50mm Question

[mikyor1]

If you had a choice between:

Nikon Nikkor-H.C 5cm f2
Canon 50mm f1.5
Canon 50mm f1.4

which one would you choose? Ive been trying to get my filthy hands on a nikkor but cant find one anywhere! So im looking at other options

 

[kermaier]

Why aren't the Nikkor-S.C 5cm f/1.4 and the Canon 50mm f/1.8 on that list?
And you could also consider a 50/2 Summicron collapsible in LTM.

The Nikkor 50/2 and 50/1.4, and the Canon 50/1.5 are all Sonnar types.
The Canon 50/1.4 and 50/1.8 are more like Planar types (or some other formal designation that I'm not qualified to mention).

As between the 3 that you specifically mentioned, my favorite is the Nikkor-H.C 50/2, but the Canon 50/1.5 is also a great lens. (The conventional wisdom is that the Nikkor does best up close and wide open, and the Canon is best at f/2.8-f/4 and medium distances.)

::Ari

 

[x-ray]

If you had a choice between:

Nikon Nikkor-H.C 5cm f2
Canon 50mm f1.5
Canon 50mm f1.4

which one would you choose? Ive been trying to get my filthy hands on a nikkor but cant find one anywhere! So im looking at other options

I have the Nikkor f2 and it's a stellar lens even by todays standards. It's quite sharp even wide open. If you don't need the extra speed why bother with a more expensive, heavier and larger lens like a 1.4 or 1.5. Most people don't shoot wide open anyway.

 

[mikyor1]

After you mentioning that the nikkor does well up close and wide open, makes me want it even more! T___T

I wouldnt mind gettin a canon 50mm 1.5 but the ones available are overpriced or in heavily used condition.

Also, I am aware theres a collapsible 50mm f2 leica lens, but from what i've read, it has literally 0 contrast.

Are there any russian gems that are at least f2 and good wide open?

 

[AlexBG]

My jupiter 8 is amazing wide open, just soft enough to get the results I want. Probably sharp stopped down a bit but i didn't buy it for that.

I'm stuck between what to get next, the canon 50mm 1.5 or the summarit 50mm 1.5. Both give different results and that's where i'm stuck.

There are a couple of collapsable f2 lenses, as well as a canon collapsable.

If you are looking for a good all round lens then the canon 50mm 1.8 is a great shout.

Or the new lomography J3.

The 50mm list is endless. Pick what you want from the lens and then decide.

 

[Mackinaw]

I currently own the Nikkor LTM 50/2.0 and the Canon 50/1.4. Several years back I owned the Canon 50/1.5, but have since sold it.

This past summer, the standard lens on my Canon L1 rangefinder was the Nikkor 50/2.0. I like shooting wide-open, or near it, and the pics taken with the Nikkor were no better than OK. It’s probably too harsh to say I was disappointed, but image quality, to me, was lacking something. I’m thinking of selling the lens.

I’ve been a fan of the Canon 50/1.4 for years. Excellent image quality, even wide-open. It’s the standard lens on my Leica M’s.

Jim B.

 

[x-ray]

After you mentioning that the nikkor does well up close and wide open, makes me want it even more! T___T

I wouldnt mind gettin a canon 50mm 1.5 but the ones available are overpriced or in heavily used condition.

Also, I am aware theres a collapsible 50mm f2 leica lens, but from what i've read, it has literally 0 contrast.

Are there any russian gems that are at least f2 and good wide open?

Nikon made the 50 f2 in a collapsible mount as well. You will pay more but it's available and is optically the same as the rigid.

Keep in mind all of these are old lenses that have been beat around for a half century or more. They may vary in quality because of this.

I've shot quite a bit wide open with my f2 and its as good as any lens of that era. I'll put it up agains the 50 v2 summicron everyone loves. I feel the contrast of the Nikkor is slightly better than the Summicron.

 

[mikyor1]

I currently own the Nikkor LTM 50/2.0 and the Canon 50/1.4. Several years back I owned the Canon 50/1.5, but have since sold it.

This past summer, the standard lens on my Canon L1 rangefinder was the Nikkor 50/2.0. I like shooting wide-open, or near it, and the pics taken with the Nikkor were no better than OK. It’s probably too harsh to say I was disappointed, but image quality, to me, was lacking something. I’m thinking of selling the lens.

I’ve been a fan of the Canon 50/1.4 for years. Excellent image quality, even wide-open. It’s the standard lens on my Leica M’s.

Jim B.

Could you post some pictures taken? I'd be glad to take it off your hands 🙂

 

[bluesun267]

My vote for the 50/2 Nikkor and any of the other Sonnar formula Nikkors (f1.4, f1.5). I started a flickr group dedicated to their unique rendition if you're interested in examples:

https://www.flickr.com/groups/nikkorsc-rf/

I have failed to warm up to any of the Canon LTMs I've owned (50/2.8, 1.8, 1.4, 1.2; 35/2.8, 1.8, 1.5) though I haven't tried the 50/1.5. I find Canon's drawing style kind of middle-of-the-road, ie, neither here nor there.

(Note on the Nikkor 50/2--like any lenses there can be sample variations. I had one 50/2 that was in mint physical condition and appeared never to have been worked on, but was distinctly unsharp on the right side of the frame from 20ft to infinity, even stopped down.)

 

[Robert Lai]

50mm lenses that I've known

50mm lenses that I've known

Over the course of time, I've spent a lot of money and time on different 50mm lenses. So, here's the distilled essence of what I've learned.

First: Condition is key. You need to find as clean a lens as you can, especially for some of these, like the Leica Summicron collapsible.


Second: Some lenses are capable of focusing very closely (Nikkors), but lose rangefinder coupling after 1m. You can crudely file the mount, but a more elegant solution is to send it to someone like Don Goldberg (DAG) who will mill the mount to allow RF coupling to 0.7m (sometimes the RF cam will go all the way down to 0.6m).

Nikkor 50mm f/2 HC - I had a very early Tokyo version. Sent it to DAG who overhauled it and milled the mount to 0.7m. Wide open, it was very soft with very low contrast and a lot of vignetting. Stopped down, it sharpens up fine, but this wide open performance did not thrill me, so it was sold. This lens is extremely well built, and it is small but dense.

Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 SC - I'm trying again with a "Japan" version in chrome with a black aperture scale. This is a later version of the lens. My lens is incredibly clean for a 60 year old lens. I've shot film with it, but the film has yet to be developed. Anyway, I've already sent it to DAG to get it relubed (it's a bit stiff), and to have the mount milled. Built equally well as the f/2 version.


Canon 50mm 1.4 LTM. A lot of people love this lens. I'm rather neutral about it. The lens is good, but unexciting. It has no real flaws besides being bulky and heavy. The original Canon rear caps are a hazard. They are too shallow. If you turn the focus ring away from infinity with the cap mounted you WILL ruin the RF cam's accuracy. I had mine overhauled by Clarence Gass, and now it is spot on wide open at 1m. This lens reminds me of the Nikkor 50mm 1.8 AIS on my Nikon SLRs. A very good lens, but somehow unexciting.


Leica Summicron collapsible. You've read that the front element is as soft as chalk and easily scratched. It took me a long time, but I finally found one with perfect glass. It did have haze, so I sent it to DAG for his magic. This is a great, and I do mean great pictorial lens. People claim that it is low in contrast. I disagree. It has as much contrast at f/2 as my Canon 1.4 has at f/2. You do need a lens hood to prevent flare, and a good UV filter to protect that super soft front element. Wide open I find moderate contrast, some vignetting, and very good sharpness. It has just the right balance for flattering portraits. Stopped down, it is very sharp. No distortion.

I use the ADVOO close up system on my IIIG with this Summicron, and it is a very decent close up lens too. For the IIIF and earlier, use the SOOKY. For M cameras, use the SOOKY-M to use this lens for closeups.


Summicron 50 f/2 last pre-ASPH version - with pull out hood. This thing is a laser from wide open. Super sharp. Just adjust the aperture to get the depth of field that you want. Leica made a few in LTM in 1999 for the Japanese market. There is one in the RFF ads now for only $1600. No distortion. Unfortunately, Leica gave this a limit of 1m for close focusing. I'm sure that you could have the mount milled, but I sold it and now I just use a regular Summicron M (same version) on my M7. This is a much less expensive solution!


Cosina Voigtlander Heliar 50mm f/2 - similar in rendition to the Summicron collapsible with greater contrast. Nice compact lens. Unfortunately, the front of the lens rotates as you focus. Voigtlander did not repeat the aperture scale on the bottom , so it can be annoying if you want to change the aperture at certain focus distances, when the aperture scale is on the bottom.

Cosina Voigtlander Heliar 50mm f/3.5 - small, skinny lens. It always felt a bit wobbly to me. The aperture ring is way at the front, and it is more easily turned by just turning the lens hood. I know it was reviewed by one of the photo magazines as one of the sharpest 50mm lenses ever. However, with a minimum aperture of f/3.5 there isn't much for a bokeh lover to look at. I sold this one in favor of the non-collapsing f/2 version, mentioned above.


Zeiss C-Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 M - I love this lens! When I sold almost the entirety of my rangefinder system, this was the lens that I kept. I even sold off my Summicron M (I did keep that perfect collapsible Summicron too). OK, there is some focus shift, but you learn to adjust by leaning in and out by 1-2 cm. Mine is optimized for f/2. Good contrast wide open, very high contrast stopped down. I can't see any distortion. The rendition is beautiful with this lens.


Lomography Zenit Jupiter 3+. I just got this, so no developed film yet. As small (maybe even smaller) than the Nikkor 50mm f/2. Amazing that you can get an f/1.5 lens so tiny. I expect some funky bokeh out of this, based on the pictures that Lomography has on their site.


I'm sorry that I can't pick the "best" one for you. I can't even pick the best one for me! Some of these still need to have their film developed before I can judge.

 

[Dwig]

...
Also, I am aware theres a collapsible 50mm f2 leica lens, but from what i've read, it has literally 0 contrast. ...

Not quite accurate as there were 3 different 50mm f/2 Leitz lenses and their performance varies substantially. You can't apply one overall judgement.

The first was the Summar, introduced in the early '30s. Since these are generally uncoated they will have lower contrast than modern lenses.

The second was the Summitar, which was rather good, if clean and its soft coating haven't been scrubbed off.

The 3rd was the Summicron. The collapsible LTM version is a slightly different design than the rigid M mount that followed, but the differences are small. In good condition and clean it is a great performer.

 

[mikyor1]

Over the course of time, I've spent a lot of money and time on different 50mm lenses. So, here's the distilled essence of what I've learned.

First: Condition is key. You need to find as clean a lens as you can, especially for some of these, like the Leica Summicron collapsible.


Second: Some lenses are capable of focusing very closely (Nikkors), but lose rangefinder coupling after 1m. You can crudely file the mount, but a more elegant solution is to send it to someone like Don Goldberg (DAG) who will mill the mount to allow RF coupling to 0.7m (sometimes the RF cam will go all the way down to 0.6m).

Nikkor 50mm f/2 HC - I had a very early Tokyo version. Sent it to DAG who overhauled it and milled the mount to 0.7m. Wide open, it was very soft with very low contrast and a lot of vignetting. Stopped down, it sharpens up fine, but this wide open performance did not thrill me, so it was sold. This lens is extremely well built, and it is small but dense.

Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 SC - I'm trying again with a "Japan" version in chrome with a black aperture scale. This is a later version of the lens. My lens is incredibly clean for a 60 year old lens. I've shot film with it, but the film has yet to be developed. Anyway, I've already sent it to DAG to get it relubed (it's a bit stiff), and to have the mount milled. Built equally well as the f/2 version.


Canon 50mm 1.4 LTM. A lot of people love this lens. I'm rather neutral about it. The lens is good, but unexciting. It has no real flaws besides being bulky and heavy. The original Canon rear caps are a hazard. They are too shallow. If you turn the focus ring away from infinity with the cap mounted you WILL ruin the RF cam's accuracy. I had mine overhauled by Clarence Gass, and now it is spot on wide open at 1m. This lens reminds me of the Nikkor 50mm 1.8 AIS on my Nikon SLRs. A very good lens, but somehow unexciting.


Leica Summicron collapsible. You've read that the front element is as soft as chalk and easily scratched. It took me a long time, but I finally found one with perfect glass. It did have haze, so I sent it to DAG for his magic. This is a great, and I do mean great pictorial lens. People claim that it is low in contrast. I disagree. It has as much contrast at f/2 as my Canon 1.4 has at f/2. You do need a lens hood to prevent flare, and a good UV filter to protect that super soft front element. Wide open I find moderate contrast, some vignetting, and very good sharpness. It has just the right balance for flattering portraits. Stopped down, it is very sharp. No distortion.

I use the ADVOO close up system on my IIIG with this Summicron, and it is a very decent close up lens too. For the IIIF and earlier, use the SOOKY. For M cameras, use the SOOKY-M to use this lens for closeups.


Summicron 50 f/2 last pre-ASPH version - with pull out hood. This thing is a laser from wide open. Super sharp. Just adjust the aperture to get the depth of field that you want. Leica made a few in LTM in 1999 for the Japanese market. There is one in the RFF ads now for only $1600. No distortion. Unfortunately, Leica gave this a limit of 1m for close focusing. I'm sure that you could have the mount milled, but I sold it and now I just use a regular Summicron M (same version) on my M7. This is a much less expensive solution!


Cosina Voigtlander Heliar 50mm f/2 - similar in rendition to the Summicron collapsible with greater contrast. Nice compact lens. Unfortunately, the front of the lens rotates as you focus. Voigtlander did not repeat the aperture scale on the bottom , so it can be annoying if you want to change the aperture at certain focus distances, when the aperture scale is on the bottom.

Cosina Voigtlander Heliar 50mm f/3.5 - small, skinny lens. It always felt a bit wobbly to me. The aperture ring is way at the front, and it is more easily turned by just turning the lens hood. I know it was reviewed by one of the photo magazines as one of the sharpest 50mm lenses ever. However, with a minimum aperture of f/3.5 there isn't much for a bokeh lover to look at. I sold this one in favor of the non-collapsing f/2 version, mentioned above.


Zeiss C-Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 M - I love this lens! When I sold almost the entirety of my rangefinder system, this was the lens that I kept. I even sold off my Summicron M (I did keep that perfect collapsible Summicron too). OK, there is some focus shift, but you learn to adjust by leaning in and out by 1-2 cm. Mine is optimized for f/2. Good contrast wide open, very high contrast stopped down. I can't see any distortion. The rendition is beautiful with this lens.


Lomography Zenit Jupiter 3+. I just got this, so no developed film yet. As small (maybe even smaller) than the Nikkor 50mm f/2. Amazing that you can get an f/1.5 lens so tiny. I expect some funky bokeh out of this, based on the pictures that Lomography has on their site.


I'm sorry that I can't pick the "best" one for you. I can't even pick the best one for me! Some of these still need to have their film developed before I can judge.

excellent information, thank you very much for this post.

Im going to do some more research, maybe even buy 2-3 50mm's and test em myself.

Strange that you say the nikkor was soft wide open, the general information i obtained from the search function is that it was a good performer wide open.. but i supposed for all old glass, cant get wide open sharp like modern glass.

Again thanks a ton.

 

[Mackinaw]

......Nikkor 50mm f/2 HC - I had a very early Tokyo version. Sent it to DAG who overhauled it and milled the mount to 0.7m. Wide open, it was very soft with very low contrast and a lot of vignetting. Stopped down, it sharpens up fine, but this wide open performance did not thrill me, so it was sold. This lens is extremely well built, and it is small but dense.

Your observations mirror mine. I'll probably put my Nikkor 50/2.0 up for sale soon.

Jim B.

 

[lynnb]

I can't comment on the Canons or Nikkor, but I can show some samples taken with the Summicron 5cm f2 LTM collapsible and Summar. (BW400CN, IIIc). I hope these give an indication of how these lenses look.

First the Summicron LTM:

Here's the Summar 5cm f2, but I consider it a specialty lens for dreamy effects:

 

[SamShio]

I really enjoy my Canon 50mm 1.4, but it is the only 50mm for my rangefinders that I have ever had since I started down the rangefinder road in my hobby.