Comparison of MS-MODE-S Dual Mount 50/1.3 and Millennium 50/1.4

[jonmanjiro]

As promised in this thread Unexpected chain of events & a rare lens here's some test shots comparing the MS-MODE-S dual mount lens with the Nikkor-S Millennium 50/1.4.

The camera I used in the test was an SP 2005 mounted on a Velbon carbon fibre tripod with a cable release to fire the shutter. The film I used was the new type Velvia 50 (which was actually two months past the expiry date but worked just fine). For metering I used an FM3A fitted with an AIS 50/1.2 lens. I then scanned the strips of film with my Coolscan V at 4000 dpi.

The following two shots show the bokeh and DOF. My focus target was the last "N" in the logo (right side of logo) on the Nikon FM3A. I placed the tripod exactly 3 metres away from the FM3A. The shrubs in the background are about 6 or so metres from the tripod. The interesting thing to note here is that the MS-MODE-S has more DOF in front of the focus target, and the background is more out of focus. Remember this point for later!

Millennium 50/1.4 @ f1.4

MS-MODE-S 50/1.3 @ f1.3

 

[awilder]

Could you repost the images a little darker? The highlights are blown on my screen so it's hard to judge sharpness. It seems to front focus a little bit.

 

[dave lackey]

Ahhh...the Millenium is showing some swirly bokeh! Cool...


Thanks, Jon...

 

[tripod]

Swirlys look like a Summarit.

 

[jonmanjiro]

Next up are two shots taken @ f8 and infinity focus. Though the Millennium 50/1.4 still has the edge, the MS-MODE-S 50/1.3 performed much better in the corners (at infinity and closer distances) than the vintage sonnar formula Nikkor 5cm f1.4 I tested in this thread S-mount 50mm lenses - 4 way comparison

You can see the shot taken with the Millennium 50/1.4 is 1/2 a stop overexposed. I needed a 1/45 shutter speed for the correct exposure but took the shot at 1/30. For the MS-MODE-S shot I set the shutter speed dial inbetween 1/30 and 1/60. Worked like a charm (are you reading this, Fred? 😉).

With these two shots I was looking to compare field curvature, but didn't notice much difference between the two lenses. Unlike the vintage sonnar formula Nikkor-S 5cm f1.4 compared to the Millennium 50/1.4 as shown in the animated gif in this thread S-mount 50mm lenses - 4 way comparison

Millennium 50/1.4 @ f8 and infinity

MS-MODE-S 50/1.3 @ f8 and infinity

 

[jonmanjiro]

According to literature I've read about the MS-MODE-S 50/1.3, it was designed to be its sharpest at 3 metres, while sacrificing a little sharpness at minimum focus. The next series of shots show the centre and edge sharpness at 3 metres.

Firstly, here's the full frame. This shot was taken with the MS-MODE-S 50/1.3 @ f5.6.

All the crops below are 50% reduced from full size. This is the same magnification as looking through a 20x loupe.

This crop is from the centre @ wide open (f1.4 on the Millennium and f1.3 on the MS-MODE-S). It's 3 metres to the sign.

This crop is from the left side @ wide open (f1.4 on the Millennium and f1.3 on the MS-MODE-S).

This is the interesting one!!! This crop is from the bottom right corner @ wide open (f1.4 on the Millennium and f1.3 on the MS-MODE-S). You can see that the MS-MODE-S crop is much sharper than the Millennium shot. The only problem is that the pole with the sticker on it is a full 72 centimetres in FRONT of the fence the signs are posted on. I couldn't believe it myself so went back to measure the distance earlier tonight.

 

[jonmanjiro]

Here's some crops of the shots @ f5.6.

Firstly, the centre @f5.6. Not much difference in sharpness now.

Next, the left side @ f5.6.

And lastly, the lower right corner at f5.6. The Millennium is finally catching up to the MS-MODE-S 😉

 

[jonmanjiro]

Here's some shots at minimum focus.

Firstly the full frame shot with the Millennium 50/1.4 @ f2.8.

Next is centre crops @ wide open (f1.4 on the Millennium and f1.3 on the MS-MODE-S)

And lastly, centre crops at f5.6.

 

[jonmanjiro]

Could you repost the images a little darker? The highlights are blown on my screen so it's hard to judge sharpness. It seems to front focus a little bit.

I'll post some darker images tomorrow. It's way past my bed time already. Yes most of the MS-MODE-S's DOF seems to be in front of the subject at close distance. Maybe the designer intended it that way?

 

[Hacker]

Thanks Jon for the shots. From the first pair of pictures, it does appear that the lens seem to exhibit some front focus. However, I'm curious how it will work on the M8, seeing that the camera is not FF.

 

[splitimageview]

Thanks Jon for posting this as well as links to your earlier comparisons.

Very interesting. Is this a focus curvature ala Noctilux?

 

[Hacker]

I'm actually quite surprised by looking at the pictures of the bottom right crops. The Nikkor does not fare so well. The bokeh of the leaves look nicer to me on the MS-Mode-S lens.

Huge thanks to Jon again!

 

[jonmanjiro]

The MS-Mode-S lens certainly does a very good job in throwing the background out of focus.

Regarding the front focus, I wonder if the S-mount adapter might be partly responsible .... ? It'll be interesting to see how the lens performs on the M8.

 

[jonmanjiro]

Very interesting. Is this a focus curvature ala Noctilux?

Yep, certainly looks like it!

 

[Hacker]

The MS-Mode-S lens certainly does a very good job in throwing the background out of focus.

Regarding the front focus, I wonder if the S-mount adapter might be partly responsible .... ? It'll be interesting to see how the lens performs on the M8.

My adapter for the Nikkor-S mount is on its way also. I can compare it with the Nikkor Millennium if need be on the M8.

 

[Palaeoboy]

I'm actually quite surprised by looking at the pictures of the bottom right crops. The Nikkor does not fare so well.

Not at all, in fact its quite the opposite. As suggested above it looks like a bad case of lens curvature to me with the MS-Mode-S. It clearly shows the better correction of the Nikkor maintaining a flat plane of focus over the entire field, which is clearly way ahead.

Jon, Im surprised that you comment that the original Nikkor S 50mm f1.4 is not up to the standard of the MS-Mode-S? The Nikkor S 50mm f1.4 doesn't exhibit as much curvature as this lens shows here and although its not up to the standard of the Millennium its not as great a difference as what you have demonstrated between these two lenses.

Very well set out comparison. Very Interesting. Well done.

 

[jonmanjiro]

Not at all, in fact its quite the opposite. As suggested above it looks like a bad case of lens curvature to me with the MS-Mode-S. It clearly shows the better correction of the Nikkor maintaining a flat plane of focus over the entire field, which is clearly way ahead.

Jon, Im surprised that you comment that the original Nikkor S 50mm f1.4 is not up to the standard of the MS-Mode-S? The Nikkor S 50mm f1.4 doesn't exhibit as much curvature as this lens shows here and although its not up to the standard of the Millennium its not as great a difference as what you have demonstrated between these two lenses.

Very well set out comparison. Very Interesting. Well done.

Thanks for the comment 🙂

Actually, I agree that the vintage Nikkor-S shows less "focus curvature" (not sure if that's the technical term?) than the MS-MODE-S lens. However, as shown by the animated gif in the 4-way comparison thread, the vintage Nikkor-S showed considerably more field curvature (maybe distortion is the correct term?) in the corners than the Millennium Nikkor-S, whereas the MS-MODE-S and Millennium Nikkor-S produced very similar results. Also, the vintage Nikkor-S never really got sharp in the corners at infinity and closer distances even when stopped down to f8, wheras the MS-MODE-S is nearly as good as the Millennium by f8. I suspect that my (now sold) sample of the vintage Nikkor-S wasn't one of the better ones though, and I'd like to try again with another sample some day.

 

[Sonnar2]

Very interesting stuff. Both lenses showing to me nice field curvature as described by Paul van Walree in http://www.vanwalree.com/optics/astigmatism.html This isn't bad except you mainly photograph flat walls, but showing in effect the swirly bokeh. Extreme case of swirly boke I found with vintage Kino Plasmat lenses (which was the first f/1.5 lens available for LEICA). I also found swirly bokeh with my Takumar 83/1.9 lens (7 elements) and 58/2.4 (5 elements). Swirly boke is best to detect from small prints and even website pictures.

The first pair of pictures also shows that field curvature is more present in the Nikkor Millenium lens, probably a price for better correction of optical errors like astigmatism than with the MS-MODE-S wide open.

Truly a bid thing happen with RF lenses is focus shift, a thing which is present with the MS-MODE-S here, but not seen with the Millenium Nikkor. You know you have focus shift when the focal area is a bit off at full aperture, and right when stopped down to say, f/8. You need to distinguish it from bad cam alignment (equally off at all stops). Focus shift can't be corrected mechanically, because if you correct if at f/1.5, it's there at f/8, which is typically worse. Bad cam alignment can be corrected with some lenses (for all distances) but not with all, AFAIK.

Focus shift isn't a problem with SLR lenses as long as you take notice to use the lens in manual (stopped down) mode. But with RF you are helpless - except you know, maybe it has a little focus shift one inch too short wide open in close distance (like with the ZM-Sonnar), so you have to focus on the nose tip instead of the eyes. So at first you have to KNOW what to deal with.

The pictures showed to me as well that even in 2008 with modern glass there is no way making a f/1.3 anastigmat with just 5 elements.

have fun,

 

[jonmanjiro]

Could you repost the images a little darker? The highlights are blown on my screen so it's hard to judge sharpness. It seems to front focus a little bit.

Here's the unedited (as-is out of the scanner) 50% crops (equivalent of a 20x loupe) from the centre of the first two photos. The same shots taken at f2.8 and f5.6 show almost no difference in sharpness at the centre.

Centre sharpness @ wide open (f1.4 for the Millennium and f1.3 for the MS-MODE-S)

 

[awilder]

Thanks. Interesting lens but if unavailable especially outside of Japan, I's hard to get very excited. I'd rather a 50/1.4 Millenium and adapter for Leica M if possible.