The King of **50mm** Bokeh

Ronald M said:
Do not interchange optics and focus mounts. These are mated at the factory where exact measured focal is set to mounts to compensate for deviation from nominal. IE, if it works you are lucky.

Just buy a Rigid.
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The optics modules have the exact focal length scribed on them, and I exchanged focus mounts/modules both marked 51.9mm. Of 5 Rigid/DR Summicrons that I have disassembled, they were all scribed 51.9mm. Checked the focus with the M8.

I have a Summarit that is scribed 51.1mm. That one surprised me.
 
Todd.Hanz said:
damn, had to get halfway thru this thread before I saw the 50 pre-asph summilux mentioned, must be loosing favor but is my fav...

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Todd
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Based on the pics here... this looks like the nicest to my eyes. The part that's supposed to be in focus is sharp and the background is really, really smooth.
 
OK, here goes. Good thread by the way.

The WORST bokeh was a tie between this lens and my hated Summitar 50 (king of crazy, swirley bokeh) . Sold 'em both. So here in a tie is.....

The Pentax screwmount 50 1.4 lens! Yay.

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The BEST bokeh of any 50mm lens I ever had was clearly this one. A Leica R 50 Summicron. How do you get any better?

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And here, just to torture myself, is the lens I sold that was the best 50 lens I ever owned. Sheer stupidity. It was a Leica 50 Summicron Collapsible. No post processing, right from the cheap Fuji color film/Walgreens scan.

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Try to find the Tokyo version, Cal.

The only two 50s I have left since yesterday are DR and NKT 50/1.4 🙂 (M-mount that is)
 
what would happen

what would happen

image wise, if you put a 51.9 and 51.1 parts together?

Brian Sweeney said:
The optics modules have the exact focal length scribed on them, and I exchanged focus mounts/modules both marked 51.9mm. Of 5 Rigid/DR Summicrons that I have disassembled, they were all scribed 51.9mm. Checked the focus with the M8.

I have a Summarit that is scribed 51.1mm. That one surprised me.
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bokeh

bokeh

Do you find it is the bokeh you get from very close up shots (.7-1m) with the E46 that you like?

I like the lux v2's (E43 and E46) bokeh better than the CV 40/1.4s in most cases wide open, but I actually think the crons are as good or better at f2 and up.

When it comes down to it, you just need a reliable < f2 lens in all focal lengths if you are planning to do dark indoor or outdoor handheld shooting.

Bokeh has become secondary or tertiary for me, as long as better than the CV 40/1.4 artifacts. I do like that lens, but regardless of how low of a shutter speed, need to bracket to f2 if I suspect I'll get the artifiacts.

Speed, then size. For portrait sizes lenses like the 75 lux and Nikkor 105/2.5, you can't help but get good bokeh at 1-3m, but even at further distances, the 75/1.4 has worked for me at 1.4 to 2.8 hand held as a mini-tele, with 100% crops coming out as if I had a great long lens on a tripod.

wintoid said:
This is definitely subjective, but for what it's worth I don't rate the rigid or DR summicron particularly highly for bokeh. Of the 50s I've owned, it has to be the pre-asph summilux e46, but I see a lot to like in the Nokton 1.5 and especially the Hexanon 1.2 too.
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ampguy said:
What about say just .1mm off like 51.1 body and 51.2 head, focusing through say a 4/3 live view setup?
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The mismatch between the optics at 51.1mm and a focus mount at 51.9mm only affects the RF coupling to the actual focus. Using is with a 4/3rds camera- no problem as you see the actual image falling on the sensor.
 
I like the bokeh of my 50s. I don't have a favourite so far.

Canon 50/0.95
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Voigtlander Nokton 50/1.5
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Summitar 50/2
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Canon 50/1.8
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Summicron DR
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Summicron DR at closest focus distance (45cm)
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Last edited:
Summar 2/50 - Liquid bokeh and in b/w an unusual 3D quality.

Summicron DR/Rigid - Still the lens to beat in b/w... The best 50 ever made?

Summilux-M 1.4/50 - IMO the best high speed 50 I know of. There are sharper lenses out there, but the Lux delivers an incredible balance of tonality and contrast.
 
I really wish this lens was made in M mount,

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macro elmarit 60 2.8

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another with the 60 and for comparison, this with the early type collapsable elmar 50 2.8

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Brian's J3 pic has the best bokeh to my eye followed by the Sonnar. Type 1 Rigid Summicron to my eye is my least favorite - has that "nervous" look to me.
 
nobbylon said:
I really wish this lens was made in M mount,

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macro elmarit 60 2.8

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another with the 60 and for comparison, this with the early type collapsable elmar 50 2.8

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+1 for the Macro-Elmarit R 60/2.8. This lens has creamy out-of-focus rendering that is specially gorgeous on color negative, the closer the better.
 
is it just me, or is there a lot of harsh bokeh in this thread?

anyhow, my vote goes for the 50mm summilux asph.
 
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