50mm lens test: Olympus OM vs. Vitessa Ultron

[jim_baker6]

<p>I have compared the following lenses:<br>

1. 50mm f1.8 (not MiJ, just 'Japan')<br>

2. 50mm f2 MACRO said by many to be the best 50mm lens made with spherical (i.e. not aspherical) lens elements<br>

3. The Ultron 50mm f2 on my Vitessa. This 60 year old lens has a good reputation; also the design is similar to the 50mm f1.8 (i.e. the earlier 6 elements in 5 groups version)<br>

I reasoned that the MACRO was 'as good as it gets' and the Ultron was a good example of the 'state of the art' just after WW2. It would be interesting to see how my 50mm f1.8 compared with the other two. I did not compare all the lenses at the same time but as far as possible (it was outdoors) the test set up was reproducible. In the middle of the scene I put a round label and distanced the camera so that it occupied about a 2mm square section of the negative. You can see this label below for the three lenses at f8 and also the MACRO at f5.6. All the f8 images are good, in fact there is little to choose. The point is that whatever the ranking (and I think it might well change if I repeated the test with different lighting conditions), they are all better than the MACRO at f5.6. What else did I notice? They all get quite soft by f4; the Ultron is a bit soft at the edges at f8; at high apertures the f1.8 has slight chomatic aberration (CA) but the MACRO and the Ultron are CA free at all apertures. Again at high apertures, the bokeh of the MACRO and the Ultron are a bit better than the f1.8; the latter has a slightly more distinct ring-like shape and is a little flattened, not round.<br>

My conclusion? I would use the Vitessa if I wanted to synchronise flash at 1/500th (and for fun, too!), the MACRO if I was photographing close up, and the f1.8 otherwise. If I wanted the sharpest image, I would use any lens but keep the aperture in the range f8-11: at a pinch f5.6-16. </p>

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[pisq]

<p>Based on the images I'd agree with your assessment. The 50f1.8 does very well against the 50f2 Macro (in the center), surprising, since the macro lens has a very high reputation.</p>

[Greg M]

<p>If I remember correctly, somewhere around f5.6-8 on the aperture ring is where Voigtlander always placed a red index mark as a snap shot setting, whether the lens was the Ultron, Color Skopar or anything else. You did a good job showing their reasoning for that was excellent.</p>

[User_502260]

<p>I would like to see a comparison which includes the 50/3.5 Zuiko. I have four 50/1.8 Zuikos and a 50/3.5 but not the 50/2. For the size print most of us would make from a 35mm slide or negative most decent quality standard lenses will give good results. This is especially true if we are shooting hand held. If someone is comparing the quality of an exotic and expensive standard lens for 35mm use I will take out my 100/3.5 Zenzanon PG, which cost me $69, and shoot the same scene with a GS-1. I think the 100/3.5 Zenzanon will outperform the exotic lens for any size print. </p>