Personal experience with 50/1.4ASPH vs. Hexanon 50/1.2?

[didjiman]

The 50/1.4ASPH is probably one of the finese 50mm ever, so what would I lose if I were to trade to a 50/1.2? (besides gaining half a stop and have pennies left over)

 

[Tom A]

You would loose the close up performance, the razor edge sharpness and (less of a loss) the high contrast of the 50f1.4 Asph. I have limited experience with the 1.2/50 - but I used to have the 60f1.2 and there is no comparison, As you say - the 50f1,4 Asph is most likely one of the highest performing 50's ever made (as it should be at that price). The 1/2 stop gain would not be enough to offset the loss of performance in my estimation.

 

[35mmdelux]

the other negative with the Hex 50/1.2 is its size. Its big; not the kind of lens you're going to want to drag around daily. When Im shooting with the 35 Lux ASPH I carry the 50 ASPH in my pocket or small lens case off my belt. Same reason why I dont get a Noct.

 

[awilder]

The Hex 50/1.2 is not that heavy at 390 grams while the 50/1.4 ASPH in matching silver chome would actually weigh a tad more. The main difference has more to do with size than weight owing to the larger aperture. I've owned both at different times, sold the ASPH over a year ago and have had the Hex for about 7 months. Build quality in comparison is a tad better on the Hex mainly due to the slightly tacky feel of the ASPH focus action. Some say it gets better with extended use but others have complained about it's lack of smoothness and tried with mixed success to correct the problem by return for repair. As Tom said, if ultimate sharpness is the goal, it's one the very best but the 50 Hex is also currently the best 50/1.2 optics out there for an rf. For certain optical reasons, it's just technically impossible for any 50/1.2 to ever beat a well corrected 50/1.4 even if both had special glass and aspheric curves, the original 50/1.2 Noctilux a case in point. Close up performance of the ASPH while good is not quite as good as the current Summicron or Elmar-M at 0.7 m based on my own tests and published reports by Erwin Puts. Back to your original question about what you'd loose in trade, I say very fine resolution between f/1.4-3.4 but in actual picture taking it's almost moot given that these differnces will be lost if there is any camera shake or minor misfocus.