I love legacy lenses. Back when I started with the Panasonic GF1 (the OG mirrorless camera), I wanted a portrait lens.

But there were only a handful of native lenses, that and I was a broke college student.

So I started looking into legacy lenses, and that path lead me towards Canon FD lenses.

And as I covered in my guide to the best Canon FD Lenses (more on that below), I’ll still say one of my all around favorites is the Canon FD 50mm f1.4 SSC:

Are Legacy Lenses Worth it in 2021?

Perhaps the first and only reason people get turned off by the idea of using legacy lenses is that it’ll be a fully “manual” experience. But this shouldn’t be that big of a deal as it used to be. With DSLRs, you’ll have to confirm focus in Live View (checking the LCD screen) every time which gets tedious very quickly. Mirrorless cameras on the other hand make manual focusing incredibly easy, thanks to focus peaking, allowing you to focus on your subject without taking your eye off the electronic viewfinder. Focus peaking highlights the area that will be in focus, allowing you to manually focus much faster.

Non-autofocusing legacy lenses have excellent focus throws, or the measure of how far you can rotate the focus ring from its minimum focus distance to infinity. Basically, the longer the focus throw, the easier it is to get accurate focus (common with wide aperture lenses). With focus peaking and legacy lenses designed to be manually focused in the first place, the photographer on a budget has more incentive to work with vintage glass more than ever.

In terms of cost, the value proposition of a good legacy lens is through the roof. Let’s compare the aforementioned Canon FD 50mm f1.4 S.S.C. to it’s modern counterpart:

A legacy Canon FD 50mm f1.4 S.S.C. in excellent condition will cost less than $100 on eBay, while the new Canon RF 50mm f1.2L is $2199, and the old Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM is $399. On Sony’s full frame cameras, the same aperture and focal length, the Sony 50mm f1.4 Zeiss would run you $1500 new.

Also, crop sensor mirrorless cameras can use a speedbooster adapter, that can allow for more light.

So if you don’t do any action photography, or you’re a filmmaker (who has little use for autofocusing lenses), and don’t want to burn a lot of cash on brand new glass, then there’s absolutely no reason for you not to look into legacy lenses.

There is, however, another alternative. With the growth of the mirrorless segment, we’re seeing a lot of new third party lenses that are manual focus…

The Best 3rd Party Manual Lenses

One of my absolute favorites is the Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 50mm f0.95. A rather niche lens, because if want to buy it, you should have full intentions at just using at f0.95, that’s where it’s special. That’s where it has stopping power. That’s where it has a look that’s hard to replicate with other lenses.

Other great manual focus lenses to checkout are Rokinon and Venus Optics Laowa lenses.

The Best Canon FD Lenses

Before the EF mount, the mighty FD mount was the standard for Canon SLRs from 1971 to 1987. That means there are about two decades worth of sharp, affordable and reliable legacy lenses waiting for photographers willing to put a little time into a bit of research.

We’ve covered FD lenses before in The Complete Guide to FD Lenses for Mirrorless Cameras where you can learn more about the mount, get more lens recommendations, and tips for picking up and evaluating a legacy lens’ condition.

Here are my top picks for the best value Canon FD lenses that deserve a rightful spot in your camera bag:

Canon FDn 50mm f/1.4 – Let’s kick things off with a standard prime. It’s a classic focal length and every photographer should have a nifty fifty in their bags. TheWeekEndLens reports that the newer FDn and the older, heavier metal-bodied SSC were comparable in terms of sharpness. At the time of writing, the SSC version of this lens could be had for $40 on eBay while the newer nFD starts at $80. Whichever you go for, you’ll enjoy good center-sharpness and the low-light capabilities that a fast f/1.4 prime provides.

Canon FDn 24mm f/2.8 – If you need a wide angle prime for your landscapes or videography needs and don’t want to burn a grand or so, you’ll love this one. The 24mm offers excellent center-sharpness wide open, and reaches its peak when stopped down to f/4. Stopping down to f/8 to f/11 should get you impressive corner to corner sharpness. All yours for $100 on eBay.

Canon FDn 135mm f/2.8 – At this point, you might already be expecting the FD 85mm 1.8 to appear in this list. But here’s a bit of a curved ball. The 135 f/2.8 takes the telephoto prime lens recommendation for a lot of reasons. For one, you can comfortably shoot this thing wide open and you’d still get amazing sharpness. And yes, bokeh fanatics, you’ll get incredible bokeh rendering thanks to its 8 aperture blades. For around $100, the value you can get out of the FD 135 FDn f/2.8 can’t be beat. The 85mm offers more of a traditional portrait focal length and is another good choice.

The Best Nikon Legacy Lenses

The Nikon F mount was introduced way back in 1959. It’s the same mount you’ll find in every Nikon DSLR today, which meant Nikon shooters could easily use 6 decades-worth industry-leading optics in their DSLR cameras. Thanks to mirrorless cameras and affordable adaptors, you can now enjoy the same privilege those playing in the yellow team have had all these years for cheap.

Here are some of the best value legacy Nikkor lenses you can get today:

Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AI-S – Product photographers rejoice. If you’re looking for the best value legacy macro lens, look no further than the Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AI-S. You’ll get a 1:2 magnification out of this macro glass and a minimum focusing distance of 25 centimeters for your close-up work. This legacy Nikon lens offers incredible sharpness and resolution that other macro lenses are often benchmarked against. Not bad for something that can be had for less than $100 on eBay. If you already have a nifty-fifty in your bag (like the FD 50mm f/1.4) and want a macro lens with more reach, consider the Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 AI-S which is an equally superb lens.

Nikon 35mm f/2.8 AI – It’s a compact and sharp “wide” standard prime from the AI era. The 35mm f/2.8 AI is surprisingly sharp wide open with good contrast. Corners are a little soft when shot at f/2.8, though both center and corner sharpness improve by f/4 to f/5.6. If you’re looking for a manual street photography lens, you can’t go wrong with this one. It has one last trick up its sleeve though, this legacy Nikkor prime has one of the lowest, almost invisible distortion on a wide lens, making it great for interior and architectural work. For less than $100, you can get a copy of this gem in excellent condition.

Nikon 80-200mm f/4 AI-S – Ken Rockwell claims this $70 chunk of glass from the 80s is every bit as sharp as the newer 70-200 f/4 G Nikon introduced in the last decade. Take that with a grain of salt, sure. But more pros can concur about the quality of this lens, check Richard Haw’s piece on this lens if you need more convincing. It’s easily my top pick for the best value, legacy telephoto zoom from Nikon. The Nikkor 80-200 f/4 AI-S is sharp at both ends even at f/4, delivers great contrast and renders smooth bokeh.

The Best Minolta Legacy Lenses

We can thank Minolta for ushering in a world of autofocusing cameras in 1985 where they dropped the older SR-Mount for the A-mount, the first in-body autofocus lens system. The SR-mount in turn, left us with some of the best (and most affordable) non-autofocusing legacy lenses you can easily adapt to any mirrorless camera.

Minolta MD 35-70mm f/3.5 – If you’re looking for a lens that could do it all, it’s probably the Minolta MD 35-70 f/3.5. This standard-zoom from Minolta boasts sharpness across the range that can keep up with primes. () Contrast, while not the best wide-open, will reach its peak at f/5.6 which is still impressive. After getting myself a fast standard prime lens, this 35-70mm f/3.5 would definitely be my second purchase to serve as my all-rounder. Here’s a pro tip: look for the version with Macro designation for a nice 1:4 macro mode feature (switch activated). You can get one of the best legacy Minolta lenses for about $80 on eBay.

Minolta MC W.Rokkor HH 35mm f/1.8 – You’ve probably heard about some vintage lenses having a certain “character” to them. This fast 35mm is one of those lenses. It’s not going to be at its sharpest when shot wide open, but that’s where you’ll see that sort of muted contrast, almost airy feel to the images. Stop it down to f/2.8 and it’ll bring that contrast and sharpness up. There are 3 versions of these lenses, reportedly having the same optical design. You can get the newer model with the updated focusing ring for around $150-$180 on eBay.

Minolta MD 85mm f/2 – 85mm is the classic portrait focal length and a must-have in your camera bag. For less than $300, you can get one of the sharpest lenses Minolta made that happens to be an 85mm lens. It’s also reportedly sharper wide open than its Olympus counterpart and does a lot better in producing colors and rendering bokeh than the Canon FD 85mm f/1.8. This awesome portrait lens delivered great contrast and resolving power, beating out its own Minolta MC 85 f/1.7 brother and a modern Samyang 85mm lens even with a decentered copy on this test. I’d pick one up before prices go up.

Personally, as the Micro Four Thirds system has matured, I started shifting over to native m43 lenses. But there is still a ton of value in legacy lenses, especially if you shoot video, just love shooting with manual focus, or just find a deal on legacy lenses (which can be found at plenty of garage sales!). These recommendations should be more than enough to get you started on building your legacy lens kit while keeping things within your budget. Here lies the opportunity to tap into the camera industry’s yesteryears and its long history of legendary optics that can be had for an awesome bargain today. There are truckloads of legacy FD, F and SR mount lenses that will more than fill the gaps in your mirrorless camera bag while preserving your financial well-being. Beyond eBay or KEH, I’d suggest hitting up garage sales in your area for a chance to come across bottom-dollar deals for some top-grade vintage glass.