Comparing 35mm Lenses: Would you be interested?

Sparrow said:
Raid
Is there a shot from the canon f1.5 at 1.5?
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Stewart: If you are referring to the portrait session photos, then I have to admit that I used 2.0 and smaller. I do not have a portait image for the Canon 35mm/1.5 @ 1.5. There is an image @ 1.5 among the flare test images. I may take this lens out for a walk and shoot with it exclusively. Then, I will have shots at 1.5.

Raid
 
Thanks Raid, I’ve been trying to compare the canon, lux and nokton for a while without success, I would value your opinion when you have more time
It doesn’t help when your daughter makes them all look good :)

kind regards
 
Stewart: Next time I do selfportraits. Then only the $4000 lenses may look good [if at all]!

Raid
 
Huck Finn said:
It's my lens that Raid is using, Magus. I've tried to sell it several times because I have a 35 & a 50 which are both superb in their own right, but then I go out & take pictures with it & I cancel my plans to sell it. It's very compact so it's a great lens for walking around or almost any day time photographing - except architecture.

I was surprised that it didn't do better on the flare test because flare has never been a problem for me in actual use, but I think that the portraits showed well what it's capabilities are. Rendition of color is especially lovely.

Cheers
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It's a great lens. Makes me want to go out and buy a 35S again ...

Roland.
 
The flare test was extreme and it was done to test the lenses to their ultimate flare resistance. I prefer the portrait testing for my own personal use since these type of photos (at the window and on the front porch) make up a large portion of my current photography.

The Rollei lens is really nice. It is a true Rollei lens, and it shows. I would not sell it if I were you.


Raid
 
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Here is a side by side photo of the five Canon lenses that are currently with me.


Raid

DSCF0003.jpg


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I will today field test the following lenses:


1. Canon 35mm/1.5
2. Leica Elmar 35mm/3.5
3. Leica Summaron 35mm/3.5
4. Canon 35mm/2.0

Each will have a lens hood on it.

Raid
 
Thanks, Raid & Roland, for doing this significant piece of work and for hosting it :) My personal conclusions so far, partly echoing NickTrop's above:

  1. Leica lenses are good, but not better than other lenses, especially not three to fifty times better as suggested by their price premium.
  2. Everybody should have a Jupiter-12. It delivers acceptable results and costs $20, blowing the rest of the competition out of the water on price/performance. There are only two arguments for a different lens: (a) if you need something faster than f/2.8, and (b) if you use a Bessa, CL or M5.
  3. The Rollei 40/2.8 is a rather nice lens, especially since it's in screw mount. Unfortunately it is quite rare and usually overpriced.
  4. The differences between the CV Nokton MC and SC aren't significant and wouldn't justify spending more for the latter.
  5. If I were to buy another lens in this focal length range, it would probably be a Nokton MC.
Reading through the answers, however, it would seem that this kind of test confirms the assumptions and preferences that each of us had before :)
 
Hi Philipp: I aim at offering photographers useful information in a way that is close to how lenses are being used in real life. Most important is taking photos in a way that results in good looking images. The light is important. Unless a lens is defective, it is always possible to attain reasonably nice results. The finer points may require a higher cost lens. There we have shooting in dark places with some flaring lights and having the lens wide open. Not every lens will allow the user to get equally pleasing results in such situations. The other case is the rendering of out of focus areas. This test I hope to do tomorrow. Today I shot one 36 exp. roll with the Canon 50/1.5 @ 1.5 in the field, followed by another 36 exp. roll with the Canon 35/2 @ mostly 2.0 (indoors at a restaurant) and 22 (at the beach).

I would need to shoot one roll of film with each lens to provide additonal information, but this would be too costly.

Raid
 
Hi,

I need a volunteer to develop and scan two rolls of EFKE 25 B&W film for the lens testing efforts here. Is anyone willing to do this task? If so, please pm me. Thanks.


Greetings,

Raid
 
I started out with the Leica Summilux 35mm/1.4 @ 1.4 in the M3 today. I shot about 14 shots of Dana and Lina in the open shade. I did the same type of photos with the CV 35mm/1.2 @ 1.4 in the M6.

Then for quality assurance, I switched the lenses. The Summilux went to the M6 and the Beast went to the M3. I took photos downtown of an arts festival. There, I used mainly 1.4 but also used 16 for open sunshine shots. I also had afew shots at 2.8. I would just switch from one camera to the other after each 3 shots or so.

The slow speed EFKE 25 was perfect for such fast lenses when used outdoors in a Florida summer.

It occured to me today that if we had a "support system" of RFF members developing and scanning B&W film, I could have done extensive shooting for everybody to benefit from.

Maybe next time?

Raid
 
I got a pm from Ravinder. Thanks! I will mail him the two rolls then.

If anyone has experience with developing KB25, this would be a plus.

Raid
 
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I now believe that the Canon 35mm/2 that I got from Mark may be in need for a check-up. None of the wide open photos came out in focus. Photos ar f 4.0 and larger came out looking nicely.

The Canon 35/1.5 came out great in the test roll taken at 1.5 outdoors. The face rendition is super smooth, with beautiful colors.

I don't know whether these two rolls deserve Rolland's analysis set-up, but I have uploaded them to his site.

Raid
 
Here are some images from the test roll of Fuji NPS with the Canon 35mm/1.5. Most if not all were taken at 1.5. Location was Seville Square in the historical district of Pensacola. Dana and Lina were trying out their new bikes.


This is Dana with her new bike:

8014789-R1-031-14.jpg


Another image of Dana:


8014789-R1-013-5.jpg



This is Lina with her new bike:

8014789-R1-037-17.jpg



This is my wife [who chose the two bikes]:

8014789-R1-005-1.jpg


This is Professor James Marsh (Physics) who walked into my testing range:
8014789-R1-057-27.jpg



Overall, I am very impressed by the beautiful face rendition given by the Canon 35/1.5 with Fuji NPS at ASA 120 and the lens shot wide open.

Raid
 
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Damn it, Raid, I thought I was cured from GAS !!!

Great photos, in particular Dana with her new bike. What a great lens ! I wants it !!!

I'll include your more recent uploads in my analysis, Raid. I hope I'll get to
it soon, please be patient.

Best,

Roland.
 
ferider said:
Damn it, Raid, I thought I was cured from GAS !!!
Great photos, in particular Dana with her new bike. What a great lens ! I wants it !!!
Best,
Roland.
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Roland, Raid, I thought we were going to corner the market on the nice, relatively inexpensive lenses BEFORE you posted photos like these. We had a deal!

Sigh, we coulda been contenders.......
 
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