[Ana_Digi_Tele]

Comparison of colors and contrast with four older M42 lenses - quite some differences here. Guess which one is the winner considering I am posting this here

Youtu.be

Youtu.be

Cameras: Fuji-X-M1 and Olympus E-PL5, all images: Colors & contrast with old M42 lenses for 30 90$ (Helios, Zeiss, Asahi) - 4K samples III | Flickr

In short: the Asahi SMC Takumar 50/1.4 and Zeiss CZJ 50/2.8 give best saturation and contrasts while the Yashica and Helios are somewhat muted and calmer.

Yashica: somewhat muted colors



Helios - good resolution but muted colors



Zeiss: very good colors/contrast, but soft at F2.8



Asahi: very sharp, saturation, contrast - the winner



---------- Post added 09-10-17 at 06:00 PM ----------

2nd test - clear difference here

Yashica DS 50/1.9 - muted colors



Asahi Takumar SMC 50/1.4 - max saturation/contrast

[stevebrot]

Interesting conclusions. My experience with the Helios 44M on the K10D and K-3 is that my copy is hardly muted in regard to either contrast or colors.










Steve

[Lakai]

I have 3 copies of yashinon ds 50 1.9. Contrast and color signatures are different from each copy. I tried to open them and to my surprise they have different hardwares. Two of my copies has aluminum barrel thread and one has plastic. The best image rendering ( which I think is relative ) comes from the one with plastic barrel while the ones with aluminum barrel are prone to glare. I was about to conclude that the one with the plastic barrel is a later production but it wasn't the case. My copies of the earliest and the latest has aluminum barrel while the one in between has plastic barrel. Or maybe I am wrong as one can easily replace or exchange the glasses. One more thing , the coating seems to be different among the three.

[Digitalis]

Framing in this comparison is difficult to tell, but from what I see In the initial set of images: the yashica lens has harsher Bokeh than the Takumar - the Zeiss is by far the worst of the lot. The Helios is roughly equal to the Takumar.

I'd say with the brass swan figure images you're overexposing by about a half stop with the Yahsica lens, the takumar image looks only mildly overexposed. The T-stop of each lens is what is causing this differential, not to mention the metering quirks of each camera.

[tuco]

That test has way too many variables to control and is far too simple to draw any conclusions about what is the best.

[Ana_Digi_Tele]

Framing in this comparison is difficult to tell, but from what I see In the initial set of images: the yashica lens has harsher Bokeh than the Takumar - the Zeiss is by far the worst of the lot. The Helios is roughly equal to the Takumar.

Yes the old Tessar design with its four lenses was optimized towards great resolution (Adlerauge) at F8 but lacks creamy bokeh.

The results are consistent for me after using all these lenses on three cameras over one year now. What could be possible is decay in individual lenses but I can't see any haze or dust.

One more test series can be found here, this time with artificial lighting but at maximum (unequal) apertures:
Bokeh for 30-90$ with old M42 lenses (Helios, Zeiss, Asahi) - 4K samples II | Flickr

Helios



Asahi



---------- Post added 09-11-17 at 11:27 AM ----------

Interesting conclusions. My experience with the Helios 44M on the K10D and K-3 is that my copy is hardly muted in regard to either contrast or colors.
Steve

Which version do you have? Do you know the manufacturer (logo is printed on the front)?

---------- Post added 09-11-17 at 11:30 AM ----------

FWIW, the Asahi is the only one tested that is multicoated, so no surprise it wins on saturation/contrast.

Incidentally, there are multicoated variants of all the lenses except the Tessar, so it would be interesting to see how things would turn out if those were introduced to the competition.

the multicoated Yashinon is labeled "DS-M," and the multicoated Helioses "MC Helios."

The Zeiss has no multi-coating and seems equal in color & contrast to the Asahi SMC (minus the low resolution at F2.8). Maybe the simplistic 4 lens design helps reducing light bounce?

[stevebrot]

My experience with the Helios 44M on the K10D and K-3 is that my copy is hardly muted in regard to either contrast or colors.

Which version do you have? Do you know the manufacturer (logo is printed on the front)?

KMZ Helios 44M 58/2

It is the M42 auto-aperture* variant with eight-bladed iris and A/M switch...very common.


Steve

* All M42 variants with auto aperture actuation have the "M" designation. Those without have preset apertures actuation.

[Digitalis]

Maybe the simplistic 4 lens design helps reducing light bounce?

Simpler lens designs were more common in years past especially when non-coated optics could lose a considerable amount of contrast. Assuming things are equal [ they never really are truthfully] simpler lenses designs do hold an advantage over more complex lenses.