50mm (Carl Z, Canon FD, Pentacon) opened to max power :)

saffersteve · Joined: 28 Jun 2011 Posts: 91 Location: London

Hi All

From the previous post asking for lens rating...one suggestion that came up was that I should go out and test them and let you all know....yip.

Well this 30min test was fun but in no way conclusive as to which is best.

I guess all 3 are great...and all that I have learned is that this is not the way to compare lens....with differant speeds.

This is the flawed as it does not taking into account DOF.
Guess next time I will just try take the best image with correct settings for the condisions.

Setting:
ISO200
All opened wide (Carlz =2.8, Canon =2, Pentacon=1. Cool

Sutter speed adjusted to control the exposure (some shots at 1/4000 and still over exposed)
3 Scenes to compare (Closeup, Midrange, Infinity)

Some conclusions:
1) Love Prime MF lenses
2) Carl and Pent have much closer range to the Canon.

Let me know if you see anything I missed....as I'm just getting started.

PS images have only been stacked on top of each other and reduced to 20% no other editing.

WolverineX · Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 1:27 pm Post subject:

i think you should test them separately , not against each other.
test them alone to see if each lens produces satisfying results, not as a group.
group tests are for lenses with same or similar specs ( for example 50mm lenses with 1.8 maximum aperture)

fuzzywuzzy · Expire: 2013-11-30

Heh, getting that many lenses all at once is a mixed blessing, you'll be testing for weeks or months to get a feel for everything Twisted Evil

Most nifty 50s are pretty darn good, you might have to work hard to pick a winner! On the plus side you'll probably get great pics from any of them so there's no downside to picking a 50mm at random and shooting away.

If you're comparing lenses against each other you might want to do a torture test, see which ones do better shooting against the sun, then you'll know which ones to take shooting outside. Which ones are sharpest at f/8, they're probably all real sharp to be honest but you might have a bad copy, buying used gear. Color rendition is subjective and frankly I can't think of a systematic way to comprehensively test, but take a stab at it and see what you get.

If that sounds too much like work... just pick a random lens and start shooting! Just remember which lens you used for what shots, I have a terrible habit of sitting down at the computer afterwards and not being able to remember. Rolling Eyes

saffersteve · Joined: 28 Jun 2011 Posts: 91 Location: London

Hi WolverineX

I agree, when I was half way though doing this test, it struck me how silly this was.....lens on off on off....shake em all about.

What I'm really trying to do is to choose a kit list that will fit a sling bag....I have quite a few 50's including a PB mount 50/2.4 and a Helios 44M 58/2.....and was hoping for an order of which is best optically.

I could then try my hand at first and second and see which I got on best with.

I'm slowly learning that I will just have to just try them one at a time....

From a newbie perspective there seems to be a lot of emphasis put on fast lens but does this make them better. (less optical distortion, better colour, etc)

Anyway thanks for the advise.

saffersteve · Joined: 28 Jun 2011 Posts: 91 Location: London

kuuan · Expire: 2014-12-26

WolverineX · Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 5:50 pm Post subject: