An un-scientific comparison of 50mm lenses.
There are available a plethora of lens mount adapters that allow one to mount almost any lens onto a Canon EOS digital camera.It is possible to mount lenses using the Nikon F mount, Olympus OM and M42 lens mounts (among others) by the use of a mechanical adapter. The Canon FD mount is not usable for general photography unless an adapter with optical elements is used to maintain infinity focus.
So... what's the point of mounting an older or off brand lens on a modern digital SLR camera?
Only one way to find out, let's take some pictures!
First, here's the selection of 50mm lenses that were tried.
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| Selection of nifty 50mm lenses (click image for a larger view) |
Below are examples of the same photo, or as near as can be, taken with these lenses and the appropriate lens mount adapters. (Click on the pictures to view a larger version)
All photographs were taken with the following settings;
- Camera - Canon EOS 40D
- Focal Length - 50mm
(55mm for the micro-nikkor, and something undetermined for the FD-EOS converter which acts a tele converter) - Exposure - 0.025 sec (1/40)
- Aperture - f/8.0
First up, the standard Canon EF 50mm f1.8 (Mk 1)
With this lens mounted on an EOS camera, no functionality is sacrificed. You keep AF, full aperture metering and aperture coupling.
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| Canon EF 50mm f1.8 |
Next the Olympus Zuiko MC Auto S 50mm f1.8
A nice compact and quality 50mm. This lens is the standard 50mm for Olympus OM series cameras
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| Olympus Zuiko MC Auto S 50mm f1.8 |
Now for an old East German Tessar, the Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm f2.8
This lens of modest maximum aperture and M42 screw mount, was often the standard lens on Praktica cameras from the 1970s.
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| Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm f2.8 |
Crossing the border into West Germany, a Leitz Elmar 50mm f2.8 M mount lens.
This lens dates from the late 1950's, very small, light, it's collapsible for carrying. There is a Leica M to EOS adapter available, but it is not designed for infinity focus (perhaps it is designed for Leica Visoflex Reflex Housing lenses?). However, this model lens can be focused by unlocking and partially collapsing it (push pull focus).
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| Leitz Elmar 50mm f2.8 M |
Next up, a Canon FL 50mm f3.5 Macro lens
This lens is ideal for close-up photography, copying and macro photography. It predates the full aperture metering Canon FD series.
With the introduction of EOS cameras in 1987, the EF lens mount severed compatibility with all previous Canon Lenses. To use a Canon FL or FD lens on an EOS body it is necessary to use an adapter with optical elements to maintain infinity focus. The focal length, aperture and quality is affected by the lens elements in the adapter.
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| Canon FL 50mm f3.5 Macro |
Keeping to the macro theme, next is a Micro-Nikkor 55mm f2.8 lens from Nikon
Designed for the Nikon F series of SLR cameras, this lens is ideal for close-up photography, copying and macro photography. Ironically, this lens is more compatible with Canon EOS cameras than the previous generations of Canon lenses.
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| Micro-Nikkor 55mm f2.8 |
Keeping to Nikon, next is a Nikkor-S 50mm f1.4 lens
From the late 1960s, the era of the Nikon F. This particular example has had a hard life, it exhibits considerable fine scratching to the front and rear elements. That can't be good.
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| Nikkor-S 50mm f1.4 |
Next up a pancake INDUSTAR-50-2 50mm f3.5 lens
Another M42 screw mount lens. The Industar-50 was a very successful Soviet made lens. This is the M42 variant Industar-50-2. Very small and light it's popular for use as "pan-cake" lens on modern SLR cameras. It does not focus quite as close as the other lenses in this comparison.
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| Industar-50-2 50mm f3.5 |
Last a Rollei HFT Distagon 50mm f4 lens
This is a lens designed for the Rollei SL-66 medium format camera. There is no focus helicoil, the SL-66 is a bellows focus camera.
Unsuprisingly, there is no EOS adapter for the SL-66 mount. However with an EF mount bellows and copious amounts of gaffer tape the lens can be affixed to an EOS camera and focused.
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| Rollei HFT Distagon 50mm f4 |
So what's the bottom line?
Well in this example photo, they all work, but on an EOS body, none are as convenient to use as the EF 50mm 1.8.
- All require manual focusing, Which can be difficult as AF SLR focus screens lack any form of manual focus assistance.
- Multi coated lenses seem to handle the bright lighting better that single coated lenses.
- Newer lenses perform better than older ones (see coating above).
- With all adapted lenses you’ll need to use stop-down metering.
- Maintaining lens alignment with gaffer tape is really difficult ;-)
- Push-pull focusing with the collapsible Elmar is awful. (Don't crash the lens tube into the SLR mirror)
- But hey, they all can be fun.
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| 9 violins |
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