Which 50 has the best bokeh?

plasticmotif · Joined: 17 Feb 2010 Posts: 55 Location: Tennessee

Out of every 50 I've shot with three lenses stick out -

Minolta 58/1.2
Sigma 50/1.4
Canon 50L

Honorable mention to Zeiss 50/1.7 - lovely little lens!

The Rokkor is easily my favorite 50. The 50L has an amazing look to it. I really enjoy images made with this lens.

Lightshow · Joined: 04 Nov 2011 Posts: 3666 Location: Calgary

The Canon FL 55/1.2 & Olympus OM 55/1.2 are the most affordable 1.2's that I can think of.
The OM 50/1.8 MIJ & 50/1.4 are both good lenses.
The Canon FD 50/1.4, Minolta MD 50/1.4 are nice too.
The Topcor RE 58/1.8 is surgically sharp on my NEX-7.

JohnBar · Joined: 21 Jun 2012 Posts: 581 Location: Liverpool

Some say one man's meat is another man's poison

and it when it comes to Bokeh there is implicit a modern Japanese look versus the classic German look

anyway these are the 50's I hold in great esteem - more west than east

Agfa: Soligon
Angenieux: S-type
Astro: Kino, Tachar
Bausch & Lomb: Aminar, Baltar, Raytar
Boyer: Saphir
Dallmeyer: Super Six
Enna: Annaston
Isco: Westagon
Kinoptik: Apochromat, Fulgior
Kodak: Ektar, Aero Ektar
Leitz: Elcan, f/1.2 Noktilux,
Sumarrit, Summar, Summitar,
Summicron, Dygon
Meyer: Domiron
Rodenstock: Heligon
Ross: Xtralux
Schneider: f/1.9 Xenon, Xenogon
Steinheil: Quinon
Taylor-Hobson: Amotal, Ivotal,
Kinic, Opic Panchrotal, Speed
Panchro
Wollensak: Raptar
Wray: Copying Lens
Zeiss: Biotar, Flexon, Pancolar

eno789 · Joined: 27 Aug 2010 Posts: 159 Location: California

Does 50-55mm macro lenses count? Because you can focus closer, the background blur is smoother.

Any of these are good:
* Canon FD Macro 50mm f/3.5
* Konica Hexanon 55mm f/3.5
* Minolta MD Macro 50mm f/3.5
* Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 or f/3.5
* Vivitar Macro 55mm f/2.8

Of the normal lenses, I like Minolta MC 55mm f/1.7 and SMC Takumar 55mm f/1.8. Below are taken with Minolta MC 55mm f/1.7.

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

Zeiss C Sonnar 1.5/50
It is the modern version of the classic 1.5/50 Sonnar.
A couple of examples of photos with evident bokeh:

Sonnar type lenses in 50mm focal lenght are quite uncommon compared to double Gauss (Planar) lenses and 4-elements (Tessar) lenses.

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

I love them all, to me no best ones, I am happy many of them a bit different.

Misha_M · Joined: 08 Oct 2012 Posts: 178

You should give the Helios 77M a go...

nixland · Expire: 2012-07-29

Nikon 50/1.4 Ai or Ais is worth to try too. I got the Ais in excellent condition for $100.

I also got the Pentax K 50/1.2 for about $220 Smile

It has the smoothest bokeh among my 50-55 f/1.2 lens so far. I had sold it to my MF lens friend though Smile

bruzzo · Joined: 05 Jul 2012 Posts: 153

I don't have a lot of 50mm lenses so can't compare much. But I agree to Attila, I like all of them. I think they are a good focal length to work with and different brands and versions of the lens have different characteristics bokeh wise and just overall image. And different lenses in the same situation can bring different tones or textures. Hence, sometimes I bring two cameras with two different 50mm lenses just to get two different takes in the same situation. For example, I have a Rokkor-X 50mm 1.4 got from my father's old dry cabinet and a Nikon 50mm 1.4 AI, and I think they are both very sharp in my standard. But the Nikon to me is very business-like sharp and true to the original object. The Rokkor in the other hand sometimes has a tiny soft glow on the object that gives a different texture to the image.
Just two different lenses with two different characters. I guess there are more extreme examples.

And I agree to Orio too, we often like to discuss which is the sharpest, and which has the best bokeh, the bokeh monster, etc, but in reality, bokeh is often not a big factor as to determine whether a photo is important or to be remembered. Maybe not even a factor.

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07