Focal Lenght: 50mm
Max Apeture: 1.8 – 16
Lens Mount: M42
Min. Focus: 0.45 mm
Filter Size: 49mm
Weight: One medium sized banana (200 g?)
LENS STORY
Another lens I picked up on a fabled trip to Germany – I shot some film with the Fujica ST601 it came with and really liked the lens, but never found time to use it for a longer period.
The times it did want to use it, I had given it to friends who wanted to try shooting film – it’s one of my most preserved kits and the light meter works fine.
HANDLING
Solid metal build. Can’t really comment on the focus ring of this one – my copy has a very stiff focus ring, something that warrants a change of lube. Mechanically the lens is superb, so I don’t want to take it apart.
One big thing to note is: This lens has a tiny tab near the mount, which is used to communicate with the Fujica camera. When I used it with an adapter on my Sony I couldn’t turn the aperture ring at all. To change the aperture I had to:
1. Unscrew lens slightly
2. Change aperture
3. Re-screw lens back
The first few days I found this extremely annoying, but got used to it in the end. I figured I’d rather keep the lens like that than modify it and file off the tab.
OPTICAL PERFORMANCE
Suprisingly good performance when wide open with adequate sharpness. Great performer when stopped down. Although some might argue this is to be expected of a lens in the 50mm 1.8 category.
Colors are pleasing and well saturated, with a nice level of contrast. This works wonders if you have something really nice and colorful in frame – it really stands out.
Bring a lens hood – I had more than one occasion where I had to shield the lens with my hand because it flared.
You can get throwing star type of bokeh balls if you leave the lens at 2.8
FINAL THOUGHTS
This is a good as any 50mm 1.8 lens you can get, you can get superb results with it.
I don’t recommend getting it unless you want to modify it or shoot it on a Fujica film body. A lot of other lenses work well without having to file off a tab. – be it a Nikon, Canon, Tak or Zeiss.
