manual lens | FUJI X WEEKLY

Using 3 Affordable Vintage Lenses on my Fujifilm X-T4

I love using vintage lenses on my Fujifilm cameras. I have a bunch of them, mostly ones I picked up for cheap. Over the last couple of days, I wanted to use three specific M42 mount telephoto lenses: Helios 44-2, Vivitar 135mm f/2.8, and Cavalier 200mm f/3.5. I picked up the M42-FX adapter from eBay 10 years ago for under $20. The photos below were created over the last week or so—mostly just yesterday and the day before—using these three lenses.

The Helios 44-2 is a legendary Soviet-era 58mm f/2 lens, renown for its character, particularly the lens flare and swirly bokeh. Millions of these lenses were made between the late 1950’s and early 1990’s (mine was made in 1971). Essentially, it’s a Zeiss Jena Biotar 58mm f/2, but mass produced with inconsistent construction and quality. Most (but not all) are M42 screw mount. It has two aperture rings: one with clicks, and the other without. On Fujifilm X-series cameras, the 58mm focal length is 87mm full-frame equivalent. I’ve also used this lens on my GFX100S II, and it mostly covers the sensor, with only minor corner vignetting that’s easily cropped out. My Helios 44-2 was a Christmas gift from my wife a decade ago, and came attached to a Zenit-E camera, which she picked up for about $50. It remains one of my absolute favorite lenses.

All photos above: Fujifilm X-T4 & Helios 44-2. Recipes, clockwise from top-left: Pacific Blues x2, FRGMT B&W, Kodak Tri-X 400, Kodak Vision3 250D, Superia Xtra 400 x2.

I picked up my Vivitar 135mm f/2.8 lens four years ago at an antique store in Texas for $15. The front element is a little scratched, so it can be a bit hazy when shot directly into a bright light source; otherwise it’s in pretty good shape. Vivitar sold lenses made by other manufacturers, and this particular copy was made by Komine in Japan in 1978. This was considered a pretty competent portrait lens back in the day. It doesn’t have quite as much character as the Helios, but there’s still a lot to like about how it renders pictures. It’s fairly compact for how telephoto it is, and even with the adapter, it’s a tad smaller than the Fujinon 90mm f/2. On X-series cameras, the 135mm focal length is 202mm full-frame equivalent.

All photos above: Fujifilm X-T4 & Vivitar 135mm f/2.8. Recipes, clockwise from top-left: Vivid Velvia, Kodak Portra 400 v2 x2, Pacific Blues, Vivid Velvia.

I found the Cavalier 200mm f/3.5 in the discount bin of a camera store a couple months back. When I asked the employee how much it was, he told me to just take it—nobody wanted it, so it’s free. Cavalier was an importer, and (like Vivitar) didn’t actually make their lenses. Digging into it, my lens was made by Uriu Seiki (better known for Cinemax Super 8 cameras) in 1974 for Willoughby-Peerless, which was a large camera store chain in New York City (but is now just one location called Willoughby’s Camera Emporium). Back then it was a low-budget option, and is considered a bit obscure nowadays. The image quality from this lens is so-so at best, but it was a lot of fun to use the 300mm full-frame equivalent focal length.

All photos above: Fujifilm X-T4 & Cavalier 200mm f/3.5. Recipes, clockwise from top-left: Kodachrome 64 x3, Vivid Velvia (except D-Range Priority Strong; one is an in-camera triple exposure) x2.

Lens Review: Pergear 25mm F/1.7

Posted on December 14, 2024 by Ritchie Roesch

Back in April, Pergear announced a new lens: Pergear 25mm f/1.7. This is a compact lens that’s not quite pancake, but not far from it either. It’s a little larger than the Fujinon 27mm f/2.8, and a little smaller than the Fujinon 23mm f/2. I appreciate small gear, so I got this diminutive lens specifically to pair with my Fujifilm X-E4. The Pergear 25mm f/1.7 looks really good on the X-E4; it’s an aesthetic match to the retro-styled Fujifilm models, with the right amount of vintage-like charm. The 25mm focal-length is 37.5mm full-frame-equivalent, which is good for everyday walk-around photography.

It is a manual-focus lens, which means there’s no auto-focus capabilities. I learned photography on manual lenses, so I don’t mind them personally; however, if you don’t have much experience manually focusing, it will likely take you a little practice to feel comfortable with it. The focus ring is smooth on this lens. The minimum focus distance is about eight inches, which isn’t bad. The lens has 7 Elements in 5 Groups, and 10 blades. The filter thread size is 37mm. Also, there’s no communication with the camera.

The aperture ring has clicks, and steps in full stops—there are no intermediate apertures, such as f/3.5 or f/5, which is a bit unusual (although a long time ago this wasn’t odd at all). The maximum aperture is a bright f/1.7, but skips f/2 and goes straight for f/2.8. The minimum aperture is f/22; however, due to diffraction, f/22 should probably be avoided. The aperture ring has a good amount of stiffness, and the clicks obvious, meaning that you won’t accidentally change the aperture, and you can mentally keep track of the aperture adjustments without having to take your eye off the EVF.

The Pergear 25mm f/1.7 is a very different lens depending on the aperture. When wide open at f/1.7, center sharpness is sufficient but not impressive, and the corners are soft with some vignetting. It’s also prone to a hazy flare if there is a bright light source in front of you. This can give a cinematic or even atmospheric effect sometimes, and can be used creatively. Things improve notably as you stop down. By f/5.6 the technical flaws that are obvious at f/1.7 are nearly gone, and this lens can hold its own pretty well against many others. In other words, for a clinically clean lens, you will want to be in the f/5.6 to f/8 range, but for more interesting character, you’ll want to increase the aperture. Also, you can get some nice sunstars at f/11 and especially f/16. I feel like there is enough of a difference in outcome at f/1.7, f/2.8-f/4, f/5.6-f/8, and f/11-f/16, that you could almost compartmentalize those apertures for specific situations and desired picture aesthetics.

This lens retails for only $75, which is quite affordable. It seems well built and robust. There’s a lot to like about the Pergear 25mm f/1.7 lens, and it’s easy to overlook the shortcomings because it is so inexpensive. I’m very happy with it, personally, and plan to use it regularly on my Fujifilm X-E4.

This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.

Pergear 25mm f/1.7:
Amazon

Example photos, all camera-made JPEGs using the Pergear 25mm f/1.7 lens on my Fujifilm X-E4:

*Snake Boots* – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 + Pergear 25mm f/1.7 – Kodak Tri-X 400

*Cowboy Hat 1* – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 + Pergear 25mm f/1.7 – Kodak Tri-X 400

*Cowboy Hat 2* – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 + Pergear 25mm f/1.7 – Superia Negative

*Arizona Autumn* – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 + Peargear 25mm f/1.7 – Superia Negative

*Hanging Bougainvillea* – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 + Pergear 25mm f/1.7 – Classic Color

*Backlit Bougainvillea Blooms* – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 + Pergear 25mm f/1.7 – Kodak Portra 160

*Red Blossoms* – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 + Pergear 25mm f/1.7 – Agfachrome RS 100

*Christmas Soldier* – Buckeye, AZ – Fujifilm X-E4 + Pergear 25mm f/1.7 – Fujicolor 100 Gold

Find these Film Simulation Recipes and over 350 more on the Fuji X Weekly App! Consider becoming a Patron subscriber to unlock the best App experience and to support Fuji X Weekly.