An informal test: J3 and Canon 50/1.8

[ZorkiKat]

Just some thoughts of mine.

. The J3 produces a tiny bit softer image then the J3 and a warmer image. Anyone else feels the same?

I'm thinking of getting a J3 soon, so I'm eagerly gathering any information about it now. 🙂

Regards,
Samuel

Samuel,

J3 from the 1950s-early 1960s, typically white-barrelled and with blue-tinged glass will tend to make warmer images than J3 produced at later times. It is perhaps due to the coating. Blue-tinged lenses of that era consistently do this, particularly the J-12 and J-9. The slight bias can be cancelled out in printing or scanning when colour negative film is used. When used on digital, the colour rendering can actually go greenish-yellow.

Jay

 

[raid]

Jay,
This is useful information on the J-3. Thanks. I have a white barrelled J-3 that displays warmer colors in its images. It is actually nice for portraits [on negatives].

Raid

 

[mjflory]

Samuel, I had the same impression on both counts. I was a little surprised by the strength of the color difference, in fact. I don't think it's just changing light conditions. The scans of the flashlight-test shots were done with slightly different white-balance settings, by the way. I wasn't looking to compare colors there so I just readjusted to compensate for the indoor light.

Just some thoughts of mine.

Comparing both the detailed shots of the J3 and the Canon 50/1.8, I would say that the Canon is a tiny bit sharper then the J3 and produces a cooler image. The J3 produces a tiny bit softer image then the J3 and a warmer image. Anyone else feels the same?

I'm thinking of getting a J3 soon, so I'm eagerly gathering any information about it now. 🙂

Regards,
Samuel

 

[mjflory]

I don't agree with the statement that you have to get something numerical before you can compare it. I am a Statistics Professor, so I work each day with numbers, but there are cases where you need more than numbers to see "the big picture", as they say [whoever "they" are!].

Yes, the eternal "forest and trees" dilemma...

Raid, are we the only two statisticians on RFF? (Perhaps I should say the only two RFF'ers working as statisticians, as I was trained in epidemiology, not statistics, and often wish I had more rigorous statistical training).