Two fifties, both on the D30. One is the Canon EF50/1.4, the other is a Leica Summicron-R 50/2 with a Cameraquest REOS adapter. Both at f/2. Both shot raw in daylight WB, converted in ACR (PS7) with the same settings. Can you guess which is which? I'm surprised how close they were in color and bokeh. One handles highlights significantly better though. (Don't cheat and check the EXIF now, or if you do keep it to yourself. )
I'm going to guess that the top image is the Leica... wish that wasn't the case, but I suspect it is. I still think that my first Leica IIIF (we're talking the '60's here and it was an old camera then) with its f/2 Summitar lens was was of the best image makers I've ever had...
I noticed the lens on the bottom is a little longer than the top one. I'd guess it's a little more than 50mm, the top one a little less. That probably affected the DOF a little. Both are focused manually. (The D30 is difficult for this though, especially at shorter distances.)
Hmm, the focus is not on the same plane. The EXIF on the Leica lens has incorrect F stop info -- I guess that wouldn't be supported, huh? Have you tried this at, say, F8? The Canon 50/1.4 does a lot better stopped down.
OTOH, the bokeh on the top has unpleasant brightness around the edge (I prefer slightly brighter centers) and I have always found the Canon to be quite nice in this regard.
Bah.
Good thing I don't even have a tool to look at EXIF on this comp...
Wow.... that's a big quality difference. I wonder how the lenses would look at f/2.8 or f/4.
There is definitely a significant difference in the quality of the out of focus areas. Very interesting. I wonder if you had focused using a 1Ds if the results would be any different.
I do have other things to do than comparing lenses. The major difference I think is that the Canon flares a bit more, and it even had the hood on (EW-82 or whatever it's called, I'm too lazy to go check) while the Summicron had only its tiny little built-in one. Whenever there's a bright area in the image the Canon tends to light up across the entire image.
I don't think the bokeh is that different. And it wasn't intended as a sharpness test either. Both lenses will do just fine stopped down, the Summicron probably a bit better. (That should be no surprise to anyone.)
I think it's pretty neat to be able to use a Canon DSLR to do a cursory check of Leica R lenses.
Thank you for the post. This is one of the most striking lens comparison photo. I think they should use the subject from now on for all lens tests
And I want to add that those who have fantasy confidence about their Canon glasses should see the reality. And also, they should note the brighter lens is not always the better one. Germans know how to cut the glasses.
)
The major difference I think is that the Canon flares a bit more, and it even had the hood on (EW-82 or whatever it's called, I'm too lazy to go check) while the Summicron had only its tiny little built-in one. Whenever there's a bright area in the image the Canon tends to light up across the entire image.