The best 50 ever?

benjiboy · May 2, 2006

I have an older breech lock 50mm 1.8 lens as well as the 50mm 1.4 FDn, and I agree Peter the older lenses handle better, and feel better made. As far as I remember I was once speaking to a Canon rep who told me that the idea of the breach lock was that any wear in the lens mount due to prolonged use would be taken up by the breach.

Willie Jan · May 2, 2006

there was a (dutch) magazine test a couple of years ago for 50mm 1.4 FA lenses. The pentax came out best!

Lee L · May 2, 2006

Bentley Boyd said:
I have an older breech lock 50mm 1.8 lens as well as the 50mm 1.4 FDn, and I agree Peter the older lenses handle better, and feel better made. As far as I remember I was once speaking to a Canon rep who told me that the idea of the breach lock was that any wear in the lens mount due to prolonged use would be taken up by the breach.

That's correct. It was an engineering driven choice. On the Canon breech lock there was no frictional wear between the mating surfaces that determined the registration of the film-to-flange distance. I also very much liked the spring loaded release on the breech lock. Once you placed the lens properly against the body, the locking ring rotated itself automatically, enough to hold the lens on the body securely. I wasn't thrilled by the change in mount and subsequent plastic lens parts, even though Canon was smart enough to make the fit and function of the new bayonet mount 100% compatible with the breech lock. But I moved away from the brand for other reasons about that time anyway.

Lee

Ara Ghajanian · May 2, 2006

Here's my over-inflated $.02 worth.

The 55mm f2.8 Micro Nikkor is super sharp. I had to do some close ups of drapery fabric hung on a decorative curtain rod for a job and afterwards scanned them in at the highest resolution on my Nikon Coolscan. I could easily count the fibers in the cloth... and I used it hand-held at 1/60th balancing on a step ladder!

With that said, I love my Nikkor 50mm f1.4 AI. There are many low light photos that I couldn't have taken without it. It's not the sharpest lens wide open (definitely shows fall off in the corners at f1.4), but I love using it. I like the bokeh a lot.

End of opinion,
Ara

siorai · May 2, 2006

Willie Jan said:
there was a (dutch) magazine test a couple of years ago for 50mm 1.4 FA lenses. The pentax came out best!

But what do the Dutch know about anything other than clogs and Gouda?

Just kidding. I couldn't resist. It's ingrained ever since having a Dutch roommate. It was hilarious one night, we were watching a standup comic on tv. The comic was doing a typical standup routine, then for no reason at all, he basically interupts his own routine with "And you know what? I hate those damn Dutch people! They're nothing but clog-wearing Gouda-heads!" My roommate (his name is Raimi and was born in Skavening (probably butchered that one, but it's how it sounds) almost blew a gasket. So did I, but just because it was so unexpected and made all the more hilarious by sitting next to the only Dutch person I've known. From that point on, Raimi was a "clog-wearing Gouda-head." It was only reinforced by his penchant to actually wear clogs and eat Gouda (not necessarily at the same time though).

Back on topic though, I love my Canon 50mm 1.4 FD. I'm constantly amazed at the clarity and sharpness of it.

Dan Fromm · May 2, 2006

siorai said:
But what do the Dutch know about anything other than clogs and Gouda?

Just kidding. I couldn't resist. It's ingrained ever since having a Dutch roommate. It was hilarious one night, we were watching a standup comic on tv. The comic was doing a typical standup routine, then for no reason at all, he basically interupts his own routine with "And you know what? I hate those damn Dutch people! They're nothing but clog-wearing Gouda-heads!" My roommate (his name is Raimi and was born in Skavening (probably butchered that one, but it's how it sounds) almost blew a gasket. So did I, but just because it was so unexpected and made all the more hilarious by sitting next to the only Dutch person I've known. From that point on, Raimi was a "clog-wearing Gouda-head." It was only reinforced by his penchant to actually wear clogs and eat Gouda (not necessarily at the same time though).

Back on topic though, I love my Canon 50mm 1.4 FD. I'm constantly amazed at the clarity and sharpness of it.

Hmm. I suppose that wearing clogs and eating Gouda beats wearing Gouda and eating clogs.

I didn't love my old 50/1.4 Nikkor-S. Just a bit soft, the 55/3.5 MicroNikkor that replaced it was better.

benjiboy · May 3, 2006

Lee L said:
That's correct. It was an engineering driven choice. On the Canon breech lock there was no frictional wear between the mating surfaces that determined the registration of the film-to-flange distance. I also very much liked the spring loaded release on the breech lock. Once you placed the lens properly against the body, the locking ring rotated itself automatically, enough to hold the lens on the body securely. I wasn't thrilled by the change in mount and subsequent plastic lens parts, even though Canon was smart enough to make the fit and function of the new bayonet mount 100% compatible with the breech lock. But I moved away from the brand for other reasons about that time anyway.

Lee

I was taking the Canon rep. to task, about the companys plastic lens barrels ( I was a Nikon user at the time ) he said that to say " plastic" was an over simplification the material had been specially developed, was lighter, and enabled them to fix some of the lens elements in the molten plastic during manufacture making them less prone to shock damage.

I was just looking at my old Breach lock Canon 50mm 1.8 ssc, and I'm not sure if the lens barrel on that is plastic , does anybody know ?

gnashings · May 3, 2006

Bentley Boyd said:
...I was just looking at my old Breach lock Canon 50mm 1.8 ssc, and I'm not sure if the lens barrel on that is plastic , does anybody know ?

Do you mean 1.8 SC?

I have mine in my hand right now, and performed a highly un-scientific test:
The lens was in a pretty cool room, and there is a discernible difference between the "locking ring" (which appears to be aluminium?) and the lens barrel and apperture/focusing rings. The latter were warmer to the touch, and (here comes the heavy science, look out!), when I tapped them with my finger nail, produced a definitely "non-metallic" sound and feel. I would say the barrel is plastic - or, as not to offend the Canon brain-trust - some sort of surely haighly advanced moulded material

Peter.

benjiboy · May 3, 2006

That's what I suspected Peter, I didn't want to scratch mine to find out, mine came with a FTBn I bought second hand about twenty years ago, and they are still both mint .Sorry you are quite right it is a sc lens .

df cardwell · May 3, 2006

So which do you consider to be the best of the best?

What is the criteria ?

Unless we identify our subjective standards,
we can't KNOW what is GOOD,
let alone BEST.

No outside sources allowed,
let's think for ourselves.

For me, a 50mm is a portrait lens, used in low light, often under an open sky, on a Leica.

I need a clean, well balanced image, with good roundness ( a term we used to describe some of the qualities 'good bokeh' has recently come to represent ): sharp, but not spiky or wirey. I KNOW this quality is the result of less than 2006 optical perfecction, but then, it suits the pictures perfectly.

I love my 1950's Summicron because it still makes fine pictures on my Leica. I make use of it's slight wide open softness to take the 'edge' off portraits, yet it is still a clean image.

I like the 1950's 50/1.4 Nikkor on the Leica for it's clarity wide open... without paying for a new Summilux, which is a far better lens but more than I need for the purpose. It's a virtual replica of the '50s Sonnar (on the Contax left to me by my first teacher).

The Sonnar and the Summicron are complimentary, and are great lenses to have in the bag.

Lee L · May 3, 2006

Bentley Boyd said:
I was taking the Canon rep. to task, about the companys plastic lens barrels ( I was a Nikon user at the time ) he said that to say " plastic" was an over simplification the material had been specially developed, was lighter, and enabled them to fix some of the lens elements in the molten plastic during manufacture making them less prone to shock damage.

I was just looking at my old Breach lock Canon 50mm 1.8 ssc, and I'm not sure if the lens barrel on that is plastic , does anybody know ?

The term plastic is pretty generic, and in that sense is always an oversimplification. The camera plastics are chosen for a specific task, and the polycarbonate used for many of the body shells is related to the bulletproof canopies used in jet fighters. That said, I still prefer metal bodies and lens construction. I would think that setting the lens elements in plastic would also make them unrepairable. I'm not a big fan of "disposable" construction, and I like to buy for the long term, but I do understand that cheaper construction methods keep prices down somewhere near affordable.

My Canon FD 100mm f:4.0 macro, which had the non-metallic feel that your 50 seems to have, had focus creep when pointed down for copy work. The weight of the lens would overcome the focusing friction, so I had to use a wide rubber band to hold it in place. The 100mm f:4.0 macro that I bought in 1979 in another brand still focuses like new, and the focus is stiff enough that it never moves unless I tell it to.

Sorry I can't help you with the construction of your 50mm Canon lens. Mine was 1973 vintage, and I haven't seen it in 27 years.

Lee

Palantiri7 · May 3, 2006

My best: Canon EF 50mm f2.5 macro. Prone to flare, though.

The worst: Olympus Zuiko 50mm f1.8

Bill Mitchell · May 3, 2006

In terms of speed, sharpness, contrast, and coverage my SMCP f:1.4/50mm is at the top of a very large heap of lenses that I've used over 50 years, followed closely by the DR Summicron. However, in a sense, the best 50mm lens ever made is Leica's standard f:3.5/50mm Elmar.

The best 50 ever?

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