and for the dessert - i will show the same scene and really crazy alt gear (it is half finished - tuning infinity)

Thanks for doing this test. Well done!

My conclusion on the most recent group (55-58); the Konica 57 and Minolta 58 really do perform incredibly as substitutes for the very expensive Noct-Nikkor. The Noct will always have the advantage with point light sources at night, but that's really the only ace up its sleeve. The Rokkor's advantage over the Konica is compatibility; they both require conversion, but the Konica requires a much heavier mirror shave on one's 5D.

Later I'll have to compare these all to the 50s, too...

Thanks again! I think I have almost chosen which one I will get.

EDIT:

After a quick look at the 50s, it is easy for me to see that the only 50 that compares favorably to the Konica 57, Rokkor 58 and Noct 58, regarding bokeh, is the EF 50L. The EF 50L also seems to have more DOF than the 55-58 group (which makes sense, of course).

Now I am certain which one I will buy.

Thanks for those examples! Good job!

Dim,

Great stuff, again!

-but how the heck did you get a Konica onto a 5D? I thought that was impossible?

The kind of funny thing here, is staring into the faces of all those lenses, like little school children - all types of "fit and finish" and "exterior design" - and various names etched in from all the manufacturers.

But once you turn them on the side, I chuckle to see them all wearing "Canon" diapers (lens caps)

Dimtry,
Thanks for all the good work.
Do you know how hard the FD 55 SSC is to convert? Will it hit the mirror on a 1ds3?

On the flower shot.

Amazing the EF50L1.2 would have to be the worst performer.

The FDn50L1.2 is noticeably better than the EF50L1.2

The EF50/1.4 is pretty good also.

Cableaddict, Konica AR 57 1.2 on 5D with infinity focus - yes it it is quite challenging task - but the recipe is the same - more mirror shaving and some trimming inside the 5D mirror box

Here is opposite drawing style between OM zuiko 50 1.2 and smooth Konica AR 57mm f1.2

I have restored the original shootout here
http://album.foto.ru/photos/26407/

Dear Dmitry, all the links are dead.... including the restored - would love to see this!

EDIT everything works again -

The noct nikkor is astoundingly good, loooove that bokeh.

Am I the only one that noticed the mamiya 645 with 85L attached?!
All i can say is WOW dimitry. You never run out of impressive mod's to do!
Definitely one of the crazier things I've seen lately, along with some guy who modified his holga to take EF lenses (why oh why bother..)

Is the mamiya going to be shooting medium format film cropped square (with heavy vignette I dont doubt) or digital or even 35mm film? quite an interesting idea

No, checkout separate thread on this:
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/771979

I saw a Konica 57mm f/1.2 today for €229, in case anyone is interested. Wüstefeld in Berlin, Germany.

I am happy to see that my costly Noct is a decent performer compared to this top of the line group, but I am very impressed with the Konica... If only it didn´t require a 4.5mm mirror shave on a 5d.... Thanks for the thorough test, Dmitry!

André

Dimos

Spasibo tezka! Cheers for a great comparison. Makes chosing the 50 mil easier.
No Super/SMC Tak though? Or not even a runner up?

Have done another 58mm - FL Canon 58mm f1.2 with infinity on mine 5D - will make more interesting comparison a bit later. In short - its rear lense at infinity mark has a half height as konica ar 57 f1.2, so this lens needs 5D mirror trimming about 2mm as well.

Test snaps right from jpg camera file - just resize.

FL Canon 58 f1.2

f1.2

The Canon is very nice, but that Konica is again something special. Thanks for posting another unique comparison. P.S. Haven´t seen you around here for a while...

Dimitri,

Any chance of using a more 'difficult' bokeh background? Flowers tend to make nervous bokeh lenses look good.

I would also love to see FL 55/1.2 shots.

I shoot at f2 to avoid bokeh swirls and other artifacts (my FL 55/1.2 has bokeh friendly aperture blades). I've noticed that there isn't so much difference in degree of oof background between f1.2 and f2 surprisingly. Since a smaller aperture makes so many improvements (foreground and background) a second test at f1.7 or f2 would be wonderful.

Another thought: for us people shooters a focus range of 1m is very interesting and could change bokeh characteristics markedly. I realise however that with my above requests you would be having to do 4 times the tests. Since I'm on a roll here tests at .8m 1m 1.2m and 1.5m would be great too. That would be 32 tests!!!!

lorriman, i will try to test as you have suggested and i am looking for a good copy of canon fl 55mm f1.2 - if someone wants to sell, let me know via PM.

@Dim.ka_ how is the sharpness of the Hexanon compared to the Rokkor? Maybe you can post some 100% crops please?

cavewalker,

Some conclusions can certainly be drawn from these large comparison shots, http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/763806/0 (as linked on the first page).

Note: The best way to judge sharpness in these images (IMO) is to look at the ground and find the focal plane. There are enough differences in focus between the shots to make comparing the scooter meaningless. For instance, the Noct, FD 50L and both OMs are significantly front-focused (but by varying degree) and there are smaller variations amongst all the rest.

Once you look at the ground in those shots, the conclusions become quite obvious.

Also, despite the differences seen and the immediate conclusions, it is important to keep in mind that the front-focused lenses have a disadvantage because the area of sharp focus is a bit closer to the bottom edge of the frame (is further from centre) where f1.2 lenses can reasonably be expected to drop in resolution.

Good point cogitech,

IMO, it looks like the Rokkor 58 1.2 is the sharpest. The Nikkor seems to have a better bokeh (background), followed by the Rokkor.