What is the best cheap but beautiful 50mm there is?

OurManInTangier

OurManInTangier

An Undesirable
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I'm currently bidding on a Canon 50mm f/1.8 as they're cheap but by many accounts fine lenses. Without wanting to become a complete gear addict I'd also be intrigued to know what everyone thinks is a great but cheap 50mm. I'm looking for something that gives images with real character be it; soft and hazy or incredible bokeh etc etc.

I've heard people say good things about the Jupiter 8 50mm and Elmar lenses too. Can anyone give me some idea of lenses that may fit the bill AND what you consider their best attributes to be.

Must be on a budget as this will be a second 50mm for less general usage. I use a M6 and don't care what mount so long as I can get an adapter.

Cheers
 
If you can find a Konica hexanon M 50/2, you will be quite happy- Like everything, they are expensive in the UK, but back when I was searching for one, I sometimes found them in Holland advertised, so perhaps there are some there to be found on that dutch auction site.
The jupiter 8 is great and really cheap, the only gripe I have with my old 1950's models is that they focus with a little tab, and have a very long throw..
Tab focus is fine when you only have to move the thing 30 degrees, but the J8 is more like 190 degrees I think. In practice it's not as bad as that if you just scale focus a bit before bring the camera up.

Another under-rated beauty I believe is the CV 50/2.5 skopar. It's ever so small, yet heavy, and like the hex can do no wrong.
 
Canon 50 1.2

It is absolutely unique among 50mm lenses. Has a signature unlike anything else. And I think beautiful.
 
Summitar 5cm/2. A lens with many faces. Soft, portrait-like wide open. Very crisp from f4 on. Beautiful in B&W but with good color rendition too. Should be able to be had for about $200 including CLA.
 
J8, Elmar f3.5, Elmarski f3.5, Elmar f2.8 (original), Summar, Summitar, Summarit, col. Summicron, CV50f2.5

These are the lenses I have and want to get to know better.
 
Canon 50mm f1.8.
Ziess Opton Sonnar 50mm f1.5.
Jupiter J-8 50mm f2.0.

That's all that I have experience with.

Wayne
 
A good J8 is def. the most bang for your buck, and a col. I10, I22, or I50 is very very close to the Elmar f3.5, if not equal or better, depending on your sample.
 
Last edited:
1. Jupiter-8
2. Jupiter-3
3. Industar-50 (collapsible or rigid)
4. Industar-61L\D
 
Can I ask what makes some of these lenses so good. For instance, I've seen a few shots Tuna took with an old Elmar that just oozes an old style softness that just seems to work so well, very different to soft modern lenses. I'm not sure if this effect came from Tuna's lens being covered in hazy fungal nastiness or if its a 'trait' of all Elmar lenses
 
Here's a gratutious J-8 bokeh shot or two:

270942908_0008d0ccd5.jpg


93471229_6dcb5bde06.jpg


And the Industar-61:

38431437_0f256d230e.jpg
 
I'll add another vote for the J-8. A good one is really very good indeed. Another lens I was very pleasantly surprised by is my rigid I-50, which gives very nice tonality. (I also have a CV 50/2.5 Skopar on the way, which if it's anything like the 35/2.5 Skopar will be wonderful, but it depends what you mean by "cheap")
 
a key to plenty cheap, plenty fantastic 50mm's, could be ditching the rf's, and get an olympus slr. or pentax, or konica, or... (in no particular order)

or, do this, but without ditching anything ,-)
 
Use the Canon 50/1.8 a lot before you get GAS for another 50.

After doing that, if you feel the need for something "different" or "special", then the Canon 50/1.2, Nikkor 50/1.4 or Leitz DR Summicron 51.9/2.0 are worth investigating.
 
I don't want to hear about it

I don't want to hear about it

rogue_designer said:
Canon 50 1.2

It is absolutely unique among 50mm lenses. Has a signature unlike anything else. And I think beautiful.
Click to expand...

Stop it! ;)
 
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