Planar and Pancolar bokeh battle

[blotafton]

Hi

I have made a comparison between some of the legendary German 50mm lenses that you might like to see.

Wide open and at f/4.

The following lenses are included:
C/Y Planar 50mm 1.4
C/Y Planar 50mm 1.7
Rollei Planar 50mm 1.8
CZJ Pancolar MC 50mm 1.8
CZJ Pancolar 50mm 1.8 version 1
Practikar 50mm 1.4 version 1
Retina Xenon 50mm 1.9
Retina Heligon 50mm 1.9
Steinheil Quinon 55mm 1.9


I posted it on Dpreview for full resolution.

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4578805#forum-post-65197668

[Oldhand]

Thank you for posting these.
The Jena Pancolar without MC is beautifully warm as is the Jena Prakticar.
The Quinon is quite lovely as well
Tom

[kiddo]

Thank you, hard to compare these lenses in real life with changing light .
A controlled ambien would help much more to see exactly details , in my eyes ,planar is one of a kind ,smoother around the subject . The quinon I've never had it ,but I see it's kind of different . Most 1.8 ,1.9 and 2.0 might have better sharpness wide open ,but more busy bokeh . In my case ,it's more important how each lens could deal with human face in portraits wide open . I've had very sharp AF lenses but don't fit my type of shooting , many 1.8 and f2 are very sharp for skin (minolta,nikkor,etc) ,not as much as old f2 type like septon Wich does pretty good on portraits .

[Zamo]

Nice comparison. I like the Prakticar a lot, I use it often. Mine also gives a particularly warm rendition. I like the bokeh of the Pancolar. Less sharp than the Rollei but I end up using it more. Although, in most cases, I could not know the difference if I don't remember which lens I used. From this work I would lean towards the Quinon. Surprisingly nice!

[alex ph]

That's interesting, thank you for sharing. Pancolar and its Prakticar incarnation render pretty lively. Quinon looks similar to a good copy of Helios, to my eye. I wonder how it could be side-by-side with Quinon if you included it in the comparison.

[blotafton]

I'm glad you found it useful. I wanted an outside scene because it gives a more detailed background than what I can create inside.

[blotafton]

[alex ph]

Looking forward!

I am with you for the choice of the scenery. True that the light changes quickly. But it corresponds much better to real world photo experience you have in most cases. And it is also more pleasing than a test target.