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16 different lenses - same target. Which look do you prefer?
  • oscillianoscillian

    I didn't find a topic that suited my little test, so here we go: 16 lenses shooting the same backlit subject, moving the camera to different spot to match field of view, thereby creating different spacial compression. Camera set to aperture priority. All lenses were wide open, except for the Hexanon 40 at 1.8 and 2.8 (beautiful pancake lens). Check for bokeh, colour, flaring and sharpness (yes, the 12mm 1.6 is in focus). I was surprised the Canon nFD 35 2.0 flared so much compared to the 50s. Anyone has had the same behaviour?

  • 21 Replies sorted by
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Big thanks for posting it.

  • astrabanastraban

    Nice. Another vid (not mine) showing various lens on same cute subject

  • oscillianoscillian

    @astraban

    Great find! I couldn't get my daughter to sit still so I borrowed her trophy makeup doll instead (it's a bit creepy, just a head and all)

  • soundgh2soundgh2

    Super test

  • RobertoRoberto

    @oscillian Did you use ETC mode for all lenses or just the C-mount?

  • oscillianoscillian

    @Roberto No, everything is without ETC. The 25mm 1.4 just barely vignettes. The 25 1.2 a little more obvious.

  • oscillianoscillian

    Edited the topic title to make more sense :)

  • chefchef

    Nice Vid Thx 4 posting!

  • TraumManufakturTraumManufaktur

    Thanks, very useful

  • otcxotcx

    Thanks a lot.

  • AlexAlex

    wow, the Panasonic 20mm 1.7 is damn crisp!

  • Ralph_BRalph_B

    Is there really THAT much difference in color and contrast between these lenses? Or is the backlight flare causing so many of them to wash out? It would be interesting to do this test again, but with front light only.

  • LPowellLPowell

    @Ralph_B Yes, assuming the backlight didn't change between shots, this was a good test of lens flare. Interesting how the Canon FD 50mm f1.4 managed to stay sharp with that much background flare. Also nice to see how good the Hexanon 40mm f1.8 looks - still one of my favorites!

  • davhardavhar

    Thanks for the post, but yeah, what a difference in colour especially. Was this the order they were shot and how much time between the first test and last?

  • oscillianoscillian

    It was an overcast day, so the light through the window was pretty constant. I shot them in random order, but the montage is by focal length. As you might have noticed, the doll changes hairdo from shot to shot. That's because my three year old daughter got hold of it while I was changing lenses. So much for the scientific approach :)

  • oscillianoscillian

    @Ralph_B @LPowell Yep, they bleed in very different ways, for sure! Since I mostly try to get these kinds of shots (backlit) it was a good test to find out their shortcomings. The Hexanon is gorgeous!

  • nomadnomad

    Regarding color: in a recent test of "middle class" PL-mount lenses (the Portland shootout) they found massive difference in primes from one manufacturers line and in some even at different apertures…

  • bostonmikebostonmike

    Thanks a lot for posting these comparison shots...the Vivitar 28-90mm and Hexanon 40mm looked damn good for being relatively inexpensive lenses.

  • RamboRambo

    Love the 20mm Pancake and FD50f1.4

  • jvalaljvalal

    Make that Nokton auto and it's a done deal.

  • MikeLinnMikeLinn

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