G.Zuiko 50mm f/1.4 serial 37xxxx

[ilguercio]

I bought this lens a few days ago and i thought it was a bargain (which it wasn't) .
I needed a fast prime for my 50D but ended up disappointed by the performances of the lens.
I know it's single coated, it glows like hell wide open, but i was expecting a bit more usability.
I don't need it to be good stopped down because i've got the good Tamron 17-50.
I also noticed that the blades do not form a perfect octagon when closed at f/2.
So, looks like i rushed it and now i have a lens that i can't use well because of the difficulties of MF and doesn't perform as good as the Canon 50 1.4 a friend of mine loaned to me a year ago.
Suggestions?

[ilguercio]

Ok, here's a picture of the blades at f/2.
Note that they're non symmetrical.
Any thoughts?

[Ymmot]

Blades look perfectly normal to me? As far as I know probably about half of my lenses do that one stop down. (google 'ninja star bokeh', even zeiss lenses do that).

Also have you tried using a hood with the lens? Especially single coated lenses are generally deemed to need this as far as I can remember.

I guess, if you don't like it, you can always sell it .

[Keysersoze27]

[ForenSeil]

Well... the lens seems to be simply not very good wide open. The aperture blades a normal. Does it have any signs of disassembling? Many lenses loosing a lot of quality if an optical element is slightly decentered.

If you wan't something cheap and good, sell this one and try to convert a Minolta MD ~50mm F1.4 or Canon FD 50 F1.4 (both 35€-55€) for Canon EOS or buy a M42 SMC Takumar 50mm F1.4 (~80€) which are known to be already good wide open.

If you can live without the 0.4 stops extra speed you can also buy a new or used Canon AF 50/1.8 for nearly the same money and which has a good reputation as well and has already at least decent sharpness wide open.

[ilguercio]

Thanks guys, i guess i'm too used to modern lens not to recognize the beauty in the non symmetry of the blades
I've ordered one of those cheap hoods from ebay, it'll take a month to have it delivered though.
As far as i can understand the lens wasn't disassembled but i can't be sure about it.
I already owned a Canon f/1.8 but i wasn't that happy with the build quality and ended up selling it.
Now that i have my 17-50 i really want something fast to be used in low light.
If anybody wants to share pictures taken with this lens wide open i will be pleased to compare the performances with mine.
It's not just soft, it's the glow and the lack of contrast that makes everything hazy and unpleasant.
In fact it improves a bit when it's overcast but i can't just rely on weather to enjoy this lens

[kuuan]

[ilguercio]

What's a fair price for a Tak?
http://www.ebay.it/itm/OBIETTIVO-SUPER-MULTI-COATED-TAKUMAR-50-MM-1-1-4-ATTACCO-VITE-42-MM-/290678329260?pt=Fotocamere_Analogiche_Reflex_35mm&hash=item43adc74fac
Is this one good? I would consider buying it if it's worth, then i could sell the Zuiko on this forum.

[ForenSeil]

[ilguercio]

Good, thanks for the tip.
What about my Zuiko, eventually? What would be a fair price?

[Attila]

I had same lens before it was sharp wide open I did one of my best photo with that. Your lens has faulty if you are not satisfied with it.

[ilguercio]

Unedited center crop at f/1.4.
The scene was illuminated with LEDs from above.

Focus distance is about 1.4 meters.

[poilu]

sample look great
try to use auto level or auto contrast

[ilguercio]

The performance improves a bit when photographing black stuff, looks like even the tiniest bit of white reflects so much light into the lens creating glowing.
To be honest it doesn't look that bad in this picture, it's just that i can't get rid of that annoying glow.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1087972/IMG_3256.jpg

[aoleg]

Yes. Silver-nose G.Zuiko 50/1.4 will glow wide open. That's the optical character of the lens. Some love it, some hate it. If you don't like the glow, get a more recent 50/1.4 like AIS Nikkor 50/1.4 or past-1.1 million s/n Zuiko. But that glow is perfectly normal for your model - there's nothing wrong with your copy of the lens. It's just what it is, an old, fast standard glass.

[poilu]

have you try autolevel
lens is very good wide open
find a better bad sample

[ilguercio]

Yep, it's not that bad, i just need my hood delivered and it'll perform a bit better outside.
Thanks for the suggestions, i'll post more real pictures taken with the lens as soon as i can.

[trev]

While you are waiting delivery of your "cheap" Chinese lens hood, have a look at www.lenshoods.co.uk and make your own

[ilguercio]

Center crop:



Not that bad for a single coated lens without a hood.
That's wide open and untouched (no autolevel, no sharpening in LR4) .
I noticed that quality increases as the focus approaches infinity.
Is it my impression or it is something related to the fact that the whole optical system is moved to actually focus?

[ForenSeil]

Sharpness and CA control are looking good and comparable to the Minolta MD or Canon FD 50mm f/1.4... so your lens is definately not faulty. But contrast looks extremly low compared to them which causes a soft look when pic comes out of the cam. I think a hood won't get much more out of that.
I would recommend to buy a better 50/1.4.

Bye the way, the Planars 50/1.4 are even a little better than the Takumars - if you can get one cheap try it

[ilguercio]

Yeah, i just got a nice SMC takumar for 60€, just waiting for it to arrive.
To be honest, the lens doesn't perform so poorly under certain situations but surely lacks in contrast (which can be boosted a bit in post processing) and is really prone to haloing when pointing white stuff.
Still, its lenses are fine, no scratches apart from a normal wear on the barrel and there is no sign of anything bad inside.
I will do a test when the takumar arrives, M42 mount is definitely much more interesting because of the amount of lenses made with it.
What's a fair price for my Zuiko? I think it'll sit on a shelf when the Tak arrives.
I know Planars are good but they start from 140€ and i don't think i deserve it