Why manual focus lenses are sometimes worth more than auto focus lenses

Hello my name is Ryan and I’ve been into photography for over 30 years. Making the transition from film to digital was such a relief and time saving decision! It gave me the opportunity to try new techniques which I probably wouldn’t have tested on film. Cameras have gotten much better as the years progressed but how about lenses?

Here is my Asahi Pentax Spotmatic F SLR with my Auto-Yashinon-DX 50mm f2

I began my journey with many different cameras e.g. Canon, Panasonic, Sony, Kodak, Pentax but ended up sticking to Nikon for professional work

Nikon D810 + Nikon 85 1.8G

and Fuji for fun!!

Fuji X-T1 + Samyang 12mm f2

Because mirrorless was able to use practically any lens with the right adapter, I got my old Nikon 50mm f1.4 ais out and bought the Nikon F mount to Fuji adapter. I began experimenting and was simply blown away. Not only were the results incredible, I felt the passion and inspiration of photography on an entirely different level.

I soon bought many lenses and tested them out and realised that old manual focus lenses gave me rendition of images that I couldn't have achieved with modern day lenses.

Fuji X-T1 with M42 to FX adapter with Meyer Optik Gorlitz 50mm f1.8

These 50 year old lenses can be bought sometimes for under £20 and create images of art. Even though modern lenses will be sharp and easy to use because of autofocusing, they sometimes lack the character of 'classic' lenses.

For me, old manual focus lenses are worth more than some auto focus lenses for the pure fact that they bring back the feeling of real photography, proper thought of composition and exquisite rendition of images.

The possibility of buying lenses of all different focal length at such low prices gives us the opportunity to explore and feel more creative in photography.

This to me is priceless! :)

Thank you for reading and hope it encourages you to unlock your creativity in photography even more.