50mm 1.1 Lenses: CV and 7Artisans with Leica M10

I have added 40 new images from the CV 50mm/1.1. The weather was overcast yesterday, and I got these images anyways. Each day can bring different things to light.
No lens hood was used here.
https://raid.smugmug.com/Leica-M10-CV-50mm-11-2021/
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I passed up a 7A 50/1.1 earlier this year, maybe last year. I was unsure then, as now, if I would like this lens. I can easily live with most of the "flaws" of the lens, but I just wish the center was a bit sharper wide open, or near wide open. I see some sample images that look pretty darn good doing what I want, and then I see other sample images that show the center sharpness at below what I consider acceptable. Could it be variation among lenses? I wonder if some folks who share example images are stopped down just a tad (1.2?) and that makes what appears to be acceptable sharpness at center?
 
It could have been uneven quality control procedures being applied, with the lenses not all being identical. The center should be sharp even with cheap lenses.
 
I recall that the 7Art may need some shimming, Brian said regarding his lens. I have not done any shimming.
 
I personally like this lens as it allows me to use 400/800ISO film with snapshot feasible shutter-speeds in what would otherwise be near-darkness. If you use it with the 3200TMax film you can basically shoot in any condition at the price of some film-grain.

The 7a is also Sonnar type design, which in my book - is always a plus and explains the nice bokeh that others have already pointed out.

I find that the lens renders very sharply on film, which is a lot less demanding on lenses than digital. It does have some minor barrel type distortion but nothing I'm too concerned about since this is not a "daylight" or architecture lens anyway. My view is that this is a lens for shooting at evening/night or inside jazz clubs and such. It's not an everyday carry lens - it was also most likely never meant to be.

I also like the fact that it's shorter and more stout than either the VC or Nokton which are huge lenses. This makes the overall setup not only smaller and lighter, thus easy to carry, but it also looks less intimidating which can be a help in street-snap situations.

Here's some random grab-bag of shots taken with the 7a 50/1.1 that I found with a quick search. Sadly I can't seem to find the photos I took in a jazz-club a while back. I really liked those.

7a_3.jpg
7a_1.jpg
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I bought a CV 50/1.1 Nokton recently, partly because it's remarkably inexpensive in the used market, but also because in my experience it's a fine lens. For whatever reason it's received some negative press over the years, which I do not think is deserved. Of course it's not a Noctilux, but the performance for the price is outstanding. It will be interesting to see soon how the new CV 50/1 stacks up. I think we are witnessing sort of a return of the Super Speed lens craze of the late 1950's and 60's. That's just fine by me!
 
With extra careful focusing it is possible to get very nice looking images with such lenses.i am planning to get the CV 50/1.
 
Duofold RF said:
For few hundreds dollars, the 7artisan 50mm1.1 is a good buy, especially used. The softness is most likely related to focusing issue
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The lens - at least in my case provided the necessary tools and bits to fine tune it to your RF.
Not that I needed to do that with mine - it worked right out of the box, but then again I only shoot film...
 
Thanks folks for the feedback. I honestly want to think the 7A is good for my uses. I don't need sharp all over (wide open), just the center. And again, I've seen examples just like I want and examples clearly soft and not necessarily missed focus.
I suspect that if another lens presents itself I'll probably get it and find out if it fits my needs. Prices, especially used, are not prohibitive.
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rfaspen said:
Thanks folks for the feedback. I honestly want to think the 7A is good for my uses. I don't need sharp all over (wide open), just the center. And again, I've seen examples just like I want and examples clearly soft and not necessarily missed focus.
...
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The 7A 1.1/50 is sharp in the center. It's sharp edge to edge up to around three to five meters or so (somewhere in there), after that the field curvature kicks in and the edges don't sharpen up (on my M-240 anyway) even stopped down. On the M-240 it shows a hint of Italian Flag effect which is not present on another mirrorless body with a somewhat short adapter... However, without knowing your particular usage, it's impossible to opine on whether a lens like the 1.1/50 would suit your needs.

I don't think I have ever used a lens that wasn't sharp in the center. Some are sharper than others but they've all been sharp. I've gotten soft in-the-center shots from missed focus, shutter shock, camera shake etc. but never as the fault of the lens.

DJ Optical 1.1/50, Z 7.


***
 
raid said:
I recall that the 7Art may need some shimming, Brian said regarding his lens. I have not done any shimming.
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Not shimming: The lens has an adjustable RF Cam. A couple of set screws hold it in place, loosen them and rotate. I like this feature, used it on the 75/1.25 as well.
I have a pair of 7Art lenses. One of them: set the Cam for the lens to have a deep Yellow filter for the M Monochrom, the other set for the M9.

"Rare time for me", off from work and working on lenses in the collection. Put away computers and took out tools. It has been over two years since I took apart a J-3.

I will get some of my comparison shots up here, Raid has done a great job proving "The 50/1.1 Nokton is the must under-rated Super-Speed lens since the Canon 50/0.95". Prices on the latter have soared 15x in the last 20 years.
 
You are right; the lens has its own adjustable RF cam.
I am happy with my 7Art lens as it came to me, Brian. It appears to be focusing well even when it is used wide open.
 
OK, so I have the CV 50/1.1 and I am waiting to buy a CV 50/1. What about the CV 50/1.2? Why do we even have such a lens if there is a CV 50/1.1 for sale? Is it very different in optical design from the CV 50/1.1 and the CV 50/1.0? Does anyone here have a 50/1.2?

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in some ad:
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Perhaps it would be an attractive lens for those using IBIS mirrorless cameras? It would definitely not work wide open on my Epson R-D1 since it has a relatively short rangefinder base length.
 
I have removed the CV 50/1.1 from my M10, and I returned to the 7Art 50/1.1. I removed the lens hood, and instead I am using step-up rings 55-58 and 58-62. I don't see any vignetting when using this lens wide open with the step-up rings used as a short lens hood.

I want to check out my lens to see if it focuses correctly or not.
 
raid said:
I have removed the CV 50/1.1 from my M10, and I returned to the 7Art 50/1.1. I removed the lens hood, and instead I am using step-up rings 55-58 and 58-62. I don't see any vignetting when using this lens wide open with the step-up rings used as a short lens hood.

I want to check out my lens to see if it focuses correctly or not.
Click to expand...

That might help me. Think of environmental portraits with subject in central region and background far back enough for shallow DoF to render unobtrusive? Not sure that's the word I'm looking for, but you likely know what I mean. Anyway, images with that general structure are my intended use.
 
I started out with taking indoors some photos of subjects at 1.1 and ISO 200. I may be pushing my luck here, but I like the results so far.I will also explore outdoor images today.We are having a sunny Florida day.
 
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