I've been slowly putting together a collection of the smallest really good lenses that cover FF on Canon. Why? I don't really know.
Anyway, this weekend I bought the CY 100 3.5. I hope it mounts on a 5D. It costs about 50% more than the 2.8. It sharp corner to corner wide open.
I need one or two more lenses to fill the gap between 50 and 100. Suggestions? I would like to buy lenses that are sharp wide open. Contax or Leica probably. I do have some olympus OM but I want better build quality.
Contax and Leicas are the best built in my opinion. C/Y 85 1.4 is a beauty, but not as small as an OM of course. The Leicas 35/2 and 50/2 are well built.
I recommend the Contax Carl Zeiss Tessar T* 45/2.8, SMC Pentax-M 135/3.5, and Voigtlander APO-Lanthar 180/4 CF ED - they're all sharp wide open and really small for their focal lengths.
If you're going for small, the Contax 85 f/2.8 Sonnar is an absolute gem. Tack sharp corner to corner right from f/2.8. Stopping down doesn't improve the image quality at all because it's already at peak resolution wide open, and it stays there through f/8. Beautiful colors and wonderful contrast, and it's small and compact to boot. I also have an 85 f/1.4, but I'm selling it, as I have the Canon 85L for times I want large aperture at that FL...I'm keeping the Sonnar for those times I want an 85 prime that's lightweight and portable.
Talking about small lenses the pancakes came to my mind. I have the Voigtlander 40 mm f2 for the Nikon and I use it on my 5D with an adapter. Very nice and small. The next one is the Nikon 45 mm f2.8P. Very light and small also. I also have the Contax Tessar 45 mm f2.8 with an adapter to fit the 5D. I really need to shave it to work properly on my 5D. None of these Tessar design are very good wide open. I also get a lot of CA with these lenses.
The next one is some what of an unknown. It is the Nikon 50 mm f1.8 pancake 3rd generation. It is almost as small as the 45 mm Tessar pancakes but this lens is wonderful wide open. I have used it on all my Nikon bodies and Canon bodies. This is the only lens in my collection that I have two copies.
Edit: I forgot about the Pentax 40mm f2.8 is also quite small. You do have to grind down the aperture lever to fit the Canon 5D. However it is not as sharp as the Nikon 50 mm pancake.
The Nikon 50 mm f1.8 pancake is similar in optics to the E series but it has a metal body instead of the plastic E.
Note the Pentax 40/2.8 is a modified tessar design in the usable SMC-M version and is therefore only a bit better than the Nikon and Contax 45's true Tessar designs (the other Pentax 40, the DA Limited, adds an Aspherical element to the same basic design for superior performance but lacks an aperture ring making it unsuitable for adaptation)
The best pancakes are the 40/2's (Voigtlander and Olympus) followed by the Nikon 50/1.8
I think I have a 45mm tessar, but the 50 1.7 is tiny enough.
I should probably add a 35mm, as that's one of my favorite FL.
Oh, I also have a CY 35-70. I think that counts as small for a zoom.
Are any Leica actually small, or just slow?
The S100 is a sweetheart. With diminutive shark fin and aperture lever, it should offer no trouble on the 5D; the rear element is well recessed, too. If you get the CZ macro, make sure it's the compact C version - the 1:1 versions (SP60, MP60) are hefty fellas.
Jman13 wrote:
If you're going for small, the Contax 85 f/2.8 Sonnar is an absolute gem. Tack sharp corner to corner right from f/2.8. Stopping down doesn't improve the image quality at all because it's already at peak resolution wide open, and it stays there through f/8. Beautiful colors and wonderful contrast, and it's small and compact to boot. I also have an 85 f/1.4, but I'm selling it, as I have the Canon 85L for times I want large aperture at that FL...I'm keeping the Sonnar for those times I want an 85 prime that's lightweight and portable.
