canon 35mm f1.5 vs nokton mc 35mm f1.4??

[pb908]

anyone have both and can compare the difference?
i get a chance to buy the Canon at the price of nokton but i already. have nokton. what will i miss if i let this chance go?
how is performance wide open and build quality? will Canon have swirly bokeh?

Canon,ltm, min focus 1m. what else?

 

[ferider]

The Nokton is technically better in every way, min. focus, faster, no special filters required, much less prone to flare, etc. If technical performance is what you are asking for. Then again, at that price you can try the Canon and resell it at a profit.

 

[dexdog]

how is performance wide open and build quality? will Canon have swirly bokeh?

I have both lenses, and agree with Roland's assessment. Build quality on the Canon is very good, very solid. Yes, the lens will exhibit odd, swirly OOF wide open, disappears after stopping down.

 

[pb908]

thanks dexdog & ferider.

do you have any example you can share, I really want to see the swirly bokeh example, and how much you should stop down untill it gone. thanks in advance!
I have been searching flickr, etc, and found almost nothing (it's hard to get the one wide open as well having swirly background.

my next question is, what is the strong point/value/character of 35mm f1.5 other than rarity, or the "fastest" 35mm ltm?
assume if the lens is available at every camera shop with the same price as nokton, what will make you choose this one instead of nokton?

I really attracted to have the lens, I just need a good reason to justify the expense I'll make.

 

[uhoh7]

You must buy.

Or give us the details....🙂

If it's affordable I would not hesitate. I think that one is another Hiroshi Ito design.

Swirly bokeh? Oh yes, yes 🙂

The nokton bokeh is not always fantastic anyway.

Both will be very easy to sell if need be.

 

[dexdog]

I have been searching flickr, etc, and found almost nothing (it's hard to get the one wide open as well having swirly background.

Here is a link to Roland's smugmug posting of Raid Amin's test with the Canon 35/1.5. Should give you a good idea of wide open performance. In my experience,the swirlies are dimished at f2, and pretty much gone by f2.8.

http://ferider.smugmug.com/Technica...anon-35mm15-RAW/2890163_TsBAY#155365997_NZCgm

 

[uhoh7]

Here is a link to Roland's smugmug posting of Raid Amin's test with the Canon 35/1.5. Should give you a good idea of wide open performance. In my experience,the swirlies are dimished at f2, and pretty much gone by f2.8.

http://ferider.smugmug.com/Technica...anon-35mm15-RAW/2890163_TsBAY#155365997_NZCgm

Beautiful shots raid--I would trade my CV35/1.4MC for that lens any day--seriously.

Another case of an early canon beauty eclipsed by Jiro Mukai late sharpies--the 35/2. Well, not THAT early, august 1958 vs april 1962

TY for link dexdog.

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

I would certainly go for the vintage Canon, the shots of Raid would have convinced me

 

[pb908]

thanks dexdog for the link
after seeing my self, I think the swirl is not as bad as nokton (which you can easy see it), but the canon swirl is a little weird i think, not a strong circular swirl like what most leica do. hmmm.. time to think hard to get it or not.

I wonder if this lens can be use with IIIC, I see some comment telling it block the RF window, does it ?

 

[raid]

Beautiful shots raid--I would trade my CV35/1.4MC for that lens any day--seriously.

Another case of an early canon beauty eclipsed by Jiro Mukai late sharpies--the 35/2. Well, not THAT early, august 1958 vs april 1962

TY for link dexdog.

Thanks.I have kept my Canon 35/1.5 for special cases when I want such a look. A New Orleans visit would tempt me to use this lens in the French Quarter. Only night shots with lights causing flare will give unconventional results.

 

[Nokton48]

I use mine quite a lot. I love the unusual artifacts I get with point-source lights.

Mukai Jirou was the designer according to Peter's lovely Canon RF lenses book.

It is a favorite of mine. If I could only have one lens, this would be it.

 

[ferider]

thanks dexdog for the link
after seeing my self, I think the swirl is not as bad as nokton (which you can easy see it), but the canon swirl is a little weird i think, not a strong circular swirl like what most leica do. hmmm.. time to think hard to get it or not.

I wonder if this lens can be use with IIIC, I see some comment telling it block the RF window, does it ?

I had the Canon, and it did swirl, much heavier than Raid's test shots show. There either is strong sample variation, or Raid mistook a Nokton 35/1.2 shot for a Canon 35/1.5 one 🙂 Everything is possible.

--------------------------------------

Here is the Canon 35/1.5 in action, the copy I had:

Center crop of the above:

Shift (it shifts much worse than the Nokton):

Flare and vignetting (due to normal filter - you need special thin 48mm filters for the Canon !):

Bokeh on a Halloween night:

A normal day-light situation at f5.6 or so (very sharp):

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The Nokton is a much more modern lens, with calm bokeh even in the most difficult situations, to my eyes:

--------------------------------------

Judge for yourself.

Again, for the price you mention, you can safely try the Canon, and re-sell, if you don't like the sample that you get. It's not for everybody for sure.

Roland.

 

[raid]

I am sure that those images were taken with the Canon 35/1.5.

 

[LeicaTom]

I LOVE using this Canon lens, it has so much vintage character 🙂

There's more great samples to see from everyone who's shooting with this lens back here in this thread:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36593&page=8

Tom

 

[Sonnar2]

Canon Rangefinder Lens 35mm 1:1.5 Leica Screw Mount LTM

Canon Rangefinder Lens 35mm 1:1.5 Leica Screw Mount LTM

It's very nice on a Sony NEX, no chromatic aberrations. The color rendition is excellent.
Resolution isn't everything you want on a lens. It's very soft at f/1.5 except the very center, very special character, but gets reasonable contrasty at f/2-2.8. At f/2.8 it's BETTER than any Canon 35mm.
With a RF camera you often get ugy ghostings in backlite situations but this is good to control with the NEX.

 

[Platon]

Not bad for a fiftythree year old lens.

 

[sanmich]

It's really personal I think.
If you like character lenses, go for the Canon.
Want a plain good lens, the Nokton.
I had the Canon and sold it after I decided it had too many quirks for my taste, and I was not interested in character of a lens (apart maybe of the bokeh, and then again, I want it smooth and not swirly)
My experience of the Canon: it's very well built, impressively sharp (sharper than my sample of the Canon 1.8, close to my Summicron). It has a long throw, a minimum focus at 1m and flares like mad in certain occasions. If you add a hood on a barnack, you loose the RF, and if you use the Hood clamped on a filter, it starts to vignette.
I sold it and never looked back.
I would have bought a Nokton if it didn't have that small distortion issue that annoys me on some of the pictures I see of it, and if I could easily try a new one and send it back if it wasn't good (have been burnt several time on VC lenses...)

 

[uhoh7]

Frankly the CV 35/1.4 is pretty controverisal itself. I catch hell every time I've recommended it and have seen a number of threads where people can't get to work, or it's making crazy bokeh.

Mine is MC, and seems pretty good-- but when you look close the edges often don't focus with the center, or maybe they are soft, e.g.

The 35/2.5 is sharper by a fair bit, I've read, esp from f/5.6 down.
but it makes great dog shots:

bokeh OK on my copy. 😉

 

[Nokton48]

if you use the Hood clamped on a filter, it starts to vignette.

You have to use the right kind of filter with these old Canon wideangle lenses, or you will definately get vignetting. Ugly and not good.

Canon made a special, (flat on one side, no front threads) filter to use with this series of lens specifically. Then you need a use their Canon clamp-on sunshade, not the screw-in type. If you do that, all will be well, with zero problems. I know about this from direct experience with this lens, but also, the same thing applies to the 35mm F2 Canon. I guess they designed these special filters -for a reason-. But of course, if you are using a cropped sensor digital camera, you won't get any vignetting. Only if you are shooting full-frame 35mm RF.

They are called "Slimline" Canon filters. I have some of each in 34mm, 40mm, 48mm, 55mm, and 58mm. They were available in UV and all the standard B&W colored varieties.

They aren't easy to find, but they are around if you are not in a hurry.

 

[Mackinaw]

I think it was common in the 1950's for a lot of manufacturers to make filter "holders" instead of screw-in filters. I have a small collection of Canon "Series" holders which (strangely enough) screwed onto the lens. As Nokton points out, you then dropped your non-threaded filter into the "Series" holder. Another ring then screwed into the top of the "Series holder" which secured the drop-in filter.

I have a Series VI and Series VII holders (note the Roman numbers), I'm sure Canon made more.

I never understood why they made a Series-type holder. Seems unnecessarily complex. They do work though, and do eliminate vignetting.

You can mix-and-match too. Right now, I have a B+W 55mm 87C infrared filter (shooting a roll of Kodak HIE) screwed onto a Series VII holder which is attached to my Canon 25/3.5 mounted on a Canon 7.

I wonder if anybody out there can comment more on the Series-type filters. The Canon museum offers no information on these accessories and I can find nothing in print either.

Jim B.