New 50mm lens hunt

[aizan]

Anything I'm leaving out?

Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton
Voigtlander 50/1.1 Nokton (the new f/1.2 if you can stretch your budget)
Zeiss 50/1.5 C Sonnar
7artisans 50/1.1

 

[Wenge]

Am liking my recent-bought 50 f/2 ZM Planar of any of my 50's now, small & light like a Summicron, set it to infinity and everything in the landscape field falls in sharp focus from ~f/11-ish to f/22 (beyond ~25 feet or so). open at f/2 and sharp all across the range from f/2-f/22 (yes f/22 is good). this is on a Nikon Z6.

 

[dourbalistar]

Anything I'm leaving out?

Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton
Voigtlander 50/1.1 Nokton (the new f/1.2 if you can stretch your budget)
Zeiss 50/1.5 C Sonnar
7artisans 50/1.1

Looks like a pretty complete list to me, at least for lenses that you can buy brand new (that aren't Leica). I'm not sure if that's a requirement for the OP.

 

[Ccoppola82]

I have the Nokton 50 1.5 and the Sonnar C 50 1.5. If you can live with focus shift, I really love the Sonnar. IQ is unique enough and most importantly to me, it’s a lot smaller than the Nokton. Both are fantastic and will serve you well.

 

[kxl]

... price range, roughly £600... Would like my new lens to be sharpish wide open, modern rendering, faster than f2

The nokton 1.5 is a good choice, how does that compared to the Zeiss zm f1.5 and f2?

Neither Zeiss lens meets ALL of your original criteria. Neither do the f1.1 and f1.2 Noktons.

The CV 50/1.5 Nokton does.

Keeping all of your other requirements but allowing f2, then the Zeiss Planar and Hex-M would be on top of the list.

 

[richardHaw]

get...a...Sonnar...😱😱😱

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

The Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f2 ZM lens is outstanding! While I have faster lenses this f2 has never failed to impress me.

It can be sharp too!

You get a lot of bang for the buck with this lens.

Mike

 

[dourbalistar]

get...a...Sonnar...😱😱😱

Nikkor-H.C 5cm f/2 LTM! 😛
or Canon 50mm f/1.5 LTM for speed! 😀

 

[nzeeman]

maybe jupiter 3 - sonnar always look modern if you get sharp example...
and of course that 7artisans lens but it seems like it is a bit bigger size...
or first version of nokton f1.5 ltn
(and if u stumble upon heliar f2 ltm- that one looks so lovely!)

 

[AlexBG]

Anything I'm leaving out?

Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton
Voigtlander 50/1.1 Nokton (the new f/1.2 if you can stretch your budget)
Zeiss 50/1.5 C Sonnar
7artisans 50/1.1

These were what I was looking at including the zeiss f2, have ordered the Norton 1.5 now, did a lot of looking at Flickr and other sites and reviews of it last night, seems perfect for what I want. Have to see how the size is on the hexar.

 

[richardHaw]

Nikkor-H.C 5cm f/2 LTM! 😛
or Canon 50mm f/1.5 LTM for speed! 😀

Nikkors! because of the close-focus 😱😱😱

 

[dourbalistar]

Nikkors! because of the close-focus 😱😱😱

The close focus ability of the Nikkors is a nice feature, but in practice, I think it works better adapted on digital cameras with live view. Are there any RF cameras that have rangefinder focus coupling in the close focus range of the Nikkors? Short of that (no pun intended), I believe you'd have to manually measure to achieve accurate focus.

 

[WJJ3]

The close focus ability of the Nikkors is a nice feature, but in practice, I think it works better adapted on digital cameras with live view. Are there any RF cameras that have rangefinder focus coupling in the close focus range of the Nikkors? Short of that (no pun intended), I believe you'd have to manually measure to achieve accurate focus.

When I shoot my 5cm f2 Nikkor-H I make sure my strap is adjusted so I can measure 45cm to my subject. This technique requires some practice, but works alright for MFD shooting.

 

[dourbalistar]

When I shoot my 5cm f2 Nikkor-H I make sure my strap is adjusted so I can measure 45cm to my subject. This technique requires some practice, but works alright for MFD shooting.

Interesting technique, I may have to try that! I know the Olympus XA4's wrist strap is designed for measuring minimum focus distance shooting, but never occurred to me to do the same for other lenses. Thanks for the tip!