Favorite Fast 50's from Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Minolta, Konica, Tomioka, Yashica

I’m shooting this on a 24mp Sony FF camera. These are a few of my “fast 50’s” that are especially vintage, especially cheap and especially strong in their vintage characteristics. Their aperture opens up to f/1.4 or 1.2. They include my favorite normal lens, the Konica 57mm f/1.4. I was really surprised when I first came across Konica. Before this testing, I always felt this one is especially good, combining the characteristics I like most: close focus distance, a slightly longer focal length at 57mm vs. 50, sharp in center for portraits, really nice background blur (at least to me). Subjectively, I love this lens and I’m interested to see how it holds up. The Olympus OM 50mm f/1.4 is a small gem from an OM-1. It’s light enough to keep in your pocket wherever you go. My favorite picture I ever took was captured with the Nikkor pre-AI 50mm f/1.4. The slightly less damped focus of these earlier Nikkors really lets you focus pretty quickly, and like all of my Nikon lenses, never disappoints. I’m going to test against my other two pre-ai Nikon fast 50's the Nippon Kogaki Nikkor-S and the Nikkor-SC which should be similar. These pre-AI Nikkors really are a great bargain for excellent quality. The Yashica ML 50mm f/1.4 is an absolute sleeper lens. You see those M42 Takumar’s getting snatched up all the time, and while I do have a 7-element Super Multicoated Takumar that isn’t in shooting condition at the moment, this Yashica is even better in my opinion. My Yashica ML is M42 - also known as Pentax Universal Screw Mount. But it does have some fungus in it. My Pentax-A 50mm f/1.4 was a favorite lens when I shot Pentax DSLRs. I upgraded from the f/2 version (though I’ve tested that in other reviews if you’d like to see how it did). The A version of Pentax lenses meter on their DSLRs, which means even though you won’t have autofocus, the other auto exposure functions on the camera can work. This is a manual focus lens with great coatings and is really quite modern compared to the others, so I’m interested to see how it would do in the comparison. Another m42 classic, we’re going to look at the Mamiya Sekor branded Tomioka 50mm F/1.4, which is the same lens as many other names, including rejuvinon, Sears, Ricoh, and many others. These lenses have a cult following. Mine has a touch of fungus in it, so keep that in mind - it isn’t pristine - but should make for an interesting comparison. Last but not least, I’m also going to throw in my Minolta MD 50mm f/1.2 just to see how it compares. At some point, I’d love to do a super fast 1.2 comparison of 50’s including this lens, the Nikkor 50mm f/1.2, the Pentax-M or A 50mm 1.2 and perhaps one of the many Canons. But since this is the only 1.2 in my collection at the moment, I thought it would be interesting to show whether that tiny half-stop of extra aperture opening is really worth it. I would love to have a Minolta 58mm f/1.2 to test, so I'm keeping my eye out. In future episodes, I’m going to compare even more 50 mm lenses, including a bunch of different Konica’s, a bunch of Nikkors and more. So do check out my other videos. Why is the fast 50 my favorite vintage lens? It’s pretty simple really. Out of focus blur or Bokeh - these provide the best bang for the buck. These lenses are really great when it comes to rendering. They look different from the clinical lenses modern digital cameras typically use. When I want to shoot a vintage lens, I want that special look that these really provide. Best of all, some of these are sleeper lenses. Some folks know how good they are, but they often fly below the radar. Some are amazing for portraits that deliver an organic look you can’t re-create in photoshop. Some are nice all-around lenses that can do it all on a budget. But whatever the reason, make sure you have at least one vintage fast 50 in your bag, so you can go out and take some great cheap shots. With the exception of the Minolta 50mm f/1.2, any of these lenses can be found for a bargain price, well less than $100 if you have a little patience. And if you’re a bargain hunter, you may be able to grab one attached to a camera for even less at a yard sale or thrift store. I picked up all of these for less than $20 US. It was fun seeing how they all compare, and here are a few thoughts that come time mind after looking at both portrait and landscape examples. First, sample variation plays a big role. Focal length really matters - especially for portraits. The 55, 57 or 58mm lenses provide an especially pleasing look on full frame. Questions we'll answer: Is the Mamiya Sekor made by Tomioka a special portrait lens? What's the best all-around lens? Is the olypus a good fit with other Olympus lenses that are great performers like the 21mm 3.5 and 24mm 2.8? Which is best for landscapes? I could have only one vintage lens, which would I choose?