50mm lens (m42) recommendation

Lruw · Apr 25, 2011

I'm going to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (and Kaliningrad if I can get the visa) this summer. I usually shoot medium format with my Kiev 88 or Yashica, but I have limited space in my bag and don't want to take anything expensive so I'm taking my Praktica 35mm slr and a Canonet 28. The aperture blades on the Domiplan that came with the Praktica are effectively broken. I still have a 135mm and 28mm lens, but I need a new (to me) 50mm lens.

I actually liked the softness of the Domiplan and would like a lens that is soft at wider apertures, but reasonably sharp at the f/8-11 range. I don't want to spend a ton of money. I've seen some cheap Industars, but I really want a minimum of f/2.8. I have seen some Takumar lenses that are cheap, but I have no idea about the quality. I have also seen the Soviet Helios lenses and feel that they would be comparable to the Domiplan. Are there any good lenses that I am overlooking?

Also, if anybody knows, are there any good photo stores in the Baltics?

threemilesfinal · Apr 25, 2011

My recommendation is the Helios 44.

Although I don't really have much M42 glass shorter than 100mm so that's the only suggestion I can confirm.

blockend · Apr 25, 2011

Fujica?

elekm · Apr 25, 2011

Vivitar made a nice little f/1.8 VMC (Vivitar Multi Coated) 50mm lens in 42mm screw mount. Lightweight and optically good.

In reality, most of the 50mm lenses that were based on the Carl Zeiss Planar are very good. Where you begin to see a difference is when you look at the higher-speed lenses: f/1.2 and f/1.4. And then, only in closer photos.

The Tessar-type (and actual Tessars) give a different image from wide open to f/8 at close and medium distances.

At infinity or at small apertures, I'm not sure that you'll see much difference.

Where you might see a difference is in the lenses from the 1950s. For example, the Carl Zeiss Jena f/2.0 Biotar.

I think you'll get a recommendation that pretty much covers the spectrum of 50mm lenses.

Excalibur2 · Apr 25, 2011

Meyer Oreston/Pentacon 50mm f1.8?

mcgrattan · Apr 25, 2011

All of the Pentax Takumar and Super Takumar/SMC Takumar lenses I've used have been excellent. However, as elekm says, a lot of them are good. I have a great deal of affection for an old Rikenon f1.7 I used to have, which took lovely images. The Helios is also a good lens, the one I had was surprisingly solid feeling in use, and quite nice wide-open.

polyglot · Apr 25, 2011

There are no bad Takumars IMHO, they're all passable wide open and quite sharp by about f/3.5. The Super Takumar 1.8 is particularly for about $20 and the SMC 50/1.4 is the best but often $80+ and you need to check you don't get a yellowed copy if you're shooting colour. You can leave them out in full sun to bleach though, which mostly cures it.

dynachrome · Apr 25, 2011

50mm lens (m42)

All of the 55/1.8 Takumars are very good. The S-M-C-T and SMC lenses have improved coating. The 55/2 is apparently the same lens as the 55/1.8 but marked differently. These sometimes sell for very little. I should warn you, it is much sharper than the Domiplan. I have two of the 50/1.7 Made In Japan Alpa lenses for the Si2000. They focus to 1:3 and are quite good. My old 50/1.7 Yashinon lens is also very good.

eSPhotos · Apr 26, 2011

If you liked Domiplan you will love any 50mm lens. Sorry, but Domiplan was the worst lens I ever had.
I would recommend CZJ Pancolar MC 50/1.8 for good bokeh and sharpness. May be not soft as Domiplan, though.
Among 10+ 50mm M42 lenses that I had, Pancolar was my favorite followed by SMC Takumar.
For softness, CZJ Tessar could be close to the Domiplan.

Lruw · Apr 26, 2011

Yeah, I know a lot of people hate the Domiplan. I thought it was a decent portrait lens because of the softness and the slight twirl in the corners of the frame. It was acceptably sharp when stopped down to f/11, but it was a bit bland. I'm leaning towards the Helios right now because it is soft wide open, but decent stopped down.

jochen · Apr 27, 2011

Hello,
here in Germany you could get a Pentacon Auto 1:1,8/50 mm together with a Praktika MTL 3 for about 15 $. For the lens alone I paid about 5 $.

moki · Apr 27, 2011

The Domiplan isn't too bad... many people rant about it, because of its very simple design, but I've been using it exclusively for almost a year (it was the kit lens for the Exa 1b) and found it quite usable. It's the best that can be built with three simple lenses. Now I prefer a Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50mm/1,8 - great handling, great bokeh, pretty good sharpness.
If you actually like that soft look, I recommend a Porst or Revue (they're basically the same) 55mm/1,4. It's got good sharpness at f/8, but wide open it behaves like a true soft-focus lens with an almost-sharp picture and a little halo around it. Its quality is far from modern f/1,4 normal lenses, but it's relatively cheap and very usable, if you don't mind a little softness. I got mine for 40 from the 'bay, but I guess, you could pay less if you keep looking around.

50mm lens (m42) recommendation

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