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Ultra fast normal lenses on A7R II
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 17, 2018 7:57 am    Post subject: Ultra fast normal lenses on A7R II Reply with quote
Out of curiosity I've compared my fastest lenses on my Sony A7R II. Particularly I wanted to know how my new 7Artisans 50mm/F1.1 compares to my old lenses.

All pictures shot wide open with no manipulation during conversion from RAW whatsoever. No lens profiles have been applied.
Distance to the object was apprx. 2 m. Tripod and indirect flash was used. Focus set manually on the white flower in the center.

All clickable for best quality viewing.

7Artisans 50mm/F1.1



SMC Pentax K 50mm/F1.2



Minolta MC Rokkor 58mm/F1.2



Voigtlaender Nokton Aspherical 50mm/F1.5 (as a "slow" lens in comparison)



Sony FE 50mm/F1.8 (cheapest Sony original "normal lens" for the Sony A7 series)



Verdict: The 7Artisans isn't bad at all. Particularly for the reasonable price of EUR 350.- brand new (incl. home delivery). I wouldn't call it an all-purpose lens as it has it's weaknesses as well but for certain applications it may be a nice option.

P.S.: A previous comparison without the 7Artisans lens but including some other fast lenses on my Ricoh GXR-M APS-C camera can be seen here: http://forum.mflenses.com/comparison-of-fast-50s-t76796.html

Last edited by tb_a on Sat Nov 17, 2018 11:14 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Sat Nov 17, 2018 11:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Like 1 Like 1 Thank you!


PostPosted: Sat Nov 17, 2018 12:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Like 1 Like 1 Like 1 and yes, thanks for your effort and sharing it here!!


PostPosted: Sat Nov 17, 2018 12:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Quite a collection!
The Pentax 1.2 looks better than the 1.1 to me but I suppose that could just be increased DOF...
Ignoring FOV changes I didn't feel there was any significant change in the others.

My own options are much more limited a 50/1.2 projector lens, M50/1.4 and the rest are f/1.7 or slower.


PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2018 2:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Today I've added some slower Minolta lenses to this comparison. Setup and presentation are exactly the same as before at maximum aperture:

Minolta MC Rokkor-PG 50mm/F1.4 (1973, 7/5 construction):



Minolta MD Rokkor 50mm/F1.4 (1979, 7/6 construction):



Minolta AF 50mm/F1.4 (1985, 7/6 construction):



Minolta MC Rokkor-PF 50mm/F1.7 (1973, 6/5 construction)


Notes:
Minolta 50mm/F1.4 both MD and AF are absolutely identical and it's impossible to distinguish them, not even in maximum pixel peeping mode. IMHO a bit sharper/more contrasty compared to the older MC versions. These newer MD and AF Minolta Planars are really absolutely top performers and hardly to beat. Not really understandable for me why Sony did only migrate this lens to A-mount and not for the FE-mount as well.
The slower F1.7 version shares the same 6/5 construction like the new Sony FE 50mm/F1.8. Obviously there are still some Minolta genes left at Sony. It's more or less based on the old Ultron design from 1950.


PostPosted: Sun Nov 18, 2018 5:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Fabulous comparison. Thanks Thomas!

Whoo Turtle Thank you!


PostPosted: Tue Nov 20, 2018 1:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Confirms my opinion of the MC 50 1.7 as one of the best value normals available. Ridiculous capabilities for 50 dollars....

Another great value from Minolta is the AF 24-70 which I recently dropped and broke. I replaced off e-bay for 25 dollars....


PostPosted: Tue Nov 20, 2018 8:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
visualopsins wrote:
Fabulous comparison. Thanks Thomas!


Thank you! My pleasure.

jamaeolus wrote:
Confirms my opinion of the MC 50 1.7 as one of the best value normals available. Ridiculous capabilities for 50 dollars....

Another great value from Minolta is the AF 24-70 which I recently dropped and broke. I replaced off e-bay for 25 dollars....


Well, the Minolta 50mm/F1.7 shares the same optical construction during all it's versions (MC, MD and AF). Nothing alike from Sony besides the FE 50mm/F1.8 with similar construction. It's indeed a solid performer but slightly below the 50mm/F1.4 versions. I have several copies (and versions) and all perform identically.

I never have seen any 24-70mm zoom from Minolta. There are some Tamron and Sigma ones for Minolta AF-mount and the very expensive Sony/Zeiss one. Which are you referring to?


PostPosted: Tue Nov 20, 2018 4:31 pm    Post subject: Re: Ultra fast normal lenses on A7R II Reply with quote
tb_a wrote:

7Artisans 50mm/F1.1

Verdict: The 7Artisans isn't bad at all.


Ok sharpness, smooth bokeh.

But ultra-fast lenses are most useful for low-light shooting.
Can you post some night scene samples?


PostPosted: Tue Nov 20, 2018 6:03 pm    Post subject: Re: Ultra fast normal lenses on A7R II Reply with quote
LittleKawaiiNeko wrote:
tb_a wrote:

7Artisans 50mm/F1.1

Verdict: The 7Artisans isn't bad at all.


Ok sharpness, smooth bokeh.

But ultra-fast lenses are most useful for low-light shooting.
Can you post some night scene samples?


Sorry, but presently I'm unable to leave the house as I'm a little bit sick and it's cold and snowing outside.

Therefore I can only provide some low-light examples shot indoors. The first 2 taken with A7R II in normal artificial light; i.e. normal room lighting (it's already night outside), i.e. without flash, ISO 3200, free hand and WB in "light bulb"-mode.

Like before no manipulation applied, not even lens profile and clickable for better quality viewing.

Fully open at F1.1





The next two without room light but with candle light:

Fully open at F1.1



Stopped down to something like F1.2 (middle betw. F1.1 and F1.4 on the lens)



Obviously extreme conditions like a candle light in the dark are too much for the lens at F1.1. However, stopping down to something like F1.2 solves the problem (the aperture ring is declicked). The exposure time was 1/100 for the first and 1/80 sec. for the second candle light picture, that's less than a half stop. The flare was clearly visible in the viewer and I simply turned the aperture ring until it disappeared.
IBIS was enabled.

For me that's totally acceptable (bearing in mind the price of the lens).

Edit:
I've done some testing with my Ricoh GXR-M (APS-C, built to Leica standards, lens direct usable without any adapter) and on this camera the lens was able to cope with the candle light situation, even at F1.1, i.e. fully open. No visible flare!
To have a nice 75mm/F1.1 lens for my Ricoh is a nice extra bonus.

Slightly different scenery as the focus and exposure was set to the candle light instead to the figure as before. Tried this also on the Sony but same situation as before; i.e. stopping down a little bit is required.

F1.1 on Ricoh GXR-M



Last edited by tb_a on Tue Nov 20, 2018 6:53 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Tue Nov 20, 2018 6:44 pm    Post subject: Re: Ultra fast normal lenses on A7R II Reply with quote
tb_a wrote:
Sorry, but presently I'm unable to leave the house as I'm a little bit sick and it's cold and snowing outside.


Oh, common problem at the start of winter :/

Quote:
Therefore I can only provide some low-light examples shot indoors.
For me that's totally acceptable (bearing in mind the price of the lens).


Thx, lens looks very usable to low light conditions.[/quote]


PostPosted: Fri Nov 23, 2018 7:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Finally I've received my X-Fujinon EBC 50mm/F1.2 (AKA Porst Color Reflex UMC) and quickly repeated the comparison with my other F1.2 lenses.

Exactly the same procedure as before.

X-Fujinon EBC 50mm/F1.2:



SMC Pentax-K 50mm/F1.2:



Minolta MC Rokkor-PF 58mm/F1.2



7Artisans DJ-Optical 50mm/F1.1 stopped down to apprx. F1.2 (middle position betw. F1.1 and F1.4):



Verdict:
The Fujinon is really a top performer and IMHO better than the Pentax and the 7Artisans lens. The Minolta lens benefits a lot from the longer focal length. Hard to say which of the two is the winner. That's more a matter of taste and personal preferences.

Other opinions are welcome...


PostPosted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 10:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Lovely work Thomas. In reference to your earlier question on the minolta af 24-70 version it is actually a 35-70 (my mistake!) And is designated minolta af zoom 35-70mm 1:4 (22) filter 49mm and is the little guy with the silver macro switch and as narrow diagonals formed into the rubber grip. I took it to Australia later spring to save weight over the massive Zeiss 24-70 2.8 vario sonnar. I posted a couple of photos from it in the af section on my a7rii thread.


PostPosted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 10:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Lovely work Thomas. In reference to your earlier question on the minolta af 24-70 version it is actually a 35-70 (my mistake!) And is designated minolta af zoom 35-70mm 1:4 (22) filter 49mm and is the little guy with the silver macro switch and as narrow diagonals formed into the rubber grip. I took it to Australia later spring to save weight over the massive Zeiss 24-70 2.8 vario sonnar. I posted a couple of photos from it in the af section on my a7rii thread.


PostPosted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 11:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
jamaeolus wrote:
Lovely work Thomas. In reference to your earlier question on the minolta af 24-70 version it is actually a 35-70 (my mistake!) And is designated minolta af zoom 35-70mm 1:4 (22) filter 49mm and is the little guy with the silver macro switch and as narrow diagonals formed into the rubber grip. I took it to Australia later spring to save weight over the massive Zeiss 24-70 2.8 vario sonnar. I posted a couple of photos from it in the af section on my a7rii thread.


Thank you!

Well, I'm not really into zooms. I always preferred prime lenses since I started with Minolta apprx. 1980 though I have also a few mainly as camera cap when I bought a used Minolta. However, I barely use them.
I've recently tried the also well regarded Minolta MD 70-210/4 which was like the 35-70/4 available as Leitz lens for Leica-R but I was a little bit disappointed. The primes are still the better option in terms of optical quality; i.e. the mentioned zoom is visible worse at 200 mm compared to my MD 200/4 lens. However, I don't have your 35-70/4 zoom (yet). Wink


PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 11:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thank you very much for your work Thomas. Very useful. Like 1


PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Antoine wrote:
Thank you very much for your work Thomas. Very useful.


Welcome Turtle , Antoine


PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 8:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
tb_a wrote:
...
Obviously there are still some Minolta genes left at Sony ...


Of course there are:

1) Some ex Minolta lens designers are now at Sony
2) the Master G lenses are designed and manufactured at Minolta Osaka

Stephan


PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2019 10:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
stevemark wrote:

1) Some ex Minolta lens designers are now at Sony
2) the Master G lenses are designed and manufactured at Minolta Osaka


OK, thanks, Stephan. Actually I had no idea about the present organisation and my general impression is that Sony is more a "Play Station"-company rather than a serious camera maker. They don't even offer a ring flash or any other more specialized accessory for their cameras. That's really a sad story. Fortunately they have at least maintained still somehow a Minolta compatibility to enable the usage of the old accessories.
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