First Results: Test of Fifteen 50mm Lenses

Kiu: I will shoot at least one roll with each ultra-fast lens to make sure that I get its general qualities on film. I will bracket focusing too. I will tomorrow test the Canon 50mm/0.95. It is quite a large sized lens.

Thanks for sending the Nikkor.

Raid
 
Prominent Nokton 50/1.5

Prominent Nokton 50/1.5

Raid has not tested this lens yet, but might do so soon. The posted pics are not all that great, but do demonstrate what the lens can do.

Voigtlander Nokton 50/1.5 made for the Prominent, with Prominent to Contax RF adapter, on a Contax II. Kari22 exposure was handheld 1/25 second, f2, Kodak 400BCN. Kari23 was at f2.8, same film. The event was a going away luncheon for someone I used to work with. A flash would have ruined the mood. Note: the #22 pic is a little blurry due to subject movement-compare detail of the seam on the jacket across the back of the chair to the detail in the face. In any case, I think that these shots do a good job of portraying the qualities of this lens. Gourgeous OOF, n'est pas?
 
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Mark: This lens looks to have potential. I will try to test it appropriately.
I agree with you that using a flash does not provide the same atmosphere or feel in an imagelike this.
With sub-freezing temperatures at night and mornings, I may prefer to do my testing tomorrow indoors.

Raid
 
Raid:

Maybe it's my lack of visual acuity or poor taste, but my all-time favorite in your tests is the Summarit 50mm/1.5 at 4.

Thanks for doing this. Also I'm getting a Canon 1.5 before your tests cause the prices to take a dramatic rise.

Do you have any plans for your free time in the future? As the semi-official RFF lens tester, maybe you can do the 28's and 35's also.

Bill
 
Bill58 said:
Raid:

Maybe it's my lack of visual acuity or poor taste, but my all-time favorite in your tests is the Summarit 50mm/1.5 at 4.

Thanks for doing this. Also I'm getting a Canon 1.5 before your tests cause the prices to take a dramatic rise.

Do you have any plans for your free time in the future? As the semi-official RFF lens tester, maybe you can do the 28's and 35's also.

Bill
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Bill: You are not having poor taste here; I also love that particular image at 4.0. The Summarit, as Frank S will tell us, should be viewed as a special purpose lens. In specific circumstances [like the one I made use of beside a window] it can result in unique looking images. The skin looks creamy and the overall portrait qualities are stunning. However, the Summarit does not perform as well in other light conditions.

Today, I have set as a goal to test drive the Canon 50mm/0.95. If my family life allows me to do so, I will do the testing today. As for testing other focal lengths, I would need RFF members to contribute lenses in a future test.

I only have the following limited choices of 35mm and 28mm lenses:

1. Summicron 35mm/2.0 (8 element version) with eyes [for the M3]
2. Canon 35mm/1.8
3. Canon 28mm/3.5
4. Rokkor 28mm/2.8

All four lenses above are wonderful lenses. Each is a vintage design lens.


Greetings,

Raid
 
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Raid - to me the only surprises were how soft the Summarit shots are, and how crisp the J-3 shots turned out. I think this shows how different one copy can be from another.

I think I "lucked out" with my current Summarit; although it is "soft" and it renders the highlights with a pseudo veiling-flare behaviour, it renders what's in focus clearly.

The J-3 I have, which is uncoated and seems to have a slightly different glass composition than the majority (it has a green-mint tint) of the J-3s, flares easily, but has the same "feel" like shown in your shots. My J-3 was rebuilt and collimated by Brian Sweeney, and I believe yours was too, as well. I call these the "Brianov" Jupiters.

Another surprise (although I was somewhat expecting it because I had seen some tests with these before) was how soft the collapsible 50 'cron turned out wide open, in stark contrast to the rigid 'cron. The oof rendition of the 50 'cron is more pleasing to my eyes, certainly more "vintage" than the tabbed 'cron I have.

Daunting task, Raid. I bow before you. And your daughter!! What patience!
 
raid said:
I encourage people here to post images taken by any of the lenses [same type] I tested. Maybe we can see similiarities or differences.
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I thought I'd post this little test I performed earlier this year, although it's in B&W, so that we have all in one-easy to access thread (link for the curious):

1: 50mm J-3 f/1.5 @ f/1.5
2: 50mm J-8 f/2
3: 50mm Summitar f/2
4: 50mm Summar f/2
5: Canon 50mm F1.2 @ f/1.5
6: Canon 50mm F1.2 @ f/2
7: 50mm Zeiss-Opton Sonnar f/1.5 (Contax mount) @ f/1.5

I hope some time not so far in the future I'll test all the above again, including the Summarit, the Summilux pre-asph, and Helios-103 53mm f/1.8
 

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Gabriel: Thanks for posting your test results. My first results posted in this thread are in B&W too, so comparisons can be made. There is a need to carefully do testing again and again to get at the differences due to lens design and performance and those due to human error.

Raid
 
I have just completed the rollof film in the Nikon S2 with the Nikkor 50m/1.4. Before that,I finshed one roll with the Canon 7s and its 50mm/1.95 lens. I "bracketed" in focusing and took repeated shots to reduce the effects of human error. My focus bracketing is actually a repeat of focusing after throwing the lens out of focus.I added a new element in the test by creating a focus chart of hundreds of numbers and letters on pieces of paper. I used large and small fonts. It is my resolution test. Who knows, maybe it is useful.

I am now going out to get the two rolls developed and scanned.


Raid
 
Thanks for posting that Gabriel. If you need to borrow a 50mm summilux pre-asph let me know. The Canon 50mm 1.2 looks really nice.
 
MikeL said:
Thanks for posting that Gabriel. If you need to borrow a 50mm summilux pre-asph let me know. The Canon 50mm 1.2 looks really nice.
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Mike: Is this an offer for me or Gabriel?

Raid
 
I used a light tripod with cable release to get the following photos. The first few photos of Dana were taken hand-held. The Canon 50mm/0.95 lens was used wide open. Film is Ilford XP2 Super rated at ASA 200.
The target photos show me that either I am still not focusing accurately or that the lens cannot resolve enough to show the small print.

I am quite pleased with the performance of this ultra-fast lens wide open. I did not skip/edit any frames on the film. These are the first 12 or so images on the roll. When using a lens hood, the rangefinder patch was barely visible, so I removed the lens hood.

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder.tcl?folder_id=672398

Let us know your views.

Raid
 
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ferider said:
Thanks for posting these, Raid. What is the light streak in

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=5310679 ?

Also, are you using your T for these ? If yes, how about doing a comparison of the same photo taken with T and your .85 M6 ?

Best,

Roland.
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Roland,

Mark mailed me his Canon 7s for use with the 50mm/0.95 lens.
I don't know if this huge lens can be used on the M6. Maybe Mark can clarifiy this issue, unless you have the answers [you usually do].

I wil ltake another look at the images to identify the source of the"light streak".

Raid
 
Roland: I was shooting in the living room, with a torchiere light turned on. It could be that the light was reflected from the glass covers of some furniture pieces. This is the only photo with such a light streak.


Raid
 
I now have the scans ready for the Nikkor 50/1.4 that Kiu sent me with his S2 camera. Focusing was very easy with the S2. I will post the results tonight maybe.

Raid
 
raid said:
Roland,

Mark mailed me his Canon 7s for use with the 50mm/0.95 lens.
I don't know if this huge lens can be used on the M6. Maybe Mark can clarifiy this issue, unless you have the answers [you usually do].

I wil ltake another look at the images to identify the source of the"light streak".

Raid
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The 50/0.95 has a unique bayonet mount, and can only be used on a Canon 7 camera. Unfortunately, the lens cannot be mounted on a M6, although I have seen quite a few of these lenses on eBay that have been converted to M mount.

Raid I enjoyed the pics from the 50/0.95. I think that you did a very good job focusing this lens wide open, a task that I have always found to be difficult. As to the fall-off in resolution away from the center, my experience indicates that this is characteristic of this lens, and is not a focusing error on your part. I believe this issue is a common criticism of the lens- that, and some folks find the rendering of OOF areas to be a bit harsh, with an apparent double-line image.
 
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Mark: I enjoyed using your ultra-fast lens. Such a large max aperture opens the door to nonstandard photos. I read somewhere about the need of a Canon 7 camera for this lens,and so I did not attempt to use any other camera with it.

I received Kiu's Nikkor 50/1.1 today, so a comparison of the two special lenses is a must.

Raid


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The 50/0.95 has a unique bayonet mount, and can only be used on a Canon 7 camera. Unfortunately, the lens cannot be mounted on a M6, although I have seen quite a few of these lenses on eBay that have been converted to M mount.

Raid I enjoyed the pics from the 50/0.95. I think that you did a very good job focusing this lens wide open, a task that I have always found to be difficult. As to the fall-off in resolution away from the center, my experience indicates that this is characteristic of this lens, and is not a focusing error on your part. I believe this issue is a common criticism of the lens- that, and some folks find the rendering of OOF areas to be a bit harsh, with an apparent double-line image.

Mark

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