Which Russian Fifty for Oly E-PL1?

[iangreenhalgh1]

Hi folks

Just snapped up a refurbished black E-PL1 for 139ukp and need to get a lens to use with it.

I bought a M39 adapter but don't have any M39 lenses!

So I have a shortlist of these and wondered which people recommend:

Industar-50 3.5/50 - small pancake lens but slow, how sharp is it wide open?
Industar-22 3.5/50 - collapsible 'elmar' version of above, has the coolness factor
Industar-61L/D 2.8/55 - bit faster but also larger
Industar-26/M 2.8/50 - similar to above in looks, dunno how the optics differ
Jupiter-8 2/50 - some say better then the I-61?

[Joosep]

I would go for the J-8, but the 61 is a very nice performer also.

[SXR_Mark]

Ian,

Congratulations on the bargain EPL1. I really like mine; I think it is a great camera. I also have the VF2 electronic viewfinder which, whilst pricey, is well worth getting for use with MF lenses.

I tested the I-61 and the J-8 on my EPL1.

To be honest, I wasn't overwhelmed with either. The Jupiter-8 is very compact, but is too soft wide open and I found the click-less aperture control which rotates with the focus ring a pain in the proverbial. I liked the feel of the I-61 much more and it is the one I would be most likely to use (but I prefer the Fujinon-TV 50mm f1.4 c-mount by a huge margin, so neither gets used)

Mark

[Attila]

Look 'RED ARMY' members those lenses what are marked with RED Russian P. I have several copies from them all are super sharp at F8 and pretty good one at wide open too.

http://forum.mflenses.com/industar-22-5cm-f3-5-red-p-leica-elmar-clone-t38592,highlight,%2Bindustar.html

http://forum.mflenses.com/industar-26m-5cm-f2-8-red-p-t37960,highlight,%2Bindustar.html

http://forum.mflenses.com/jupiter-8-5cm-f2-l39-red-p-panasonic-g1-t38587,highlight,%2Bjupiter.html

[rbelyell]

i find the j8 very prone to flare and soft. i understand the J50/1.4 is a better lens, though more exoensive. i just got a very cheap fed 50/3.5 which i like very much, especially for the price, plus its collapsible!

tbh, you may want to save the money on an m39 50mm and pick up a meoptar openar 40/1.8 c mount as its faster, smaller, more useable FL, and better IQ than ones youve listed.

[iangreenhalgh1]

Hi Mark, I'd love one of those Fujinons, not seen one for sale yet though.

A 1.8/40 Hexanon would be ideal, but too expensive for me right now, hence the interest in Russian glass.

I might just get an I-61 to use for the time being till I can afford something better, sounds like a decent walking around lens, don't like the sound of the ergonomic issues with the J-8.

Thankyou Attila for the tip, I shall keep my eye out for the red 'P' on Russian lenses, are they common to see for sale?

I'll look out for that Meopta Openar, what sort of proce should I look to pay for one?

[Attila]

[iangreenhalgh1]

Hi Attila

Have you used the Hexanon 1.8/40 on a 43rds cam? How does it perform?

Which Hexanons do you recommend for use with the E-PL1?

Or is that a silly question and you will say all of them? lol

50USD sounds like a good value for that lens if it's as good as some say.

I might have to save up my pennies and come to Budapest to shop for lenses for my E-PL1.

[Attila]

I buy many lenses on Ebay...

All Hexanon are top performer and all perform very well on m4/3 no exception.

Most samples made with 4/3 sensor Olympus E-1, Panasonic G-1

http://www.mflenses.com/gallery/v/japenese/konica/

[iangreenhalgh1]

[rbelyell]

the hexanons are very cheap. i think i may not have gotten a good copy of the 40/1.8, as i was not crazy about it on my ep1. i actually liked the hexanons 28/2.8 and 50/1.9 much better on my olly. i like the meopta better than all of them, but more expensive...

[uhoh7]

hex 40/1.8 is very good as stated, cheap and reliable build.

I tried I-61 LD, though copy seemed in good shape, it did not perfrom as I'd hoped.

I then got a J8, and find it excellent


bigger
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5181/5651554159_bf22be16f9_b.jpg

in the M39 varient it is only 120 grams, and usable wide open.

here it is wide open:


bigger
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5268/5608268834_6b3e001974_b.jpg

It all depends on the copy I think. If your J8 is soft at f4 or beyond, you have a bad copy.



the 40/1.8 will take a larger adapter and is alot bigger on the camera than a J8--but still very reasonable. It is quite sharp lens.

Your 2x crop makes the 50s 100s as you know.

I would spend my money on a great 28, or 35--or a 24 or 20.

[rbelyell]

i agree that 50mm lenses not as useable as you would think on m4/3 because of crop factor--it really makes a difference. something that would yield 40-80mm range is much more useable in every day life. i have a persbonal preference for 75-85mm for portraits, even indoors, and for some types of street photography, and 35-40mm for most landscape and street work.

[martinsmith99]

I can only speak of the Russian glass from my experience.

I have 3 different versions of the I-50: the 50-2 is sharp, the 50 is not bad and the early 5cm vignetts and is not as sharp on the edges.

I-61, not a bad lens at all and decent MFD. Bokeh can be intersting when stopped down a bit as the blades form an odd shape.

J-8 is a great lens. I use one on my FED2 in favour of the I-22. Both flare but the J-8 seems to handle it fairly well.

[std]

From russian lenses i would recommend the rangefinder L39 Industar 2.8/50 - alu., or Jupiter-8 (those are around 10 Eur each). Look for the white alu one, the later black is not that good both optically and mechanically ( e.g. not that sharp, has focus shifts when you change apertures, may unscrew the optical block if you try to unscrew the lens hood).

Anyway those lenses are not that good. - the problem is not the softness i don't like how they render colors.

If you want to see the real performance of E-P1 get something from Zeiss. East German SLR lenses from 50-ies-60-is (2/50 Pancolar, 2.8/35 Flektogon) or Japanese Contax G Zeiss (2/35 Planar, 2/45 Planar, 2.8/90 Sonnar) - those are exceptional lenses.

[SXR_Mark]

[SXR_Mark]

[std]

Not really that expensive. The pancolar and flektogon are around 50Eur. the G Sonnar around 100. 35 and 45 Planars are around 200 which is 3 times less than the similar lenses in M mount

[SXR_Mark]

[SXR_Mark]

[Attila]

[iangreenhalgh1]

I forgot to mention - the E-PL1 comes with a free Nikon adapter so I can use Nikon lenses.

Methinks a 28mm Nikkor might be a sensible purchase...

[Attila]

[iangreenhalgh1]

[rbelyell]

i have a similarly small petri 135 in m42 and it works great on the ep2, so i think you will enjoy that one.

as for 25mm c mounts, yiu should first know they all vignette throughout the aperture range. with some, if you set the camera to 3:2 aspect ratio (or 1:1) vs standard 4:3 it will likely disappear, but you should know its an issue regardless of cost of the lens.