Help me Choose a 50

[Gid]

Part of the ongoing saga of gear rationalisation. I have four 50mm lenses - Summarit 1.5, CV Nokton, latest 'cron and Hexanon F2 (no, 5 if I count the tri-elmar). I'm keeping the Summarit as its not worth much. I am going to sell 2 of the remaining 50 s and hang onto the tri-elmar for the time being. The CV is almost a certain sell. The problem I have is in deciding between the 'cron and the Hexanon. I've run all sorts of tests at various F stops to try to discern what the differences are between these two lenses and to my untrained eye, the Hexanon seems to be at least the match of the 'cron and in a lot of cases marginally better (very subjective term - I'm not shooting test charts 🙂). I noticed that the photodo tests of these two lenses gave very similar results - 'cron 4.6 average and Hex 4.5 average. I'll probably get more for the 'cron, so that would give me more £ for new lenses.

Any comments, advice etc gratefully received.

 

[clintock]

The hex has better bokeh than the cron, if that matters to you.

edit-oops you said you had the latest cron, my bokeh-comparing experience and resulting bias involves my old 7 element summicron .. .

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

The hex has better bokeh than the cron, if that matters to you.

I respectfully disagree. They both have fine bokeh, equal in my experience.

 

[Gid]

There does appear to be very little difference between the two lenses in terms of how they render an image (to my eye at least) and build quality is similar, but the hex is a little smaller. I think I'm convincing myself to keep the Hex - voting with my eyes rather than by name 😱

 

[Trius]

I can't comment with any authority, but Hexanon shots I've seen "convince" me that the Summicron can't be any better, well not appreciably better. Some of Gene's shots with the Hexanon convinced me that if I were to splash out for an M body & 50, I'd search out a Hexanon.

 

[Kim Coxon]

If you are happy to keep either of the lenses, I would sell the one you would get most benefit ie £'s from 😉

Kim

 

[wongyboi]

I would sell off the Hexanon..........to me 😛

 

[Trius]

Uh,Wongy, I think it's mine.

 

[Magus]

Post deleted by posters request

 

[tajart]

oh geez, i think of myself as a 35 focal length shooter, usually, but i do find i have more 50s than i realize...current cron, nokton, ltm elmar 2.8, ltm elmar 3.5, ltm summarit, and i even parted with a rigid chrome cron and collapsible cron... what ends up on my camera most often is the current 50 summicron w built in hood, but, i also really like the nokton...but i can't part with any of the others either....

 

[Gid]

I think having more 50s than you need is a common affliction on RFF 🙂 .

 

[mfunnell]

I must say that (on the basis of almost no experience with RF lenses) I really like my Hexanon 50 - in bright light or in low light. If I were to decide to get another 50 I think it would have to be a stop faster for me to even consider it, as low-light is the only thing I think another might be able to do significantly better.

I liked the Hexanon so much that I specifically sought out a Hexanon 35 to go with it, and paid pretty steeply (though not at all unfairly) for it. When it arrives, well, if I like it even partly as well as the 50 then I'll like it a lot indeed.

Samples from the 50 - low light and bright light:





...Mike

 

[ghost]

sell everything and go for a 50mm summilux pre-asph or zm c sonnar. i imagine you could get ~$800 for everything.

 

[JohnM]

Sell the CV 50 and the current Summicron.

If you cannot pick a favorite between the Hex and the 'Cron, sell the one that will bring you the most in return! (And then spend that on more gear...)

I own a current Summicron and have owned a Hexanon - they are really, really close in feel and look.

 

[waileong]

The differences

The differences

A decision to rationalise should take into account more than just "which lens has the higher resolution".

Lenses have more qualities than just resolution or lpm. Beyond optical qualities such as colour cast, bokeh, glow, "look", etc. there are also physical qualities such as weight, filter size, build quality, ergonomics, etc.

A summicron produces a different look from a summarit and these two lenses suit different subjects. I would say the latter would be great for black and white portraits, for instance.

Don't get to obssessed with Photodo ratings. They are "averaged". Frankly, the performance of a lens wide open is far more important than its performance stopped down. If you shoot a lot of low light or wide-open pictures, you'll want to look at the performance wide open very closely.

Part of the ongoing saga of gear rationalisation. I have four 50mm lenses - Summarit 1.5, CV Nokton, latest 'cron and Hexanon F2 (no, 5 if I count the tri-elmar). I'm keeping the Summarit as its not worth much. I am going to sell 2 of the remaining 50 s and hang onto the tri-elmar for the time being. The CV is almost a certain sell. The problem I have is in deciding between the 'cron and the Hexanon. I've run all sorts of tests at various F stops to try to discern what the differences are between these two lenses and to my untrained eye, the Hexanon seems to be at least the match of the 'cron and in a lot of cases marginally better (very subjective term - I'm not shooting test charts 🙂). I noticed that the photodo tests of these two lenses gave very similar results - 'cron 4.6 average and Hex 4.5 average. I'll probably get more for the 'cron, so that would give me more £ for new lenses.

Any comments, advice etc gratefully received.

 

[Harry Lime]

Keep the Summicron.

For one thing you will always be able to find someone willing to service it.
It will also have a higher resale value, if you should decide to trade it.
It can be upgraded with the lensmount coding for digital M cameras, if you should ever go that route.

It's just about the best 50 around, what more could you ask for?

 

[1dave]

There looks like a primo LTM Nikkor 5cm f1.4, with M-series adapter for sale for 550. by Dreamsandart in the classified.
Looks mint to me.

 

[dcsang]

To answer the subject of this post:

NO! I will not help you choose one!!
😀

but really..
Hexanon-M 50 or Rigid Cron... those are my two.. and I'm gosh darn happy with both.

Dave

 

[ampguy]

Wrong Tom 😉

Wrong Tom 😉

Clintock is right. I read it on the innerweb 😉 oh, and took some photos.

I respectfully disagree. They both have fine bokeh, equal in my experience.

 

[clintock]

The bokeh of the hexanon is so awesome I just want to set it on .7m and shoot every thing intentionally out of focus all day.
Prolly be a big improvement for me, it may mask my tendency to move the camera during the exposure.

My old 7-element and even the little summicron c 40 make blood cells on highlights in the out of focus that the hex does not. Maybe the newest summicron does not, I don't know.