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Rate your 50mm lenses


algrove

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Why do you want to carry all your lenses? You don't put all your bottles of wine on your table do you. ;) More seriously it may take many years until one knows for sure what is the best lens for him and the best lens for one purpose is not the same for another one. If you'd ask me 40 years ago i would have said that my favorite was the Summicron since it was my only lens, 30 years ago it was probably the pre-asph Summilux, 19 years ago i fell in love with the last Elmar when buying the M6J and now... i never put all my bottles on the table, there are too many of them. :D

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Never used any of the lenses on the bucket list, however (as the OP did say this list is not exhaustive) I'll throw in these:

 

CV 50mm 1.5 (screw mount) - dirt cheap (£200), very sharp (including corners) - even wide open, good/acceptable bokeh (depending on situation) - my favorite 50.

 

Elmar 50mm 3.5 (1950 vintage) - a delight to use and one of my favorite B/W lenses. Something special getting results from a £70 battered lens.

 

CV 50mm 1.1 - bought on a whim cheap at £350 (fixed hood was loose - repaired for £50). Soft wide open and terrible focus shift up to f/5ish. I only ever use this wide open - with some sharpening can produce some great images indoors/low light. Best use is outside in the dark, again wide open.

 

Jupiter 8 - could not resist at £30. Initial tests indicate accurate focus and sharp from 2.8 onwards. "Portrait lens" soft wide open - but a lot sharper than the CV 50mm1.1. Very much a Sonar in the way it behaves. A complete surprise - must have either been lucky or (I suspect) the lens has had some work done on it.

 

50mm is not my favorite focal length hence never tempted to invest more. For me on the M 75/90mm is more my bag.

 

Obviously I'm not buying lenses as an investment but I have (and still do) really enjoyed getting the most out of these lenses!

 

Guess if this was poker I'm out.......

 

James

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Why do you want to carry all your lenses? You don't put all your bottles of wine on your table do you. ;) More seriously it may take many years until one knows for sure what is the best lens for him and the best lens for one purpose is not the same for another one. If you'd ask me 40 years ago i would have said that my favorite was the Summicron since it was my only lens, 30 years ago it was probably the pre-asph Summilux, 19 years ago i fell in love with the last Elmar when buying the M6J and now... i never put all my bottles on the table, there are too many of them. :D

 

You know LCT this is a very meaningful post for those of us it is meant for. :D

 

Thanks. I still have a few more years left in me to change my mind yet again. :rolleyes:

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I see someone noted that he prefers using his 50/2.8 collapsable on his M9 versus his MM since its resolution is not as good compared to his non-apo Summicron 50 which also has better contrast than the 50/2.8.

 

Anyone else prefer using their 50/2.8 on the M9 over the MM?

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