Test of Twelve 50mm Lenses

Leica_Magus said:
Raid,

First of all, thanks for these tests. Better than ice-cream! ;)

I'm only interested in seeing if I can spot the Leitz optics and am willing to be publicly humiliated if I can't. Here's my reply for the very first set of four: the rigid 'cron is no. 3.

For your third set of three, no. 1 is the 'cron, no. 2 the Elmar.

For your fifth set of four, nos. 1 and 3 are the Leitz optics (no. 1 is the coll. 'cron, no. 3 the Elmar).

From your last set, no. 3 is the 'cron.

PM me if you have the time!

Cheers and again, many thanks.

PS. All the editing is as I went back and forth, so I could post all my guesses in the same message.
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Leica Magus: Here is the key for the first eleven photos:

Set 1:
1. I61L
2. Nikon
3. Rigid Summicron
4. Canon 50/1.8

Set 2:
5. J8
6. Canon 50/2.8
7. J3
8. Zeiss

Set 3:
9. Collapsible Summicron
10. Elmar
11. I61

You may not have noticed, but I went back to the first eleven photos and I gave the correct order of the lenses to match the photos. I still need to post the key to the last set of twelve photos taken at f 4.0. You got the right lenses for the first sets.
 
I now have posted the right order for the lenses with photos taken at f 4.0 (the last twelve photos).



1. Nikon
2. Canon 50/1.2
3. J-8
4. I61-L

5. Collapsible Summicron
6. Elmar
7. Canon 50/1.8
8. I61

9. Zeiss
10. Canon 50/2.8
11. Rigid Summicron
12. I61
 
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Leica_Magus said:
What do you mean 'you went back to the first eleven photos', etc.? That the second list was the correct answer in each case?

If so, and checking now I see that it matches and may be the case. That pisses me off, because it makes it seem as if I didn't really take part - which I did, not knowing what that second set was and actually ignoring it.

I commit myself to taking part in any future lens comparison here, as long as it's in B&W (my medium) and includes Leitz optics, to exonerate myself should there be any doubt!!

In light of the above John, I really hope your post was not sarcastic. I'm innocent!!! :angel:

(In the remaining sets, two out of three Leica optics detected out of a total of twelve - not good enough!)

Cheers - and again thanks for the tests!!!
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Hello Magus,
I meant to say that I edited the information accompanying the photos and that now there is a comment ['key'] that lists the lenses in the right order. I went back and did the same with all posted photos, including the last twelve photos taken at f 4.0. I'm sure that nobody here was sarcastic.
 
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My post was meant to be congratulatory. I know you got them right. I'm going to check my second set answers with Raids list. I have my fingers crossed. :D :D
 
Hurray!!! I got 6 out of 12 correct in the F4 category. This is more than I expected. Don't worry, I will not be able to keep this up. :) :)
 
John said:
Hurray!!! I got 6 out of 12 correct in the F4 category. This is more than I expected. Don't worry, I will not be able to keep this up. :) :)
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Not bad at all, John. I was deprived of guessing since I knew the right order. I could now go back and scramble the order just so that I do some guessing!
 
Let's have some probability statements here; what is the probability of guessing all twelve lenses correctly if we guess each four for each set? ... I am just kidding. Maybe I give this problem to my students one day.
 
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I have a feeling that tests of 50mm lenses will continue over and over since these lenses are popular and widely available at reasonable costs. Gabriel posted an interesting thread recently on 5 or 6 50mm lenses most of which I did not cover since I don't own them. It seems that the Summar is a lens to consider.
 
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It is not an unusual statement at all; following your initial instinct is usually an excellent way to reach a decision if you are still undecided in the end. I am still going back and forth over my photos to learn about my lenses and about the film and the developing used.
 
Thank you for sharing these test results, Raid!

I wish they had been set up so as to contain OOF elements in the background and small light sources (Like Gabriel's). Too bad about the strong vertical lines in your background, Raid, some of the pictures of your little girl are stunning and would have made beautiful portraits.
 
FrankS said:
Thank you for sharing these test results, Raid!

I wish they had been set up so as to contain OOF elements in the background and small light sources (Like Gabriel's). Too bad about the strong vertical lines in your background, Raid, some of the pictures of your little girl are stunning and would have made beautiful portraits.
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========================

Hi Frank:

I already have decided to make my next test with OOF points and I hope to include my daughter in them as a model. I am doing these tests sequentially, one at a time, to cover all useful aspects for myself and others. Here, I have maybe what you could call "general looks" for the lenses, and it is clear that once you clean the optics that such lenses perform very well.

The 50mm/1.2 lens is sharper than I initially thought, and the J-3 seems to have jumped out as a new star of 50mm lenses. I also discovered [with others] that the observed grain size/pattern seems to vary based on the lenses used. This is rather odd and I can't find an explanation for it.

The Nikon 50/2 lens still gives me the best results. At least, there is no other lens that seems to do better in my posted photos. The Zeiss lens is warmer, and this seen more easily in the color photos. Actually, the main reason for posting both color and B&W photos in the same thread is for purpose of comparisons.

Thanks for your comment on my daughter. I have now obtained several nice portraits of her in my series of tests. You may not have seen the results I got with a Canon 80-200/4L recently.

Here is a link: http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=591010
 
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Thanks Magus. I mentioned [somewhere] that these tests are for "my lenses" that I own and use, and there could be differences between them that are not general in nature. I like bth the Canon and the Nikon results, but I somehow like the Nikon a little bit more. I should mention that I have additional results that were not ;posted, so maybe I was biased based on an overall performance profile with several lenses and not just by the posted photos. You may be right about the ones posted here.
 
I thought that it would be good to revitalize this thread since I am working on another test of 50mm lenses.. The earlier results still hold. In the new test I will also include a Summarit, a Summitar, a Canon 50/1.4, and Canon 50/1.5, and a Nikkor 50/1.4.

Raid
 
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Great stuff! To my eye the Leicas performed best at wider aps but at f4 (and presumably beyond)? Minor variations in signature - nothing that's gonna make or break a pic imo. I just got a '64 silver J8 on a whim (hey - $16 shipped with vented hood and caps, even!) and just shot my 1st roll, 1/2 with a Summar and the rest with the J8, really looking forward to the J8 to see if I got a "good one". I also liked the Canon .95 stuff - interesting, but I ain't runnin' out to buy one.

Fun stuff! Thanks for posting!
 
Nick,

Vintage lenses can perform very well if you make sure that the lens is still optically "fit" after all these years. Adjustments can do wonders.
 
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