which 50 ~1.8

[Hards80]

Hi everyone.

Just stumbled on this forum and have been reading some great information. Jumped into the mf lens fun with my Viv Series 1 (kiron) 105mm 2.5 Macro for my EPL1.

*sorry i am sure this has been asked before, but its a bit hard to search this forum since the signature pull up tons of hits*

Looking at some cheaper 50 ~1.8 lenses for my EPL1. I have only used the mf on the EPL1 in macro really, and don't want to spend too much on my first just in case its not as practical in normal shooting. Particularly switching between the zoomed in view and back out and how practical that is in day to day shooting.

The easy choice since i have the adapter for FD is the 50 1.8, I think the new version is the sharper?

How does this compare to the Russian Helios 103 53/1.8 or Jupiter 8 50/2, they can be had for a song and the contax adapter is very cheap. the longer min focal distance is not a problem, i won't be using it for that.

anything else i should be looking into?

Thank you in advance, and pleased to stumble on your forum here, alot of good info here.

[mo]

Welcome to the forum...I hope one of our more learned members can help you

[Ash]

Well first I hope you have to define cheap!

Under USD75 you have tons of options especially for EPL1. I will suggest you to look for 50/1.4 too like Minolta MD 50/1.4 or Mamiya 55/1.4 which are not that expensive (around USD50-60 may be) and extra light never hurts!

I personally own Minolta 58/1.4 MC PF which is little soft at 1.4 but sharp from f2 onwards. But I like clicking portraits at 1.4 with that soft effect and for shallow dof.

[IAZA]

I had experince with some 50/1.8

1.Nikkor 50/1.8 Nikon AI mount
2.Carl Zeiss Pancolar 50/1,8 MC M42 mount
3. Pentacon Auto 50/1,8, it said to be first generation, M42 mount
4. Pentacon Practicar 50/1,8 PB mount
The cheapest & poorest is #3
The expensivest and best performance is #2

If you look for sharp lens try 50/2 lens, its cheper but sharper than 1.8 based in my exeprience. In this case I mean is;
Yashica ML 50/2 C/Y mount
Zenitar M2 50/2 M42 mount
Both are sharp, I like their sharpness a lot than 1,8 lenses above

[walter g]

Another vote for the Minolta 50 1.4 MD. If that speed will work for you.
For a sharp f2 lens I reccomend the Minolta Rokkor X 45 f2.

[Hards80]

Thanks for information guys. I appreciate it.

a quick follow-up. i ended up finding an FD 50 1.4 SSC in excellent condition on craiglist, it was on a body. I offered to buy it separate and got it for a price not different from what the fd 50 1.8s go for.

and since i already have the m4/3-fd converter, i am all set to go.

[bogolisk]

On E-P1

Rokkor-X 1.7/50mm @f2.8


OM 1.8/50mm @f2.8



they are (or used to be) so cheap: the Rokkor costs me USD$10.00 and the OM USD$20.00.

I have the following 50s:
Rokkor-X 1.4
Minolta MD 1.4
Rokkor-PF (58mm) 1.4
Rokkor-X 1.7
Minolta MD 1.7
Rokkor (45mm) 2.0
OM (9xxxxx) 1.4
OM MIJ 1.8
Yashica ML 1.7
Yashica ML 2.0
Hexanon 1.7
Hexanon (40mm) 1.8

My favs are the Rokkor 1.7 and the OM 1.8. My least fav is the Hexanon 40mm. And the legendary Hexanon 1.7 is overrated too! It's good but not any better (at least on m4/3) than the Rokkor or the OM. The Yashica ML is good but I'm not confortable with its rendering yet. I primarily shoot children portraiture (my daughters) and I prefer the rendering of the Rokkors or the OMs.

[WolverineX]

there are many nice 50mm lenses outhere...try industar 61 L/Z 50mm / 2,8 , it's cheap and sharp little lens

[fatdeeman]

I think I've heard good things about said about the Takumar F/1.8 too.