35mm f2, small, and cheap. Huh ?

[merciful]

Canon 35/1.8: less than US$100 if you don't mind some severe coating damage.

 

[sychan]

Ah so the Nokton has "doughnut highlights" as I call them... fine by me ! One of the all time great 50mm is the Takumar 50mm f1.4 that has the same caracteristic, and it has never bothered me one bit 😀
I'm looking into the J-12 too then, playing russian roulette again with of the "Everything Works Properly" FSU sellers...

Another thing in favor of the MC 40/1.4 is the good flare resistance. Here is an example of the Flare Condition From Hell

shooting directly into the noontime sun, and I think it did a far better job than most older lenses.

 

[markinlondon]

I'd go for the 35 SKopar PII. Small, light and reasonably priced.

Wide Open

f8

Mark

 

[back alley]

very nice shots mark.

they look great!

joe

 

[Kyle]

The Canon 35/2 is an awesome lens, and it is very compact. I highly recommend it.

 

[raid]

I favor my Canon 38mm/1.8 over the first version Summicron with goggles since the goggles limit its usefulness and it is in M mount.

 

[ljclark]

I'm looking to get a cheap-ish 35mm f2, a small lens I could keep on the M2 and be happy with the results -- including low light --
Right now I have a Summaron 35mm f3.5, that is small. cheap, but the 3.5 is really not enough for the things I want to do with it.

If you can suffer the loss of the 1/2 stop, I'll put in another vote for the C/V Skopar f/2.5 Pancake II. Mine lives on one of my M6s. I keep the camera in my backpack most of the time, and wrapped in one of those "Roadwired" wraps for protection. I take off the hood and invert it over the lens inside the wrap. The lens has an M-mount, so no adapters to worry about.

If you've ever played the "only one body, only one lens" game, this is my combination.

My default film for just carrying around is Fuji Press 800.

 

[wlewisiii]

If you really want to be cheap, the Jupiter 12 can be an excellent lens. I've had two of them (one in contax mount & one in LTM. ) and both have been very solid performers. I've never had much of an issue with flare, though I know many have.

For a modern lens that you can buy new, nothing, absolutely nothing, comes close to the bang/buck performance of the CV 35/2.5 in any of it's versions (which are, I believe, all optically the same anyway... ) I had one in SC mount and was very fond of it though in the end I traded it for a Canon 7 body 😉

FWIW,

William

 

[StuartR]

The Canon 35mm f/1.8 is a nice compliment to my 35mm f/1.4 asph. it has high resolution, medium contrast, and nice bokeh. I must admit that 1.8 has the exact same negative density as f/2 (i.e. it is not a true f/1.8), but it is still a nice, tiny 35mm lens and worthy of consideration. The konica 35mm f/2 is a better lens in terms of color and contrast, but it is much more expensive.

 

[Buze]

Well, since I posted the question originaly I looked around for the Canons, or cheapish summicrons, but couldn't find one easily. So I triggered a Nokton 40mm f1.4 "classic" instead. I'm a bit bummed that it brings the 50mm lines on the M2 tho, I'll have to find a way to get the 35mm ones somehow!
Thanks a lot for all the comments and samples. I'll keep looking for a "classic" to match the M2, but the Nokton should do it for now...

The summaron (after I CLAed it) performed beautifuly given the light, but it's not an "all around" lens for me!

I quite a few shots taken with the combo M2 + Summaron + Delta 400 on my flikr dump : http://www.flickr.com/photos/buze/
To my eyes the cleaning of the haze makes a HUGE difference; before CLA the lens was "blooming" : doing lots of light dispertion on highlights. After cleaning it's nice, sharp, tidy and not too contrasty. Nice one. Maybe I'll regret returning it one day 😀

 

[VictorM.]

Whoa! From 3.5 to 1.4 in one step! The lens mount on the 40's is easily modified to bring up the 35mm frame lines. If I can do it, you can too. As you put the lens on the camera, look carefully and you will see which part of the mount operates the frame selector mechanism. File a small amount of metal off that tab, carefully. It's usually best to remove the mounting flange from the lens before you file off metal.

 

[VictorM.]

Almost forgot: On pre-M4-P bodies, the 40mm lens is a bit tighter than the 35mm frame lines. Here's a test I shot of a dart board at minimum distance, when the cut-off is at its maximum, with my M4-2 and Summicron-C:

 

[markinlondon]

I'm a bit bummed that it brings the 50mm lines on the M2 tho, I'll have to find a way to get the 35mm ones somehow!

Have a search on p.net for "40 Summicron framelines" and you'll find pictures showing you exactly how much to file off the lens mount. It's not a lot and takes a few seconds with a small file. Tape over the rear element. This will invalidate your warranty.

Your Summaron pictures have a nice classic look, you may have found a Skopar too "hard".

Mark

 

[StuartR]

The only other thing to be aware of is if you file it, it will not bring up the 40mm frameline in the R3A or Minolta CLE if you get one (at least I don't think so). The 40mm is always visible in the CL though, so that is not a problem.

 

[sockeyed]

In response to what StuartR says, the framelines in the R3A are selected manually, so don't worry about the modification not bringing up the 40 framelines, but his point about the CLE is correct.

BTW, I noticed at least one used CV 35/2.5 Classic for sale over at photo.net for $150, I recall.

 

[Buze]

i did file the mount earlier on. From what I read it's about one (infinity) to 3 (close) frame-line-width difference to a real 35mm. A /lot/ better than the 50 lines in any case!

 

[Buze]

I uploaded some of my first film with the combo M2 + Nokton, I'm very happy with the result. I shot most of it with the 35mm lines too, and didn't have any major "crop" problems, it's very comfortable indeed.
Sharpness is great, contrast is nice (not too much, not too less). A small amount of vignetting at f1.4, some dougnut highlights at f1.4 (gone at f2) and overall an excellent lens I find. Next with Provia for color stuff !!

The photos :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/buze/search/tags:nokton/

Thnaks to everyone who provided comments & help here !