Rokkor 50mm F1.7; MC vs. MD?

Owing to my recent purchase of an eBay-special SRT102, I now own two

Rokkor 50mm F1.7 lenses, the later-style MC that came on the SRT, and

the MD (49mm filter ring) that came new on my X700, circa 1990 (OK,

the second one doesn't actually say "Rokkor" on it, but you know what

I mean).

 

I was afraid the MC had fungus. There appeared to be some tendrile-y

looking stuff in it, but after cleaning the outsides of 1st & last

elements, it's gone. So I guess it was just crud (fungus is so much

more intersting & glamorous, but I'm just glad to have the lens in

good shape.)

 

On to my question: Does anyone have any experience on which to

compare/contrast these two low-priced workhorses? The Rokkor Files

has only reviewed the faster F1.2 and F1.4's; the F1.7's are a future

project.

 

Ignoring the obvious difference of the minimum-aperture lug, how

should I decide which of the two to use?

Take some pics of things you like to take pics of with both lenses. See which ones you like best. I really like my old MC Rokkor-PF 50mm 1.7 for BW people photos; hate it for work outside with blurred backsgrounds at infinity.

That should be indoor people photos.

Look a few posts back the minolta forum and you'll see this covered. Although there are differences, the sample variation means that you will need to test your two examples to see which is best. No advice will help with that.

IMHO, the optical differences are likely to be so insignificant as to make this whole issue one that's not worth worrying about. The MC Rokkor is better constructed and more rugged, but also heavier. IMHO, if you use program mode on the X700 much of the time, you might as well shoot with the MD lens. If, on the other hand, like me you NEVER use program mode, then it makes no difference, but the satisfaction of the superb focus-action damping of the MC lens will make that the one you'd prefer to use.

At one time I had a 50mm f/1.7 MD Rokkor-X. Now I have two 50mm f/1.7 MD lenses and an older 55mm f/1.7 MC. My understanding is that the 50mm f/1.7 MC and MD Rokkor-X lenses were the same optically but that the MD Rokkor-X had better coating. The last lens, the plain MD, may also be the same optically but it is in a less heavy mount. I find that the 50mm f/1.7 MD is extremely sharp. It must be one of the best lenses Minolta made for its manual focus cameras.

I found the other thread, "Minolta MD 50mm f2 by Jack Paradise" just after I posted this one. Thanks to all for your comments, and for not hammering me for posting before searching.

 

Any more input on this subject?

Richard- That wasn't 'crud', that was fungus. There is more than one type of fungus, and I've had that 'tendrile-y' type in my AF 50mm f/1.4 (49mm filter) lens. I took apart the lens and removed the fungus, but the coating was eaten away. For some reason, they like the coated surfaces, more than plain glass. I replaced that lens with a newer 55mm filter sized f/1.4, which I have never used.