CV, ZM & Canon 50/1.5s

[kully]

Hallo,

I had oppurtunity to borrow a ZM50/1.5 for a few days this week and before sending it back I took some snaps to let the bloke know whether it was optimised for f/2.8 or f/1.5. I'd previously taken shots and made prints and couldn't say - just goes to show that if it wasn't for this artificial pixel-peeping I would not have been able to say.

Anyway, all this writing is because I have uploaded full-size pics from the ZM, the Canon 50/1.5 and the 50mm f/1.5 Nokton to my webspace - feel free to download at http://superkully.com/misc/CnCVZM50_15s.zip

All are focussed on the right curves of the '8' in '2008'. Shots at f/1.5, f/2, f/2.8, f/4 & f/5.6. You may notice a squiggle on the right-hand side of the shots - I accidently left a letter with my address on it 😱

And here are some shots of the lenses themselves. I was suprised to see how big the C-Sonnar was compared to the Canon and the Nokton, I certainly wouldn't say the ZM is significantly smaller than the Nokton and, indeed, with the hood it is longer.

 

[panzerneo]

The Photographer

The Photographer

Hallo,

I had oppurtunity to borrow a ZM50/1.5 for a few days this week and before sending it back I took some snaps to let the bloke know whether it was optimised for f/2.8 or f/1.5. I'd previously taken shots and made prints and couldn't say - just goes to show that if it wasn't for this artificial pixel-peeping I would not have been able to say.

Anyway, all this writing is because I have uploaded full-size pics from the ZM, the Canon 50/1.5 and the 50mm f/1.5 Nokton to my webspace - feel free to download at http://superkully.com/misc/CnCVZM50_15s.zip

All are focussed on the right curves of the '8' in '2008'. Shots at f/1.5, f/2, f/2.8, f/4 & f/5.6. You may notice a squiggle on the right-hand side of the shots - I accidently left a letter with my address on it 😱

And here are some shots of the lenses themselves. I was suprised to see how big the C-Sonnar was compared to the Canon and the Nokton, I certainly wouldn't say the ZM is significantly smaller than the Nokton and, indeed, with the hood it is longer.

Thanks for your post Kully. I couldn't help but notice the book in the background. I discovered it yesterday in a library here in Seattle. Certainly one of the best reportage photography books I have seen in a long long time.
It's the dream stuff for any RF photographer I think!
I think I might offer it as a gift.... ...to myself 😉
If only I wasn't saving for the e-p1...

 

[kully]

It is a lovely book, I'm "pushing" it to as many people as possible 🙂

 

[ItsReallyDarren]

Great comparison. I've always been curious about the performance of these exact three lenses. I have the CV50/1.5 and thought about picking up a faster sonnar then my Jupiter 8.

They all look great from wide open to stopped down. This might end up convincing me to save my pennies just a little longer.

 

[payasam]

For the sake of completeness, you might have included the Jupiter 3.

 

[telenous]

Is the Nokton a Sonnar derivative? Just curious.

 

[kully]

Alkis - no, the Nokton is not a Sonnar design.

Darren - the Nokton is lovely.

Mukul - Only these lenses were available, I doubt I'll get this many 50s toghether in one place again.

I'd be happy with any of the lenses, indeed I needed to go to these lengths to determine whether the 50/1.5 was optimised for f/2.8 or f/1.5 - I printed some f/1.5 shots at 8x10s and they looked fine without correcting for focus-shift.

 

[ItsReallyDarren]

Is the Nokton a Sonnar derivative? Just curious.

A sonnar it is not. The exact formula I don't know, a gauss design?

 

[ItsReallyDarren]

I heard a lot of complaints about the oof and bokeh of the Nokton. After shooting with it for some time I really don't know what people were talking about. Given I haven't shot a lot of color film though it, but I've found the lens has very nice characteristics.

 

[kross]

Alkis - no, the Nokton is not a Sonnar design.

Darren - the Nokton is lovely.

Mukul - Only these lenses were available, I doubt I'll get this many 50s toghether in one place again.

I'd be happy with any of the lenses, indeed I needed to go to these lengths to determine whether the 50/1.5 was optimised for f/2.8 or f/1.5 - I printed some f/1.5 shots at 8x10s and they looked fine without correcting for focus-shift.

looking at the test shots, the c sonnar you tested front focuses at f1.5.... so it's a f2.8 optimized.

 

[hans voralberg]

I actually like the front focus shift! Looks nice and more extraordinary.

 

[Krosya]

I dont think its the Nokton 50/1.5 that is known for poor bokeh, but rather 35/1.4 and 40/1.4. Also, new 50/1.1 is not really clear yet. The only thing about NOkton 50/1.5 that I dont like is that it's closest focus is well....not close enough for me - wish it was 0.7m.

 

[kully]

looking at the test shots, the c sonnar you tested front focuses at f1.5.... so it's a f2.8 optimized.

Indeed - it is optimised for f/2.8 but I had contrive this test to know.