Juha Kannisto wrote:
Looking forward to your review and to receiving my lens in 1 week I suppose the new 50/1.2 E-mount would also be free of onion ring pattern though it remains to be seen. Onion rings haven't bothered me much at all with the 40/1.2 though. My old CV 35/1.2 VM v1 used to have much more noticeable ones when I still had it. I'm curious on MFD sharpness (45cm vs. 35cm for the 40/1.2) and on sunstars with the 12 aperture blades.
I'm keeping my 40/1.2 E-mount but expect to sell a couple of 50mm lenses in the future as I have quite many of those. Loxia 50/2 and 50/1.5 Nokton VM will probably be traded in next time I get something new. Still keeping my 50/3.5 Heliar VM and 50/2 Heliar classic VM and also my native Sony 50-55mm lenses for AF use....Show more →
Do you mind explaining what you like about the Heliars over the Loxia/Noktons?
anumits wrote:
Do you mind explaining what you like about the Heliars over the Loxia/Noktons?
It's not that Loxia or Nokton 50/1.5 VM are "less good" than the Heliars but I think CV 50/1.2 can replace Loxia 50/2 and Nokton 50/1.5 VM for my purposes as it should be able to cover all the same bases as those 2 lenses for wide aperture / bokeh shooting as well as for stopped down cityscape shooting. I haven't been using the Loxia or Nokton 50/1.5 that much in recent times and the trade in value on them is also pretty good so I can get pretty good value for them when trading them in relative to what I paid for them.
Heliars have different strengths that I like, e.g. 50/3.5 is very small and light and has strong "3D rendering" and 50/2 is also relatively small and it has unique wide open rendering with some classic traits, and it also works great for cityscapes from f5.6 or so and it's a collectible / rare lens that I got in great condition at a reasonable price after some hunting. Trade-in value for these 2 lenses at Map Camera where I usually do my trade-ins is not great so trading in either one of them doesn't make sense in that regard also. I think these 2 will complement the 50/1.2 nicely when I want to use a smaller/lighter lens instead, with different strengths / character.
Juha Kannisto wrote:
It's not that Loxia or Nokton 50/1.5 VM are "less good" than the Heliars but I think CV 50/1.2 can replace Loxia 50/2 and Nokton 50/1.5 VM for my purposes as it should be able to cover all the same bases as those 2 lenses for wide aperture / bokeh shooting as well as for stopped down cityscape shooting. I haven't been using the Loxia or Nokton 50/1.5 that much in recent times and the trade in value on them is also pretty good so I can get pretty good value for them when trading them in relative to what I paid for them.
Heliars have different strengths that I like, e.g. 50/3.5 is very small and light and has strong "3D rendering" and 50/2 is also relatively small and it has unique wide open rendering with some classic traits, and it also works great for cityscapes from f5.6 or so and it's a collectible / rare lens that I got in great condition at a reasonable price after some hunting. Trade-in value for these 2 lenses at Map Camera where I usually do my trade-ins is not great so trading in either one of them doesn't make sense in that regard also. I think these 2 will complement the 50/1.2 nicely when I want to use a smaller/lighter lens instead, with different strengths / character....Show more →
I just received the CV 50/1.2 E-mount and not surprisingly, it performs much better on the Sony compared to the 50/1.2 VM version. (Reviewed on this thread)
(BTW: My CV 50/1.2 E copy is well-centered when testing it at f/1.2)
1) The new CV 50/1.2 E looks alike the 40/1.2 E. Same size and only 25 grams heavier. It's hard to tell them apart, except that the 50/1.2's front element is larger and less recessed compared to the 40/1.2 E's.
2) The CV 50/1.2 E is similar to the CV 40/1.2 E at center and sharper away from center, especially from wide open until about f/2.8 where the CV 40/1.2 improves greatly but still does not quite match the new 50.
They are similar at mid-field and extreme corners at f/4 and f/5.6 but the 50/1.2 E still shows slightly better resolution and contrast at smaller apertures. It's a also huge improvement when compared to the 50/1.2 VM on the Sony body.
3) The CV 50/1.2 E @f/2.8 is already close to optimal at center, mid-field and extreme edges. However, stepping down to f/4 improves resolution/contrast slightly across the field.
4) Almost absent onion ring pattern in bokeh balls. (The CV 40/1.2 E shows more noticeable pattern)
5) Compared to the Sony 50/1.4 ZA, the CV 50/1.2 E is not as good at center, similar at mid-field but can't match the ZA's extreme corners. Although the CV 50/1.2 E performs better than the 40/1.2 E-mount and 50/1.2 VM at the extreme corners, the FE 50/1.4 still wins in this area at any aperture.
6) Optically, the main different between the 40/1.2 and 50/1.2 E lenses is at mid-field and extreme corner performance before f/2.8 where the new CV 50/1.2 does noticeably better.
7) Almost imperceptible focus shift for the 50/1.2 whereas the 40/1.2 needs to be focused at working aperture to avoid this side effect.
8) I see similar field curvature for both lenses and it's moderate.
9) The new 50/1.2 E has 12 aperture blades instead of 10. Same sunstar definition though.
Well that’s the best news I heard all day. Thanks Fred
I’m in the hospital recovering nicely. Had a procedure done and hope to go home tomorrow. I really loved the VM version and this sounds even better. Sounds like the corners are better too. I’m glad I waited to get this version.
GMPhotography wrote:
Well that’s the best news I heard all day. Thanks Fred
I’m in the hospital recovering nicely. Had a procedure done and hope to go home tomorrow. I really loved the VM version and this sounds even better. Sounds like the corners are better too. I’m glad I waited to get this version.
GMPhotography wrote:
Well that’s the best news I heard all day. Thanks Fred
I’m in the hospital recovering nicely. Had a procedure done and hope to go home tomorrow. I really loved the VM version and this sounds even better. Sounds like the corners are better too. I’m glad I waited to get this version.
Hi Guy,
Hope you have a speedy recovery and feel better soon.
grahamgibson wrote:
Nice, Fred. How close is the actual focal length to 50mm? I've heard the Sony 50/1.4 is more like 47mm and the CV40 is closer to 42mm.
The 50/1.2 E-mount is only slightly wider than the 50/1.4 ZA. It's a small difference that could vary from copy to copy.
GMPhotography wrote:
Well that’s the best news I heard all day. Thanks Fred
I’m in the hospital recovering nicely. Had a procedure done and hope to go home tomorrow. I really loved the VM version and this sounds even better. Sounds like the corners are better too. I’m glad I waited to get this version.
Surfnsun wrote:
Crazy how that tiny lens lets in more light than that much larger 50...
I think there are two factors here:
The first is that the larger lens is a bit more uniform in both rendering and sharpness in the corners at wide apertures.
You need a lot of extra size to get this (relatively small) benefit.
The other is that we are starting to see that high AF performance - especially CDAF performance - has a huge penalty in size for two reasons. One is that you have to design it with smaller focus groups (even with high powered modern motors, though that may help bring down the size a bit) and that brings up the overall size. The other factor, which an interview with the Sigma CEO confirmed, is that using small internal focus groups lowers the performance at closer distances unless compensated for - at the cost of more size and complication.
I can almost hear someone say "But what about the GM24". That is indeed both AF and smallish. But it's also the first AF lens in its focal length designed with the short flange benefit, which only starts below 35mm. So it's quite small compared to DSLR designs. But still larger than rangefinder type lenses (which are the only existing MF short flange lenses in the range)
In a weird way it's comforting: a technical non-sentimental reason for us to hang on to manual lenses. While we need AF for some purposes, MF will get us the most compact kit for when we need that, and not just because of the need to fit in motors.
Wow this is great news - getting this kind of performance in such a small package. Looking forward to more insights. Mine is shipping and I should get my hands early next week.
I would be interested in what the estimated T-stop is wide open - maybe a quick shutter speed comparison wide open between the ZA and the CV?
I suppose the new 50/1.2 E-mount would also be free of onion ring pattern though it remains to be seen. Onion rings haven't bothered me much at all with the 40/1.2 though. My old CV 35/1.2 VM v1 used to have much more noticeable ones when I still had it. I'm curious on MFD sharpness (45cm vs. 35cm for the 40/1.2) and on sunstars with the 12 aperture blades.
