I have many lenses, most of which were purchased used. These same used lenses are often called vintage lenses because most are from camera systems that are no longer made. They are all manual focus lenses and many are from medium format systems. The reason I purchase these is not because they are inexpensive – only some of them are. It is for their unique image qualities like the nature of image contrast, how the lens renders as the image goes from in focus to out of focus (sometimes smoothly, sometimes harshly), how deep is its depth of field for a given aperture, its color rendering, how well corrected is it for aberrations, coatings qualities and flair resistance, and the nature of its sharpness.

The lens I used for this image is a purchase I am thrilled by. It is an 80mm ƒ2.8 N Mamiya-Sekor C for a 645 camera. It is very sharp right from ƒ2.8, color rendering is pleasing, virtually no chromatic aberrations, good contrast and flair resistance, it goes out of focus gently, the focussing mechanism is smooth with no play, it is small, light, cheap, and in virtually new condition.

80mm ƒ2.8 N Mamiya-Sekor C 645, Nikon 800e, Lr4, Ps CS6.