Now I know why this lens is claimed to be the sharpest of the Canon 50's in Leica Mount. It is.
The 50mm F1.8 Serenar was introduced in 1951, replaced the 50mm F1.9 Serenar. The 50/1.8 Serenar is much sharper than the older F1.9. The Black version is a new lens, even though it retains the same 1-2-2-1 6 element in 4 groups and 40mm filter size. Canon developed a new high index of refraction/ low dispersion glass that made a new generation of lens design possible. Unfortunately, the glass reacts badly to the lubricants used. Finding a later Canon lens that is free of etched glass and damaged coatings on the inner element behind the aperture can take time, effort, and money.
I got lucky.
I'll do some better tests over the next couple of weeks. I want to compare this lens with the earlier Serenar version, and with the Minolta 5cm F1.8 Leica mount lens. The latter is rare, and much pricier than the Canon.
Some first shots, rain ended late today. All wide-open test shots, focus is spot-on with my M9. I'll do some better tests over the next couple weeks. .
The 50mm F1.8 Serenar was introduced in 1951, replaced the 50mm F1.9 Serenar. The 50/1.8 Serenar is much sharper than the older F1.9. The Black version is a new lens, even though it retains the same 1-2-2-1 6 element in 4 groups and 40mm filter size. Canon developed a new high index of refraction/ low dispersion glass that made a new generation of lens design possible. Unfortunately, the glass reacts badly to the lubricants used. Finding a later Canon lens that is free of etched glass and damaged coatings on the inner element behind the aperture can take time, effort, and money.
I got lucky.
I'll do some better tests over the next couple of weeks. I want to compare this lens with the earlier Serenar version, and with the Minolta 5cm F1.8 Leica mount lens. The latter is rare, and much pricier than the Canon.
Leica Showcase - Canon 50mm F1.8, Chrome version
The Chrome Canon 50/1.8 was introduced in late 1951 and was replaced in late 1956 by the Black 50/1.8 using a newer type of glass and with improved performance. Canon must have been in a near panic to compete with Nikon, this is the third iteration in as many years of their lens designed to...
cameraderie.org
Leica Showcase - Minolta 5cm F1.8, Leica Thread Mount
This lens is a 6 element in 5 group Double-Gauss, the same as my Minolta Hi-Matic 9 that I bought in 1969. That was a lot of lawns. First shot with it- could see on the back of the M9 screen that it rendered like the lens on my Hi-Matic. I'm happy. The salesman at K-Mart convinced me that the...
cameraderie.org
Some first shots, rain ended late today. All wide-open test shots, focus is spot-on with my M9. I'll do some better tests over the next couple weeks. .
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