Interesting tests of a few legacy lenses v native m4/3 optic

nemesis101 · Expire: 2015-01-22

http://admiringlight.com/blog/12-lenses-spanning-50-years-do-battle/2/

I have the m4/3 40-150mm Oly and can attest to its quality. I was surprised at how good this lens which came in a two lens kit actually performs

Jesito · Expire: 2015-01-07

Interesting report, thanks for sharing!.

Regards.
Jes.

poilu · Expire: 2019-08-29

garbage test Mad

Jman13 · Joined: 10 Apr 2012 Posts: 3 Location: Columbus, OH

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

You shouldn't compare together wide angle lenses, standard lenses, tele lenses, and zoom lenses, and you should not compare
apertures of f/1.2 and f/5.6
It's worlds apart, it's really like comparing apples with oranges.
A 57mm prime lens at f/1.2 has no comparison basis with a 15-45mm zoom lens at f/5.6
Another aspect: most lenses (if not all, except macro lenses) are optimized for infinity use. Testing on a bookshelf can give an idea
of how better/worse they deal with a non-ideal situation, but the lenses should really be tested and compared at infinity use.

Jman13 · Joined: 10 Apr 2012 Posts: 3 Location: Columbus, OH

Thanks. I see some of your point, but I disgree with you on others.

As to your first point, yes, I compare zooms and primes together, which normally wouldn't be a fair thing...for the zooms. The thing is, here the zooms are actually in many cases better than many of the primes. There's no 'disadvantage' to the zoom lenses.

I don't know where you're coming from with regards to focal length, though....all of these lenses are of similar focal length, and so when shot on the same format, act in the same manner. Sure, a 50mm legacy lens is a standard lens design and the 45/1.8 is a telephoto design, but they have similar fields of view on m4/3, and since that is the format I use, and it is VERY common to use 50mm lenses as short telephotos on m4/3, I think it is extremely valid to compare them to each other. When one chooses a lens for the job, they aren't concerned with the optical design used to create the image, but rather "does it have the right field of view, aperture and image quality I want."

As to maximum aperture, of course it's more difficult for the ultra-wide aperture lenses wide open, which is why I also compared them stopped down.

I disagree entirely about the infinity use being where they 'should' be tested. On micro 4/3, these lenses occupy the classic 'portrait' focal range. While of course people shoot at infinity with this focal length, the main use for these lenses on m4/3 would likely be in the portrait category....which is a much closer focusing distance. When I'm comparing fast primes of this length, I'm concerned about bokeh and wide aperture performance at short to medium distances, which is why the test was done at approximately 1m. You may disagree, and that's fine, but that's my reasoning. Sure, some of these lenses may have performed better at infinity than close up, but for my purposes, that is very secondary compared to close field performance. (Also, having extensively used all of these lenses, I can tell you that there wouldn't be a whole lot of difference on distant subjects with regards to sharpness).

Ultimately, I tested all of the lenses against each other because I happen to have a bunch of lenses in this focal length and was simply curious one day. If you want to ignore the slow zooms or the two macro lenses, then you don't have to look at those crops if you don't want to, and suddenly you have 8 lenses to compare, which are between 40-57mm at apertures between f/1.2 and f/2. The macros, though, I view as completely valid for comparision as many people (myself included) use or have used macro lenses as ideal portrait lenses as well.

poilu · Expire: 2019-08-29

welcome Jman13
Orio wrote it better than me, comparing apple to orange is not helpful
'garbage' is a strong word, sorry but I am happy it made you register to mflenses Wink

Jman13 · Joined: 10 Apr 2012 Posts: 3 Location: Columbus, OH

Thanks. I addressed some of the concerns above. My only real regret with this, is that I no longer have some of my favorite 50s I've owned (SMC Takumar 50/1.4 and Zeiss C/Y 50/1.7)...but oh well, you use what you have, right?

yinyangbt · Expire: 2012-12-27