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Pentacon 50 1.8 MC vs Pancolar 50 1.8 MC vs Zenitar-M 50 1.7
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 3:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I actually read somehwere than one of the main (if not the main) changes from biotar to Pancolar was greater correction of spherical abberation.

I'll have to dig out my zebra Pancolar and silver Biotar and compare them.


PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 6:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
themoleman342 wrote:
Out of curiosity, do you use a deep hood with the pancolar?

No some of my portraits are with CPL filter, but the swirling is not from it or a hood, the lens itself creates it like you can see in my bokeh comparison of the 50mm lenses. here
As I was saying the MC Pancolar is 6/5 not like the zebra(6/4) and from the resolution test you can see the CAs - there are almost none of them(but I heard the zebra is even better for CAs).

The MC is great with very low distortion level, sharp in the center wide open, from 2.8 the corners are getting quite sharp and on 4.0 they are great! The MC itself is not like SMCs, but it works, only strong light sources makes flares and the body design helps for the flares because of the very hidden front element. The later MC which I bought lately is just great - there was no difference(100% no difference) in sharpness at all with the older one which I've sold when I tested them both. The old one was not in top condition mechanically and the optics were a little dusty, colors of the new one was a little better(cooler) because of the new type of coating(blueish-purple, the old one was orange-purple), and that was enough to make the decision which one to keep.

The old one was from the very first MCs, and my current copy is from the last ones Smile this makes me think that if the lens is not "repaired" by somebody who doesn't have an idea what he's doing those CZ Jenas were made with quite nice QC in the factories! If I find the tests I'll post them it was like shooting with one lens they were so equal...

themoleman342 wrote:
Swirly oof is likely a combination of astigmatism and optical vignetting (which creates the oval shaped highlights along the edges of the images). And yes, it was also my thought that the pancolar design corrected more for these issues.

This could be right, a friend of mine told me that probably my pancolar is badly repaired but when I searched the internet all of the MCs are like this and when I bought my current copy of it I was finally sure that the lens is like this and it is not a problem Smile. It is actually one of the reasons to keep it - I like swirling bokeh Smile.


PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 6:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I like swirling bokeh too, my Pancolar zebra in Exakta doesn't have any, but my Helios 44M-4 does as did my other Helioses (now sold), I have just obtained a rare 00 serial Helios 44-2 and a silver Biotar so looking forward to trying those, both will be swirly.

Another lens I have that has nice swirly bokeh is the Petri CC Auto 1.8/55. My Meyer Primagon has slight swirl, as did my Pentacon and Meyer 1.8/50s in M42, but it's absent from the PB Prakticar 1.8/50.

About abberations, I actually like a lens to have some as they give character, although I don't like chromatic abberation at all.


PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 7:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
With all due respect, I don't quite understand why you keep bringing up element/group configurations. It doesn't really explain anything.
The Helios is a 6/4 design. So what? Triplets swirl with the same effect.

My point about adding mechanical vignetting is this:

Guess what lens? The MC Zenitar 1.7/50mm just with a hood made for a 135mm lens. It's not quite a full-out swirl but you can see that sometimes it's not just optical design that influences things.


PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 10:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
themoleman342 wrote:
With all due respect, I don't quite understand why you keep bringing up element/group configurations. It doesn't really explain anything.
The Helios is a 6/4 design. So what?

You were talking about pancolar which does not swirl - my point was that MC pancolar is different and the new design is guilty for the swirl. That's why I was talking about the 6/4 and 6/5 combinations of those lenses. Smile

About the hood - yes it can make kind'a swirl effect but nothing can replace the original swirl lens! The hood only rounds the outside of bokeh, the swirly lens makes it naturally and with more pleasant symmetrical shape in more situations.

PS Here is what I'm talking about with the Pancolar 50 1.8 MC


PostPosted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 10:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Helios 44M-4 wide open:



Pancolar 1.8/50 zebra Exakta wide open:



Meyer Oreston 1.8/50 M42 wide open:



Meyer Primotar 3.5/50 wide open:



Miranda 1.4/50 wide open:



Pentax M 2/50 wide open:



Konica Hexanon 1.7/50 wide open:



Industar-50 2.8/50 wide open:



Pentacon Prakticar 1.8/50 wide open:



Konica Hexanon 1.8/50 wide open:



Petri CC 1.8/55 wide open:



Topcor RE Auto 1.8/58 wide open:



Minolta Rokkor-PF 1.7/50 wide open:



I can only see anything swirly on the Helios 44M-4 shot, the rest are all pretty similar.


PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 7:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
You have quite nice collection there Smile. Yes I can see the zebra Pancolar is not swirly but very sharp and without CAs - nice one.


PostPosted: Sun Mar 25, 2012 12:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Those are just the ones I've shot recently. I also noticed how sharp the Pancolar was, it stands out as being the sharpest of the bunch I think, the Hexanon 1.8/50 is possibly as sharp imho.

Hope it was helpful to see a range of bokeh, it's something I tend to overlook when assessing a lens.


PostPosted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 6:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
If I were you I was going to make a test on one thing by putting the camera on tripod and only changing lenses, that's the perfect way to compare for me Smile. But those samples - yes they give an idea what to expect from each lens! And again - nice collection Smile
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