Comparison of three fast 50mm (ish) lenses for their bokeh

[peterm1]

I thought that folks here might be interested in the following.

Yesterday I decided, just to satisfy my own curiosity by testing three different lenses that I had to hand, all fast 50s (or thereabouts), for their bokeh. The lenses are a Canon 50mm f1.2 (LTM); a Canon 55mm f1.2 FD (chrome nose) and a Voigtlander 50mm f1.1 (the first such lens they released a few years ago). All shot at their maximum aperture. I was rather expecting that the Voigtlander might not perform as well as the other two as it has a reputation for not having especially brilliant bokeh. (Though I suspect this is because most people were expecting it to perform just like a Noctilux - influenced by a review done by Kai Wong of DigitalRev a number of years ago, who was dismissive of it). Never the less all the images look really remarkably similar (though there are differences of course - due in part to lighting) in this brief test. The bokeh of the Canon LTM lens appears to be the softest - which I expected but not by all that much - which I did not expect.

The main subject is the back of the garden seat at or near the lenses closest focusing distance and the bushes in the background (the main bokeh subjects) are perhaps about 5 metres away. In at least one shot of the main subject I missed focus by a "smidge". In these shots the sun is somewhat forward of the lens though well above it and out of scene.

I think all of the bokeh images are pretty acceptable - at least to me.

People may be interested. If you have your own shots from these lenses feel free to post them. Or just provide your opinions on how these lenses perform.



Canon 50mm f1.2 LTM



Canon 55mm f1.2 FD Chrome Nose



Voigtlander 50mm f1.1

 

[CMur12]

Wow, Peter! On my computer screen, the Canon 50mm 1.2 ltm has bokeh significantly softer and smoother than the other two lenses. In fact, I am absolutely amazed at its softness and smoothness.

- Murray

 

[sebastel]

thanks for sharing.
I always liked the rendering of the nokton, especially for the "dash of energy" in the bokeh. however, i never could get used to its weight.

cheers,
sebastian

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Wow, Peter! On my computer screen, the Canon 50mm 1.2 ltm has bokeh significantly softer and smoother than the other two lenses. In fact, I am absolutely amazed at its softness and smoothness.

- Murray

I am too. That said, it looks like the in-focus areas are also softer; both the Canon FD lens and the Voigtlander are sharper lenses and also have better separation between the in focus and out of focus areas.

 

[peterm1]

Wow, Peter! On my computer screen, the Canon 50mm 1.2 ltm has bokeh significantly softer and smoother than the other two lenses. In fact, I am absolutely amazed at its softness and smoothness.

- Murray

I agree it is noticeably softer. But I still think there is not quite as much in it as I thought there might be (mainly due to the other two lenses performing a little better than I thought they might).

 

[boojum]

the 50mm f/1.2 seems the hands down bokeh winner with very dreamy out of focus areas. But - there's always a but isn't there - the exposures seem different with the 50mm f/1.2 being the darkest which kinds of throws the whole thing off. That said, I'd still go for the 50mm f/1.2. Thanks for the effort.

 

[peterm1]

the 50mm f/1.2 seems the hands down bokeh winner with very dreamy out of focus areas. But - there's always a but isn't there - the exposures seem different with the 50mm f/1.2 being the darkest which kinds of throws the whole thing off. That said, I'd still go for the 50mm f/1.2. Thanks for the effort.

Yes. That is only due to a change in the lighting. I had noticed that it had happened and hinted at in in my original post but did not mention it specifically. I do not agree that it throws the whole thing off though - the difference in bokeh would be, I would argue, still be much the same notwithstanding the lighting (though missing a few highlights). On the other hand I agree it is less than desirable - but we live in the real world, so "what you gunna do?" Its just one of those things we experience as photographers. 😉

 

[Erik van Straten]

thanks for sharing.
I always liked the rendering of the nokton, especially for the "dash of energy" in the bokeh. however, i never could get used to its weight.

cheers,
sebastian

Then you will be shocked when you pick up a Noctilux 50mm f1.0! In comparison, the Nokton f1.1 is as light as a feather. I also like the bokeh of the Nokton f1.1, especially because the lens is so sharp. The size of the contrast between the sharpness and the bokeh should be as large as possible in my opinion, but the oval light spots in the out-of-focus zones should be formed regular.

gelatin silver print (summar 50mm f2) leica mp

Erik.

 

[sebastel]

Then you will be shocked when you pick up a Noctilux 50mm f1.0! In comparison, the Nokton f1.1 is as light as a feather. I also like the bokeh of the Nokton f1.1, especially because the lens is so sharp. The size of the contrast between the sharpness and the bokeh should be as large as possible in my opinion, but the oval light spots in the out-of-focus zones should be formed regular.

gelatin silver print (summar 50mm f2) leica mp

Erik.

No plan to pick up the Noctilux (again). It was the first lens I gave up on, purely because of its weight. I liked its rendering, however.
At the moment, I'm perfectly happy with my collection of f/1.4 and f/1.5 lenses. Lightweight (pre asph Summilux 35mm), dreamy (Heliar 50mm), ultra neutral (50mm Summilux asph). Whatever I need, there it is.

🙂

Cheers,
sebastian