fastest lens you know of?

Canon made a 50mm f 1.0, posted on July 19, 2005 at 18:50:48
Joe M Audiophile Posts: 11980 Joined: September 27, 2001	faster than f 1.4 or f1.2

They also made a 50mm f 0.95 nt., posted on July 19, 2005 at 19:01:51
Snake Anthony	:

Re: My Summilux-R 80mm. f/1.4 Is Very Fast:, posted on July 19, 2005 at 21:07:10
Vinylly	But, according to Joe M and Snake Anthony, it apparently isn't the fastest. Whatever Canon made, or have reported to have made, I'm holding a real Summilux f/1.4 in my hand with a little Leica R attached to the other end. Somehow I would place my bets on Leica over Canon as the better lens.

Arsenal, posted on July 20, 2005 at 08:25:56

Doc B.

designed the Record 4 52mm f0.9 lens for the Kiev 5 rangefinder in 1971, but unfortunately it never made it into production. Supposedly quality control had gotten so bad by then (after being quite good in the 50's and 60's) that it probably would have been a hit or miss lens anyway.

http://www.cameraquest.com/zconrfKiev.htm

Re: Arsenal, posted on July 20, 2005 at 15:32:05

Snake Anthony

Yeah, quality control at the Kiev plant depended on how much Vodka was rationed that day.

sam.

One of the all time sharpest lens ......might well be Nikon's 50 mm f 2.8 micro, posted on July 20, 2005 at 17:23:25
Joe M Audiophile Posts: 11980 Joined: September 27, 2001	or mine Nikon 60mm 2.8 version.

Re: Arsenal, posted on July 20, 2005 at 20:32:57

Doc B.

Actually I hear all sorts of different stories about Russian quality control, from "The inspectors came and threw out the entire production of May 1983" to "the shutter of the Kiev 4 from the 50's is actually much more reliable and more quiet than the Contax II". Certainly we Americans were no better in many industries - consider that everyone in the midwest in the 60's knew that you should never buy an American car that came off the assembly line on Monday.

I plan to take all of this as gossip until I see for myself. I have a 1969 vintage Kiev 4A and 1981 vintage Helios 103 on the way from Russia. I'm hoping it will be an interesting restoration project, and a nice shooter when I'm done with it.

Re: Arsenal, posted on July 20, 2005 at 20:53:14

Snake Anthony

The Kiev 4A is a cool camera, lots of quality lenses you can use with it. I have a Fed 3 and a Zorki 4 with Jupiter 8 L/D, I wish I had a Leica lens for them.

I'm also having a lot of fun shooting with my new Ukranian beast, the Kiev 60.

I should have put a smiley on that Vodka comment. : )

Sam.

For the film "Barry Lyndon" a lens.........., posted on July 21, 2005 at 04:35:19
photoguy	........was used to shoot the dinner party scene that was shot only with the available candlelight. If I remember correctly this lens was f/1 or faster.

Re: Arsenal, posted on July 21, 2005 at 07:13:38

Doc B.

Yeah the Soviet camera flood is pretty fascinating for somebody like me who delights in dismantling stuff and trying to put it back together. If I totally screw up the 4A, well, it cost me $50 for the education and it can just be given away or tossed in the trash. A lot of detailed repair and adjustment info that has hit the web in the past year or so, making it all the more intriguing to get one to see how well you can get it to work.

I went back and forth about whether to start with a Kiev 4A or a Zorki 3M. At around $50-$75 it's not a big deal to buy one of each! I got intrigued with the notion that the Contax II was supposedly introduced as a more rugged pro type camera and the screw mount Leica was initially intended as an advanced amateur camera. Obviously a lot of pros thought otherwise. The tiny size of the Zorkis is attractive, but that crazy vertical metal shutter and the really wide rangefinder and the potential for adding some Zeiss lenses influenced me to try the Kiev first. The Zorkis have a definite advantage in terms of lens choices. Have you done the whole rangefinder alignment/lens registration thing? Seems to be worthwhile to get it all adjusted "just so" from what I'm reading.

How's that Kiev 60 working? I have a really pretty 6 x 9 Busch Pressman with an adapt-a-roll 620 film back that was going to be used for some MF landscapes, but it's not happening. Maybe a more portable MF rig is the ticket.

Lots of F1.4's out there., posted on July 21, 2005 at 13:57:48

Silver Eared John

Minolta 1.4
Nikon 1.2, 1.4
Canon 1.4

That's just how far I got before I got bored.

Re: Yeah? But I Bet My Glass Is Bigger Then Your Glass., posted on July 21, 2005 at 16:48:02
Vinylly	.

My Dog can ............, posted on July 21, 2005 at 21:05:34
Joe M Audiophile Posts: 11980 Joined: September 27, 2001	where we going with this? LOL

Re: fastest lens you know of?, posted on July 27, 2005 at 12:44:39

beken
Audiophile

Posts: 260
Location: BC
Joined: May 14, 2001

I have a Canon FD 55mm F1.2 lens. I bought in in 1973 when I bought my FTb.

That would be the fastest lens that I've used. And still do.

Re: For the film "Barry Lyndon" a lens.........., posted on July 27, 2005 at 18:01:37
R Browne Audiophile Posts: 1710 Location: So. Cal. Joined: January 14, 2002	I seem to recall reading at the time that it was a f 0.7 lens. Don't know the focal length.

there are a couple f 1.2 Nikkors on ebay now...., posted on July 28, 2005 at 04:31:14

Joe M
Audiophile

Posts: 11980
Joined: September 27, 2001

here is one i found.....

http://cgi.ebay.com/NIKON-FAST-55MM-F1-2-NIKKOR-SC-LENS-Non-Ai_W0QQitemZ7534295569QQcategoryZ48556QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/NIKON-FAST-55MM-F1-2-NIKKOR-SC-LENS-Non-Ai_W0QQitemZ7534295569QQcategoryZ48556QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Leica Nocitlux, posted on August 10, 2005 at 19:18:45

Photo-John

The Leica Noctilux 50mm f/1.0 is the fastest lens I've ever heard of: http://www.photographyreview.com/cat/lenses/35mm-primes/leica/PRD_84781_3111crx.aspx

50mm f/1.4 lenses aren't a big deal at all. Nikon and Canon both make them and they aren't even that expensive. My Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 cost me about $300, if I remember right. It's a great lens.

What really impresses me are super-fast telephoto lenses. I'd love to have the Canon EF 200mm f/1.8L: http://www.photographyreview.com/cat/lenses/35mm-primes/Canon/PRD_84483_3111crx.aspx

PCPhotoREVIEW.com

Shutterbug Strasse

fastest lens you know of?

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