Canon 50mm 1.2 M39 on Leica M

[m.galimathias]

Hi,
im looking for a affordable 50mm lens for my "new" Leica M4-2. Due the fact that I am not able to pay 1000 dollar for a summicron or the other alternatives like the Zeiss Sonnar, I am looking at these nice old Canon m39 lenses.
My "final question":
Does anyone have experience with a Leica M and this fast Canon lens 50mm 1.2 with a m39 adapter.

 

[OurManInTangier]

I have used the Canon 50mm 1.2 with both M6 'classic' and TTL as well as my M8.

You'll open a huge can of worms asking about the Canon 50mm 1.2. Some love it, some hate it but it is being pushed up in price by Leica M8/9 users looking for a cheap option to the big fast Leica options.

I have a user example but rarely use it as I find it too soft and just don't take 'bokeh' shots. You may find it too large for comfort on an M body but again this is down to personal taste.

Good luck with the various answers...I'm anticipating quite a few😀

 

[rover]

The Canon 50/1.8 at around $200 is maybe the best bang for your buck lens out there. The 50/1.4 for $300ish is a great lens, every bit as good as the fast Nikon and Leica lenses of its time. The 50/1.2 is larger, faster, stopped down it is sharp, wide open it is unique in character. I won't say good or bad, but unique. I sorta like it. Prices have seemed to jump on these. The FSU Jupiter 8 at @$40 shipped to you from ebay is a very good alternative if you want to get a lens now and save for a more costly one. You may find the J8 is so good you won't need another. I would also suggest looking into the Nikkor 50/2 in LTM which is also excellent. Also the Cosina Voigtlander 50/2.5 Color Skopar.

The good news is that there are a lot of options, and all are good options. There isn't one dog in the bunch in my opinion.

 

[Nokton48]

For low-light shooting, or for use with medium and slow speed films, the 50mm F1.2 Canon does provide unique optical character (which I happen to like). I have settled on keeping this lens, along with the Leitz Rigid V1 50mm F2 Summicron, so I do have a choice.

Both are great, but very different lenses. Lots of other good choices out there, too.

EDIT: My third 50mm lens is the V1 50mm F2.8 Elmar.

 

[Cron]

sometimes I use the RF 1,2/50 with my M8, never find it too soft

 

[ChrisN]

I think Simon and Rover summed it up pretty well. The 50/1.2 is a specialist lens that will be quite liked by the people who quite like that sort of thing. But for general use the other 50's are smaller, lighter, and cheaper. I have one but 95% of the time I'll use my Cosina 50/2.5 for preference. Be aware that some of the 50/1.2 lenses suffer a fungal growth on the element behind the iris, which sometimes leaves coating damage that cannot be repaired. Don't buy without careful inspection (I have been caught out by this - not fun with a $300 lens.)

 

[Keith]

As much as I love my 1.2 I don't think I'd be recommending it for your purposes ... a 1.4 would be a better choice IMO.

The 1.2 has a few quirks... some people claim it's soft wide open yet others disagree! The theory I heard that was the quality of them varies from example to example which may explain the conflicting information. Mine seems to be sharp in the centre wide open but falls of towards the edges ... which makes it great for portraits! 😀

I've nicknamed mine 'Forest Gump!'

 

[Mablo]

I have one and use it sometimes with my M4-P. It's a fine lens and I agree that it has a special character. A nice one can go up to $500 or more at KEH these days. As for the first lens my money would go to Canon 50mm/1.8 instead ($150 or so).

 

[ferider]

There is a clean 50/1.8 in the classifieds for US 200. I would grab it and don't look back. Close to Summicron quality and half stop faster.

The 50/1.2 is fun to use and has lots of "character". So much so, that it's difficult to use for general purpose up to f5.6 or so - too soft in the corners. It's also difficult to filter (needs slim filters) and can't use a generic hood, otherwise it vignettes on film. And more than half of the used copies out there need to be disassembled about once a year to clean out haze that keeps coming back. And yes, I had two copies.

For the price of a good Canon 50/1.2 copy you can get a 50/1.5 Nokton, for instance, or a 50/2 M-Hexanon, or a 50/1.4 Canon and cash, all three much, much better lenses wide open.

Roland.

 

[johannielscom]

Softness of the image can greatly be remedied by cleaning the lens internally. It's an easy lens to work on and a clean one is quite sharp, as the current owner of the lens in this tutorial can confirm.

OTOH hand, Roland suggests excellent alternatives too.

 

[m.galimathias]

That was very fast! Thank you for the answers!
I noticed that the 50mm 1.2 isnt an alternative because it is quite big an unsharp. So my focus lies on the lightweight Canon 50mm 1.8 for M39. How is the optical performance of this lens, - compared (maybe) to a Leitz Summicron 50?

 

[former member]

I have a chrome 50/1.8 Serenar and a Black 50/1.8. The latter has some damage to the surface behind the aperture, common in that lens. The lubricants were a bit caustic, and the glass of the later Canon lenses suffered from it. Make sure you can inspect the lens beofre buying it. the same is true of most Black Canon lenses.

Black Canon 50/1.8 on the M8:

http://www.ziforums.com/album.php?albumid=217

The Canon 50/1.8 is "comparable" to the Collapsible Summicron for sharpness and contrast. The 50/1.4 is just as sharp, but bigger. The 50/1.8 uses 40mm filters, but you can get a step-up ring to use easier to find 43mm filters with it. the 50/1.4 uses 48mm filters.

Canon 50/1.4 on the M8:

http://www.ziforums.com/album.php?albumid=216

 

[umcelinho]

Go for the Canon LTM 50/1.8 (around $200) if you want an old style lens, or a Voigtlander Nokton 50/1.5 (around $300) if you prefer a more modern and contrasty look. Both are really good performers and are screw mount, so you'll need a LTM to M adapter ($30-60) to use them on your M4-2.

 

[johannielscom]

What JSU says about the Canon 50/1.2 is also true of Sonnar-type lenses like the Jupiter-3 50/1.5.

Past f4.0 everything gets pretty sharp, below that its a completely different lens. A confirmed-good Jupiter-3 should not be that hard to find if you put a WTB ad up here. Should not be that expensive either.

Example of 1943 lens shot at f8.0:

My only 50mm lenses are a Carl Zeiss Jena 50/1.5 from 1943 and a Jupiter-3 50/1.5 lens from 1952. I like them for their rendering being 'the two-faced twins' in my bag, and for their absence of click stops, easy to get the just-right exposure with M6 metering or a top-mounted M4 meter!

 

[former member]

Jupiter-3 and Jupiter-8 lenses often require shimming for the Leica. well worth the effort. Quality of the earlier lenses tends to be better than the late lenses. The early 1950s lenses will match a German Sonnar.

a Few different J-3's in this album:

http://www.ziforums.com/album.php?albumid=97

and a good one, shimmed for the Leica, wide-open on the Nessa R2:

The Canon 50/1.8 -provided the glass is not hazed- is ready for use. The J-3 may require some work. Conservation of inconvenience.

 

[tardegard]

I am sorry for resuming this old post, guys, but I just got this Canon LTM 50 1.2 on my Leica m240 and my adapter has a front focus issue. can I ask you what adapters you have or what I can do to make mine work?

 

[former member]

The optical barrel is held in the focus mount using a retaining ring, which comes out from the rear. The lens uses a shim- a metal ring. If your lens is front focusing: the shim is too thick. The other possibility is that the optics are out of place in the lens, or the helical in the focus mount is not assembled correctly.

Take some pictures of an object at 1meter focus and at infinity. Knowing how far off the focus is from the RF will indicate what corrective action to take.

https://johanniels.com/canon-rf-50mm-1-2-cleaning-leica/

 

[leicapixie]

Buy with knowledge that it is a screw mount and requires an adapter to M.
I owned one and adapter was fitted with a screw for exact position of focus.
I was 'slightly' out in close up, focusing an inch ahead at closest..
Soft at f1.2 till about f4,then more than adequate.
(my copy badly scratched front element when loaned to friend, ex friend).
If cash a problem, pick a 'slower" lens 50mm Elmar, 50mm f2 Canon or best, the newer Voigtlander lenses.
Heavy and very radioactive... like left mark of lens circle on apiece of paper in light tight box!
I sold it as scrap to guy who needed the whole helicoid , as his lenses were OK.

 

[former member]

The Canon 5cm F2- collector's item, not many made. The 50/1.9, 50/1.4 and 50/1.8, much more common.
The Canon 50/1.2 Leica mount lens does not use thoriated glass. The Canon 58/1.2 FL mount lens uses Thorium glass.

Canon 50/1.2, wide-open on the M9.





This one has perfect glass.

 

[raid]

This thread is from 2010. WOW.
A beautiful image of your daughter, Brian.