Lens selection for color or B&W photography....

Hi All,

 

Happy Holidays. I wanted to post a general question related to

whether or not a lens has any impact on the final image in color

versus black and white.

 

I am not asking at all about things such as sharpness or resolution.

These are clearly dependant on a lens's capabilities for producing a

sharp or non-sharp image on the film. I am more concerned with

things such as a lens with an ability to produce color accurately.

Will this same lens have any advantage or disadvantage on B&W film?

 

Does this relate at all to a lens with modern coatings versus an

older lens with lesser coatings? All else being equal, will a

certain lens lend itself more to B&W that another lens?

 

Thanks in advance....

Erik.

Leica M does both. Problem solved.

most likely even with lenses produced before color films will work wonders with the color film. Of course it you primarily shoot color, try newer lenses. But don't worry too much about it.

In the late 1940's and 1950's, when colour film was being more widely adopted, there arose a myth that some lenses were "optimised for colour" and others weren't. Camera makers (never slow to exploit a misconception that demands buying new equipment) siezed on this and promoted it.

 

It's probably true that a few lenses from the pre-war era had pronounced colour casts, and it's certainly true that some early cameras had poor suppression of internal reflection (which produced errors that could be corrected to some extent in a black and white darkroom, but not with projected Kodachrome), but taken in the round good colour lenses, whether ancient or modern, are also good black and white lenses.

There has been a period on the middle of the 70s during which a talk meant that the quality of the the lenses had raised to a point that no film could record what the lenses were capable to transfer. Even, if I could feel, at this time, that the Kodachrome 25 multicoated was absolutely the best film I've ever used... And even if, at this time and still today, you can easily compare the ability of two different lenses on the same film. The range of colors transfered is of course different due to each lens... but who can really see it ?

Well I know of one lens that is much better suited to B&W then color that's the Canon 35m f2.0 Chrome Nose FD or first S.S.C.version with the concave front element. This lens has an element made with glass containing Thorium (a radioactive element)over the years (since 1971 when they were first marketed) most of these lenses have taken on an internal yellow to amber color this color cast will show on any color film. BUT with B&W film it will add to the lenses contrast in a way that no filter can (no extra air to glass exchanges)Amoung Canon Fd users these two lenses have a bit of a cult following. I know I really like the super high resolution combined with the higher contrast I get when using it.

 

Some of the Kodak Aero Ektars also had this type of glass and if my memory serves me there was at least one Pentax 50mm that also had this glass.

 

This might not be what you were after but I thought I would toss it out there.<div></div>

Side view<div></div>

"Diffuse" flare shows more strongly in colour pictures, as the colours wash into each other. A lot of grass in the picture - everything turns green. A lot of sky in the picture - everything turns blue.

 

Obviously the flare also deteriorates the quality of black and white pictures, but that may not be nearly as noticeable - in some cases it may even be an advantage, by reducing overall contrast to within the latitude of the film.

 

So yeah, there's a difference, but... I've noticed this effect in a Lomo Smena - I doubt you'll see much of it with any good lens made within the past fifty years...

sharper, just not true.More contrast gives that impression. If you like like poor tonality, lack of character, go for Zeiss. Better, go digital.

Personnel preference, I just do not like Zeiss glass, sort of appeal to the masses stuff, contrasty bright, poor tonal quality. When they have a second look, compared to real glass, they change their mind: in my experience, anyway.

If you shoot chromes there are slight to moderate differences in color balance between lenses of different brands and even within Leica (the bogus repackaged Minolta and Sigma R lenses are one case in point, as are older LTM lenses which tend to be on the cold side). With color neg and b&w the paramaters of sharpness, contrast, flare propensity and disortion are the ones that will matter in all cases.

Thanks everyone for the responses. I pretty much assumed the answers would be as they were.

 

Erik.