I recently noticed the availability of a Voigtlander 50mm f/1.1. This seems like an incredibly fast lens, with very small DOF. It got me back into the thought:
Since I don't need AF, but I want a new 50mm, because all I have is my nifty fifty, I am looking for a new lens. The options are:
+Voigtlander 50mm f/1.1 on VM Mount (I buy adapter). --$900 used
+Canon FD 50mm f/1.2 adapted for Canon EOS Mount. --$249 used + some transformation thing.
+Canon EF 50mm f/1.4.. Autofocus..
and..
+Canon EF 85mm f/1.8.. autofocus..
+Rokinon 85mm f/1.4.. faster.. great reviews.
and..
+Canon EF 35mm f/2.. autofocus..
+Rokinon 35mm f/1.4.. Shallow DOF.. good reviews.
What do you think would be the best options? Although, if I get the Voigtlander, it will probably end up leading to me not getting a 35mm right away..
By the way, I am using a full frame 5D, if this matters at all. If you have any other lenses that you may think are suitable, feel free to add please.
I am not looking for the sharpest Leica lens, I am looking for someone that has decent sharpness, and a great bokeh.
The Leica Summicron R 50 is by far my favorite 50 of all I have used. It's not super fast but it's amazing. Best color, tone and contrast combination I have seen. Love this lens.
I'd take the Samyang (Rokinon) 35 and 85 over those EF options. For the 50 you can't go for the Nokton 50/1.1 as it's a M mount lens and cannot be adapter to an SLR.
Good alternate options:
Zeiss ZE 50/1.4 (most expensive but a native lens aside form no AF)
Voigtlander Nokton 58mm f1.4 SLII (on Nikon adapter or a Leitax conversion)
The Leica Summicron-R 50 (with R adapter or a Leitax conversion).
SMC Takumar 50mm f1.4 on a M42 adapter (cheap as your Nifty 50, much better).
Why not offer a little heresy on the Alt Gears forum?
If you are inclined to AF and you're willing to invest the time in developing the proper PP skills, the Canons might do you just fine. I don't have any Canon wides - actually nothing shorter than 300mm - but my super-teles have the same basic problem my other shorter Canon EFs had when i still had them - namely color rendition. I have always found Canon color rendition to be rather cold and clinical, and, to me at least, unappealing.
Luckily there are ways to surmount this limitation in PP. I don't feel any more guilty about "fixing" Canon color in PP than I am sure Ansel Adams felt about turning one of his negatives into a print. I do my color adjustments in Lab colorspace - which deals with the spectrum of perceivable light -and which can be re-converted to sRGB or RGB colorspace with minimal loss.
The lens is just one step in a long process. It's not the solution to the entire problem.
If Af is not important id go M42 Super Takumar 50mm 1.4 and other (focal alternative) reason being that its an inexpensive range of fairly fast lenses lens who's signature rendering is like nothing else on the market today or any longer. I rather bump ISO 1/3 of a stop even 1/2 a stop in low light than have to nail focus at anything lower than 1.4 by looking through a 35mm Viewfinder. ( but then again my eyes are not what they used to be so your milage might vary) see if you like the images on here
I personally like 85 & 35 as a pair. To that I'd either add a swa or 58. For my use having a ~50 all the time is not so important, I tend to save that for specific shoots. I think two primes on two bodies works nicely.
millsart wrote:
"Best" for what ? Landscapes with distant detail, unique rendering style for portraits, etc etc
Certain lenses are typically "best" at a given thing, but few are "best" at everything
He said in his post, he wants acceptable sharpness but is primarily interested in bokeh (in itself a highly subjective thing, since he didn't specify I would assume generic diffuse with uniform blur disks).
The only reason for not suggesting the Leica 50/1.4 E60 and Leica 80/1.4 is because you said you didn't want the sharpest Leica lenses I consider their bokeh superior to the 50 and ~85 options I posted above.
Some suggested lenses may have mirror clearance issues on the 5D. It slightly depends on model variations of your lenses and the 5D.
Some lenses that were suggested above that will definitely require mirror shaving are
the Canon FL 55/1.2 and the Canon FD 55/1.2 (I have both) -
even after the lens has been converted. The mirror hits the glass from about 6m, unlike other lenses there is nothing you can file down on the lens to fix this.
The Rokkor 58/1.2 is also reported by some users to require slight mirror shaving.
The Takumar 50/1.4 variants may hit the mirror (my SMC Takumar did from 5m focus, my Super Takumar focused almost to infinity), but at least this can be fixed rather easily by filing a bit of material off the metal ring that holds the rear element in place. I like the SMC Takumar 50/1.4 and agree that that's a good and affordable option if you're happy to fix the mirror issue by modifying the lens (or the mirror).
Some of the manual focus lenses will give you superior image quality or very good image quality whilst still being relatively affordable. But if you're shooting kids, action etc. I would suggest the EF autofocus lenses.
contax 85/1.4 has a nice bokeh. But I would not try to focus it on 5D. You really need the live view for best focusing. canon 35/2 is not a bad lens. Slow to focus sharp at center so it's best on asp-c sensors IMHO.
Contax 50/1.4 is also nice.
I hate the canon 50/1.4 I (and I know of others) who have accidentally bumped it which put an end to the AF. So if you are going to put the camera on your neck and walk around, it wont last long.
ricardovaste wrote:
I personally like 85 & 35 as a pair. To that I'd either add a swa or 58. For my use having a ~50 all the time is not so important, I tend to save that for specific shoots. I think two primes on two bodies works nicely.
I agree -- I use a 35/85 combo a lot, and only occasionally use a 50 (on full frame). For two lenses, I'll carry 35/85; for three, 24/35/85.
It really is a clear choice to me:
35mm - Rokinon 35 1.4
50mm (although I dont think you need a 50 if you have 35 and 85) - Sigma 50 or Tak/Zeiss 50 (1.7 cy)
85mm - Sigma 85 1.4
I consider their bokeh superior to the 50 and ~85 options I posted above.