50 MM lens BOKEHLISCIOUS

[FUJI]

I spotted a Minolta 50/1.4 Lens on Ebay last week........it wasnt cheap, and was delivered from the seller in Japan in record time.........it works well with my SONY A55.

 

I think I get even better results with my smaller Sony Sensor.....(yes?)

 

These are by way of test shots, until I get used to it and discover suitable subjects to get the best results.....your suggestions and advice very welcome...........will it make a good portrait lens.....or are they better using a short Zoom?

 

Both pics....uncropped...as taken......plus my usual processing:

 

Best viewed LARGE..........Click on Pic:

 

FUJI

[NannyFerret]

That is definitely a good buy, Fuji.

[Jon]

I use my fifty for anything, portraits, landscapes whatever - lovely sharp images and the fixed lens makes you think

 

The back of the bench shows the depth of field lovely - I played about with mine and a ruler when I first got it to try and get a feel for the depth of field at various settings

[Black Pearl]

My 50mm hasn't been off the front of the K30 in months - I love the look, the bokeh and because I have used it so often I know what to look for when I'm wandering around so I can 'see' a shot and know it will work.

 

Wide open (f1.7) mine is a little glowy....my word but describes the results well.....but stopped down just a little f2/2.2 it is biting sharp and the OOF areas have a spectacular rendering.

 

Fuji - leave it on your camera - go out every day and shoot with it - learn the way it renders an image - learn the focal length - learn the look - learn how it separates subject from background.

 

I grew up with photography when a 50mm was all the average amateur had.

Cameras came with a 50mm and zooms didn't really exist.

You had to work for a shot and while I'll readily agree I wouldn't go back to those day I do think that limiting oneself to just one 'fixed' focal length is a great way to learn the rules.

[ChrisLumix]

Loving the cat picture  

 

Those fast Rokkor lenses are quite something - they aren't quite as sharp as some other equivalents, but they have their own unique characteristics. I still wish I could use my Rokkor 58mm 1.4, but it's still there in the cupboard. 

 

An idiot reviewer online says this about the old Rokkors :

 

"The old school Minolta lenses work so well on the Nex camera system it’s as if they were designed for them." 

[Korky]

I thought perchance a landscape bold

Or a sunset - yes, by golly!

But it's that hairy beast again

The one they call Big Ollie

 

He's been here fifty times or more

And OK, yes, he's cute

But come on, Fooj, give me a break

Find somethin" else to shoot!

 

Howzabout some arty stuff?

All dream-like, soft and smoky

That gives a flash of Fuji's bum

But safely hides his bokeh

 

You could photograph a buxom wench

Or go for one who's slimmer

You could do a high-speed action set

As you whizz past on your Zimmer

 

But feline friends? Oh, can't you see?

They're sneaky, little gits

They creep around and leave behind

Their sneaky, little sh*ts

 

And I know by this I'll earn no 'likes'

From the folk who think me bats

So I'll shout this one last, final time.........

I HATE THEM BLEEDIN" CATS!

 

Sir Hugo Fairfax

[ChrisLumix]

Specially for Korky

 

 

(One wonders just WHY he named hisself after a cartoon cat?)

[FUJI]

I thought perchance a landscape bold

Or a sunset - yes, by golly!

But it's that hairy beast again

The one they call Big Ollie

He's been here fifty times or more

And OK, yes, he's cute

But come on, Fooj, give me a break

Find somethin" else to shoot!

Howzabout some arty stuff?

All dream-like, soft and smoky

That gives a flash of Fuji's bum

But safely hides his bokeh

You could photograph a buxom wench

Or go for one who's slimmer

You could do a high-speed action set

As you whizz past on your Zimmer

But feline friends? Oh, can't you see?

They're sneaky, little gits

They creep around and leave behind

Their sneaky, little sh*ts

And I know by this I'll earn no 'likes'

From the folk who think me bats

So I'll shout this one last, final time.........

I HATE THEM BLEEDIN" CATS!

Sir Hugo Fairfax

Hi, Korky,

A huge thank you for that......your rhyming skills are much better than mine.......Tis a pity though that you choose to pick on poor moggies, especially when your Avatar features one of the best known and loved cats for years......it was Korky and his pals in the Dandy Comic who kept us ration starved kids of the late 1940s and 1950s going not forgetting the Beano of course.

I am off to print your .....WITTY DITTY..........Copies will be put on my Christmas cards.

To inspire and to be the muse of such an extinguished poet and wordsmith is a great honour.

FUJI

PS. What about the flower pic and how my new lens has worked?

[Guest DaveW]

"I think I get even better results with my smaller Sony Sensor.....(yes?)"

 

Full frame lenses often work better on smaller sensors Fuji because you are only using the centre of its covering circle not the corners, the centre is usually the best corrected part of any lens.  Out of the four lenses I use only one is not full frame and that is a kit lens designed for the APS-C sensor. 

 

As manufacturers seem to be gradually moving us to full frame cameras, buying full frame lenses that can be used on both, even if second-hand, means they will probably be useable if you upgrade to full frame cameras eventually. However as always it depends on the lens and often it's age since not all lenses are created equal and lens technology, particularly with zooms has moved on.

[Korky]

Korky the Cat was part of the best comic in the entire universe. Ever!

 

He smoked cigars and got up to jolly japes with his pals and he had fun. Korky never shat in anyone's garden and he never, not once, took part in a discussion about lenses and digital camera sensors. Those are the two things he and I have in common and that's why I chose him.

 

Fooj - Glad you like my scribbling, the muse descended for 20 minutes or so last night.

 

Korky

[Guest DaveW]

My cat when I was young I called Korky after the comic cat. His mother was called Tinker, short for Tinker Bell by my mother after the Peter Pan fairy! Names you or your parents give your pets when you are kids.   I suppose not as bad as a kid calling a Chihuahua "Fang" though, with "Beware of the Dog" on the gate!