Thoughts about getting a 50mm lens

[thegman]

Hi all,
Right now, on my ZI, I'm sporting a 35mm 1.4 Nokton, an excellent lens. Sometimes I think I may want a 50mm, as a lens more suited to portraits so I'm not right up in the subject's face. Also, maybe the shallow DOF might make the subject pop off the backdrop in a pleasing way.

I was thinking of maybe trading my Nokton for an f2 Summicron, I've seen such Summicrons go for prices not unlike the Nokton, and I think I can live without an extra stop of light. But then I noticed Jupiter 50mm lenses going for almost nothing on eBay. Image quality is important to me, will a Jupiter disappoint? I can't justify keeping the Nokton and a Summicron, but I could certainly justify keeping the Nokton and getting a Jupiter.

So, is the Summicron so good to warrant selling the Nokton, or would I be better off trying out a Jupiter?

I'm not the type to carry multiple lenses around with me, so having only only one (albeit very good) lens, appeals to me.

Any thoughts on the matter?

Thanks

Garry

 

[tbarker13]

Was in a similar situation a couple months back, trying to figure out which 50 I would use for portraits. For more modern portraits, I went with a Zeiss Planar.
Obviously the 50 summicron is a great lens, but the planar isn't too shabby.

The third photo is a Jupiter 3. If you can get a nice copy, they are awesome lenses. But different.

 

[photo4ls]

If you decide to go w/Jupiter (J-8 or J-3),
you should talk w/Brian Sweeney, he is very
informative about these lens when it comes
having them shimmed to fit your M bodies.
Nelson

 

[Jason Sprenger]

A J8 and an adapter may be a good way to see if a 50mm is going to meet your needs more entirely than the 35/1.4 Nokton or if you find a 50mm would complement the wider lenses you already have. If it does, you can then sell with the 35/1.4 Nokton, get the sharp 50mm and see if you prefer the modern look or sonnar look.

A black Jupiter-8 is one of my favorite 50mm's particularly these days if I'm only bringing a camera and not a bag with other lenses. My J8 is plenty sharp stopped down but is more about "the look" than the sharpness.

Nevertheless, a Planar or modern Summicron is going to be sharp w/o compromise. A cool thing if you can swing keeping the Nokton and getting a Planar is that they share the same hood and filters.

 

[thegman]

Thanks for the advice to all. Tim, those portraits are superb, the Jupiter seems more than up to the job, for that reason I'll take a look at the Jupiters, thanks!

 

[tbarker13]

Thanks for the advice to all. Tim, those portraits are superb, the Jupiter seems more than up to the job, for that reason I'll take a look at the Jupiters, thanks!

Thanks.

Jupiters can be a wonderful thing. I'd definitely suggest doing a bit of research on them, particularly if you go for the J3 (50/1.5 model). The lenses made in the 1950s are supposed to be among the best. Mine is a 1953 model that was worked on by Brian Sweeney.

There are a lot of people on this forum who know a lot more about them than me. And there have been several recent threads that should help you with your decision.