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Mamiya EF 50mm f/1.4 tested against second sample
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 04, 2024 12:21 pm    Post subject: Mamiya EF 50mm f/1.4 tested against second sample Reply with quote
Stephan rated the Mamiya EF 50mm f/1.4 as one of the best vintage lenses in terms of corner performance. I was happy with the Mamiya's performance, but couldn't quite reproduce the same quality of corners. Because of this, I decided to buy a second sample of the Mamiya EF 50mm f/1.4 (a rebadged Revuenon version) to see if I'd find any difference. As you can see, this particular Revuenon version has significantly better corner performance than my Mamiya labeled version. The Auto Yashinon is a much older lens which I just included for fun.

With near perfect corners @ f/2.8, the Mamiya is indeed one of the best. Only two vintage standard lenses I tested in the past did equally good: the late version Olympus Zuiko OM 50mm f/1.4 (sn >1.100.000), and the Petri 55mm f/1.8 (M42). The Mamiya is sharp as well wide open for nearby objects, unlike the other two.


Mamiya EF 50mm f/1.4 comparison by devoscasper, on Flickr

Last edited by caspert79 on Fri Oct 04, 2024 2:28 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Fri Oct 04, 2024 12:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks to your test, I've bought this revuenon version and I'm really happy with this lens except it doesn't like too much straight light


PostPosted: Fri Oct 04, 2024 2:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
kiddo wrote:
Thanks to your test, I've bought this revuenon version and I'm really happy with this lens except it doesn't like too much straight light


Yeah, and I haven't found another equally fast vintage standard lens that is this sharp wide open (click):
Mamiyaportret1447 by devoscasper, on Flickr

Didn't test the Summilux though....


PostPosted: Fri Oct 04, 2024 5:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Very insightful.

Could you share a picture of the Mamiya and Revue lens?

Thank you.


PostPosted: Fri Oct 04, 2024 6:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
pabeu wrote:
Very insightful.

Could you share a picture of the Mamiya and Revue lens?

Thank you.


Here’s a picture of the Mamiya: https://lens-db.com/mamiya-sekor-ef-50mm-f14-1981/

The Revuenon looks excactly the same.


PostPosted: Fri Oct 04, 2024 6:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
beautifull portrait , is my lightest 50mm 1.4 lens i have, i am not sure how much better is than all others i have as i never compared them side by side CaNiMinTopcor but whenever weight is important , this would be my first choice - it pairs very well with the zoom mamiya ef 75-150 or the 80-200 (Steve´s test put it on high level) , the good thins is that many times these ef mount lenses would sell very cheap


PostPosted: Fri Oct 04, 2024 7:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
kiddo wrote:
beautifull portrait , is my lightest 50mm 1.4 lens i have, i am not sure how much better is than all others i have as i never compared them side by side CaNiMinTopcor but whenever weight is important , this would be my first choice - it pairs very well with the zoom mamiya ef 75-150 or the 80-200 (Steve´s test put it on high level) , the good thins is that many times these ef mount lenses would sell very cheap


These zooms are still missing in my collection; hard to find in good condition if I'm not wrong, especially the 80-200.
I didn't compare every f/1.4 I ever had, but last year I compared 4 of them at wide open:

ComparisonWideOpen by devoscasper, on Flickr

The Mamiya is significantly sharper then the others, spherical aberration is minimal. I've also had the Pentax 50/1.4, Tak 50/1.4, Rokkor 58/1.4 (hills and valleys), Nikkor ai 50/1.4, but they're all pretty soft wide open. I didn't have the Canon though, which is supposed to be quite sharp. It would be interesting to test that one as well. It looks sharper than average on some Flickr images.

Bu the way, the Mamiya EF 50/1.7 is very sharp as well wide open, and goes for garbage prices.


PostPosted: Fri Oct 04, 2024 8:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
This is quite interesting!
Were you having a bit of trouble getting the Mamiya to focus in the first set?
I know focus confirmation on a DSLR can be a bit taxing with some f1.4 lenses and faster, at least in my experience, so there is no negativity with this comment.

Huge surprise for me on the Zuiko in the bottom-most set. They are very attractive looking lenses, and I had been intrigued for quite some time.

Have to comment on the nikkor Wink Just part of my nature.
It really depends on which one you are using. The a/i has a bit of a record for softness. The A/I-s with it's possibly up-dated coatings is quite a different matter, especially at minimum focus distance. (I still haven't been able to determine which of the A/I-s lenses got the new coatings. Finding this info is like pulling hen's teeth.)

Great test all around. Thanks for doing the work to get it posted.

-D.S.


PostPosted: Sat Oct 05, 2024 6:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Doc Sharptail wrote:
This is quite interesting!
Were you having a bit of trouble getting the Mamiya to focus in the first set?
I know focus confirmation on a DSLR can be a bit taxing with some f1.4 lenses and faster, at least in my experience, so there is no negativity with this comment.


No offence taken. No problem to focus on this scene; the roof tiles help accurate focusing. I'm not using a DSLR but a mirrorless, and I use maximum magnification in order to focus. It may not look that sharp, but the crops are less than 0.9% of the total image surface:
cropareas by devoscasper, on Flickr

Doc Sharptail wrote:

Huge surprise for me on the Zuiko in the bottom-most set. They are very attractive looking lenses, and I had been intrigued for quite some time.


It's still an excellent lens @ infinity. Build quality is clearly above the Mamiya as well.

Doc Sharptail wrote:

Have to comment on the nikkor Wink Just part of my nature.
It really depends on which one you are using. The a/i has a bit of a record for softness. The A/I-s with it's possibly up-dated coatings is quite a different matter, especially at minimum focus distance. (I still haven't been able to determine which of the A/I-s lenses got the new coatings. Finding this info is like pulling hen's teeth.)


Very well possible; I found the Ai-s 105/2.5 to be significantly better (in the corners) than the Ai version, despite having 'the same' optical formula.

Doc Sharptail wrote:

Great test all around. Thanks for doing the work to get it posted.

-D.S.


Thank you and you're welcome.


PostPosted: Mon Oct 07, 2024 5:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I agree it'd be interesting to see a comparison versus the Canon FD but the question is which Canon FD 50/1.4. Some say the chrome nose is sharper, others the nFD.


PostPosted: Mon Oct 07, 2024 6:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
DaveNJ wrote:
I agree it'd be interesting to see a comparison versus the Canon FD but the question is which Canon FD 50/1.4. Some say the chrome nose is sharper, others the nFD.


Can do that tomorrow. Both FD and nFD.

S


PostPosted: Mon Oct 07, 2024 6:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
stevemark wrote:
DaveNJ wrote:
I agree it'd be interesting to see a comparison versus the Canon FD but the question is which Canon FD 50/1.4. Some say the chrome nose is sharper, others the nFD.


Can do that tomorrow. Both FD and nFD.

S


Try close distance as well, wide open , if you have the chance.


PostPosted: Mon Oct 07, 2024 7:15 pm    Post subject: Re: Mamiya EF 50mm f/1.4 tested against second sample Reply with quote
caspert79 wrote:
Stephan rated the Mamiya EF 50mm f/1.4 as one of the best vintage lenses in terms of corner performance. I was happy with the Mamiya's performance, but couldn't quite reproduce the same quality of corners. Because of this, I decided to buy a second sample of the Mamiya EF 50mm f/1.4 ... to see if I'd find any difference. As you can see, this particular Revuenon version has significantly better corner performance than my Mamiya labeled version.


Thank you for all that work Wink

As we know from my previous test of ten Mamiya Sekor E 3.5/135mm lenses, sample variation is quite obvious with Mamiya Sekor E lenses. That's no wonder since the Mamiya ZE and its lenses came at a really, really low price back in their day. In Switzerland around 1982, the whole set of a Mamiya ZE plus 3.5/28mm, 1.7/50mm and 3.5/135mm was cheaper than a Minolta X-300 body!

S


PostPosted: Mon Oct 07, 2024 7:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
stevemark wrote:
DaveNJ wrote:
I agree it'd be interesting to see a comparison versus the Canon FD but the question is which Canon FD 50/1.4. Some say the chrome nose is sharper, others the nFD.


Can do that tomorrow. Both FD and nFD.

S


That would be great to see. Thank you.

Also thanks to caspert79 for putting the Mamiya EF 50/1.4 on my radar. Prior it seemed overshadowed by the Mamiya Sekor Auto 55/1.4.


PostPosted: Tue Oct 08, 2024 8:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
stevemark wrote:
DaveNJ wrote:
I agree it'd be interesting to see a comparison versus the Canon FD but the question is which Canon FD 50/1.4. Some say the chrome nose is sharper, others the nFD.


Can do that tomorrow. Both FD and nFD.

S


Sadly the weather was abysmal today. Lots of rain and foggy air - thus no lens testing at infinity! I have, however, brought out the corresponding lenses plus the contemporary SLR cameras:



Left: Canon EF with early FD 1.4/50mm "silver nose". Middle: Canon A-1 with new FD 1.4/50mm. Right: Mamiya ZE-X with Mamiya Sekor EF 1.4/50mm

Test will follow as soon as the weather is clearing up.

Stephan


PostPosted: Tue Oct 08, 2024 9:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Beautiful collection Steve, you're missing the FD black nose (if there's such a thing?, I guess I have that one , I really like it together with the 85mm FD , nice combo for portraits , where I'm mostly using them


PostPosted: Tue Oct 08, 2024 10:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
kiddo wrote:
Beautiful collection Steve, you're missing the FD black nose

You think so?

kiddo wrote:
(if there's such a thing?,

Yep, there is Wink

kiddo wrote:
I guess I have that one , I really like it together with the 85mm FD , nice combo for portraits , where I'm mostly using them


Yeah, I have that one (the FD 1.8/85mm) as well. I really love all those fast 85mm lenses from around 1975, they all are very well built, and usually have a nice rendering: Canon FD 1.8/85mm, Konica AR 1.8/85mm, Mamiya Sekor SX 1.7/85mm, Minolta MC and MD 1.7/85mm, Nikkor K (Ai) 1.8/85mm, you name it ... But that would be stuff for a thread on its own!

S


PostPosted: Tue Oct 08, 2024 10:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Agree that is a stunning collection and they appear to be in excellent condition. I have to say the chrome nose really stands out, in a good way. Does the chrome nose aperture behave the same way as the SSC? Meaning the aperture is locked wide open until mounted on a body or adapter. This has caused great issue as sellers don't check and I've ended up with multiple copies with oily blades.Mad


PostPosted: Tue Oct 08, 2024 11:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
stevemark wrote:
kiddo wrote:
Beautiful collection Steve, you're missing the FD black nose

You think so?

kiddo wrote:
(if there's such a thing?,

Yep, there is Wink

kiddo wrote:
I guess I have that one , I really like it together with the 85mm FD , nice combo for portraits , where I'm mostly using them


Yeah, I have that one (the FD 1.8/85mm) as well. I really love all those fast 85mm lenses from around 1975, they all are very well built, and usually have a nice rendering: Canon FD 1.8/85mm, Konica AR 1.8/85mm, Mamiya Sekor SX 1.7/85mm, Minolta MC and MD 1.7/85mm, Nikkor K (Ai) 1.8/85mm, you name it ... But that would be stuff for a thread on its own!

S


I don't remember seeing a thread of those 85mm focal length (canon FD included ), that's weird , as prices for these lenses have increased a lot lately and they aren't so easy accessible to buy cheap like the 50mm 1.4 lenses

Otoh I remember there was a test of 50mm 1.4 lenses and nFD was on top for the cheap lenses


PostPosted: Tue Oct 08, 2024 11:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
caspert79 wrote:


Yeah, and I haven't found another equally fast vintage standard lens that is this sharp wide open


Really to say, modern Sigma ART 50/1.4 and Zeiss 50/2.0 Macro are outstanding wide open even even at the far away objects.


PostPosted: Wed Oct 09, 2024 2:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
LittleAlex wrote:
caspert79 wrote:


Yeah, and I haven't found another equally fast vintage standard lens that is this sharp wide open


Really to say, modern Sigma ART 50/1.4 and Zeiss 50/2.0 Macro are outstanding wide open even even at the far away objects.


Yeah, but they don't cost 45 bucks Smile


PostPosted: Wed Oct 09, 2024 5:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
stevemark wrote:
stevemark wrote:
DaveNJ wrote:
I agree it'd be interesting to see a comparison versus the Canon FD but the question is which Canon FD 50/1.4. Some say the chrome nose is sharper, others the nFD.


Can do that tomorrow. Both FD and nFD.

S


Sadly the weather was abysmal today. ...
Test will follow as soon as the weather is clearing up.

Stephan


See here:
https://forum.mflenses.com/test-1-4-50mm-lenses-compared-t85495.html

S


PostPosted: Wed Oct 09, 2024 8:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
caspert79 wrote:


Yeah, but they don't cost 45 bucks Smile


Well..
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