Lens 'A' v Lens 'B' REVEALED

buerokratiehasser · Joined: 12 Jun 2011 Posts: 470

B seems to have pretty sharp-y bokeh, which tends to sort of ruin these artsy shots with foreground stencil DOF. A good demonstration of that issue side-by-side.

The one 100% crop seems to show hazy B and better A, but you know how easy it is to misfocus, plus it's wide open.

I couldn't guess the brands if I tried, A could be a well-known gem, B some whatever Revuenon or Jena lens.

SonicScot · Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2012 7:41 pm Post subject:

Thanks to everyone who gave their opinions on these two lenses, it was interesting to see what people thought of them.
I removed my signature when I posted this thread so people wouldn't have any clues to help identify them, but now I'll reveal what they were.

Lens A was Vivitar Series 1 90mm f2.5 'bokina'
Lens B was Elicar 90mm f2.5 V-HQ Macro

Here they are together (Elicar on the left)

#1

#2

I like the smoother bokeh of the Vivitar, plus it edges the Elicar for sharpness at wider apertures.
f5.6 and beyond, the sharpness of the lenses is near identical, though I am aware that sharpness isn't everything Wink

They both show a little purple fringing wide open but it's easily fixed in pp.

Normally I would be happy to keep both of these but I have to give one of them to my father. It's a straight swap for the Nikon 50/1.2 he let me have a month ago. Very Happy

It didn't take me long to decide to give my father the Elicar, it is an excellent lens but the Vivitar is quite simply better. Cool

twinquartz · Expire: 2013-10-29

Thanks! That was interesting.
I believed one would have been a super-high-fidelity-Rolls-Royce (A)
and the other one a rusty, trusty old Skoda Razz

woodrim · Joined: 14 Jan 2010 Posts: 4060 Location: Charleston

I somehow missed this earlier. The Vivitar looks clearly better to my eyes, but I never would have guessed even the focal length used. Great lens as you and I well know.

SonicScot · Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:33 pm Post subject:

SonicScot · Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:41 pm Post subject:

FotoPete · Joined: 20 Nov 2012 Posts: 126

Thanks for the post, you can really see where the Tokina 90 makes its mark! I wonder how the Tamron 90/2.5 stacks up...

SonicScot · Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 6:55 pm Post subject:

Hari · Expire: 2015-05-27

SonicScot · Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 9:22 pm Post subject:

Absolutely Hari, please carry on Very Happy

Hari · Expire: 2015-05-27

Hari · Expire: 2015-05-27

OK, so those who already saw my post where i posted these pictures - don't cheat!

i did cheat in that post and snuck one picture in that was NOT taken by the lens i claimed to have used for all the pictures.

camera used was M9 and both shot in raw, converted to jpeg and set WB to auto

which one do you prefer and why?

PICTURE A:

PICTURE B:

[/url]

hifisapi · Joined: 25 Sep 2012 Posts: 941 Location: USA

A and B look very simiar to me in terms of sharpness, DOF, bokeh, color, contrast, etc.

Hari · Expire: 2015-05-27

come on people, join in and try to throw in your bets

there is absolutely nobody on this planet who can look at pictures and tell precisely which lens was used so we don't need to hide our obvious imperfections. There are thousands of lenses out there even if you have mastered a few.

Aanything · Expire: 2014-05-30

They look quite similar to me.
A seems slightly more contrasty, which - I suppose - also makes me feel the in focus part of the image look slightly sharper.
The backgrounds are hard to compare, there are some more highlights in B, but oof area seem slightly smoother to me. Obviously in both the rendering is really good.

hifisapi · Joined: 25 Sep 2012 Posts: 941 Location: USA

One lens is highly regarded and expensive and one is a dirt chepo lens right?

poilu · Expire: 2019-08-29

Hari, you try to joke with us, you ask to choice between the same lens Razz

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

Let me have a guess - one is a J3 Russian copy of the Sonnar 1.5/50 and the other is the ZM Sonnar 1.5/50? Second one is the J3?

I've got a little guessing game going too:

http://forum.mflenses.com/zeiss-opton-biogon-2-8-35-vs-zeiss-skoparex-3-4-35-t54719.html

Hari · Expire: 2015-05-27

Hari · Expire: 2015-05-27

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

SonicScot · Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 4:26 pm Post subject:

They look practically the same to me, but I'm relatively inexperienced in this mf world so it's no surprise. Smile

Excalibur · Expire: 2014-04-21

erm For the face...... "A" looks sharper, but "B" looks smoother, and for the background maybe I'd choose "A" as being nicer......all swings and roundabouts though Wink

fermy · Joined: 17 Feb 2012 Posts: 1974

To be honest, I don't see any differences, so you need to give us some more food to chew on.

skida · Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 6:44 pm Post subject:

I think they are both sort to medium telephotos, possibly 135, possibly a bit shorter. I don't think either are absolutely stunning, but I have a slight preference for 2. I think 1 is a terribly expensive Leitz and 2 is a generic Japanese own-labeled jobby, but it is a pure guess as I don't have much experience in different lenses.