Canon LTM Canon 35mm f1.8 ltm - photos and discussion

[Bingley]

To be clear, I’m not dissing the 35/1.8... it’s a lovely lens among late 1950s optics, and the moderate contrast gives a pleasing look in both color and bw, including a roundness to subjects that may result from the lower contrast/somewhat desaturated colors. All of the examples below were short on film:

Cafe Society, Oslo by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr

Caddy by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr
Cricket Fans, Wellington Road by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr

Tivoli by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr

 

[brusby]

Steve, I don't doubt your experience. I just always like to confirm things for myself whenever possible and I was fortunate to get a clean copy of both lenses. Plus I wanted to see if the difference in contrast and flare resistance you and others report about the f1.8 is a design difference between those lenses or whether it might have been sample variance caused by something like a bit of fog in the older f1.8.

So I did the above very quick test and included a light source in the frame, fully expecting the f1.8 image to show very clear evidence of the reported lower contrast and for it also to have a bit of veiling flare or extra haziness around the lamp. But, to my surprise, I'm not seeing much if any evidence of either issue here. That's not to say those issues wouldn't show up in other images made under different conditions. Maybe the light source has to be much stronger or located more peripherally to trigger the flare you experienced. Again, I'm not doubting or discounting your experience in any way, just trying to recreate the issues with my lenses and some controlled testing. I'll be checking more when I have time.

 

[Bingley]

Bruce, It might be interesting to compare the lenses by photographing a subject framed by an open door or window.

 

[brusby]

Will do, Steve. This first test was a super quick effort to get a feel for the gross differences between the lenses. And I was fully expecting the images to look very different in terms of sharpness, contrast, flare resistance and color saturation. But when I looked at the results with the identifying info obscured, I was surprised to find them almost indistinguishable, at least without doing super close inspection of minute details. Maybe a more dynamic scene with stronger backlight will make differences between them more readily apparent. I'll try to find or set something like that up soon.

 

[Alas]

I just ordered a copy from Japan and can hopefully contribute to this thread soon.

 

[jc031699]

Brusby, all of your images seem to be marked as private now. Any way to have them available again? I’m signed in on Flickr. Thank you-

 

[brusby]

Brusby, all of your images seem to be marked as private now. Any way to have them available again? I’m signed in on Flickr. Thank you-

Yes, I had some problems with Flickr, but all those images should be visible now, 'just have to click on the link. Let me know if you have any problems viewing. Thanks!

 

[Darinwc]

I have both these lenses. Neither have issues with flare/haze/low contrast/veiling in normal conditions where there are lights etc.

Both lenses do have pretty strong ghosting flares in harsh conditions, where lights are shining ~at~ the lens.
But that is pretty normal for lenses of that age.

At least from a quick comparison on my sony ff. These lenses are nearly identical in design right?