Distortion? in a 50??

[Ronald M]

Pre asph Summilux will bend lines line crazy.

Summicrons will not and neither will either 2.8 Elmar.

I was shocked at Nikkors when I got my digi Nikkons. With the exception of the 28 2.8 that focuses to .2 meter, All the 50`s and shorter have barrel distortion. I had no idea how spoiled I was with Leica. Fortunately I never sold any of it.

 

[martin s]

I skimmed my negatives really quick and found this example - it was scanned with a Epson v500, the negative is as far as I can tell perfectly flat. It was the 3rd out of 6 frames, so pretty much in the middle. It was shot with the 50mm f1.4 pre-ASPH 'Lux, which imo doesn't distort a lot (I never noticed, and I'm picky about those kind of things).

This is the original scan:

This is what's visible in Photoshops Distortion Correction 'Filter', it can be fixed with a value of +1.

Finally:

Most important of all - it doesn't matter whatsoever.

martin

 

[ferider]

Martin, good examples (and a nice photo, too).

Puts does quantify distortion of the various Leica lenses here:

http://en.leica-camera.com/assets/file/download.php?filename=file_1754.pdf

Mike: the 35/1.4 pre-asph is actually very clean. Turns out the 35/1.4 ASPH distorts more (around 1.5% ?)

The Elmar-M and pre-asph Summilux are almost on par, with the Elmar seaming a bit worse. The worst Leica 50 seams to be the Noctilux.

Roland.

 

[katgut@earthlink.net]

My Canon FD 50 1.4 also exhibits barrel distortion--more than my 50 1.8.

 

[sanmich]

distortion test

distortion test

Ok, I really needed to know....
The canon 1.4, besides being a great, fast, sharp, cheap lens, is a distorting king. I ran a quick and dirty test against what was available.
Sometimes the test was not even fair for the contender (wides), but the 50 canon 1.4, was still the worse...
Fasten your seat belt please...

Canon 1.4

 

[sanmich]

Planar ZM

Planar ZM

Planar
Planar

 

[sanmich]

Cron DR
Cron DR

 

[sanmich]

Nikon AIS 501.8

Nikon AIS 501.8

Nikon AIS 501.8

 

[sanmich]

Hexanon M 35mm f/2

Hexanon M 35mm f/2

Hexanon M 35mm f/2

 

[sanmich]

Hexanon 28mm

Hexanon 28mm

Hexanon 28mm

 

[sanmich]

I've got to be kidding...

I've got to be kidding...

VC 25mm f/4

 

[sanmich]

That's it

even the Nikkor 35mm f/2.8 showed no objectionable distortion.
The winner is clearly the canon. Too bad, I really loved the thing...

 

[nikku]

I have lots of lenses 50mm and others that exhibit barrel distortion ... sometimes you notice it, sometimes you don't!

My Zuiko 50's are noticably the worst!

You ever used the zuiko 50/3.5 macro? It gives a very flat field, which makes sense because it's often used for copy work.

 

[Doug]

Michael, thanks for the tests! If the Canon was the "winner" in the distortion wars then the Cron DR was the clear loser! I am surprised to detect at bit even in the Planar.

 

[MaxElmar]

With regards to distortion, if you want to see truly perfect, test a pinhole image against anything...

 

[sanmich]

Michael, thanks for the tests! If the Canon was the "winner" in the distortion wars then the Cron DR was the clear loser! I am surprised to detect at bit even in the Planar.

I think you are right, although it is hard to rank the others.
The DR seems excellent and the Planar shows some level of distortion.
I can't be sure, but both the hexanons presents a very low level, if at all.
The VC 25 is pretty amazing too...

Maybe 1.4 IS something important regarding distortion. It was the fastest of the bunch after all.

 

[ferider]

Interesting, thanks Michael. Aren't you glad you got the 35/2 M-Hex ? 🙂

I am guessing the Canon distortion is due to 6 elements only (normally at that speed, there are 7). You gain flare resistance with fewer elements ....

Doug, the ZM Planar numbers (confirmed by Michael's test) surprised me too. It distorts noticeably more than the ZM Sonnar.

 

[sanmich]

Interesting, thanks Michael. Aren't you glad you got the 35/2 M-Hex ? 🙂

I am guessing the Canon distortion is due to 6 elements only (normally at that speed, there are 7). You gain flare resistance with fewer elements ....

Doug, the ZM Planar numbers (confirmed by Michael's test) surprised me too. It distorts noticeably more than the ZM Sonnar.

Roland, I have to say that this past year, I have done some gear change that I'm really happy with, and got two really excellent lenses:
The M hex 35 (do you have one?) and the DR (Thanks again for this one!😉)

 

[ferider]

Don't have the M-Hex, Michael, but have often considered it. I believe the CV 35/1.7 Ultron is derived from the M-hex 35/2. That one I had and loved.

Roland.

 

[Nikkor AIS]

Taken with M3 and 50 1.0 Noctilux @ f 8/11

Although the Noct has severe barrel distortion wide open😉 at 8/11 😀

Gregory