First Results: Test of Fifteen 50mm Lenses

ampguy said:
Roland, that's much better than I can do, probably 50% of my up close wide open shots are out of focus, which is why the R-D1 may pay for itself faster than with other folks who focus better.

Raid, If I attempted what you did with those sequential test shots, I would have been much more off and would have gone through many rolls to get even as good of focusing as you did.
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Ted: I used up one roll of film, so the cost is minimal. I double and triple checked each shot ... maybe only "most of the shots"!

As for the RD-1, I opt for not using a digital camera because my liking is for film based cameras. It has little to do with practicality or usefulness.

Kevin: I really thank you for taking the time to offer useful information, but let's leave discussions limited to the vintage lenses included in this test. Else, we have no end in sight for opinions and comments. I opened the door for everybody to send me their vintage 50mm lenses if they wanted to, so this way I ended up with a nice collection of 50mm lenses. Thanks.


Raid
 
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Kevin: Do you consider the pre-asph Summilux to be a vintage lens?
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In some ways, yes. It's the same optical formula as the original Summilux, isn't it? Only the coatings and the close focus distance have changed over the years. And I compared it directly to a lens involved in your test, the Canon 50 f1.5, so it seems highly relevant to me. It's not as if I compared it to an Apherical 50 Summilux! ;)
 
Nice shot, Roland. Hard to believe it's a 50 year old lens, isn't it?

I didn't get specific about ergonomics, but it is a very compact lens. Dense as hell, but compact. Much smaller than the Summilux 50.

I agree that it sharpens up a LOT stopped down. The attached pic is f2.8 under very overcast skies...my daughter's trying to beat me on the draw. :D Full frame, mild sharpening only. (She's got the Bessa L with the VC 21.)
 

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Kevin: I mistakenly assumed that your Summilux was a "new lens". If it is considered a vintage lens, then of course your comments are useful and relevant here.



Regards,

Raid
 
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kevin m said:
Nice shot, Roland. Hard to believe it's a 50 year old lens, isn't it?

I didn't get specific about ergonomics, but it is a very compact lens. Dense as hell, but compact. Much smaller than the Summilux 50.

I agree that it sharpens up a LOT stopped down. The attached pic is f2.8 under very overcast skies...my daughter's trying to beat me on the draw. :D Full frame, mild sharpening only. (She's got the Bessa L with the VC 21.)
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Wow, Kevin, I really like the 3-dimensionality of that shot of your daughter. Makes me want to grab my Canon 50/1.5 and go shooting! Roland influenced me to buy this lens and your comments and shot are showing me why Roland feels so strongly about the virtues of this lens.

Thanks,
Randy

P.S. Oh, and before I forget, thank you very much, Raid, for all the hard work in putting together this great lens comparison for us all to enjoy and learn from.
 
I just found out[pointed out to me at PN] that by mistake I had left out posting the results at 4.0 for both Summicron lenses. I have added the two shots now.

Raid
 
kevin m said:
Nice shot, Roland. Hard to believe it's a 50 year old lens, isn't it?

I didn't get specific about ergonomics, but it is a very compact lens. Dense as hell, but compact. Much smaller than the Summilux 50.

I agree that it sharpens up a LOT stopped down. The attached pic is f2.8 under very overcast skies...my daughter's trying to beat me on the draw. :D Full frame, mild sharpening only. (She's got the Bessa L with the VC 21.)
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Kevin: I have to agree that your shot of your daughter is great looking. How old is she?

Raid
 
Thanks Raid, she's 5 1/2, and a very patient model. :)

Here's a shot she grabbed of me putting the polarizer on the Canon 50. She's using the VC 21 on a Bessa L.
 

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Kevin: My "older" daughter is 3.5 years old, so she may have to do some growing up before I trust her with my cameras.

Raid
 
Kiu,

Maybe someone will volunteer to send me a newer version of the Nokton.
I have just emailed S.G. to see if he can help us out here.
I am hoping to one day get a Heliar.
I also have a semi-promise from soemone here to send me a Nikkor 50/1.4 in LTM after it gets a CLA soon.

Raid
 
Thank you for the test, Raid.

For me, the winner is my Jupiter 8. I love the lens and the results I get from it.

We shouldn't forget, that with 20+ years old lenses, every sample is unique. Some had been abused, some fondled...

To me, your test proved that even such a cheap lens as the Jupiter can compare to all those famous names like Leica, Canon, Nikon, Zeiss. Maybe not wide open, but at f/4 it seems very comparable (considering the price difference :)). I got mine for $10 ;)
 
Spyderman said:
Thank you for the test, Raid.

For me, the winner is my Jupiter 8. I love the lens and the results I get from it.

We shouldn't forget, that with 20+ years old lenses, every sample is unique. Some had been abused, some fondled...

To me, your test proved that even such a cheap lens as the Jupiter can compare to all those famous names like Leica, Canon, Nikon, Zeiss. Maybe not wide open, but at f/4 it seems very comparable (considering the price difference :)). I got mine for $10 ;)
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Ondrej: What you have concluded regarding your inexpensive J-8 is now well known to people. A $1000 lens is not ten times as good optically as a $100 lens. It is like with having a luxury car and a nice "family car". The luxury car does not drive three times as well as the family car. People like to own and enjoy nicer things in life.

Some differences show up with bokeh and with large blow-ups.

Raid
 
I have just been notified by a RFF member that I can get a new design Zeiss Sonnar 50mm/1.5 lens. We are moving towards including new lenses! This will make the tests even more interesting. I may do a special battery of tests for the ultra fast lenses, such as the Nikkor 50mm/1.1 and the Canon 50mm/0.95 and Canon 50mm/1.2.

Isn't this test becoming a "legacy of 50mm lens testing" !


By the way, I have completed an hour ago a test of all lenses with Fuji Reala and with Dana as my model. My main goal of the test has always been seeing how different lenses render a human face for general photography purposes. I hope that get the film developed and scanned very soon.

Raid
 
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Hey, that's great news, Raid. Even more test shots to look over! I appreciate all your previous efforts (as well as all those folks who sent you their lenses to be used in the tests) and look forward to seeing the additional test shots.

Thanks,
Randy
 
vrgard said:
Hey, that's great news, Raid. Even more test shots to look over! I appreciate all your previous efforts (as well as all those folks who sent you their lenses to be used in the tests) and look forward to seeing the additional test shots.

Thanks,
Randy
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Randy: There are at least three RFF members who have volunteered to risk mailing their own lenses and even cameras just to include them in the test.They even pay both ways shipping.


Regards,

Raid
 
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Raid,

This is some serious work. I've been away for some time. The forum has been really active. I'm wondering why the Summar isn't in this group? It would certainly be among the softest. Did you just not have a sample to test? (I'm too far away to loan you mine, which is not among the best samples anyway.)

Anyway, kudos for the outstanding work.

Owen
 
Owen W. said:
Raid,

This is some serious work. I've been away for some time. The forum has been really active. I'm wondering why the Summar isn't in this group? It would certainly be among the softest. Did you just not have a sample to test? (I'm too far away to loan you mine, which is not among the best samples anyway.)

Anyway, kudos for the outstanding work.

Owen
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Hi Owen,

I have misplaced my [clean] Summar, and that's why I had to exclude it from the test. I mentioned somewhere in the thread that it just vanished from my office.

Regards,

Raid
 
Here is the second part of the testing of 50mm lenses. I have done a similar test in the past, and I was informed by several RFF members that the accurate focusing was unimportant if the main goal is to see the overall rendition of a face by a lens. I did my best to keep my daughter still, but with a ASA 100 film and at available window light, I found myself shooting at 1/8 sec quite often. These are not appologies, but I want to make sure that the emphasis is not on the focusing [which was tested in Part I].

To bring in a factor of fun here, I have left out the names of the lenses in the scanned images. However, it has been suggested to me in the past to place several lenses in a group, and to identify whjich lenses were used in each group.


I used Fuji Reala 100 with a Bessa T camera. The colors may be off because the articifical light maybe dominated the situation where I depended on the sunlight coming through the window.

Group 1:

Summicron (Rigid) first version 50mm/2.0
Elmar 50mm/3.5
Industrar I-61L 50mm/2.8
J-8 50mm/2.0
Industrar 50mm/3.5 Rigid



Group 2:

Nikon 50mm/2.0
Summicron Collapsible 50mm/2.0
Canon 50mm/1.8
Zeiss Sonnar 50mm/2.0 war-time
Summitar 50mm/2.0


Group 3:

J-3 50mm/1.5(shimmed by Brian Sweeney)
Canon 50mm/1.2
Canon 50mm/1.4
Summarit 50mm/1.5
Canon 50mm/1.5

I will post the images on PN like last time.

Here is the link:
http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=670650

When you click on "Detail" or just place the mouse over a thumbnail, you will see the Group and Lens number.

Raid
 
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Raid, this second test is tough! Outside of a little variation in the warmth of the lenses, all are perfoming quite well. I would be hard-pressed to match each lens to the appropriate picture. I think I have picked out the Canon 50/1.4 (notable for cool signature) and the Sonnar/Jupiter, and possibly a Summicron, but other than this, I am puzzled.

This test is a lot of fun.
 
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