What SLR lens is most like the 35/50 v2 Summilux?

[fotomeow]

50/1.4 SMC Takumar? One hell of a lens. No equivalent in the Pentax or Zeiss M42 range to the 35 Lux, though.

I have seen some photos of this lens before, (and now again on Flickr) I now what you are referring to. I just did a brief search for the type of lens mount, but on clear answer: is it a K mount? m42? Perhaps more importantly, are there adaptors which would allow me to mount to Nikon/Canon/etc?

He might go the opposite way and look for a Nikkor-S 5.8cm f/1.4 from 1960 or so, then 🙂

Get it AI-converted and use it on a D700.

RXMD: Interesting suggestion, since another fellow (TWoK) had also referenced this lens in a PM I had sent him before starting this thread. Since two folks have suggested this, I will definitely follow up on it.

How about Olympus OM 50mm f2 macro?

I've been curious when the Zuickiholics would chime in and what recommendations they would make. What signature of the OM 50/2 Macro are similar to the Lux?

thanks, Gary

 

[john_s]

......... I will look into the Nikor H 50 2.0 and 35 2.8 single coated. For under $200, that would be great (on the $3000 dSLR!).

THANKS FOR ALL THE INFO,
Gary

As someone has already suggested, the very old Nikon lenses (pre Ai) need to be modified before they can be used on modern bodies.

 

[fotomeow]

Hi Gary, good thread you've started. I've actually been in the same boat as you. I love the old Leica look, with the glow and just that touch of old school softness. Now for the bad news. My advice before you splurge a whole lot of money down on a D700 and a bunch of lenses is to go rent the camera and lenses first to try it out. Somewhere like www.lensrental.com Why? IMO, it's not really a question of Nikon lenses vs Leica lenses and the look of it. In your case, I feel like it's going to be a situation of film vs digital.

In my past experience of trying to use old lenses on digital cameras, be it the M8 or the Canon 5D/1Dmkiii, the result was nothing at all like film. I can't give you the technical explanation as I'm not an engineer, but for me, the old school lenses on film looked right. On digital, it just looked like the whole images was out of focus. Is it because digital is so sharp and the tolerance for focus is so low? is it because digital has the tendency to be so high resolution that all the flaws in a lens like CA, fringing, that gave character to film images now come to light as what they truly are in digital? i'm not sure. I know one of the main difference for me between film and digital is the transition from in focus to out of focus is far more abrupt on digital to my eyes. This alone would make a pretty big difference to the ay old school lenses look.

Anyway, my thoughts are to rent it and try before you make the leap. you might be back to film pretty quick.

Will definitely rent the d700 or other dSLR before plunking down $3k. I have been using my 35mm and 50mm Summilux' with my RD1s and like the rendition. I actually havent run a roll thru my M6 with these lenses yet.

Perhaps images will look even better with film and the Lux', but right now I am just loving the convenience of digital. Although I havent tried to max out the print size with the RD1s and the Lux', I have actually been pretty happy with digital screen shots.
Two main reasons I am wanting FF digital: I want a freakin' 35mm to be a freakin' 35mm, not crop factored to 50mm, so that I can have a fasst 35mm. And the second reason is economics: for me, anyway, I want a break from the time and energy of carting negs around, processing, scanning, and the cost involved. This may be heresy on RFF, but plunking $3K down on a digital FF will pay for itself in a couple years in terms of the costs for money and energy spent on film.
That said, I will still keep my M6 for special film projects. eg, I have a couple rolls of Tech Pan to play with.

 

[paulfish4570]

Flektogon 35/2.4 ...

 

[BTMarcais]

the 50mm f/1.4 SMC Takumar from pentax is a M42 screw lens (and the last screw mount version of the 50mm f/1.4). Easy to adapt to pretty much any system.

-Brian

 

[Quinn Porter]

Try the current Zeiss 50 f/1.4. It's available in most modern DSLR mounts.

 

[Frank Petronio]

Why not the Nikon 50/1.2 AIS?

 

[Bingley]

What about the MD Rokkor 50/1.4?

 

[nobbylon]

The only lenses I've seen and had, that give the 35/50 lux look are the leica R glass. However to use on my D700 and use stop down metering would be a pain even though most of the time I use lenses wide open. I've got a single coated 50 H f2.0 Nikkor and it's nice. Very sharp lens and on a D700 gives warmer colours compaired to multicoated. You will need to AI the lens before fitting it to a D700 though. I also use the 28mm AIS which is by far the best 28 i've had and is nearly always on my D700. Sharp, no barrel dist' and nice oof plus it focus's very close 20cm.

 

[fotomeow]

So far a few folks have mentioned the SMC Takumar 50/1.4, and two gents have suggested the Nikon-S 58/1.4 from the 60s or so.
There seem to be fewer 35mm options, at least at the f1.4 speed. I like the idea of older single coated lenses, I do a lot of B&W.
In any case, Ive started an Excel spreadsheet to write down the suggestions, Ive been research the suggested lenses, but just cant keep up!
Please keep the suggestions coming. If its not to much to ask, any photos of images taken with suggested lenses would be MUCH appreciated!
thanks, Gary

 

[fotomeow]

The only lenses I've seen and had, that give the 35/50 lux look are the leica R glass. However to use on my D700 and use stop down metering would be a pain even though most of the time I use lenses wide open. I've got a single coated 50 H f2.0 Nikkor and it's nice. Very sharp lens and on a D700 gives warmer colours compaired to multicoated. You will need to AI the lens before fitting it to a D700 though. I also use the 28mm AIS which is by far the best 28 i've had and is nearly always on my D700. Sharp, no barrel dist' and nice oof plus it focus's very close 20cm.

thanks Nobbylon, but Im not familiar with the "stop-down metering", and why it would be a PITA. Could someone tell me?

 

[Makten]

Why not the Nikon 50/1.2 AIS?

Yeah, or the 55/1.2! Both are very soft and dreamy wide open, but sharp as hell once you hit f/2. Contrast is moderate wide open and a little better stopped down. The 50 is certainly more "modern" than the 55, so the choice isn't obvious.

Here are some wide open shots with the 55/1.2 on D700...

The bokeh is a bit nervous, but smoothens considerably at f/2.
And here some with the 50/1.2 wide open on D700. Please note that my PP style is drawn towards high contrast and saturated colors.

And again, if you stop down to f/2 the bokeh gets very nice and "controlled"...

 

[Makten]

thanks Nobbylon, but Im not familiar with the "stop-down metering", and why it would be a PITA. Could someone tell me?

Stop down metering means that you'll have to manually stop down the lens before taking the picture, which means that your viewfinder will go almost black at small apertures (especially if you've installed a focusing screen designed for easier MF). Using Nikon MF lenses on Nikon (pro and semi pro) cameras allows auto-stopdown, just as modern lenses. But you have to use the aperture ring instead of the dials on the camera.
So, using an old Nikkor on D700 is a breeze compared to adapting MF lenses onto a 5D. But you are of course restricted to Nikkors.

 

[ferider]

If you are serious about your question, you should really have a look here:

http://www.leitax.com/leica-lens-for-nikon-cameras.html

From that page, for instance (after conversion to Nikon mount):

The 35/1.4 R-Summilux is one of the few lenses not adaptable that way, but the 35 Summicron is.

If you don't want to use a Leica-R lens due to budget, that would be understandable, of course.

If you just want smooth bokeh and sharp and don't really care about the very detailed signature, just pick your FF body, and buy a modern lens of the same vendor. I doubt you will be disappointed.

Roland.

 

[andreios]

The only lenses I've seen and had, that give the 35/50 lux look are the leica R glass. However to use on my D700 and use stop down metering would be a pain even though most of the time I use lenses wide open. I've got a single coated 50 H f2.0 Nikkor and it's nice. Very sharp lens and on a D700 gives warmer colours compaired to multicoated. You will need to AI the lens before fitting it to a D700 though. I also use the 28mm AIS which is by far the best 28 i've had and is nearly always on my D700. Sharp, no barrel dist' and nice oof plus it focus's very close 20cm.

Which 28mm Nikkor are you referring to? The f.2.8? Thanks

 

[ashrafazlan]

I believe it's the MF 28mm F/2 version, hell of a lens.

 

[Makten]

I believe it's the MF 28mm F/2 version, hell of a lens.

The 28/2.8 AI-S is also a hell of a lens, especially for closeups. A very nice thing about it is that it gives virtually NO distortion what so ever. Quite uncommon at that focal length.

Note that the AI version is not the same lens optically, and is often said to be inferior. Haven't tried it though.

 

[nobbylon]

Which 28mm Nikkor are you referring to? The f.2.8? Thanks

The 28mm 2.8 AIS. Easily distinguished from earlier version by the 20cm focus mark on the barrel. Even better than the f2 version. Sharp as a pin even wide open. It's one of Nikon's finest. They're not expensive. @ £150-200 I got mine from ebay for £46 !!! It had some fungus on the inside of the front element which after cleaning is perfect. Getting that element out is a bit of a pain though!

 

[fotomeow]

Makten: THANK YOU for going to the trouble of posting the pics with the 55/1.2 AIS. I really like the signature of that lens. The have more difficulty "seeing" the quality of the lens in color than B&W (I shoot more B&W), but the examples you gave would seem to look quite good in B&W: fast, sharp focus plane, nice (creamy-ish) tonal rendition and bokeh.
I'm not into the modern look at this time, so I would lean toward the 55/1.2 rather than the 50/1.2 (but thanks Frank, all recommendations 'preciated).
And I will remember the 28mm AIS suggested (in my Excel spreadsheet!) if I decide to go wider than 35mm.
Best,

 

[fotomeow]

If you are serious about your question, you should really have a look here:

http://www.leitax.com/leica-lens-for-nikon-cameras.html

From that page, for instance (after conversion to Nikon mount):

The 35/1.4 R-Summilux is one of the few lenses not adaptable that way, but the 35 Summicron is.

If you don't want to use a Leica-R lens due to budget, that would be understandable, of course.

If you just want smooth bokeh and sharp and don't really care about the very detailed signature, just pick your FF body, and buy a modern lens of the same vendor. I doubt you will be disappointed.

Roland, thanks for the link to Leitax site, its quite informative. I may have to go with a 35mm Cron instead of a Lux due to compatibility AND cost. The 50mm Luxes arent cheap either, but on par with the M Luxes, so at least I could swap my M 50 Lux for an R 50 Lux.