Zenzanon 50mm f2.8 PE vs MC

[jbrooks]

Okay so i was interested in picking up a new lens for my ETRS and decided to get something a little wider than the 75mm that comes with the camera. The 50mm f2.8 seemed like a good choice and then saw that there are two versions of it. Is there a large difference between the two? i know that the PE lenses generally have better contrast but other than that what are the advantages?

 

[wiltw]

The primary benefit of the PE over the earlier lenses is improved contrast at wider apertures, increased resistance to flare, particularly with the WA lenses in the lineup. I've never seen or heard anything about better detail resolution per se.

 

[jbrooks]

cool, thanks for the info! Still debating on whether i should shell out the extra cash for the PE though... being a poor college student rocks... lol

 

[ignatiu5]

My PE 50/2.8 has half stop aperture detents; all of the MC lenses that I've owned have had full stops, if that's important to you.

 

[JonPorter]

I have the 50mm PE and consider it an excellent all-around wide angle. If I only had one wide lens for my ETRSi that would be it. I've also had both the MC and PE versions of the 40mm lens and never noticed any differences in optical quality. The PE lenses, however, have a more elegant design and user-friendly aperture ring. I always found the aperture ring on the 40mm MC awkward to use. But the main reason I have all PE lenses is age. The newest MC lenses are around 25 years old and the oldest ones are 36 years old.

 

[jbrooks]

I did a little image search/comparison on flickr and I really can't tell a difference quality wise between the two. Half-stops vs full-stops isn't that big a deal to me either so i'm just going to go with the MC. Thanks!