Direct sun resistant 50ish lens - looking for advice

PhantomLord · Joined: 08 Apr 2013 Posts: 472 Location: Szczecin, Poland

Hi,

I know there is a lot of tests of 50ish lens, however there is a lot of flower pictures and not scenario I need.

What I need:
Prime lens in 35-55mm range that I could use in strong sun outdoor and that allows me to put sun in the frame composition - so it does not have to be f1.2 Wink

, probably around f2 lenses would do the trick without emptying my pocket.
Looking for lens that is contrasty, sharp and does not flare much in above conditions.

For know I have:
- Rikenon 55/1.4 - great and sharp wide open, but weak in strong sunlight, especially in direct sun light it flares easily,
- Helioses 58/2 - 44M-4 and 44M-6 - love them, but a little bit of direct light and it is disaster in contrast department,
- Mirs 1B 37/2.8 - newer and older - I am trying to convince myself it is usable lens, but I fail, seriously I do not know is something wrong with these lenses or me. For know I am trying to think I am the problem,
- Pentax-A 50/2 - should be lens for the job, but my copy is somehow damaged, really soft and not so contrasty,
- Porst Color Reflex 50/1.7 - to be honest I forgot I have it, probably the most sun resistant lens I have - I must try it in more extreme condition. It is not the sharpest one in the drawer though,
- EBC Fujinon 55/1.8 - did not thested this lens in proper harsh sunlight, maybe you have any thoughts about it.

What I think of:
- SMC Takumar 55/1.8
- SMC Takumar 55/2
- Pentax-M 50/1.7
- Pentax-M 50/2

Whole topic popped out because I need tested lens for my holiday trip and lenses I own and tested are not good enought for summer sun conditions and those I did not tested - Porst and Fujinon - they may be good, but have no time to test them.

What do you think, what lens in up to 40Euro should do the trick and could be general use lens in strong sun and sun in the frame compositions? Question

Or maybe you own Porst or Fujinon and use them in strong light with success? Please share.

DigiChromeEd · Joined: 29 Dec 2009 Posts: 3462 Location: Northern Ireland

What camera are you going to use the lens on?

kuuan · Expire: 2014-12-26

since your budget excludes very recent lenses I'd think that your idea of Takumar / Pentax lenses is spot on!
before buying one of these do try out your Fujinon, it should do well too

PhantomLord · Joined: 08 Apr 2013 Posts: 472 Location: Szczecin, Poland

My bad. Canon 600d and prefer M42 or Pentax-k mount as those adaptors I have.

Aanything · Expire: 2014-05-30

In my experience, smc coating is better Than ebc in, when it comes to pure flare resistance: i tested the two 1.8/55 (the most recent version of both) and the tak was slightly better when pointed straight into summer Sun.

Mos6502 · Joined: 20 Jun 2011 Posts: 960 Location: Austin

Probably slower lenses with less glass to air surfaces will have less flare? Maybe a late model tessar with modern coating.
I photograph into the sun a lot, but I always try to have the sun itself obscured by something like a street sign or a tree branch etc. I'll have to look through my photos to see if I have any with the sun in the frame.

Spotmatic · Joined: 18 Aug 2008 Posts: 4045 Location: Netherlands

Also, please note that the 55/2 and 55/1.8 SMC Takumars are essentially the same lens; the f/2 version has an internal fixed diaphragm in front of the real diaphragm to make the widest aperture f/2 instead of f/1.8 (the lens itself is f/1.8 if it were not for the fixed diaphragm).

And +1 for the Super-Multi-Coated and SMC lenses; those are least prone to flare. The difference between SMC and non-SMC is clear:

philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4745 Location: Cheshire, England

how about the one that did this photo. Straight out of the camera, no PP and no exposure compensation in camera

I think its pretty damn good.

fuzzywuzzy · Expire: 2013-11-30

PhantomLord · Joined: 08 Apr 2013 Posts: 472 Location: Szczecin, Poland

Well planar is to expensive for me now.
I'll have find a little time to test this Fujinon and start looking for smc takumars if it fails.

Thank you all for your advices.

aoleg · Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 1387 Location: Berlin, DE

In my experience, you get the best flare resistance with SMC Pentax-M 50/1.7, SMC Takumar 55/1.8 or 55/2 (or SMC Pentax 55/1.8 or 55/2, which are essentially the same lens). While Zeiss Planar 50/1.7 might be a tad better in this respect, its rather expensive at the moment, so your best bet would be one of those SMC lenses.

Oh, and avoid SMC Pentax-M and SMC Pentax-A 50/2 lenses! (50mm f/2 is a cheap, poor performing lens; while Pentax 55mm f/1.8 and f/2 are excellent lenses).

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

The Pentax-M 2/50 isn't a poor performing lens at all, it's no less good than the 1.7 imho.

Honestly, shooting with the sun in the frame, you are unlikely to find any lens that will do that without flare, the Pentax SMC coating won't do it, neither will the Fuji EBC, I've tried with both as I shoot sunsets often.

The smaller the entrance pupil, the less flare from the sun, is what I have found, which kind of rules out most of the more modern lenses. A 1950s Ross Xpres 4/100 single coated is perhaps the only lens I have ever found that can be shot with the sun in frame and not flare. I attribute this to the small entrance pupil, simple lens design (tessar) and good internal light baffling.

So what has modern multi-coatings, a small entrance pupil and a simple design...

Maybe the T* Tessar 2.8/45?

PhantomLord · Joined: 08 Apr 2013 Posts: 472 Location: Szczecin, Poland

About Pentax-M 50/2 - as I said - my copy is probably damaged as it is really soft and blurry despite stoping down. When I saw some photos in the web shot with this lens they look a lot better.

Well maybe tessar is the answer, I must look around for one.

BrianS · Joined: 03 Aug 2013 Posts: 92

I unscrewed the rear module from my Super-Tak 50/1.4 to cure the yellowing, placed under a UV Lamp. The SMC Tak 50/1.4 also uses Thorium glass. You will need to find one that has been cured of yellowing before using for color images.

DR.JUAN · Joined: 08 Feb 2013 Posts: 661

Lightshow · Joined: 04 Nov 2011 Posts: 3666 Location: Calgary

I like the way Super-Taks flare, while S-M-C's flare much less, what shocked me was that I found the coatings to be better than the coatings on my SMC M & SMC A lenses.
OM lenses that are multicoated handle sun in frame with ease.
This one is a 21/3.5, flare resistance is great, contrast was maintained.

Miles Teg · Joined: 11 Apr 2013 Posts: 65

There is a Zeiss Planar 1.8/50 mm in Rollei QBM. Also directly available from Rollei (Rollei Planar, imo same quality). I have found it to better in terms of resolution wide open compared to the Zeiss T* 1.7/50 in C/Y. Also, it looked quite flare resistant to me.
The Rollei Planar should cost you between 20 and 40€. Look on ebay.

Spotmatic · Joined: 18 Aug 2008 Posts: 4045 Location: Netherlands

I've just tested my 50mm f/1.4 Super-Muilti-Coated Takumar at f/5.6. It certainly does flare!

Spotmatic · Joined: 18 Aug 2008 Posts: 4045 Location: Netherlands

The much later (and also very expensive) SMC Pentax-A 50mm f/1.2 (also at f/5.6) seems to perform much better than the SMC Takumar:

Mark · Joined: 01 Dec 2012 Posts: 251 Location: Budapest, Hungary

simbon4o · Joined: 19 Dec 2011 Posts: 390 Location: Bulgaria

Excalibur · Expire: 2014-04-21

H'mm interesting question by the OP and have many 40-58mm lenses and have never tested them facing the sun when it is high in the sky and can only add:- do not get the old Minolta 58mm f1.4 PF Rokkor

Lightshow · Joined: 04 Nov 2011 Posts: 3666 Location: Calgary

I still think the OM 50/.4 MC is one of the best flare resistant 50mm lenses I've ever used, it also is great at night.

Ultron · Joined: 22 Aug 2012 Posts: 60 Location: Amsterdam

You could try the Auto Rikenon 55 2.8, I made a testshot with no postprocessing with the sun just outside the frame here

http://forum.mflenses.com/auto-sears-55mm-f-2-8-cosina-t59048.html

but use live view or you will go blind.

Pancolart · Expire: 2013-11-18

You might totally reconsider the subject and ask about best pol. filter. Then you could emphasize on other lens characteristics.