BWF
Established
Thanks everyone. I will try to find a Canon 50/1.8. I had one years ago that must have been a bad copy - really low contrast and I never liked the photos. The Konica 50/1.9 looks awesome, but a little more than I wanted to spend on this. 
xayraa33
rangefinder user and fancier
Thanks everyone. I will try to find a Canon 50/1.8. I had one years ago that must have been a bad copy - really low contrast and I never liked the photos. The Konica 50/1.9 looks awesome, but a little more than I wanted to spend on this.
You either had a bad copy or the lens needed haze cleaning. Most Canon 50mm f1.8 lenses are on par with late 1950s 50mm Summicrons in image making qualities and many times I preferred that Canon lens to the LTM Nikkors, the 5cm f2 and the much lauded f1.4.
You can see image examples of the Canon 1.8 lens in this thread and they for the most part are very good in sharpness, colour rendition and nice bokeh.
https://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110600
BWF
Established
Thanks xayraa33! It looks like there are a lot of the Canon 50/1.8s out there. I’ll find a better one. The photos look like what I am seeking.
bluesun267
Well-known
I just obtained a Topcor-S 5cm f2, black version, with short focus throw.
Wow! What a beautiful lens...delightfully lightweight, excellent click stops, buttery-smooth focus and almost perfect glass! Pretty sure (given where it came from) that it has never been serviced since leaving the factory.
I haven't shot with it yet but I'm planning to today...
OK, I'm going to go out on a limb and propose that the f2 and f1.8 versions of this lens are optically identical: on my f2 version, wide open, the aperture blades retain just a tiny bit of intrusion into the element area when viewed from the front. I suspect the 1.8 just has a different aperture ring and allows this last ~1mm of the blades to open up. They do look identical in every other dimension...
Can anyone with a copy of one of these lenses confirm my suspicions?
Wow! What a beautiful lens...delightfully lightweight, excellent click stops, buttery-smooth focus and almost perfect glass! Pretty sure (given where it came from) that it has never been serviced since leaving the factory.
I haven't shot with it yet but I'm planning to today...
OK, I'm going to go out on a limb and propose that the f2 and f1.8 versions of this lens are optically identical: on my f2 version, wide open, the aperture blades retain just a tiny bit of intrusion into the element area when viewed from the front. I suspect the 1.8 just has a different aperture ring and allows this last ~1mm of the blades to open up. They do look identical in every other dimension...
Can anyone with a copy of one of these lenses confirm my suspicions?
milescl
Well-known
The Topcor-S 5cm f2 is a Biotar derivative of the double-gauss design.