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Pancolar or other lens?
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2023 9:07 am    Post subject: Pancolar or other lens? Reply with quote

I'm planning to spend about 100 bucks on a nice standard lens. The Pancolar 50/1.8 crossed my mind.
Looking for: smooth bokeh, poppy colors, good sharpness. Other suggestions are welcome!


PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2023 9:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Pancolar is excellent of course.
Others to consider that come to mind:
RE Auto Topcor 50mm f1.8
Petri CC Auto 55mm f1.8
Canon 50mm f1.8 LTM
Zenitar 50mm f1.7
Tom


PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2023 10:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

or ..

get the worst possible lens, go out and take the best possible photos.

you will grow up as a photographer and you will shrink as a collector

the autumn gray misty weather is ideal moment to train with a 'bad' lens

kinda: take your helios out and try to swirly gray misty weather (in black&white ofcourse..)


i had to push myself last weekend to use a kit zoom for a change and for the sake of a change.

this weekend other zoom or industar 69 ..


PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2023 11:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

50 f1.4 nikkor A/I-s. Accurate saturation, and a lot of "pop", especially at MFD and stopped down a little.

Been doing a bit of occasional shooting with the 55mm f3.5 "P" micro-nikkor as of late- in non-macro situations.
Decently sharp, but the single coating on mine requires careful use in sharp cross-lighting.
Rendering on this is a bit old school, but I still like it.

I think I picked up the 1.4 for about 60.00 in a camera shop. It doesn't take much stopping down in order for it to perform.

-D.S.


PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2023 12:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've had a look to the last portrait you've done with the Pentax 1.7 , so, I'm wondering why wouldn't that lens fit for the same purpose ? What is it lacking?


PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2023 12:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

alex_d wrote:
or ..

get the worst possible lens, go out and take the best possible photos.

you will grow up as a photographer and you will shrink as a collector

the autumn gray misty weather is ideal moment to train with a 'bad' lens

kinda: take your helios out and try to swirly gray misty weather (in black&white ofcourse..)


i had to push myself last weekend to use a kit zoom for a change and for the sake of a change.

this weekend other zoom or industar 69 ..

Yes. But nevertheless those Mamiya EF 1.4/50 portraits were excellent. Should not be put on the shelf.


PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2023 1:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the tips guys. I am aware I don't 'need' another lens. However, my collection is always changing. I like to compare lenses and then choose my favorite. When I buy other lenses, it usually means I just sold a bunch.

Anyway, I'll keep your tips in mind for the future, as I just received my QBM Sonnar 85/2.8 than happens to be in AWFUL condition. Aperture and focusing ring are stiff as hell, and the A/M switch is missing a part. You wonder how a seller like that can have a 99.7% Ebay rating. I'm gonna return it, and maybe pay a bit more for a proper one.


PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2023 1:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Between the Pancolar and the Zenitar I think the Zenitar is the overall better lens, but the Pancolar does have exceptional color saturation. The Zenitar has exceptional sharpness and bokeh. You should just try both.


PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2023 4:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

D1N0 wrote:
Between the Pancolar and the Zenitar I think the Zenitar is the overall better lens, but the Pancolar does have exceptional color saturation. The Zenitar has exceptional sharpness and bokeh. You should just try both.


Yeah, i looked into the Zenitar before. It looks very good.


PostPosted: Sun Oct 29, 2023 2:01 pm    Post subject: Re: Pancolar or other lens? Reply with quote

caspert79 wrote:
I'm planning to spend about 100 bucks on a nice standard lens. The Pancolar 50/1.8 crossed my mind.
Looking for: smooth bokeh, poppy colors, good sharpness. Other suggestions are welcome!


The Pancolar is a good top quality choice, well actually two choices. Radioactive or non radioactive. I like both but the non radioactive is probably a better general use choice with no color cast. The MC version I have has all the qualities you want. Perhaps not smooth bokeh depending on working distance. Some seems to want smooth bokeh at all distances but the Pancolar can get a bit busy in the half portrait distance.

Personal options:

Rollei Planar 50mm 1.8
Rollei Xenon 50mm 1.8 (don't have)
C/Y Planar 50mm 1.7


PostPosted: Sun Oct 29, 2023 3:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks, i will look into the Rollei planar as well!


PostPosted: Mon Oct 30, 2023 8:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Zenitar M2S 50mm f2. A little plasticky but great IQ IMHO. Minimum MFD of 35cm is a nice bonus.


PostPosted: Mon Oct 30, 2023 8:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

pabeu wrote:
Zenitar M2S 50mm f2. A little plasticky but great IQ IMHO. Minimum MFD of 35cm is a nice bonus.


That’s definitely a plus!


PostPosted: Wed Nov 01, 2023 2:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

iirc, I did not experience noticeably smooth/smoother than other vintage 50mm SLR bokeh with my Zeiss Jena DDR PANCOLAR MC 50mm f1.8 (black, orange ft distance markings). Now perhaps the backgrounds were not distant enough for such a test, and demanding, but..

In looking again at what I shot, it seems slightly smoother than I remember, but I don't know if I'm seeing things.

Quickly edited in Camera RAW, for instance the one of the sun just bursting through the trees looks way too dark on my phone's brightness but was alright on my monitor. All wide open on A6000 with Metabones Speedbooster Ultra, which I don't think will have massive influence. Also had to ditch the thumbnails as they looked different to the original images, apologies for them looking big in the forum on desktop:





This one - only edit is setting preset to Adobe Vivid, then saving



PostPosted: Wed Nov 01, 2023 3:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A height of roughly 700 pixels works a lot better on this forum.
Are you having some kind of problem with the forum recognizing image sizes?

-D.S.


PostPosted: Wed Nov 01, 2023 3:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Doc Sharptail wrote:
A height of roughly 700 pixels works a lot better on this forum.
Are you having some kind of problem with the forum recognizing image sizes?

-D.S.


Forum doesn't resize images linked here from another website. The Board Style mfblack has a bug that prevents auto browser resize feature...if you log out and view this message the browser should resize all images, not only uploads like mfblack does.


PostPosted: Wed Nov 01, 2023 9:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The images are automatically resized to the available width. Doesn't work very well for portrait mode. Unless you resize your browser window to be very narrow.


PostPosted: Wed Nov 01, 2023 10:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

D1N0 wrote:
The images are automatically resized to the available width. Doesn't work very well for portrait mode. Unless you resize your browser window to be very narrow.


That's what I said too, though poorly. However the browser will not resize to available width when Board Style mfblack is used. To access Board Styles tap Profile link top of page...


PostPosted: Thu Nov 02, 2023 12:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

caspert79 wrote:
Thanks, i will look into the Rollei planar as well!


I'm pretty certain I have a spare Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 1.8/50 ( Zebra ) 50 /1.8 somewhere, and also a QBM mount Planar 50mm/ 1.8 that I think I got with no rubber grip and I think I've replaced it with a nice leather grip - at least that was my plan, I might not have actually done it yet. Rolling Eyes

I'm going away for a few days tomorrow morning and both these lenses are either in my selling or repair boxes which I'm not digging out tonight! But I'll be home sometime next week. I've stuck a Postit note on my desk, I'll have a look when I get home.


PostPosted: Thu Nov 02, 2023 7:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lloydy wrote:
caspert79 wrote:
Thanks, i will look into the Rollei planar as well!


I'm pretty certain I have a spare Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 1.8/50 ( Zebra ) 50 /1.8 somewhere, and also a QBM mount Planar 50mm/ 1.8 that I think I got with no rubber grip and I think I've replaced it with a nice leather grip - at least that was my plan, I might not have actually done it yet. Rolling Eyes

I'm going away for a few days tomorrow morning and both these lenses are either in my selling or repair boxes which I'm not digging out tonight! But I'll be home sometime next week. I've stuck a Postit note on my desk, I'll have a look when I get home.


👍👍


PostPosted: Thu Nov 02, 2023 9:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Although I think you will be satisfied with either Pancolar or Planar, I would suggest trying the Carl Zeiss Ultron 50mm f1.8 if you have chance. It is a special lens that renders differently than the Pancolar or Planar.


PostPosted: Thu Nov 02, 2023 11:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

calvin83 wrote:
Although I think you will be satisfied with either Pancolar or Planar, I would suggest trying the Carl Zeiss Ultron 50mm f1.8 if you have chance. It is a special lens that renders differently than the Pancolar or Planar.


Good one. Yes, it seem to render beautifully. They're quite expensive though.
Any idea how the Voigtlander Color Ultron does in comparison?


PostPosted: Thu Nov 02, 2023 12:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

caspert79 wrote:
calvin83 wrote:
Although I think you will be satisfied with either Pancolar or Planar, I would suggest trying the Carl Zeiss Ultron 50mm f1.8 if you have chance. It is a special lens that renders differently than the Pancolar or Planar.


Good one. Yes, it seem to render beautifully. They're quite expensive though.
Any idea how the Voigtlander Color Ultron does in comparison?

I never did a comparison with the Color Ultron as I sold the Color Ultron after I got the Zeiss Ultron. If you decide to buy the Color Ultron, make sure you get the all-metal version. If possible, the M42 version will keep its value better than the QBM version.

I am lucky to get a cheap Zeiss Ultron in M42 with the help from a forum member about 10 years ago. It seems the price has been increase a lot since then.


PostPosted: Thu Nov 02, 2023 12:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

calvin83 wrote:
caspert79 wrote:
calvin83 wrote:
Although I think you will be satisfied with either Pancolar or Planar, I would suggest trying the Carl Zeiss Ultron 50mm f1.8 if you have chance. It is a special lens that renders differently than the Pancolar or Planar.


Good one. Yes, it seem to render beautifully. They're quite expensive though.
Any idea how the Voigtlander Color Ultron does in comparison?

I never did a comparison with the Color Ultron as I sold the Color Ultron after I got the Zeiss Ultron. If you decide to buy the Color Ultron, make sure you get the all-metal version. If possible, the M42 version will keep its value better than the QBM version.

I am lucky to get a cheap Zeiss Ultron in M42 with the help from a forum member about 10 years ago. It seems the price has been increase a lot since then.


Thanks, useful info.


PostPosted: Thu Nov 02, 2023 3:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

OK guys, thanks a lot for your help.
I finally decided on buying a Zenitar 50/1.7, after checking out images on Flickr.