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The name Angenieux means a lot for photographers who have been around for a long time. They’ve arguably made some of the most beautiful lenses in history. You typically hear about them with regard to the cinema industry these days, but their vintage lenses are worth every single penny. The Rare Camera Store has an Angenieux 35mm f2.5 for only $500 right now. And it’s guaranteed to make a photographer very, very happy.
Welcome to the Rare Camera Store: a joint initiative of The Phoblographer and the wonderful folks at Blue Moon Camera. We work to bring you some of the coolest and rarest items for a great price.
The Angeniuex 35mm f2.5 is an awesome lens. We searched Flickr for image samples. Check this one out that was shot with the Nikon Df. That one photo proves what this lens is capable of. It’s available in Exacta mount, which means that it can pretty much be adapted to any mirrorless or DSLR camera around. Want a lens with softer contrast? This could be the one. In fact, if you shoot Sony, I implore you to shoot with this lens. It’s a much different look than the modern digital lenses out there. And if we reviewed it, I’m sure our own staff would adore it. I speak with both Brittany and Hillary on a near-daily basis, and we love lenses with character.
This Angeniuex 35mm f2.5 is going for $500. And here’s what Blue Moon Camera has to say about it:
This P. Angenieux Paris 35mm f2.5 Retrofocus Type R 11 is is a wide angle lens designed for cameras that use the Exakta Mount. The lens is an early example of the retrofocus design applied to SLR lenses. It is known for having softer contrast and producing beautiful bokeh when shot wide open.
There is a sticker from a former user on the lens barrel. There is oil on the aperture blades. Neither of these issues affect usage or image quality.
Blue Moon also says this lens has a fair amount of wear. Most vintage camera and lens buyers I know really adore that worn-in look. We call it Patina.
I guarantee some of you are wondering who Angenieux is. Well, these days, they make cinema lenses. But for many years, they were in the photography world. They’re based in France. From what I was able to find online, it seems like they’re also still made in France. That’s far better than a few other companies. Indeed, Angenieux lenses have a cinematic look and feel to them. And if that’s what you’re looking for, you should pick this one up. Slap it onto your camera using an adapter. Then lock your white balance to Daylight or Tungsten. You’re going to get a film-look that you’ll be smitten with.
As an aside, I’d probably really only use this on a full-frame camera. It doesn’t make sense to use it on APS-C cameras unless you’re really okay with that. But a Fujifilm GF camera and this lens could surely be cool using a Classic Negative look.
Because this lens has low contrast, you’ll have to be careful using it. When you think you’re in focus, you might not be. Use both focusing peaking and magnification. For what it’s worth, most modern focus peaking is absolute garbage. You have to use it with magnification. Canon’s system is one of the best we’ve seen for focus peaking, but Sony’s for full-frame is bad. In fact, most full-frame focus peaking is awful. On APS-C, though, you’ll have a better shot.
Go grab this lens before it disappears.
