An Alternative to the Canon 50mm f/0.95

[Hacker]

With prices of the Canon dream lens 50mm f/0.95 on the rise, I started looking for alternatives. The lenses I wanted to experiment with included lenses with apertures ranging from f/0.75 to f/1. Most lenses were fixed focal length and with no iris. I found, however, a modern lens (good coating and no worries about scratch marks, etc) with an aperture of f/0.95, could focus to infinity and stopped down to f/16. What was more, the price was 1/3 of the Canon, and 1/10 of the Noct.

My initial shots showed that the lens exhibited front focus and I will need to send it to DAG to fix it. The shots reminded me very much of the Canon dream lens when it had the same front focus issues but performed flawlessly when corrected.

Some samples:

 

[ChrisN]

Russian? We need a hint. 🙂

 

[Al Kaplan]

SO TELL US! What is it? Who makes it?

 

[Hacker]

Russian? We need a hint. 🙂

SO TELL US! What is it? Who makes it?

It's Tarcus, Japanese made. Actually, the finish is very much like the Hexanon 50mm f/1.2, just a tad lower. And the lens is so much lighter.

 

[Hacker]

There is a reference here to this lens where it will *ONLY* focus to infinity and costs $2500, but my copy focuses from 1m to infinity and it therefore means that it can be modified to be a fully working lens.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Is this a 35mm movie camera lens? There are quite a few super-speed lenses for 35mm movie and C-Mount out there.

How high has the Canon lens hit? I guess it's $200 days are gone.

 

[Mackinaw]

How high has the Canon lens hit? I guess it's $200 days are gone.

I picked up a TV version for $60.00 back in the mid-1990's.

Jim B.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I remember those days. I picked up mine in 2004 or so. It was not the TV version. Popped it on my existing Canon 7, focus was spot-on with no adjustment necessary.

 

[micromontenegro]

Is this a 35mm movie camera lens? There are quite a few super-speed lenses for 35mm movie and C-Mount out there.

I think it is a 16mm cine lens

 

[Sonnar Brian]

The image circle from a lens for a 16mm movie camera is too small for 35mm film cameras. Lenses for 35mm movie cameras will not cover a full-frame 35mm, at least the ones that I tried. BUT: lenses for 35mm movie cameras and half-frame 35mm cameras will probably work on an RD-1 and M8 mecause of the crop factor.

 

[Hacker]

I think it is a 16mm cine lens

It says I.T.V.

 

[rxmd]

My initial shots showed that the lens exhibited front focus and I will need to send it to DAG to fix it.

Heavy edge light falloff on those shots. Image circle-wise it looks like a movie lens; there are a number of fast movie lenses around.

The interesting question is who put yours in the mount it's in.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

If you could, please post some pictures of the lens, especially the rear element.

I bought an Arriflex Mount CZJ 5cm F1.5 "T". The sections in front of the aperture were identical to the full-frame 35mm version. The rear module was "truncated" and filled about a 24mm image circle. I used the front sections in a J-3 mount with a Russian rear and put it in an LTM mount. It worked.

 

[bennyng]

A quick search from evil bay on recently ended auctions....

http://cgi.ebay.com/50mm-f-0-95-len...oryZ3323QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Cheers,

 

[Hacker]

If you could, please post some pictures of the lens, especially the rear element.

 

[Erik L]

im amazed at the possibility that a native TV lens has a correct flange distance.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Looks like a good conversion job, with a nice RF cam around the rear element. A lot of 50mm lenses have enough clearance for the m-Mount, just have to mated with a mount, shimmed, and cammed.

 

[johannielscom]

...The interesting question is who put yours in the mount it's in...

Is this it, Hacker?

This particular lens was mentioned in another thread here somewhere last week. This one is made by a Californian craftsman, who also constructed a Wollensak Raptar RF-coupled lens for a fellow RFF-member.

Happy to read it offers focusing and aperture, there are shots with the lens on Flickr but I could net tell there whether it had focusing and aperture.


Quite nice to shoot, I guess.

BTW, the seller has a canon 0.95 converted for Leica on sale at the moment, it's somewhere close under EUR 1000.00 at the moment with 22 bids. 😱 Forget about the Canon, get the Tarcus I'd say...

 

[Hacker]

Looks like a good conversion job, with a nice RF cam around the rear element. A lot of 50mm lenses have enough clearance for the m-Mount, just have to mated with a mount, shimmed, and cammed.

Brian, can I count on you to help me shim it? 😀😀🙄

 

[Hacker]

Is this it, Hacker?

This particular lens was mentioned in another thread here somewhere last week. This one is made by a Californian craftsman, who also constructed a Wollensak Raptar RF-coupled lens for a fellow RFF-member.

Happy to read it offers focusing and aperture, there are shots with the lens on Flickr but I could net tell there whether it had focusing and aperture.


Quite nice to shoot, I guess.

BTW, the seller has a canon 0.95 converted for Leica on sale at the moment, it's somewhere close under EUR 1000.00 at the moment with 22 bids. 😱 Forget about the Canon, get the Tarcus I'd say...

Yes it is, and I bidded on it to check out the quality. It works, but I think I will go for something faster, so will sell it soon. 😉