Good starter 50mm M Lens?

[Royale With Cheese]

which would be a better choice for starting out in B&W
canon 50mm f/1.4 LTM or leica summicron 50mm f/2?

Hmmm I think Canon 50mm F1.4 is quite a steal, lately been going on an average of USD250-USD300 on ebay, the the chance to get one while USD is down. I've seen so far 4 auctions for the Canon 50mm F1.4 closing at USD250-USD280 in the past 2 weeks.

Even a Canon 50mm F1.5 Sonnar closing at USD260! Sian, watched it but forgot to bid...

Anyway, I've got a few sets on 50mm lens on B&W, can look around & see what you like:

Nokton 50mm F1.1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agnosticgary/sets/72157624513096857/

Jupiter 50mm F1.5, sonnar copy, good price, I highly recommend this lens. Ebay less than SGD200 can get one, just be patience & wait for a good copy.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agnosticgary/sets/72157624373755462/

Canon 50mm F1.2
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agnosticgary/sets/72157623947724716/

Canon 50mm F0.95 TV lens
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agnosticgary/sets/72157623947707222/

Konica Hexanon 50mm F2, my copy for sale.. heehee
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agnosticgary/sets/72157623823274563/


I would say the Canon 50mm F1.8 would be worth the try, not a bank breaker. There is also the Nokton 50mm F1.5, alot of information on that lens on RFF, under the voigtlander cosina forum. There is a discussion on the current zeiss C sonnar & Nokton 50mm F1.5

 

[The Dry Box]

I would like to add another lens not brought up yet.
Leitz Summarit 50/1.5 LTM
This is a vintage lens, with leica "glow". It's essentially the first-gen pre-asph Summilux design with poorer coating.
The first gen lux is definitely out of your budget. But considering the similarity of lens rendering and design, I'lll go the summarit instead.

If you want a lux with a difference, save and go with a pre-asph v2.

You may be able to find a 50/2 collapsible Heliar for around 500/-. It's a stellar lens, and heliar design introduce some diffusion wide open, giving it a look not unsharp, but creamer look. At F2.8, the diffusion is gone, and is quite sharp and f4 onward is very sharp without being clinical.

Heliar and Sonnars are more interesting designs, but for your first lenses, I think it's safer to start with one that gives more consistent drawing.

 

[The Dry Box]

The Heliar 50/2.0

Note that the summarit and heliar are rather heavy due to their constructions.

 

[The Dry Box]

This is a link to a very poisonous set of images by Junku Nishimura. He use the 50/1.5 Summarit

 

[Royale With Cheese]

This is a link to a very poisonous set of images by Junku Nishimura. He use the 50/1.5 Summarit

he is bloody awesome, I had him on my flickr for quite awhile!

His summarit the contrast like quite high? thought its a low contrast lens?:think:

 

[The Dry Box]

I think an advantage of low contrast lens for b&w is there are always ways to "compensate". Can always use higher contrast film and push process. Dodge and burn also helps.
For higher contrast lens it's normally a little more difficult to recover.

The settings that he took his pictures are usually under high contrast setting such as in the night anyway.

 

[artspraken]

A photographer using 50mm is usually very good or very bad, because 50mm is tighter and requires a certain discipline at positioning in order to achieve the desired composition.

Junku is very good at 50mm composition.

I admire Junku mainly for the composition.

 

[artspraken]

I think another point to learn from Junku is that good photography does not need to be sharp.

 

[lunchwithmerv]

I would like to add another lens not brought up yet.
Leitz Summarit 50/1.5 LTM
This is a vintage lens, with leica "glow". It's essentially the first-gen pre-asph Summilux design with poorer coating.
The first gen lux is definitely out of your budget. But considering the similarity of lens rendering and design, I'lll go the summarit instead.

comparing the summarit 1.5 with a canon 1.4 which would be a better buy if im looking at more contrasty and glow?

 

[The Dry Box]

Summarit is a low contrast lens, but has "glow" at 1.5. Canon definitely has better contrast, and is optically very good.
The leitz gives you the glow that the canon will not give. For b&w works, I think burning process is unavoidable, it will get you difference results compared to trying to dodge a contrasty picture. Again, it will be due to personal preferences.
From 1.5 - 2.8 I think you may find that the summarit is missing much finer details when place side by side with the canon. If your "need" for a lens isn't technical, go for the summarit.