Which 50mm lens for video and photogaphy for my GH1?

S

sebek

Active member
I'm on the hunt for a new 40/45/50mm lens I'm looking to spend no more than $130. I am looking at two lenses: Nikon 50mm 1.8 Series E pancake, Canon nFD 50mm 1.4 and Pentax Super Takumar 50mm 1.4. Will any of these lenses be better than a Konica Hexanon 40mm 1.8? I do like that it's light and small but performance and quality is more important. So if there is another lens that's 50mm or 40mm that is better than the Hexanon, I'll sell my Hexanon.

Thanks
 
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Do all of them have manual aperture control? All other things being equal that would be my deciding factor.

Noah
 
I have the hexanon 40mm, it's soft wide open and has harsh bokeh. I also have the nikon pancake, nice bokeh, sharp and punchy colors, however it is flimsy. My copy has a "scrunchy" helicoid, I don't use it much. If you want a cheap, compact and solid 50mm, I recommend the olympus f.zuiko 50mm f1.8. You can find one on ebay for less than $50, it's a well balanced lens. However, with the m4/3 sensor, I think a 35mm is more useful, maybe you should consider that focal length also.
 
Forgot to mention the canon fd 50mm f1.8, it's cheaper and smaller than the f1.4 and some say sharper at f1.8.
 
I notice there are several versions of the Canon 50mm FD 1.8. I actually own one but I think the one I have, is the worst one the FDn 1.8. So I am selling it and want to get a better lens. How is the Pentax Super Takumar 50mm 1.4?
 
The Nikkor is superior to the FD -- but -- you really, really want the Nikkor (50mm f/1.8) AI or AI-S, not the E-Series. Twenty or thirty dollar price difference at KEH.com, but the difference in build, optics, and mechanics is the difference between an old Yugo and a classic Mercedes.

The 50mm f/1.8 AI is not only incredibly sharp, but it's also the lowest distortion 50mm ever made, ever, by anyone.

The only E-Series worth taking seriously is the f/3.5 75-150mm -- but that's a different essay.
 
This lens seems good also and cheap [FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]Olympus OM-Zuiko 50mm f1.8
[/FONT]I want to have a good 50mm and a 24/28mm lens OR would a 35mm be much better to get? if I get only a 35mm, my budget is around $250.
 
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Here are the 50mm based on reviews and research to pick from. Again as usual with me, I'm having a hard time deciding since there are so many options.

Nikon Nikkor 50mm f1.8 Ai
Olympus OM-Zuiko 50mm 1.8
Pentax SMC 50mm 1.7
Konica Hexanon 50mm 1.7
 
I've got this vid showing a few lenses on the GH1. http://vimeo.com/21399962

Various random lenses I bought on ebay and craigslist. All used, all older and cheap. 3 of the lenses are 1.8 or 1.7 50mm or 55mm and one is a old nikon e 50mm 1.7. To my untrained eye they all look the same except for the zoom and low darker some are.

Like I said, I bought everything depending mainly on how cheap it was. I think I bought the Nikon a year ago for an aborted DOF adapter I never made and I only spent around $30 for it. So for $130 you could buy 3 or 4 lenses.
 
You can't go wrong with any of them. They r so cheap. Just collect them all. I own FD 50.4, Ai-s 50.4, Hexanon 40.8.
 
sebek said:
Here are the 50mm based on reviews and research to pick from. Again as usual with me, I'm having a hard time deciding since there are so many options.

Nikon Nikkor 50mm f1.8 Ai
Olympus OM-Zuiko 50mm 1.8
Pentax SMC 50mm 1.7
Konica Hexanon 50mm 1.7
Click to expand...
There aren't that many bad 50's, these are all good. I would consider price and compactness at this point.

It's not so easy to recommend a fast 35mm. The cheapest you'll find on ebay is probably the Mir 24n(or 24m) f2. It's not flawless, it flare easily and has a green shift wide open due to the odd soviet era coating. Next to that in price would be the Nikkor Ai-s 35mm f2. The other 35mm are 2x or 3x this price, or more.
 
I still have a 40mm 1.8 Hexanon but it's not sharp at 1.8. I want to make sure one of these 50mm will be sharp. Then I still need a 24 or 28mm for landscape type shooting. Would the lumix 20mm 1.7 pancake, cover closeup and landscape work?
 
Hard to find a 50mm that's not good, the main difference will be performance at widest aperture. The Fujinon 55mm 1.8 is very sharp at 1.8 and very very cheap if you can find one. Chinon 50mm 1.7 is also quite sharp at 1.7, sharper than Pentax M's and probably half the price.
 
Sharpness is not the only issue.....I've got an old Non-AI 50 Nikkor and a newer (still old) E-series 50 pancake. Both are sharp, the E series tends to run a tad yellow, and the colors don't seem as cleanly separated as the older lens. On the mechanical side, the little E series is harder to use when a focus gear is mounted because the aperture ring is so close. Putting a fat rubber band between the focus ring and the lens help keep me from fumble-fingering the gear when moving the aperture.....
 
Which one of these lenses is sharpest when fully open aperture? most compact? fastest and easy to use focusing ring?
Nikon Nikkor 50mm f1.8 Ai or Ai-S
Pentax Super Takumar 50mm 1.4
Canon nFD 50mm 1.4
Konica Hexanon 50mm 1.7
 
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