Loxia or FE 55?

[pegelli]

I don't have any of the A7 camera's, but on my NEX6 all Olympus lenses I have tried work wonderfully well. They're optically very good and small/light. Should cover full-frame with no problems, because that's what they were designed for.
So far I've tested the 24/2.8, 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/2, 100/2.8 and 135/2.8. All give good and consistent results and are a joy to use. Even the 40/1.4 PEN-F is great and almost covers full frame (and significantly more then APS-C)

 

[turtle]

I wrote a little about some Olympus and Canon FDn lenses here Canon FDn & Olympus Zuiko OM Lenses on the Sony A7/R: Part 1

Bottom line: there are some great vintage/3rd party lenses out there but the 35mm FE and 55mm FE are outstanding and have no competition at all at wider apertures. Stopped down, there are some super cheap vintage lenses that compete shockingly well, as I discovered!

The 50mm f3.5 Olympus Macro mentioned above is good at f8 and excellent at f11, but the Canon 50mm f1.4 FDn is like a scalpel by f5.6 across the whole frame and substantially sharper at f-5.6 and noticeably so a f8-11. But it can't do macro of course! My Oly 50 Macro is a keeper tho.... lovely rendering too.

I've yet to directly compare the 55mm FE and the Canon 50mm f1.4 FDn, but my impression thus far is that the FE will be miles ahead up to f4 and still resolving finer detail at high contrast beyond that point. I've never seen a 50mm (ish) FF lens resolve like this from any manufacturer. The Fdn is superb, but the 55mm FE is ridiculously sharp.

 

[Paratom]

I wrote a little about some Olympus and Canon FDn lenses here Canon FDn & Olympus Zuiko OM Lenses on the Sony A7/R: Part 1

Bottom line: there are some great vintage/3rd party lenses out there but the 35mm FE and 55mm FE are outstanding and have no competition at all at wider apertures. Stopped down, there are some super cheap vintage lenses that compete shockingly well, as I discovered!

The 50mm f3.5 Olympus Macro mentioned above is good at f8 and excellent at f11, but the Canon 50mm f1.4 FDn is like a scalpel by f5.6 across the whole frame and substantially sharper at f-5.6 and noticeably so a f8-11. But it can't do macro of course! My Oly 50 Macro is a keeper tho.... lovely rendering too.

I've yet to directly compared the 55mm FE and the Canon 50mm f1.4 FDn, but my impression thus far is that the FE will be miles ahead up to f4 and still resolving finer detailat high contrast beyond that point. I've never seen a 35mm/FF lens resolve like this from any manufacturer.

Thank you.
Well, for my part I will most certainly stay with FE lenses or use some of my Leica M glass.
Some vintage and also the Oly glass look promising and interesting, but I guess I will want to have lenses where I can rely on IQ even at wider f-stops.
If I have to stop down then I can just use the 24-70Zeiss.

I admit some of the vintage glass to offer interesting character, but I just want lenses to draw as "neutral" as possible with good sharpness and if possible with nice bokeh.
I am not saying that it can make total sense for others to use third Party lenses.

 

[Vivek]

The 50mm f3.5 Olympus Macro mentioned above is good at f8 and excellent at f11, but the Canon 50mm f1.4 FDn is like a scalpel by f5.6 across the whole frame and substantially sharper at f-5.6 and noticeably so a f8-11. But it can't do macro of course!

My sample (pictured, "silver nose") is fine wide open for portraits and is fine at f/5.6 at infinity. You may have to go through your "routine", especially with a ~40 year old lens.

Besides that the most salient feature (compact, light weight) is lost. It is the macro lens that can make it happen and not any old lens and with an adapter to match. The Loxia then become more compact because of the short registry.

 

[Godfrey]

After reading this thread for a bit, I pulled out the Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 AI-S and did some test shots around the condo. It has quite the lovely character wide open and down to f/4 with some very nice vignetting and bokeh, after which it becomes very sharp and neutral. It's wide open corner falloff and bokeh is mildly reminiscent of the Noctilux but not quite as smooth.

The Summilux-R 50's wide open bokeh is a little smoother as well on sharp edged background material, and it similarly becomes razor sharp across the field when stopped down a bit.

Much as even more sharpness on the FE55 or Loxia might be appealing, I'm more interested in the wide open character of lenses like these.

G

 

[MikeEvangelist]

After reading this thread for a bit, I pulled out the Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 AI-S

I have an ancient Nikkor 55mm ƒ1.2 which I love on the a7S. It's got tremendous character at ƒ1.2-1.8 and sharpens up nicely by ƒ2.

 

[turtle]

I've used two copies and both were identical. Both excellent on centre and good at the edges, improving upon stopping down to the point of being excellent, but the likes of the 55 FE and FDn 50mm f1.4 put in such a uniform performance with such ease at much wider apertures. I found that, at infinity, the 50 Macro peaks at f11 for overall across the frame performance. Its a really good lens, but def takes longer to reach optimum for distance use than a non-macro and never reaches the dizzy heights of the best 50mm lenses.

I really like the lower contrast and gentle look of the 50 f3.5 Oly macro and will def use for close up portrait work, as well as regular macro. Its a kinder and less modern looking optic than the 55 FE and that will have real benefits for some uses. Classic B&W work, IMO, is an area where ultra definition is not always welcome and where the Oly excels.

My sample (pictured, "silver nose") is fine wide open for portraits and is fine at f/5.6 at infinity. You may have to go through your "routine", especially with a ~40 year old lens.

Besides that the most salient feature (compact, light weight) is lost. It is the macro lens that can make it happen and not any old lens and with an adapter to match. The Loxia then become more compact because of the short registry.

 

[Vivek]

Its a really good lens, but def takes longer to reach optimum for distance use than a non-macro and never reaches the dizzy heights of the best 50mm lenses.

It does since (as shown above) it is being used as a non macro lens. The OM 50/3.5, despite its age, uses a clever floating element design that kicks in when the helicoid is extended. This helicoid extension is essential to achieve infinity (again check the photo) when mounted like this.

The micro Nikkor 55s, for example, are not that useful because of the harsh contrast and horrible bokeh (in addition to not offering any CRC or floating element design). This is where the "gentleness" of the OM lens you allude to plays its part.

 

[Godfrey]

It does since (as shown above) it is being used as a non macro lens. The OM 50/3.5, despite its age, uses a clever floating element design that kicks in when the helicoid is extended. This helicoid extension is essential to achieve infinity (again check the photo) when mounted like this.

The micro Nikkor 55s, for example, are not that useful because of the harsh contrast and horrible bokeh (in addition to not offering any CRC or floating element design). This is where the "gentleness" of the OM lens you allude to plays its part.

I presume you mean the 55s use for portraiture. I find my Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 Pre-AI a darn fine lens for what it was designed to do (macrophotography) and Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 AI-S works well for both portraiture and macrophotography. I don't ordinarily do what I call portraiture with a 55mm lens on FF format.

G

 

[Vivek]

No, that is not what I posted about. Just leave it at that.

 

[camping]

Vivek, interesting post regarding the 50mm f3.5 Olympus Macro and the internal flip lens.
Paul

 

[cam]

Sticking my nose in here as I got an A7s in a very roundabout way…

I also purchased the 55/1.8 just because I needed at least one AF lens (I am still more comfortable with manual focus but I'm trying to learn).

I am curious as to what lens is the smallest and lightest in the 50mm range? Is the Loxia that much smaller than the FE 55? Is there anything out there that is?

I've only used the 55/1.8, my 50 pre-ash Lux, and the first generation Summicron 35mm (the only M lenses I have here) and have been loving the look on the camera, despite what I've heard from others… Maybe it's because the A7s has only 12MP?

I plan to test out a lot of 50's I have at my disposal when we get home on Thursday, but the Loxia is not one of them. (I've just about gotten my head around shutter speed in camera but cannot get used to not changing the aperture on an actual lens… It's just instinctive.) But I really do want small.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Paratom]

50 Summarit is pretty small.

 

[cam]

50 Summarit is pretty small.

Thank you for the suggestion.

I was never that enthused with the Summarit line (aside from the 35), but I don't think I looked that closely at the 50mm.

 

[Paratom]

Thank you for the suggestion.

I was never that enthused with the Summarit line (aside from the 35), but I don't think I looked that closely at the 50mm.

IMO they are underrated, all the 35,50,75 are quite good lenses.
I use the Summicrons more often now because of focusing distance and slightly different color rendering, but the Summarits are not bad at all. I dont know how good they work on the A7 series though.

 

[turtle]

They are superb lenses, the Summarits. I enjoy the 35mm very much on M mount (favourite general use lens) and the 75mm is amazing on the A7 and A7R. I blogged about it here: A7R with Leica 75mm Summarit-M
One would expect the 50mm Summarit-M to perform very well on the Sony bodies too, due to the focal length.

 

[Vivek]

.. and have been loving the look on the camera, despite what I've heard from others… Maybe it's because the A7s has only 12MP?

I plan to test out a lot of 50's I have at my disposal when we get home on Thursday, but the Loxia is not one of them. (I've just about gotten my head around shutter speed in camera but cannot get used to not changing the aperture on an actual lens… It's just instinctive.)

What did you hear?

Look forward to hearing what you find with your other 50s. I guess you have a ton of them at your disposal.

Finding that "perfect" 50 is always a problem. Though I do have a few to use, now I am engaged in converting an Yashica Electro 35 Yashinon 45/1.7. Fabulous match for the A7 series (size wise).

 

[iiiNelson]

Sticking my nose in here as I got an A7s in a very roundabout way…

I also purchased the 55/1.8 just because I needed at least one AF lens (I am still more comfortable with manual focus but I'm trying to learn).

I am curious as to what lens is the smallest and lightest in the 50mm range? Is the Loxia that much smaller than the FE 55? Is there anything out there that is?

I've only used the 55/1.8, my 50 pre-ash Lux, and the first generation Summicron 35mm (the only M lenses I have here) and have been loving the look on the camera, despite what I've heard from others… Maybe it's because the A7s has only 12MP?

I plan to test out a lot of 50's I have at my disposal when we get home on Thursday, but the Loxia is not one of them. (I've just about gotten my head around shutter speed in camera but cannot get used to not changing the aperture on an actual lens… It's just instinctive.) But I really do want small.

Thanks in advance!

I haven't handled the Loxia 50 as it's as rare as hen's teeth right now. If it's close in size to the ZM 50/2 then it'll be noticeably smaller than the 55 FE which is just about the same size as a 50 Lux ASPH FLE with adapter.

In either case I'd try all of the 50's you already own first - you may find that they meet or exceed your expectations. If not the Loxia 50 may do that for you especially if you prefer manually focusing. I doubt it's smaller than some of the Leica lenses but it will be an excellent performer no doubt. I used my ZM 50/2 on my A7 and A7R as my 50 before buying my 55 FE. On many levels I preferred the rendering for character of the ZM 50/2 but that's not a slight to the 55 FE as it's a technically superior lens. I think a lot of it had to do with being a lot more familiar with a lens that I have now owned for 5 years and was easily my most used lens on the M9/M9-P closely followed by the 35 Cron ASPH.

 

[cam]

IMO they are underrated, all the 35,50,75 are quite good lenses.
I use the Summicrons more often now because of focusing distance and slightly different color rendering, but the Summarits are not bad at all. I dont know how good they work on the A7 series though.

Focusing distance was my bugbear as well and, even though I have the close-focus adaptor, I'm not so keen to get a lens that I won't use on my Leica bodies.

 

[cam]

What did you hear?

Look forward to hearing what you find with your other 50s. I guess you have a ton of them at your disposal.

Finding that "perfect" 50 is always a problem. Though I do have a few to use, now I am engaged in converting an Yashica Electro 35 Yashinon 45/1.7. Fabulous match for the A7 series (size wise).

Blah, blah, blah… you know, the usual, but you know me as well -- I don't listen much

We have a tonne of 50s -- Kevin bought adaptors for his arsenal of lenses as well, and I have too many but love them all. (I'll be especially excited to try the Zeiss Sonnar that I had calibrated for my RD1 and haven't been able to use since.) But I'm really looking for the perfect size… We might have to come up and see you when your conversion is done!

Luckily for me, I've been enjoying 35mm again (though that may change once I'm back in europe) and my old 35 pre-ash Lux could be the perfect body cap.

My biggest problem still seems to be that I absolutely suck at auto-focus

I know -- practice, practice, practice!