I have finished my Single In May Challenge with M50/2 and it's time for my monthly wrap up, before I start my June challenge with M100/4. The month I've been waiting since I got the lens as Christmas present as I felt that summer would be the right time to put this macro lens thru the test.
This month has been a struggle and I'm glad to move on to the next lens. The main motivation problem has been that it's so easy to compare to other fifties and in that comparison this lens has no strong points. M50/1.4, 1.7 and 4 macro all have their strengths. M50/2 feels like the weaker version of 1.7 and loses in every aspect. 1.4 and 4 have a different nature and doesn't compare directly to 2. I understand the historical position of this lens being the cheap entry model, but at todays prices I can't find any reason to use it. Paid 30€ for this and 60€ for 1.7 and the latter is clearly better bang for the buck being among the greatest lenses in the line up and definitely the one to get, if looking for a cheap fifty.
I'm being very harsh on the lens. Despite my judgement I have to admit that you can take decent pictures with it, if you know it's limitation. This lens really blows highlights and also loses shadow information. Therefore you can bring out the best of it in low contrast situations. In higher contrat I decided that it's better to lose shadows and avoided top 1/4 of the histogram. Anything in that top quarter lost it's color. Underexposing was the only way to get blue sky. This is the main weakness of this lens and something I haven't experienced with any other lens. Other complaints are things that 1.7 just does better: Rendition, Bokeh, CA... Well everything. I can't point a single feature where 2 would be equal or better than 1.7. In optimal conditions you get close to same results, but usually you are left with inferior results.
This lens will definitely go on to the shelf and not be used. I hope that at some point I find motivation to shoot the other month with it in FF format.
This is probably the best I got out of this lens. Controlled light, all sharp at f8 and shot on the tripod. At best the lens is reasonably sharp:
This might be my favorit of the month:
May has been incredible in Finland this year. It will go into history as one of the best ever. In south coast it hasn't rained in four weeks and temperatures have been above normal. This has been the nice, warm and sunny summer we have missed in previous 3 years. The chance in the seasons has been massive, as I started the month on the spring snows of northern Finland:
I took this as a safety shot when I was getting sick, but I think it's the best flower shot of the month: