50/1.2 Canon LTM: another capsule

[Dante_Stella]

Since I have been shooting this in tandem with the Sonnetar, here comes a hastily thrown-together piece on the Canon.

https://themachineplanet.wordpress.com/2015/11/17/canon-50mm-f1-2-ltm-not-screwmounting-around/

Lots of photos to illustrate. Can't promise they're any good!

Dante

 

[uhoh7]

Beautiful samples there, and as always a very interesting take, with numerous ancillary points to ponder 🙂

I'm going to try my copy at f/4

 

[f16sunshine]

Thank Dante. That's a fun read.
Like many This lens is one of my favorites.

As well like many mine is made from 2 lenses and is an excellent copy now. (Rear group fog on one and cracked front on the other.
It's real a surprise that cobbling two lenses into one has worked out so well. Squirrels and nuts I guess 🙂

 

[Pioneer]

I didn't know it had an f/4 setting. I don't think anything like that has ever been posted on Flikr for this lens. 😀

Very interesting read with great examples. Thanks for the time.

 

[Keith]

From memory Dante I bought one of these from you a long time ago through our classifieds.

Still have it .... and it needs cleaning again! It always amazes me the way these Canon lenses haze up just sitting around doing nothing. 😛

I may have to drag it out of the cupboard, give it a clean and give it a try on the 240 ..... I like fast glass! 🙂

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Thanks, Dante! Hope your kid's doing all right. This remains my favorite fast 50, even after a few weeks of wrestling with the Sonnetar; I think it handles wonderfully and is weird enough to satisfy my desire for optical eccentricity...

 

[daveleo]

Thank you!
Nice writing, and informative.

 

[Dante_Stella]

Thanks, Dante! Hope your kid's doing all right.

He'll live. This is (I hope) the third and final installment in a trilogy of playtime accidents - and the only one with stitches. Facebook version: "Five kindergartners were chasing each other up and down stairs while wearing socks. You'll never guess what happens next."

D

 

[raid]

I like the overview, Dante. Thanks.

My Canon 50/1.2 used to be a lens with some crazy behavior. Parts of an image would be in focus, and other parts (not the regular background) would be OOF. DAG repaired it; some internal glass had shifted, he told me. Now the lens is sharp for a vintage 1.2 lens. It is not my favorite fast 50mm lens though. I favor the Sonnar 5cm/1.5 and the CV Nokton 50/1.5 lenses, in addition to the old style Zeiss Planar 50/1.4 QBM (for the Rollei SLR).

 

[Dante_Stella]

From memory Dante I bought one of these from you a long time ago through our classifieds.

Still have it .... and it needs cleaning again! It always amazes me the way these Canon lenses haze up just sitting around doing nothing. 😛

I may have to drag it out of the cupboard, give it a clean and give it a try on the 240 ..... I like fast glass! 🙂

This recurring haze issue is so weird. Has anyone ever figured out what drives it? It seems to be really specific to this lens, and it even seems to happen when a CLA is done with modern lubricants.

Dante

 

[kuuan]

This recurring haze issue is so weird. Has anyone ever figured out what drives it? It seems to be really specific to this lens...
Dante

a Canon LTM 3.5/100 of mine, early chrome/black version is having the recurring haze, it's the only one of 10+ Canon LTM lenses, I don't own the 1.2/50, that has the issue ( but more than half have a 'permanent' haze that can't be cleaned off )

 

[jonmanjiro]

This recurring haze issue is so weird. Has anyone ever figured out what drives it? It seems to be really specific to this lens, and it even seems to happen when a CLA is done with modern lubricants.

Dante

A few years back, I asked Yamazaki-san of Yamazaki Optics in Tokyo (not Miyazaki-san of MS Optical fame) about getting some hazy Canon lenses cleaned. Yamazaki-san is the go to guy in Tokyo (and probably Japan) for cleaning, repairing separation, polishing and recoating lenses, and is well known for taking jobs that other lens repairers won't touch. He told me not to waste my money because the haze that occurs in some Canon lenses is caused by the type of glass used in the element that goes hazy, so the haze will only come back again anyway.

For those of us who read Japanese (or don't mind struggling with Google Translate), here's a good article on Yamazaki-san.

http://camerafan.jp/cc.php?i=152

 

[Mackinaw]

........He told me not to waste my money because the haze that occurs in some Canon lenses is caused by the type of glass used in the element that goes hazy, so the haze will only come back again anyway.........

Luckily, the haze you find in the Canon 50/1.2 is easy to clean. On my lens, it occurs on the element directly behind the aperture. It takes me about ten minutes to take apart the lens, clean off the haze, then reassemble.

This is one of my favorite portrait lenses, The images I get on a Leica M240 are full of character, which is what I want.

Jim B.

 

[uhoh7]

A few years back, I asked Yamazaki-san of Yamazaki Optics in Tokyo (not Miyazaki-san of MS Optical fame) about getting some hazy Canon lenses cleaned. Yamazaki-san is the go to guy in Tokyo (and probably Japan) for cleaning, repairing separation, polishing and recoating lenses, and is well known for taking jobs that other lens repairers won't touch. He told me not to waste my money because the haze that occurs in some Canon lenses is caused by the type of glass used in the element that goes hazy, so the haze will only come back again anyway.

For those of us who read Japanese (or don't mind struggling with Google Translate), here's a good article on Yamazaki-san.

http://camerafan.jp/cc.php?i=152

TY so much for this. I just wish I could find a good auto translator 🙂

What would it be about the glass? The coatings? But are all the elements coated?

 

[Mackinaw]

.......What would it be about the glass? The coatings? But are all the elements coated?

I have some Canon lens literature from the mid-50’s. When talking about the 50/1.2, the literature states“…very new rare-earth compounds have been used to achieve added qualities of resolution and color correction.” Maybe these rare-earth compounds contribute to the haze problem.

The literature also says that the lens is coated both internally and externally (Spectra coated).

Jim B.

 

[johannielscom]

On cleaning a 1.2/50mm... still here... 😀

http://johanniels.com/index.php/cam...anon-diy-cleaning-a-1-2-50mm-rangefinder-lens

😀

 

[jonmanjiro]

What would it be about the glass? The coatings? But are all the elements coated?

I have some Canon lens literature from the mid-50’s. When talking about the 50/1.2, the literature states“…very new rare-earth compounds have been used to achieve added qualities of resolution and color correction.” Maybe these rare-earth compounds contribute to the haze problem.

Yep, this is it. Yamazaki-san said the glass hazes due to whatever rare-earth compounds Canon added to the glass to achieve the desired refractive index. If it was just the coating, he could clean it off and re-coat the element.

 

[ruby.monkey]

I love the images this lens makes, but I have to say that the ergonomics are pretty awful. The focus throw is overly long (~half a turn stop-to-stop), the focussing ring narrow and slippery, the aperture ring narrower still (and about a third of its circumference offers no grip at all), and the hood just gets in the way and is perfectly designed to fall off at the slightest knock - not much fun when the damned thing can cost as much as the lens itself.

And then there's the need to open it up for cleaning on a regular basis - but at least that means one can remove the bloody infinity lock.

Having said that, the large TAAB fits well and takes some of the pain out of focussing. And the lens can make some pretty photos.

 

[uhoh7]

Well I took mine out today:


Arch by unoh7, WO no PP


L1041903 by unoh7, F4 no PP


L1041900 by unoh7, F4 no PP


L1041940 by unoh7, F/4 No PP

All on the M9 which of course is pretty contrasty.

What I notice, and there must be some major copy variation with this as most old lenses (mine is pretty clean):

From wide open to f/4, you want to be fairly close. At f/2 the central frame is quite good, but even at f/4, forget the edges. At 5.6 they begin to come in. This is more evident the further away you are. Note edges on the house. Another thing you get with this lens: noise, even at low ISO in backgrounds like the sky.

In terms or sharpness and clarity, the 50/1.4 is way ahead, which is no news really. But despite the weakness, it's unique and I like these shots.


Canon 50/1.2 LTM by unoh7, on Flickr

Now, if someone would please send me a Nikkor RF 50/1.1, I might get some back-in-the-day context on this lens 😉

 

[f16sunshine]

I like the first one Charlie. The subtle light is nicely moody.
Too bad for the Budwieser truck (?) far in the background.


Ps. Sorry if I spelled your name wrong. Spell check wants to correct me and now I don't know which is right 🙂

Best!