Canon 50 f/1.5 LTM

here it is, the M2 and the 50 f/1.5 LTM. 🙂

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Ah....i just realise what i have is such a gem. I bought it recently coz i realise i needed a 50 and a Canon 1.5 LTM came up in Japan on ebay so i took a punt. I had no idea how good/bad it was to be and definately didn't realise it's a sonnar (not did i know what plannars were).

Anyways, i was well chuffed by the first photos....here's a sample.

M8 + Canon 50/1.5 LTM



For comparison...M8 + Leica 50 1.4 ASPH

 
boy lah -- Those are shots are splendid, especially the second one! Beautiful portrait, and a good example of the sonnar-like quality of this lens.

Errr....thanks but too bad, the second one is actually the Leica 50/1.4 ASPH. I included for comparison. Edge sharp, nice but different to the Canon. Though i think the second shot was a better shot regardless of lens. 🙂
 
Ah....i just realise what i have is such a gem. I bought it recently coz i realise i needed a 50 and a Canon 1.5 LTM came up in Japan on ebay so i took a punt. I had no idea how good/bad it was to be and definately didn't realise it's a sonnar (not did i know what plannars were).

Anyways, i was well chuffed by the first photos....here's a sample.

M8 + Canon 50/1.5 LTM



For comparison...M8 + Leica 50 1.4 ASPH


Really amazing the first time I`ve seen these two lenses compared side by side, I see a touch of "focus shift" in the Canon shot, that`s like what my first lens did (so yours might need a slight adjustment)
But that Lux pic is beautiful 🙂

WOW! Now I guess I can really appreciate my perfect specimen of the Canon lens - thanks for the comparison.

Tom

PS: There`s a Lux in my future, but only after my M6 get`s her facelift and becomes a M3/6 - maybe a *Series two* Non Asph I think?
 
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Errr....thanks but too bad, the second one is actually the Leica 50/1.4 ASPH. I included for comparison. Edge sharp, nice but different to the Canon. Though i think the second shot was a better shot regardless of lens. 🙂


Yes, I did not see the caption above the second photo before commenting. My bad. But... still a beautiful photograph, even if it is shot w/ a mere Leica... 🙄😀
 
Really amazing the first time I`ve seen these two lenses compared side by side, I see a touch of "focus shift" in the Canon shot, that`s like what my first lens did (so yours might need a slight adjustment)
But that Lux pic is beautiful 🙂

WOW! Now I guess I can really appreciate my perfect specimen of the Canon lens - thanks for the comparison.

Tom

PS: There`s a Lux in my future, but only after my M6 get`s her facelift and becomes a M3/6 - maybe a *Series two* Non Asph I think?

Hi Tom,

Not a fair comparison but the ASPH was what my friend had with the m8 so....

I bought my canon for about $250 from Japan (ebay - used canon seller) and ad was as below:

I've just cleaned inside the lenses and checked by collimeter machine focus was very good. There are very fine 1-2 cleaning marks at middle element only. Has some dust and air bubbles inside, but no dirts, no separations, no cloudyness. You will take good pictures with this surely.

I suspect the photo's apparent 'focus shift' is probably my skills and fast moving baby ; )
Another batch of pix showed no issues although i think i was shooting at f2.8 rather than 1.5.

L1030796.jpg


Other than family snaps, I've not manage to do any other shooting so far but will do so and re-post.
In the meantime, i assume my copy is NOT a dud?

Also, my copy is an early model i suspect - only has 1 distance scale. Are there different versions of this lens and any one better/different? I note Naruto mentioned his is 'type 4'?

Finally, is $250 good/bad/going rate for this type of lens?
 
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Also, my copy is an early model i suspect - only has 1 distance scale. Are there different versions of this lens and any one better/different? I note Naruto mentioned his is 'type 4'?

Finally, is $250 good/bad/going rate for this type of lens?

I refer to Peter's site to find the type of lens. If I had some extra cash, I would buy his book. 🙂 http://www.canonrangefinder.servehttp.com/

Also, the Canon Camera Museum has lens diagrams of their various RF lenses.

The 50/1.4 is a different lens formula compared to the 1.5 AFAIK. I am starting to like the look of Canon RF lenses. The 35/1.5 might be next on the list. Raid has some nice pics in his flickr photostream with that lens.
 
Hi Tom,

Not a fair comparison but the ASPH was what my friend had with the m8 so....

I bought my canon for about $250 from Japan (ebay - used canon seller) and ad was as below:

I've just cleaned inside the lenses and checked by collimeter machine focus was very good. There are very fine 1-2 cleaning marks at middle element only. Has some dust and air bubbles inside, but no dirts, no separations, no cloudyness. You will take good pictures with this surely.

I suspect the photo's apparent 'focus shift' is probably my skills and fast moving baby ; )
Another batch of pix showed no issues although i think i was shooting at f2.8 rather than 1.5.

L1030796.jpg


Other than family snaps, I've not manage to do any other shooting so far but will do so and re-post.
In the meantime, i assume my copy is NOT a dud?

Also, my copy is an early model i suspect - only has 1 distance scale. Are there different versions of this lens and any one better/different? I note Naruto mentioned his is 'type 4'?

Finally, is $250 good/bad/going rate for this type of lens?

GREAT PRICE!!!!!

And that looks SPOT ON, beautiful family shot and if that`s at 2.8, it`s still showing strong Sonnar signature and the dreamy bokeh 🙂

Try a series of close up portraits at about 5 feet with the lens wide open to check for focus shift, if it doesn`t wonder OFF CENTER at f1.5 then it was just "movement" of the man sitting down and not the baby (that blk n wht photo)

Happy Shooting! 😀

Tom
 
Bugger - i just realised something. My Canon is a LTM 50/1.4 - serial 245XX. Is this another beast??!

Yes, The Canon F1.4/50 has a "Planar" styled signature, while the f1.5/50 shows a "Sonnar" styled signature, two totally different looks 😀

I prefer the F1.5 over the f1.4, but the f1.4 I had was a dog and had focus shift problems......

Tom
 
Maelswarm - you may want to check your focus on that lens... it appears in the first two shots that the lens or lens and camera combo are front focusing...

notice that in the first shot the woman's right shoulder and sleeve are in focus but not the face... in the second, the duvet cover is in focus but not the man's face... you may want to check to confirm focus is accurate..

alternatively, this may be caused by focus accuracy being difficult wide open, close up in low light on the M7.. and M3 might help taming the f1.5 in low light with the more accurate RF
 
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Yes, I thought so too about the front focusing (4th picture, focus is on the watch). The lens is definitely much sharper from other samples I have seen.
 
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