Best LTM 50mm?

[matu]

It's very hard to compare lenses, I'm shure everyone has his favorite, but it would be very interesting to know why.
Some may claim fastness, other contrastnes, clearness...
Price is an issue too.
My experience is very limited so I would enjoy very much hearing your histories.

Pablo

 

[FrankS]

So far my favourite 50's are: Canon f1.8 for its modern sharpness, Jupiter 8 for its softer vintage rendition, and the collapsible Summicron, because I paid the most for it. Actually I'm still just getting to know it. I also have a FED lens (I-22) that is super compact like a lens cap like the Leitz Elmar 50/3.5. I'm still getting to know it, too.

 

[Solinar]

The 50mm L-mount that I use the most, is a collapsible Industar 50. It looks like an Industar 22. I als have an older chorme Jupiter 8 that is sharper, but it's a bit jiggly. On the learning curve is a collapsible Summicron that I bought for a Bessa R that arrived, (Both of which are new to me, so ask me in about a year).

 

[kai]

My favourite is the I-22 as well. This is partly based on its compactness, but also because it genuinely gives me good results. I automatically vibrate towards anything that achieves great things in a tiny form factor (which makes me a real sucker for good-quality gadgets in general). I wonder if the Elmar is even better?

I'd really like to try a Jupiter-8 some time, having been really impressed with some of the results I've seen from other people with it.

Attached is a picture shot with I-22 mounted on FED-2, Fuji Superia 100 (from memory), wide open, from a scanned print (ie, bad scanning)

 

[John Robertson]

My Favourite is probably unknown to most of you!!!
Taylor Hobson 2inch f2.0 Anastigmat. Mine was bought new in the late 70's complete with test negatives form the factory. Its a collapsible lens made in small numbers for the Reid camera. Chrome finished solid brass and phosphor - bronze, its very heavy, but beautifully finished. with adaptor it works a treat on the Bessa R2 and even collapses properly. Very sharp and flare free. (PS. its NOT for sale!! )

 

[peter_n]

I think mine is the Jupiter-8. I'm very impressed with my sample - a teeny bit soft wide-open but go to f4 or f5.6 and its unbelievable. Not the best construction but the glass is awesome and the price is very right!! 🙂

 

[gelmir]

Anyone tried the Jupiter-3 ? I've just bought one, waiting for it to be delivered.

 

[Roman]

John,
I remember the great landscape pics from your Taylor Hobson.
My favorite 50 LTM used to be the Jupiter-8, and I've got a Canon 50/1.8 II now, but it is to early yet to draw comparisons (only got the Canon because the J-8 does not focus correctly close-up and wide open on the Bessa R).

Roman

 

[sockeyed]

That's interesting about the J-8, Roman. Was the picture sharp behind where you thought you focused? Using my J-8 on a Bessa R, I just took a picture at close range of my friend looking into a Rolleiflex. Although I focused on the camera, I noticed that things closer to his chest were in focus in the print.

 

[StuartR]

If we are talking about the best overall 50mm lenses for LTM, it would probably have to be either the Nokton or one of the screwmount summicrons. I think the modern 50/2 LTM summicron (a special edition) would have to be regarded as the best lens. These other lenses mentioned may be great in their own way, but they probably cannot compete with the modern lenses in terms of sharpness, flare control, contrast, MTF, hardness of coatings and so forth. My personal favorite lens that is available in LTM is the collapsible summicron. I think it is a great balance of high resolution and beautiful aberrations.

 

[jdos2]

Rats! Stuart Answered before I could.

Modern Summicron in LTM is purty durned good.

("You's all so ol!")


Newer doesn't mean "worse" in my book, automatically, anyway.

😛

(I'm just TEASING, folks!)

 

[Scarpia]

I have a Taylor, Taylor and Hobson Cooke Amotal 50mm f2 as well as a Jupiter 8 and a Nokton 50 mm f 1.5. I love all of them but the Jupiter, somehow has a special charm- very sharp stopped down and dreamy wide open. I also have an Industar 50 which in my opinion yields lower contrast which comes in handy and an Industar 61/LD which is perfectly O.K. but, somehow, lacks "character" which I admit is purely subjective. For the money you can't beat the FSU's though. I paid $41.00 and $40.00 for them respectively with a Fed 5 and a Zorki 4 postage included. They work as well on my Voigtlanders as well as they do on their FSU's.
Kurt M.

 

[furcafe]

My favorite LTM lens is the Carl Zeiss Jena 50/1.5 Sonnar. Then again, the 50/1.5 Sonnar is my favorite lens period (followed by the original Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton). I like the 50/1.4 Nikkor-S & 50/2 Nikkor-H of Nikon RF/LTM fame, too, but they fall under the same category since they're Sonnar clones. If you're talking about "purely" LTM 50s, it's hard to choose as there are so many nice ones like the Canon 50/1.4 & 50/1.8 Lenses, Yashica 50/1.8 Yashinon, Minolta 50/2.8 Super Rokkor, the Cosina Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton & 50/3.5 Heliar, etc. Oh, & I'm sure some of that Leitz/Leica glass is OK, too! 😉

BTW, I also have a couple TTH 2"/2 Cooke Amotal Anastigmats (so we have @ least 3 TTH owners on the list!) in LTM, only I have the version that was converted from Foton mount @ the behest of Peerless Camera around 1950 (I have a regular 1 for my Foton as well).

 

[wlewisiii]

My favorite LTM lens is the Carl Zeiss Jena 50/1.5 Sonnar. Then again, the 50/1.5 Sonnar is my favorite lens period

I had considered mentioning this lens, but being one of the local contax/kiev nuts I thought it might be taken wrong. It's russian little brother is just as nice if you can find a good one.

OTOH, the Sonnar 50/2.0 (or Jupiter-8) is a really fine lens as well. My pre-war collapsable (in Contax rather than L mount) is, easily, the best 50 I've ever used.

William

 

[furcafe]

Hey, if the Sonnar was good enough for Cartier-Bresson, it should be good enough for us mere mortals! 😛 I also agree that the 50/2 Sonnars & Jupiter 8 are great, too.

I had considered mentioning this lens, but being one of the local contax/kiev nuts I thought it might be taken wrong. It's russian little brother is just as nice if you can find a good one.

OTOH, the Sonnar 50/2.0 (or Jupiter-8) is a really fine lens as well. My pre-war collapsable (in Contax rather than L mount) is, easily, the best 50 I've ever used.

William

 

[RML]

My favourite, as many will probably know, is my silver J-8.
I love it for it's smooth bokeh, the softish image and wonderful rendering of the colours. The price was also pretty darn good.

Other favourites of mine are my CV 25/4 and my J-9.
The 25mm is, together with the J-8, my most used lens. I take it everywhere. At f4 it's not really fast but the wide angle gives me lots of latitude; I can safely use 1/8 sec, even 1/4 sec. I use it for street photography (from the hip) and for indoors shots, especially in confined places like Mongolian nomads' tents (I'm gonna use the word ger from now on, which is the proper Mongolian word for them and much easier for me to use in postings 😛 )
The J-9 is similar to the J-8, except that it is an 85mm lens. It also has smooth bokeh, a slightly softish image and renders the colours very nicely. I don't use it as often as I should but it's hard using an 85mm when out in the streets.

I should shoot more with my J-12 on my M2 to get a good feel for it. I know it's very sharp but my experience is otherwise rather limited. I need to see more results to be able to make a founded opinion.

I got a J-3 and a J-11 recently but I haven't developed or scanned any neg of them yet, so I can't say much about the results.

All of these lenses are cheap or, at least, not expensive. That is a major advantage of them and let's me use them in a happy-go-careless fashion. My cameras and lenses get "thrown" into a courier bag or backpack, and have to suffer abusive climate quite often. They've all seen extreme cold, extreme humidity and high temperatures (from the wintery cold of Mongolia to the jungle-type climate inside the gers to the parching heat and dryness of Mongolian summer to the rain and sleet storms in Holland). None of this weather gave me reason to keep a lens inside the house, figuring that if it breaks down it can be replaced cheaply. 🙂

 

[bruenhilde]

Leitz Summar 5cm f2 (uncoated from 1934). My best lens for portraits of kids.

 

[Roman]

That's interesting about the J-8, Roman. Was the picture sharp behind where you thought you focused? Using my J-8 on a Bessa R, I just took a picture at close range of my friend looking into a Rolleiflex. Although I focused on the camera, I noticed that things closer to his chest were in focus in the print.

Yep, that's it exactly - you focus on the eyes, and it is the ears that are sharp; and it's not the rangefinder, nor the focussing, nor the lens that is the problem - I tested that, with the Bessa on a tripod and all my Russian LTM lenses, and the error was consistent (whereas they focus correctly on my Russian LTM bodies). The RUssian LTM lenses are buitl to a different standard focla length (reason: they are based on UNCHANGED Zeiss designs for the Contax). Dante Stella has more on that on his page.


Roman

 

[Graybeard]

I think that my sharpest LTM lens is the Nikkor 50mm/f2, a small lens and well-suited for available light shooting.

I also have found the black Jupiter 8 to be apparently as sharp as the Leitz lenses of the Barnack camera era. I haven't noticed the softness at f2 that some folks have mentioned.

 

[chug]

What do people think of the CV 50mm f2.5 Color Skopar lense? I am considering on buying this for my Bessa R.