How about starting a 50mm/1.5 lens test?

Sounds like the results will be fun to sift & winnow, Raid. Thank you for your work on this test.

William
 
Hi William,

I will leave our home in a few minutes to get the film developed and scanned.
The 50mm lenses have a special place in my heart. They are special.
 
I have a set-back. Roll # 1 wiith Leica mount lenses and the flare test was damaged during the processing. I will now start another three hour repeat test for these lenses. That's why we have weekends. :(


edit: I have redone the testing for the cases in Roll # 1 that got damaged. I added two more rolls of extra testing, and I have taken the new film to the developer.
 
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Good news: my set-back was an error. The damaged roll did come from lens testing but maybe a portrait session that is older.

I now have with me nine rolls of lens testing! The test was OK in execution.

I have taken a first look, and I can tell you that there are major differences in the flare test. This is not surprising since newer lenses have better coating.
The older Nikkor lenses also do well.
 
Here are a few samples from the test (Roll Nr. 1). I have a number with each lens to indicate the last two digits of the serial number. This particular roll has 22 images for sixteen LTM/M lenses at 1.4/1.5 and at 2.8. It is a flare test to assist us identify lenses that either must be cleaned up from the haze or just cases with poor flare control.


I need to label all iamges in all nine rolls. Then I will mail them to Roland.
 
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Canon 50mm 1.4 Nr. 72 at 1.4:

Canon147215.jpg




at 2.8:

Canon147228.jpg



Canon 50mm 1.4 Nr. 98 at 1.4:

Canon149814.jpg



at 2.8:
Canon149828.jpg
 
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J3 50mm 1.5 Nr. 90 at 1.5:
J39015.jpg


at 2.8:

J39028.jpg




J-3 50mm 1.5 Nr. 57 at 1.5:

J35715.jpg



at 2.8:
J35728.jpg



J3 Nr. 88 at 1.5:
J38815.jpg



at 2.8:

J38828.jpg


J3 Nr.93 at 1.5:

J39315.jpg


at 2.8:

J39328.jpg



There are quite some differences seen here.
 
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Nippon 50mm 1.4 SC at 1.5:
Nippon14SC4515.jpg




at 2.8:


Nippon14SC4528.jpg


Basically, I have nine rolls of film in the lens testing. One roll had 22 exposures,while the rest had 32-36 exposures. This is just for an early "tasting".

What do you think?
 
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My recently purchased J3 (Nr.57) focuses correctly after a Brian Sweeney shimming job, but it did very poorly for flare control. It is in need of cleaning. What a surprise to me!
 
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ampguy said:
Looks like a lot of lens have focus issues wide open.
Click to expand...

The focus point was the white strip on the Rolleiflex. The viewfinder cover is sharp, as it is meant to be. The light on the Rolleiflex was dim, and having me face a strong light source, it was difficult to focus. A follow-up test at better light have good focusing with all lenses.
 
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Raid I'm excited to see some fairly strong differences. Will you attempt to correlate flare performance with something like a flashlight test to see if internal haze is contributing? Let me know by email if I can help set up your FTP to share the scans with Roland.
 
Hi John,

I need your assistance to send Roland the files. I have been working on the labeling of each negative for the past few hours. I now have four of the nine rolls ready. I likeyour idea of double checking for haze with a flashlight. My J3 seems to be very sharp, but it needs cleaning.
 
ampguy said:
Looks like a lot of lens have focus issues wide open.
Click to expand...


"focus issues"

Respectfully, this is totally meaningless. The point of focus is apparent in every single one of the phootgraphs posted. Edge sharpness, or the lack of it at full aperature should not be labeled "focus issues", its pedestrian at best. In fact, based upon the photos posted, it doesnt appear as if any of the lenses have "focus issues" at all.
 
The lighting was very challenging for the lenses. The target (Rolleiflex) was poorly lit, and the bare bulb was an overwhelming source of light. Still, the target was well focused on, I think. It was not the video boxes that I focused on. By the way, no lens hood was used.
 
Raid,

I can't speak for anyone else, but these shots are already helpful to me. Thank you.

William
 
Raid,I thought it interesting that the two Canon 1.4 lenses appear to exhibit a slight difference in contrast. Assuming that all other factors are the same, the "98" lens appears to render higher contrast. Of course, a miniscule sample doesn't say much- I just find it interesting.

I would bet that a good cleaning of the J-3 would cut down on the flare significantly- a bit of oil on the lens elements would contribute to the flare.

Also, agree with an earlier poster- I don't think that there are any focus issues with the test.

Looking forward to the rest of the pics.
 
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