Leica Showcase Canon 50/0.95 "Dream Lens" modified to RF Coupled M-Mount.

Wow! I have the lens in original mount on the Canon 7.

Did you have the lens converted to M-Mount? "One of these days" I need to get one modified.
 
When I bougth it it was already converted.

Brian, is there any way to find out what year my lens was made? Have searched the net without success...
 
Peter Kitchingman's Canon Rangefinder Site

Your serial number puts it on the lower end of the 10001 to 29462 range. The production spanned from 1961 to 1970. My lens is on the upper end, 25xxx and IT came on a Canon 7, not a 7s or 7sz. I would guess that production slowed down in the late 1960s as SLR's dominated the market. I would "guess" ~1962.
 
Try stopping down to F1.4--- "Trust me". Still very different from a modern lens, more like the 50/1.2 rather than the 50/1.4.

"Try it, You'll like it".

At F2- sharp, an at F8- quite sharp.
 
Lovely, dreamy rendition, Vidar. I had this lens only for a couple hours. Bought a copy that supposedly had clean glass and paid top dollar for it, but the rear element was all scratched up so I returned it. While I had it in had, I snapped a few underexposed frames of Ilford XP2 with the lens wide open. That film does best when slightly overexposed, but it is what it is, and the memories are still there:

3395685600_551bb0ba50_b.jpg

038_00A by Amin Sabet, on Flickr



3395685070_91e6906d59_b.jpg

023_14A by Amin Sabet, on Flickr
 
Someday I need to convert my "TV" version of this lens to M-Mount. This lens is an amazing achievement for any day, the fact that it is 50 years old- "incredible".
 
I've seen the dream lens on ebay with the converted M-mount and coded going for about $2K (USD). I've been tempted but I don't really shoot wide open unless it's under low light conditions. I'm not really sure it's worth the cost, for me, since I already have the lux 50 and don't really shoot portraits.
 
195628


When I was using the f0.95 not only outdoors, but also in available light, the lens hood seemed to make a big difference in image quality with that huge piece of glass collecting light from all around.
 
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