway. But quite annoying when using optics to produce images.
Weird, I find that m39 and certain minolta lense do great in almost all sensors except fuji.
I saw someone on here showing to rub the sticky sigma rubber with gasoline on. Rag to get rid of the tacky stuff.
I've used waterless hand cleaner, it works well.
Not in this economy of "Biden economics" it would cost you $100 worth of gas. ☹️. Alcohol does the same
Gasoline has a terrible smell. Use lighter fluid instead.
If you ever need to remove fungus, put athletes foot creme on and leave it overnight.
Then in the morning clean it off with lens fluid...
Not only does it remove the fungus, but it kills it too. Massively reducing the chance of it returning
No way I am as brave as you to even try this 😂. Even with the profit the process to go through selling and shipping for these many items would be such a hard grind
that's like nugget lucky dip but for photography/camera enthusiasts
No, do not oil the aperture or the focus helicoil! They need to be disassembled and cleaned. Pour oil into the lens and sell it; guaranteed return and mad buyer!
I have a nice Penax wide angle that looks great in every sensor except my pentax k 01, can't figure out why. It's super strange
How wide? Lots of sensors struggle with extremely wide-angle lenses, and particularly wide rangefinder lenses. Fewer problems with SLR lenses, but they still occur.
i would love to see images taken with these lenses :)
I often buy job lots. The trouble is that I usually keep the good stuff for myself because I can't bear to get rid of it, which means the crappy stuff that I sell doesn't earn me much money. I'm now broke and I have one less usable room in my house, but I have lots of camera goodies to play with 😃
Haha, so much truth to this 😅
Make a room tour video please :)
@@ironman8257 I would if I could get into it (joking 😄).
If it's possible, I'd just strip off that melty rubber. Wouldn't improve the sale price, but it might be more likely to sell at all.
Nikon 105 is an elite portrait lens :)
I’d take any minolta MD mount lens! 😅
what did you search for to find job lots of lenses???
just so you know, that minolta 9xi has maximum shutter speed of 1/12000 of a second. I don`t know if any camera had that speed in that period of time. I know also Maxxum/Dynax 9 also have the same shutter speed but that camera came out in 1999.
When would you use such a shutter speed except at the p Diddy /Snoop Dog after parties 😂🤣🤷
That's insane. And I thought 1/8000 was fast :O