50mm for my Bessa R2?

Chrisrw

Chrisrw

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Greetings All,

I am hankering for a new 50mm for my Bessa R2 set up. I currently have a Jupiter 8 ( which I think I need to adjust the focus of), but want something sharper and newer. I shoot exclusively B&W, mostly outdoors, people, parks, architecture. Basically a walk around camera, so something fairly small for traveling a plus. I've read so many reviews and opinions it's hard to make a personal choice. I am considering the Zeiss 50/2 Planar (used,mint on CL for $625) Or one of the two Nickel coated VC Heliars, 50/2 or 50/3.5. I don't want to go over $700 and all three fall under this limit. If anyone has direct feedback on any of these I would greatly appreciate it. I tend to like contrasty, sharp images. My other lens is the VC 35/2.5 Color Skopar. I'd like to do more evening/night shooting, but if I push my 400 a couple, would the Heliar 3.5 be able to handle the lower light.
Many thanks in advance.
 
The 50mm f/3.5 Heliar is plenty sharp and a nice lens, but collapsing can be a blessing and curse, personally, I can find them a bit of a pain, and would prefer a rigid lens.

Whether you need a faster lens is really up to you, f3.5 can be enough, or it can not be enough, depends on how dark it is, how steady your hands are for the slow shutter speeds.

Personally I'd go for the f/2 Planar, I've never used one, but I've never heard anyone have a bad word to say about it.
 
In Leica world, you can get 2 great collapsible 50mm lenses: Summicron and Elmar M v2. While on paper the Elmar is slower, in practice the Summicron wide open is quite soft, but it sharpens up nicely by f2.8. The Elmar is absolutely gorgeous in B&W, and so is the Summicron, which is however more prone to flare, and has even lower contrast.
The Planar in B&W is like thunder: mercilessly sharp and contrasty. I believe it would be better to look for something more old school. The gold standard would be Rigid Summicron - I am not sure the DR can be mounted on the Bessa.
If you do not mind fiddling with adapters, many swear by the Canon 1.4 or Nikkor 1.4 versions.
 
Thank you both your your input. After all is said and done, I suppose it comes down to just getting one and using it for a while. I'll see what I can find.
 
The Planar will be a great match to your Color Skopar. The other well matching 50 in your budget is the 50/2 M-Hexanon.

Roland.
 
Thanks Roland. The planars I've looked at seem great and good prices for used/mint. OTH I've found a Nokton 35/1.4 used and thought about getting rid of the Color Skopar for a faster night shooting lens. Hmmm, the mind boggles at the possibilities. I want them all 🙂
 
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