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[OM] lens star test (50/1.2)

Subject: [OM] lens star test (50/1.2)
From: Marko Vrabec <marko.vrabec@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 22:45:47 +0200
Matt wrote: 

> Would any owner of a 50/1.2 like to see that lens star tested?
> I suspect that the 50/1.2 will be
> the best normal lens at f/2.8 in terms of aberrations and vignetting.


Hm, here is what George Anderson posted about the 50mm/1.2 a while ago:


> Date: Fri, 24 Dec 1999 16:23:57 -0800
> From: GMA <george@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [OM] Lens comments requested
> [some lines snipped]
> One application I had in mind at the time was night-time photos: both
> moonlit landscapes and star trails.  A nice fast lens would shorten
> exposure time dramatically over the usual normal lens, thought I. Heck
> the 50/1.2 is even 1/2 stop faster than the 1.4!  Alas, I found the
> 50/1.2 lens to be not well suited for these types of photos due to
> distortion at the large apertures.  It has a nice bit of coma til about
> F/2.8 or so, which is a real no-no for point sources like stars. (BTW,
> the same goes for the 50/1.4 and 1.8) I have since found solace in my
> 50/2 Zuiko macro for this type of work in this focal range.  Especially
> with the recent advent of faster slide film with great grain and almost
> no reciprocity effects whatever, like E100VS, E200 pro and Fuji Provia.
> 
> A related aspect of the 50/1.2 is that it's nice and mushy-soft away
> from the center down to about 2 to 2.8. This can be good news, though. 
> When combined with the improved bokeh provided by its 8 aperture blades,
> instead of the 6 in the other normal lenses, low-light no-flash photos
> like environmental portraits can be quite dramatic.
> 
> Now for the best news.  From F/4 or F/5.6 on down, it'd be difficult to
> find a sharper, clearer, contrastier lens in my bag or anyone else's for
> that matter.  When it comes to landscapes in this focal range, I'll use
> this lens over anything else I've got.  The color and contrast is
> superb.  I've had only a few photos published, but one of those,
> published by National Geographic, was with this lens.  The editor
> actually called me to ask what equipment I'd used, exclaiming the slide
> was one of the sharpest he'd ever seen. If interested, here is a link to
> a scan of a Ciba print I made of that slide.  Well, not that exact
> slide, but one taken within minutes, using the same equipment. 
> http://www.whitneygallery.com/html/banner_peak.html


Best regards,

Marko Vrabec
Kamnik, Slovenia

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