Steve M.
Veteran
First, let me give a big Thank You for all of the great suggestions everyone gave me on my Best $100 SLR question. Nearly drove myself nuts (nutser?) trying to figure that one out.
After ALMOST getting a Nikon FE/FE2 w/ a 50 1.8 lens I hesitated. What if it's not sharp enough? You can never have a too-sharp lens in my opinion. Rangefinders have spoiled me because the lenses are pretty darned sharp. Or, barring sharpness, how about just different? Something w/ a tangible character? OK, I probably should concentrate on getting better shots, but good gear never hurt anyone. So I bought an odd duck, at least in my little photo world, which was also double my $100 figure. I got a Contax 139Q w/ a Zeiss Planar 50 1.7. The photos I looked at on the web looked very sharp from that lens, although the bokeh was not that great.
About 10 minutes after buying it I discovered all these internet postings swearing that the Hexanon/Rokkor/Minolta 50 1.7 lenses werejust as good as the Zeiss Planar! And for peanuts! Ain't this always how it goes. So before I go and buy a sample of every *!!:#^$ 50mm lens ever made, can someone tell me which BUDGET (maybe up to $80?) 40mm to 50mm lens really did it for you? Not necessarily the sharpest ones, although I like that, but something that had the best "oomph" to the photos. If I had any sense I'd just buy another R 50 Summicron, but I truly don't want a $500 SLR kit.
After ALMOST getting a Nikon FE/FE2 w/ a 50 1.8 lens I hesitated. What if it's not sharp enough? You can never have a too-sharp lens in my opinion. Rangefinders have spoiled me because the lenses are pretty darned sharp. Or, barring sharpness, how about just different? Something w/ a tangible character? OK, I probably should concentrate on getting better shots, but good gear never hurt anyone. So I bought an odd duck, at least in my little photo world, which was also double my $100 figure. I got a Contax 139Q w/ a Zeiss Planar 50 1.7. The photos I looked at on the web looked very sharp from that lens, although the bokeh was not that great.
About 10 minutes after buying it I discovered all these internet postings swearing that the Hexanon/Rokkor/Minolta 50 1.7 lenses werejust as good as the Zeiss Planar! And for peanuts! Ain't this always how it goes. So before I go and buy a sample of every *!!:#^$ 50mm lens ever made, can someone tell me which BUDGET (maybe up to $80?) 40mm to 50mm lens really did it for you? Not necessarily the sharpest ones, although I like that, but something that had the best "oomph" to the photos. If I had any sense I'd just buy another R 50 Summicron, but I truly don't want a $500 SLR kit.