MF 50 mm f1.4 for Sony nex

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johnjess

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Hi, I am considering buying a mf 50mm f1.4 to use on my Nex and am looking at the Canon FD and Minolta MD lenses on ebay. Just wondered if anyone could give their opinions of either before I make my purchase. Thanks
 
johnjess said:
Hi, I am considering buying a mf 50mm f1.4 to use on my Nex and am looking at the Canon FD and Minolta MD lenses on ebay. Just wondered if anyone could give their opinions of either before I make my purchase. Thanks
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I have no experience of FD's but I've got a few Minolta Rokkors now. I've found that the later MD designated lenses give slightly better straight out of the camera results than earlier MC lenses. I've used Rocky Cameras a few times and picked up a lovely Rokkor 50mm f1.4 from them...

http://www.rockycameras.com/minolta-minolta-md-minoltasony-af-23-c.asp

The 50mm f1.7's are a real bargain.

I think that Olympus Zuioko's will be worth considering too but personally I prefer the Rokkors as they have a smoother action and intermediate F stops. Also the Rokkor 50mm f1.4 has additional f stops over the Rokkor 50mm f1.7.

Unless you have serious f1.4 lust I'd suggest going for a 50mm f1.7/f1.8 as they're great value and a little more compact and a little lighter than their big brother f1.4's.
 
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I use OM Zuiko lenses on my NEX and predominantly a 50mm 1.4 and it's excellent. I got mine with a selection of OM kit but they can be found for around £60 and fit the Nex nicely for size as they're tiny. I've de-clicked mine so it has no click stops on the aperture so it's also great for video.

I tend to use the 50/1.4 80% of the time and use the 18-55 kit lens for the rest when is just want to point and shoot and also for the stabilisation in video.

Cheers
Steve
 
Thanks for the input everyone. I hadn't considered looking at Olympus lenses Steve but will have a look on ebay now and see whats available. Thanks again.
 
Konica is worth a look. Closer flange distance to mosst others.
 
woof woof said:
I have no experience of FD's but I've got a few Minolta Rokkors now. I've found that the later MD designated lenses give slightly better straight out of the camera results than earlier MC lenses. I've used Rocky Cameras a few times and picked up a lovely Rokkor 50mm f1.4 from them...

http://www.rockycameras.con/minolta-minolta-md-minoltasony-af-23-c.asp
Click to expand...

Please see the other opinions about Rocky before making a purchase, there's a thread in the Suppliers section.


You could also look at the Zeiss Planars. The f/1.4 tends to be pricey but the f/1.7 is a better bargain - and if you have the adapter the QBM versions seem to be cheaper than other mounts.

I did briefly have the 50mm f/1.4 Planar, but it was riddled with fungus and went back to the seller untested.
 
Alastair said:
Please see the other opinions about Rocky before making a purchase, there's a thread in the Suppliers section.
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Is there? Got a link? ( Maybe I missed it but I went as far back as page 4 and couldn't spot it...)

I've bought quite a few lenses and bits and pieces without problem.
 
woof woof said:
Is there? Got a link? ( Maybe I missed it but I went as far back as page 4 and couldn't spot it...)

I've bought quite a few lenses and bits and pieces without problem.
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You're the only person in existence then, the guy's a cowboy, but most of the time the stuff's cheap enough it matters not.

So far I've had a shagged Pentax LX, fake Lee filters, a Silver Pentax ME that was supposed to be a black ME Super and something else that was broken but cannot now remember!

Anyway for fast 50mms...Pentax M is about the best one going for normal money, Zuiko MC one is also excellent but has rather sterile colour, older x.Zuikos tend to be a bit flatter still. A Rikenon one is well worth a look if you want some bonkers bokeh and a weird plastic look to things. Konica Hexanon 40mm f1.8 is also worth a shout as long as you can avoid any kind of side or back light, although I like the low contrast effect it lends myself.
I also have a Rokkor MC 58mm 1.4 PF, it's a big clunky b****r but it's got a beautiful dreamy low contrast yet tack sharp thing going on, I love it. :thumbs:
 
Alan Clogwyn said:
You're the only person in existence then, the guy's a cowboy, but most of the time the stuff's cheap enough it matters not.

So far I've had a shagged Pentax LX, fake Lee filters, a Silver Pentax ME that was supposed to be a black ME Super and something else that was broken but cannot now remember!
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Well, not the only person in existence as I only found out about him from a happy buyer here :D

Sorry you've had problems. I've bought about six or seven lenses, a set of tubes and a TC and I've been happy with the lot :D I suppose the test is what happens if and when anything goes wrong so have you requested refunds and got your issues sorted in the end?
 
I tried an older FL (I think) 50/1.4 and is glowed wide open.

My faves

The Contax Carl Zeiss Planar 50/1.7 is a better bet (superb rendering) and the Planar 50/1.4 is even better.

Better value

These are fairly expensive though. A better budget option is an f/1.7 or f/1.8 lens. The S-M-C Takumar 55/1.8 is brilliant.

Budget but decent f/1.4

If you're dead set on a cheaper f/1.4 model, I would recommend an older Nikkor 50/1.4 or Takumar 50/1.4.

Small and cheap?

If you want something small, go for a Konica 40/1.8 pancake or for something really small (and a bit slower) a Jupiter-8 50/2.
 
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