Lenses with the most "character"?

[Lord Fluff]

I know the Noctilux is one.....

But I've read the Summarit 50/1.5 is another......

Any other offers? I'm talking "indefinable quality" here, not sharpness. I have a nice range of Canon EOS gear for "performance" - I'm erring towards "feel' for my Leica collection, which is in its infancy at present. Rather than just head down the Summicron/etc route, I really fancy lenses that can do stuff my Canon gear can't, in terms of the overall look of the image.

Thanks all

 

[M. Valdemar]

Just buy any M-mount lens and rub the front element with a little sandpaper.

 

[pfoto]

The pre-ASPH Summilux. A bit on the soft side but unique images.

 

[cmogi10]

anything with a bit of fogging or haze.

 

[mfogiel]

The really unique lens in M-mount is the C Sonnar 50/1.5 - it is a combination of a modern lens and a lens from the thirties - be careful about the focus shift. And if I may correct you, there's no lens in the Canon line which can compete against the best RF lenses in the 0 to 50mm range.

 

[cmogi10]

The really unique lens in M-mount is the C Sonnar 50/1.5 - it is a combination of a modern lens and a lens from the thirties - be careful about the focus shift. And if I may correct you, there's no lens in the Canon line which can compete against the best RF lenses in the 0 to 50mm range.

The Sonnar is a brilliant lens and I feel like the focus shift has been blown way out of proportion. It has been pretty much glued to whatever I've been shooting with since I got it.

 

[ampguy]

Hi Carl

Hi Carl

But from what I've read about this lens, it changed design at some point, as a result of user feedback, so do you have the early one or a recent one?

The Sonnar is a brilliant lens and I feel like the focus shift has been blown way out of proportion. It has been pretty much glued to whatever I've been shooting with since I got it.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Just buy any M-mount lens and rub the front element with a little sandpaper.

I hate to say it, but Mr. Valdemar is right.

I have a Contax mount 50mm f/1.5 Zeiss-Opton, and as much as I love that lens in spite of its quirky handling (you focus, and sometimes the aperture ring gets rotated, if you're too focused on the image, and not the lens)...it has some fog:


Leica M8 + Zeiss-Opton 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar (Contax mount)

But when there is no strong source of light, the true character of this lens comes out:


Leica M8 + Zeiss-Opton 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar (Contax mount)

Both of these are shot "wide-open". Notice how one image is rendered with that "glow" (which I call "haze") that brings out the best of people in online discussion boards.

Any lens that is not in spic-n-span condition will exhibit virtually the same character: soft.

This Summarit (the real 50mm f/1.5 Summarit) has a slightly different character than the 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar, and this sample is clean and scratchless:


Leica M8 + 50mm f/1.5 Summarit

 

[mfogiel]

The design is always the same, the focus calibration may be different, but having actually both versions, I think Zeiss is wise to insist on selling the "F2.8" one, and changing the calibration only on request. Or actually, they would be wiser, if they made the lens with an additional correction mechanism, to maintain the focus precise across the f-stops. It would probably cost more, but it would sell like hot cakes.

 

[ferider]

It did not change design, Ted. Some lenses have the RF cam rotated by 180 degrees, to optimized for f1.5 instead of f2.8. A possible modification part of and foreseen in the original design. I still insist that the original 2.8 optimization is more usable - not all of us shoot wide open all the time. And if you do there might be better lenses.

And the issue is blown way out of proportion - Thousands of PJ photos exist shot with other Sonnars, with similar design, and nobody ever complained before the internet existed.

Glad you like your lens, Carl 🙂

But I think the OP was considering Leitz lenses mostly.

I would add the Summitar and Summar.

If non-Leitz lenses are OK, any 50 Sonnar variant will be great, with a unique signature. Like the Canon 50/1.5 and Nikkor 50/1.4. Or Gabriel's Opton.

Roland.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

And a quick one with the Summitar:


Leica M8 + 50mm f/2 Summitar (coated)

It's a clean, flawless Summitar. Exhibits some flare with strong light sources in its own way:


Leica M8 + 50mm f/2 Summitar (coated)

Does anybody how to clean a Contax-mount 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar, btw?

 

[cmogi10]

Mine is optimized for 2.8,

I have no problems with the focus of the lens,
It seems like something that got a lot of people way to excited and become a much bigger deal then it actually is.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

The design is always the same, the focus calibration may be different, but having actually both versions, I think Zeiss is wise to insist on selling the "F2.8" one, and changing the calibration only on request. Or actually, they would be wiser, if they made the lens with an additional correction mechanism, to maintain the focus precise across the f-stops. It would probably cost more, but it would sell like hot cakes.

This is something that intrigues me (I've read about this issue in other places/threads), because the Zeiss-Opton that I have is spot-on. Whether it be wide open or at f/2.8, f/4. I don't have any images taken with this lens, shot stopped-down, uploaded, but I don't have this problem with mine.

I'm actually afraid of having my lens CLAd because I'm afraid that this "calibration" may be thrown off if anybody opens it.

 

[ferider]

This is something that intrigues me (I've read about this issue in other places/threads), because the Zeiss-Opton that I have is spot-on. Whether it be wide open or at f/2.8, f/4. I don't have any images taken with this lens, shot stopped-down, uploaded, but I don't have this problem with mine.

I'm actually afraid of having my lens CLAd because I'm afraid that this "calibration" may be thrown off if anybody opens it.

You don't "see it" because:

- you don't shoot measureing tapes and rulers 🙂
- older Sonnars have less contrast and the effect is less prominent.

Roland.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

You don't "see it" because:

- you don't shoot measureing tapes and rulers 🙂
- older Sonnars have less contrast and the effect is less prominent.

Do nipples count? 😱

Anyway, that's interesting to know: contrast affects this issue with the f/1.5 Sonnars? How's that?

 

[ampguy]

OK, thanks for the clarification mfogiel, Roland, and Carl. I am going to have to check one of these Sonnar C's out.

Gabriel, I know about the original Summarit 1.5, I wish I never sold mine, but the hood solution (which this lens needs) was pretty tricky with the odd filter size, and high cost of the originals.

 

[ferider]

Do nipples count? 😱

Shifting what ? 😀

Anyway, that's interesting to know: contrast affects this issue with the f/1.5 Sonnars? How's that?

Let me show you:

Nikkor 50/1.4 at f2:

Nikkor 50/1.4 at f1.4:

Same film, postprocessing, etc.

C-Sonnar 50/1.5 at f1.5-f2.8:

In the Nikkor, contrast "smears out", any focus shift is hardly visible. In the Sonnar, contrast stays the same, in parts due to modern glass, different #elements and better coating.

This looks dramatic for the Nikkor, but in practice it is great for portraits wide open and sharp, too.

Roland.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

ooooh. I see it; that's interesting.

Well, I guess the very unscientific tests (compared with graduated rulers, no less) I did a few years back will need to be redone, for a broader, office- and family-friendly audience.

All I need is a ruler. My measuring tape died a month ago.

Sorry Lord Fluff, to hijack the thread; but this is part of the character of some lenses, isn't it? 😱

 

[ampguy]

Roland, so it appears that with no correction the lens front focuses wide open, which can be nice at times. I see a bit of low contrast at 1.5 on my monitor.

Anyone have good experiences from "Joyful Japan" ? [ the camera store.. on *ebay]

 

[NickTrop]

Interesting thread. In my comparatively small (not to mention comparatively cheap) collection of lenses, hands down it's the Leica M39 50/2 Summar. That lens is nothing but "character". Has enough of whatchya call "character" for any ten lenses.

Distant runners up is the Ashi Super-Takumar M42 screwmount with the radioactive element and the Jupiter 9, 2/85.
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