Best budget vintage 50mm lenses: Canon FD vs Konica Hexanon vs Pentacon vs Asahi Pentax

[@erikbrinkman]

Super Takumar/ SMC Takumar 50mm 1.4, Yashica ML 50mm f2, Auto Chinon f1.4 and Revuenon MC 50mm f1.4 are some alternative budget lenses that spring to mind. Especially the Takumar is my favorite.

[@MarcoAries]

I've reviewed the Takumar, but personally I didn't like it much.

[@erikbrinkman]

@@MarcoAries why didnt you like it?

[@MarcoAries]

I've found it to be somewhat inconsistent and a bit too soft. Mainly personal taste.

[@utube321piotr]

Great job Marco, amazing comparison work. I have all those lenses as well but have not gotten that deep in comparing them.

[@MarcoAries]

Thanks for the support!

[@glynndor9448]

Great review and very professionally put together. Something you might be interested in... You can swap in a helicoid with a slim camera mount adapter on your Pentacon to give yourself a macro capability with about 20 gm weight gain over a standard adapter. I do this a lot with my lenses adapted to APS-C (Fuji). I converted my Konica Hexanon 50mm f1.7 to give me a near-macro view. This conversion was a bit more challenging as I needed to convert the Konica to M42 first before adding a 12-19mm helicoid to a slim mount adapter to my Fuji. This set-up lets me close in to a view of 5 cm x 8 cm (2" x 3") framing using both lens and adapter helicoids as well as giving me infinity with both helicoids closed in. Not macro, but close. Your Pentacon 50mm should get you to 1:1 macro with possibly a 15-27mm helicoid within the adapter set-up. the long end of a 15-27mm helicoid might leave you long for infinity and it may be safer to pick a helicoid not so long. It's amazing how easy it is to get to macro / near-macro range with any M42 lens.

[@MarcoAries]

Thanks! Yes, that's something I would like to do, eventually 😉

[@milkyway6080]

There are many legendary vintage lenses to try. The Fujinon 55mm f1.8 or 2.2 are dirty cheap and very interesting, especially the 2.2 bubble bokeh. The Cosinon/Tomioka design 55mm f1.4 is very good, the 50mm f1.7 is cheap as chips, the Industar 61L/Z is just 2.8 but has nice star bokeh and 30mm close focusing distance. The Hexanon 57mm f1.4 bokeh is probably more interesting than the 50mm. Thanks for the video, as always

[@MarcoAries]

SOOOOO many lenses to try! :) I'll keep that Fujinon 2.2 in mind, I like bubble boke!

[@samsen3965]

Fujinon is very soft but bokeh on top of price keeps you hocked. That Cosinon/Tomioka/Nikoh (Not Nikon) you describe is in a different class.

[@seoulrydr]

very, very well done. thank you for the comparison.

[@MarcoAries]

Thank you for watching!

[@tonybaker55]

I own a Pentacon 50mm f1.8 and find it a little cooler than other lenses and as you say, it needs to be stopped down a bit to get crisp results. Still a very good lens though. My Asahi is a Takumar SMC 55mm f2, which is also a great standard lens.

[@MarcoAries]

I still have to try a Takumar myself, they're rare and expensive around here, but the day will come!

[@drbeardo6960]

Pentax 50mm F1.2 vs Canon FD 50mm F1.2.??? TIA

[@MarcoAries]

If I manage to find them, I will!

[@heroaomedia]

Another great video but please upload in 4K - KZbin 1080 kills your comparisons. Upscaling works very well!

[@MarcoAries]

I whish I could, my friend, by I live in the Italian countryside and internet speed is horrible, my upload is around 0,7mb/s ☹️ It takes hours to upload in 1080...

[@heroaomedia]

@@MarcoAries ohhh wow, that's crazy! What about creating a separate video with just the test shots in 4K?

[@MarcoAries]

I might give it a try and see how it works

[@Analogbrain]

Very nice video, and interesting comparison, Marco! I have all four, and yes, they're all good! The Pentacon tends to be cheaper, and has the closest focus, hence it's the best buy. I use the Canon most, because I prefer film, and I find the Canon cameras to be far better than the other three. But film is expensive, so I have to shoot digital too, to save some money. The Pentax and Pentacon can be used on a DSLR, the other two cannot. I upgraded to full frame because that's what the lenses was built for. I saw a new A7ii for 1000€ with a kit zoom a few days ago. Myself I bought a Canon 5d mark ii for 200€ and a Sony A7r for 400€ with some adapters. My APS-C cameras are collecting dust.

[@MarcoAries]

The 5dII and the a7r are still amazing cameras!

[@aysegulata4148]

Did you reveal which lens is which later or did I miss it?

[@MarcoAries]

I did, yes, towards the end 😉 At the beginning of the "final thoughts" section

[@daniel635biturbo]

I really like my Pentacon, but since I got my Konica 57mm 1,4 that's my new favorite 😊 Saw some of your other videos, try getting your hands on a used A7 or A7II they are starting to get cheaper. I've got the A7II and for photos it's great, stabilization however is not so good for video.

[@MarcoAries]

I hear wonders about the 57! Yeah, I'm trying to save up some cash to upgrade to full frame, but it's not been easy in the last few years... Eventually 😉

[@danienelphoto]

I have the Canon FD 1.8 (breach lock). My own is not sharp at 1.8, but cleans up nicely from f2.8 . I also have the Pentax 50mm F2 and Pentacon.... I haven't tested the latter 2 yet. I made a video about the Canon FD on my channel.

[@MarcoAries]

Nice, I'll check it out!

[@sovu9399]

bought that half a century old pentax for my new k-70)

[@MarcoAries]

I was actually thinking about that today, it cool how Pentax managed to keep the same mount for so long!

[@sovu9399]

@@MarcoAries they are old school dudes, that's the beauty of pentax)

[@samsen3965]

@@MarcoAries Once on Bayonet, Pentax totally thought out of the box and was far ahead of all. Just maybe luck also has to do a bit hear. The trick was to calculate that Flange distance correctly on the first shot. Nikon is just behind them in that. The worst among the big names is probably Canon with so many changes in between.

[@MarcoAries]

@@samsen3965 True that

[@ryanbeer5262]

I'd probably choose the Pentacon, only because of the cf. Pentax is a close second good cf & tiny.

[@MarcoAries]

Yes, I agree completely! The close focus on the Pentacon makes it very versatile! It's my most used among these four 😉

[@saraofnorthwales]

All SLR lenses from the 1960s and 70s were sold for stop down use - nobody ever shot wide open - wide open was for ease of focusing and for a brighter viewfinder. That is why such lenses as the Summicron F2 Leica Rangefinder lens was so much more expensive and not wider than F2, unlike the SLR lenses which were often 1.8, 1.7, 1.4. Nobody ever shot at that aperture and expected sharp pictures. For sharp, one always stopped down at least two stops. These lenses should be judged at F8. That is what they are normally used at by professionals requiring sharp images. The widest aperture is for a special effect or where the light is completely unusable any other way. That is why most street photographers used Leica cameras, because of the usable F2 which cost an arm and a leg, unlike even the best of the 50mm SLR primes, which mostly become usable at f3.5 or more. Don't you hate those half in half out of focus images of objects, just so a blurry background can be achieved, at the expense of nothing being sharp except the legs of the bird, which was focussed on. And nothing at all pin sharp anywhere. This might start to educate the beginners that "bokeh" isnt all it's made out to be, it's not much of a subject after a while. In photography, it's the subject that counts and that needs to be as sharp as it can be, or rendered as naturally as possible if it is a skin tone.

[@MarcoAries]

How tools are used change in time and, yes, these lenses might have being originally engineered to achieve the best overall sharpness at f8, but nowadays people look for something different, like the "special effects" you mention. Knowing this and shooting film myself, I try to always show how lenses perform both wide open and at f8, along with a number of samples so that viewers can judge by themselves. In my opinion, lenses are just tools and everyone should use them however they want, even if it's not the "optimal" way. 😉

[@Agora1981]

I belive Pentacon has an edge, MFD + Bokeh and is the cheapest of all 4.

[@samsen3965]

My good friend Marco and I know you're not a racist! nor you do discriminate! So why no Nikon in your tests? (Not that I'm a dark-side fanboy, coz I'm a Canonist by birth, but it gets me why no Nikon in your general tests!). Then don't worry much about the full-frame. Not only it won't change anything about your photography, the prices are also coming down fast (If it wasn't for Covid). You can easily get a Sony A7 II for the price of a crop sensor right now, that is a capable camera with an old battery line, so very convenient especially for you who already has many batteries for your Sony A6*** that are interchangeable but not with any newer A7 series. Don't forget this important point, when making the move. Then Canon has a really low price full-frame. Yes that RP, the so called, smallest, lightest FF camera body of the world. And better, right now Canon US (On their web page) has a great sale and deal on that, selling it for $999, even including an FR 24-105mm F4-7 IS STM lens and as if this is not enough, they are throwing a big camera caring back pack free as icing around the cake. Use the opportunity, if you can buy from USA.

[@MarcoAries]

Nikkor lenses are hard to find and expensive, around here, but I did get myself a couple recently and reviews are coming soon 😉

[@samsen3965]

@@MarcoAries Great. Love to watch them soon. Meanwhile, take care and have fun.