Evaluate: Canon 50mm 1.4 LTM

Introduction

Whereas Canon had a spectacular 50mm 0.95 and an solely barely much less spectacular 50mm 1.2 of their LTM lens line-up, it appears the preferred of all these 50mm lenses is that this compact and inexpensive f/1.4 model. Through the years this lens turned considerably of a legend, however is that this really justified? Let’s discover out on this evaluate.
This lens might be reviewed on the 42mp Sony A7rII and the 24mp Leica M10.

Pattern Photos

Many of the pattern photos on this evaluate may be present in full decision right here.

Specs / Model Historical past

In accordance with Canon’s on-line lens historical past corridor there have been 16 totally different rangefinder lenses with a focal size of 50mm which have been made between 1946 and 1964. Two of these are f/1.4 lenses. Their optical design is identical, the one actual distinction appears to be the gap scale: on the unique model (launched in 1957) it was both in toes or meter whereas model II (launched in 1959) options each on the identical time. I purchased one of many unique ones and its full specs are:

• Diameter: 55mm
• Size: 42mm
• Weight: 243g (measured)
• Subject of view: 47° (diagonally)
• Filter Diameter: 48mm
• Variety of Aperture Blades: 9 (inwardly curved)
• Components/Teams: 6/4
  
• Shut Focusing Distance: 1.0m
• Most Magnification: 1:16.7
• Mount: M39/LTM

You possibly can normally discover this lens on ebay.com (affiliate hyperlink) beginning at $200

Dealing with / Construct High quality

Just like the Canon 50mm 1.2 LTM I reviewed additionally the casing of this 50mm 1.4 withstood the take a look at of time fairly properly.
It appears like every little thing is constructed from steel with some components painted black. All of the markings are engraved and full of paint.

The main focus ring travels ~180° from infinity to the minimal focus distance of 1.0 m. The mechanical design is sort of complicated and the entrance aspect doesn’t rotate on focusing.
The aperture ring has very distinct and equidistantly spaced full-stop click-stops. Whereas this design is my private favourite it needs to be famous that these click on stops are a bit on the noisy aspect, so if you wish to use this lens for filming this is likely to be one thing that might hassle you.

The main focus ring additionally options an infinity lock. Its design is totally different to the one now we have seen on the Canon 50mm 1.2 LTM and extra in keeping with the infinity lock on a few of the previous Leica lenses. Both approach, if the lens is about to infinity and also you wish to focus nearer you first should press that spring-loaded button you see within the image on high. That is one thing I’m not a fan of, as I discover this to at all times get in the best way, however within the 50s and 60s these locks had been considerably fashionable.

There isn’t a rangefinder blockage when the lens is about to infinity and solely minimal blockage with it set to its minimal focus distance on my Leica M10.

To connect this lens to a Leica-M digicam you want an M39 -> M adapter ring. You’ll find these in broad varieties on eBay (affiliate hyperlink) I like to recommend getting one which brings up the proper 50/75mm framelines and I additional suggest to get one which absolutely covers the 6-bit reader in case you are utilizing a contemporary digital Leica digicam. A few of these rings even include holes to 6-bit code the lens should you care about that.
These adapters are a further variable which will mess up the rangefinder coupling, so should you depend on the rangefinder to focus it is likely to be a good suggestion to spend money on one of many costlier adapters – or to order a handful of a budget ones for a similar value and see which works greatest.

There are additionally adapters out there that permit utilizing this lens on just about any fashionable mirrorless digicam and in contrast to the Canon 50mm 1.2 LTM this f/1.4 model may also be mounted on the Techart LM-EA9 AF adapter.

Vignetting

Mild falloff

The vignetting figures of this Canon 50mm 1.4 LTM are just like different quick and compact 50mm lenses. That being stated 3.4 EV at f/1.4 are nonetheless a complete lot.
Issues enhance quick on stopping down although and the very low vignetting from f/5.6 onwards is unquestionably value mentioning. Right here the Canon 50mm 1.2 LTM fared noticeably worse with virtually 1 EV greater nook shading figures.

It’s endorsed to take a look at this text first to get an concept how this brightness graph works.

Optical vignetting

Quick lenses normally present a noticeable quantity of optical vignetting, particularly so the compact ones. With out going an excessive amount of into technical particulars optical vignetting results in the truncation of sunshine circles in the direction of the borders of the body.
Within the middle of the body virtually each lens will render an ideal circle, however solely lenses with very low optical vignetting will hold this form within the corners.
So within the following comparability we transfer from the middle (left) to the intense nook (proper) and see how the form of the sunshine circle adjustments.

Sony A7III | Canon 50mm 1.4 LTM | 1.0m

Optical vignetting could be very robust and moreover defocused mild factors near the corners taken on extra distracting triangular shapes (just like the Sigma 50mm 1.4 EX DG). We can have a better have a look at this within the bokeh part.
The Canon clearly doesn’t make use of aspherical components so we gained’t encounter any onion ring constructions. The aperture diaphragm consists of inwardly curved blades although, resulting in “ninja-star”-like shapes – which I’m not an enormous fan of.

Sharpness

Focus shift

50% crops, A7rII

The Canon 50mm 1.2 LTM confirmed very robust focus shift, fortunately this f/1.4 model usually exhibits a a lot better efficiency, however focus shift continues to be seen, particularly at f/2.8 and f/4.0.
Opposite to the f/1.2 model the main target shift at 1.5 m focus distance is simply as robust as it’s at 1.0 m.

infinity (42mp Sony A7rII/24mp Leica M10)

At infinity the Canon 50mm 1.4 LTM performs comparable on the Leica M10 in addition to a Sony fullframe E-mount digicam, so the next findings apply to each.

At f/1.4 the entire picture is gentle at infinity, which isn’t overly stunning given the age of this lens mixed with its low aspect rely. The middle of the body appears respectable from f/2.0, excellent from f/2.8, however the midframe space appears approach worse – because of discipline curvature – till stopping right down to f/4.0 to f/5.6.

In contrast to what now we have seen with the Canon 50mm 1.2 LTM the corners enhance steadily on stopping down. It nonetheless takes f/11 for respectable (not nice) efficiency within the nook areas although.

The Canon 50mm 1.4 LTM wouldn’t be my first selection for infinity panorama/structure capturing, however at f/11 it could nonetheless be used for this process with some small limitations.

portrait 1.5 m (24mp Sony A7III/Leica M10)

Now what this lens really has been designed for is taking photos at portrait distances at wider apertures, so we are going to see what the efficiency is like at a typical portrait distance for a 50mm lens of ~1.5 m.

We might be 100% crops from the 24mp Sony A7III and the Leica M10. Each cameras wouldn’t have an anti aliasing filter in entrance of the sensor.

Sony A7III <—> Leica M10

At 1.5 m distance and with taking discipline curvature out of the equation the efficiency is a lot better than at infinity.

Whereas the lens is softer at f/1.4 it’s nonetheless usable and stopping right down to f/2.0 will increase the distinction noticeably.

Once more there are solely minor variations seen between utilizing this lens on a Sony or a Leica digicam with its skinny filter stack.

Flare resistance

The Canon 50mm 1.4 LTM being from 1957 we can not count on efficiency just like the perfect fashionable lenses right here.

Certainly loads of totally different artefacts may be created relying on the place of the solar (or one other robust level mild supply) within the body.
At f/1.4 even a hoop flare round a robust mild supply (see image above) can seem, to make it disappear stopping right down to f/2.0 is adequate although.

Usually the efficiency improves on stopping down, whereas large ghosts can seem at wider apertures, they’re much smaller stopped down:

Sony A7rII | Canon 50mm 1.4 LTM

Simlar to the Canon 50mm 1.2 LTM one other subject arises on stopping down lots although: the aperture blades result in inner reflections:

Veiling flare with the solar exterior the body may also be a problem, however the scenario continues to be higher than what I encountered with the Canon 50mm 1.2 LTM.

In some conditions with the purpose mild supply exterior the body shading the lens may also help, in fact that is solely attainable when utilizing it on a digicam geared up with liveview:

Sony A7rII | Canon 50mm 1.4 LTM | f/5.6

Apparently additionally an official hood for this lens exists, however I didn’t have entry to it.

Coma

A quick lens from 1957, this can not imply excellent news for this class. As anticipated coma could be very robust and it actually takes stopping right down to f/5.6 to largely eliminate it.

100% crops from excessive nook, targeted on middle, M10

That is what the scenario appears like in an actual world image taken at f/1.4:

Distortion

Leica M10 | Canon 50mm 1.4 LTM | f/8.0

The Canon 50mm 1.2 LTM confirmed a quite unfavourable, wavy distortion sample whereas this f/1.4 model is a lot better behaved. The distortion appears largely uniform to me and dialing in +5 is doing job at correcting it.

Bokeh

The Canon 50mm 1.4 LTM is considerably fashionable for its “pleasing” rendering. That being stated: should you primarily care in regards to the treats of a contemporary excessive efficiency lens – which means a excessive diploma of correction of most optical aberrations – you’re most likely not focused on a lens like this from the Nineteen Fifties.
In case you are searching for that sure classic look, the scenario is likely to be totally different although. Because of this we can have a better have a look at the bokeh traits of this lens.

Shut distance

At nearer distances just a few issues are already noticeable: in the direction of the corners and in addition borders we see a variety of outlining and moreover circles deteoriate in the direction of a triangular form.
All this results in a busier rendering within the corners, even at shorter distances.
A minimal focus distance of 1.0 m can also be not that shut for a 50mm lens.

Mid distance

Mid distances are the place I discovered this lens to carry out the perfect. Sharpness and distinction are good, resulting in good topic separation.
Complicated backgrounds simply provoke double edged constructions although and that is additionally true for the transition zone.
Within the final pattern above we will additionally see a little bit of swirl and that the bokeh usually deteoriates in the direction of the corners.

Lengthy distance

At lengthy focus distances discipline curvature may be a problem although, as issues near the perimeters and borders are in focus although they’re situated far behind the precise focal aircraft. Because of their thick filter stack this impact is extra pronounced when utilizing this lens on a digicam with a thicker filter stack (e.g. Sony A7III):

Canon 50mm 1.4 LTM | f/1.4

We’ve got seen this behaviour with a number of quick lenses, e.g. the MS-Optics 50mm 1.1 Sonnetar, the Laowa 45mm 0.95, Voigtländer VM 50mm 1.0 Nokton and several other extra.

This isn’t one thing that can harm or might be seen in each image, however in case you are primarily focused on taking full physique portraits in conditions like these above this lens wouldn’t be my first selection.

Sunstars

The ninja-star formed aperture blades create sunstars with 9 lengthy and 9 brief rays, not one thing that appears notably interesting to me. The dangerous flare resistance additional spoils the sport right here.
Solely in conditions the place the sunshine sources are very small, e.g. blue hour cityscapes (see Coma part), we see properly outlined 18-pointed sunstars.
If you wish to study extra about sunstars take a look at this text.

Chromatic aberration

lateral

100% crops from border, Leica M10

Lateral CA are on a low to medium degree. Within the very corners it appears like they aren’t absolutely corrected right here, as we really see an overlap with different aberrations – this was additionally the case with the Canon 50mm 1.2 LTM.

longitudinal

The Canon 50mm 1.4 LTM exhibits all types of longitudinal CA as may be seen from this instance:

Leica M10 | Canon 50mm 1.4 LTM | f/1.4

There may be some inexperienced outlining within the background and also you additionally see some magenta in entrance of the focal aircraft, however what is de facto noticeable is the purple fringing near the focal aircraft.
Additionally on this class the f/1.4 performs higher than the sooner Canon 50mm 1.2 LTM: when stopped right down to f/2.8 the aberration is generally gone.

In conditions like this the bokeh fringing isn’t that apparent, however you may nonetheless spot the purple fringing near the focal aircraft:

For a lens this age that is nonetheless a strong efficiency, we must always at all times bear in mind what the early Sony ZA lenses just like the 55mm 1.8 or 35mm 1.4 appeared like on this class.

Conclusion

Usually I discovered this Canon 50mm 1.4 LTM to carry out higher than the 50mm 1.2 model I beforehand reviewed (a 50mm 1.2 in higher situation may need carried out higher although).
However what I wrote in regards to the f/1.2 model additionally applies right here: the Canon 50mm 1.4 LTM is a lens that has been designed and manufactured within the Nineteen Fifties with the expertise of the Nineteen Fifties. Low aspect rely, no floating components, no multicoating, no aspherical components, no complicated laptop aided design.

At the start I stated it is a lens that’s nonetheless extremely regarded by its followers, so why is that? For its age this will undoubtedly be thought of a contrasty lens, however on the identical time there may be nonetheless a little bit of glow (spherical aberration) and people two mixed result in a sure type of topic separation some folks discover very interesting.
Stopped down it additionally sharpens up properly throughout body with little or no vignetting. And it is vitally inexpensive, which at all times helps. It may even be discovered for lower than a Jupiter.3 50mm 1.5 and deciding between these two I’d undoubtedly go for this Canon lens.

I’m neither a fan of the odd 48mm filter thread, nor the lengthy minimal focus distance of 1.0 m nor the ninja-star formed aperture stopped down, however for some the latter may really be a part of the “classic expertise”.
And there are some potential points to pay attention to when searching for considered one of these lenses: lots of the Canon LTM lenses have issues with fungus, balsam separation, haze and/or oily aperture blades. A few of these points are additionally not that straightforward to identify, so it’s dangerous enterprise shopping for these lenses on-line from abroad with none life like return possibility.

In case you are out there for a real classic, compact but quick and on the identical time inexpensive 50mm lens, this Canon 50mm 1.4 LTM is an efficient and in addition good selection. Most probably a lens like this is not going to be your on a regular basis 50, however extra of a specialty lens for infrequent use and I discover it smarter to not spend an enormous sum on such a lens. In direct comparability to the Canon 50mm 1.2 LTM – and I understand how interesting a most aperture of f/1.2 sounds – I’d undoubtedly suggest getting this f/1.4 model.

You possibly can normally discover this lens on ebay.com (affiliate hyperlink) beginning at $200

Options

I reviewed a variety of 50mm M-mount lenses all of which yow will discover listed right here. I’ll solely discuss a few of the apparent options intimately right here.

Canon 50mm 1.2 LTM:
After all f/1.2 sounds cooler than f/1.4, however for me this f/1.4 model is just the higher lens. I discovered the f/1.2 to be too gentle at f/1.2 to warrant the upper price ticket in addition to carrying round a much bigger and heavier lens. On high of that the f/1.4 model sharpens up sufficient to be really usable for stopped down infinity capturing.
purchase from ebay.com (affiliate hyperlink) for ~$400

Nikkor-S 50mm 1.4:
When it comes to optical efficiency the Canon and the Nikkor will not be that totally different (I didn’t evaluate them aspect by aspect although). I appreciated the Nikkor’s macro mode that enables to focus as shut as 0.45 m, however the M39 model is sort of uncommon and subsequently costly, so I discover it considerably arduous to suggest over the Canon lens reviewed right here.
purchase from ebay.com (affiliate hyperlink) for $500

TTArtisan 50mm 1.4:
The TTArtisan 50mm 1.4 is a contemporary lens and in comparison with this Canon lens it showcases how lens design has developed over the course of 65 years. The TTArtisan lens is a extra complicated 10/8 design and even makes use of an aspherical aspect. This results in approach sharper and contrastier photos at wider apertures and in addition to approach higher coma correction.
In case you are not after that classic look and you’re simply searching for an inexpensive, compact 50mm 1.4 lens it is a actually nice selection.
The M-mount model is costlier whereas the variations for different mounts price roughly the identical new as a used Canon 50mm 1.4 LTM.
purchase tfrom the producer’s store, on amazon.com/amazon.de, B&H or ebay.com/ebay.de for about $369 (affiliate hyperlinks)

Jupiter-3 50mm 1.5:
That is one other inexpensive, compact and quick 50mm rangefinder lens. In contrast to all of the aforementioned lenses this isn’t based mostly on a Double Gauss however a Sonnar design, its design can also be about 10 to fifteen years older than this Canon’s.
Usually these basic Sonnar lenses give a funkier have a look at their most aperture in comparison with the basic Double Gauss designs, however stopped down by about one cease they’ll yield very clean and interesting bokeh, which is what made them well-known.
There may be a variety of pattern variation in the case of these Jupiter lenses.
purchase from ebay.com (affiliate hyperlink) for $160

MS-Optics 50mm 1.0 ISM and MS-Optics 50mm 1.3 Sonnetar:
These MS-Optics lenses may be seen as a contemporary interpretation of the early Canon LTM lenses. They do give an analogous classic look because of utilizing equally easy optical designs, however they make use of higher coatings and in addition function higher minimal focus distances. They’re additionally very small and light-weight. The largest benefit is that you’re much less prone to encounter points with haze or balsam separation with these lenses, just because they’re much youthful. They’re costly boutique lenses although and also you usually should import them from Japan. If you wish to know extra take a look at my Overview: MS-Optics lenses.

Mr. Ding 50mm 1.1:
This lens can also be roughly double the value and noticeably larger. This a really quick but compact fashionable 50mm lens with tremendous clean bokeh. In case you are a Sony consumer it additionally pairs very well with the Techart LM-EA9 autofocus adapter.
That is my private 50mm M-mount lens of selection today.
purchase from official Mr. Ding Studio store or ebay.com (affiliate hyperlinks) for $399

SLR 50mm lenses:
Among the f/1.4 SLR lenses may be discovered even cheaper. These lenses are roughly twenty years youthful and you’ll already inform that there was some notable technological progress, as they often have higher optical efficiency and in addition higher (nonetheless not nice) coatings. Their minimal focus distances are normally additionally higher.
If you wish to use these SLR lenses on a mirrorless digicam you want lengthy adapters that make the lenses very massive and in addition considerably awkward to deal with although.

Pattern Photos

Many of the pattern photos on this evaluate may be present in full decision right here.

Additional Studying

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