Exceptional Vintage And Modern Non-C/EF Standard And Short Tele Lenses Worth An Adaption To Canon EF - Canon EOS Technoclopedia

Standard & Tele Lenses (exceptional ones only) Mounts1 Angle Of View2 Max. Magnif. Aperture:
Min. | Blades | Pattern
 Min. Dist. (cm) Filter (mm) Diameter (mm) Length (mm) Weight (g) Lens Hood Produced Comments Tests3
Asahi Opt. Co. 50mm F1.4 (Auto) Super Takumar (I) M42 46   16       49         1964    
Asahi Opt. Co. 50mm F1.4 (Auto) Super-Takumar (II) M42 46   16 6     49         1965 radioactive optics; has a white dot between F1.4 and F2.8 (F2.0 position) The Normal Lens Shootout2: Super-Takumar & S.-M.-C. Takumar
Asahi Opt. Co. 50mm F1.4 S.-M.-C. Takumar (Auto) M42 46   16 8     49         1971   The Normal Lens Shootout2: Super-Takumar & S.-M.-C. Takumar
Asahi Opt. Co. 50mm F1.4 SMC Takumar (Auto) M42 46   16       49         1972   The Normal Lens Shootout2: SMC Takumar & SMC -FA Takumar
Asahi Opt. Co. 50mm F1.4 SMC -M P/K 46   22         63 41 235     SMC -A version sells for 130€ see a shallow comparison with a Canon EF 50mm F1.8 II here, some more testing here
Carl Zeiss Jena 180mm F2.8 Sonnar 1Q M42 | P6     22 17*   150 77     1469** thread appr. 1962 - 63 (?) *or 18, both information given by 2 different Ebay sellers; **incl. hood; HUGE tripod collar  
Carl Zeiss Jena 180mm F2.8 Sonnar (Auto) P6     32 7 polygonal 170 86/95* 98.4 133.3   thread appr. 1967 - 1968 *has 2 accessory threads; tripod collar; 2 different zebra style versions: one with 2 zebra rings, another one with 3  
Carl Zeiss Jena 180mm F2.8 Sonnar MC (Auto) M42 | P6     32 7 polygonal 170 86 90 122 1100 thread   superb bokeh and sharpness - see tests; tripod collar; at least 2 versions: one with all white front imprint and one with red MC front imprint (last version), other versions see above and below Rick Denney's Bokeh Battle (Sonnar vs. Canon EF 70-200mm F4.0L)
Carl Zeiss 55mm F1.2 Planar T* "Planar 100 Jahre" C/Y 43   16     60 77 80 60 ~500     100 Years Anniversary Lens Edition feat. floating element; collector's item with over the top pricing (>10k $)  
Carl Zeiss 85mm F1.2 Planar T* C/Y 29   16     100 77 80 72.5 874     60 Years Anniversary Lens Edition available; feat. floating element  
Carl Zeiss 180mm F2.8 Sonnar T* C/Y     22     140 72     815 retractable 1975 also older versions available for Exakta bayonet  
Carl Zeiss 200mm F2.8 Sonnar MC (Auto) M42   1:8 22 7 polygonal 215 77 91 142 1060 thread (60g)   also available as electric version  
Carl Zeiss 300mm F2.8 Tele-Apotessar C/Y 8.2   22     350 holder 120 244 2730     internal focusing  
Century Precision Optics 300mm F3.2 Tele-Athenar II [TS-3032] T                       1978 also available for C mount  
Century Precision Optics 385mm F4.5 Tele-Athenar II [TS-8345] T                       1977    
Voigtländer MF 58mm F1.4 Nokton SL II N/F | P/K 40 1:5.8 16 9 polygonal 45 58 64.4 48 320 LH-58 Cosina 2010 there were some rumors about a Canon EF version to be released at a later date, which did not yet come true PhotoZone tested on EOS 5D Mark II

General Notes:
1.) I try to keep this list 'reasonable'. It is therefore limited to lenses, that can be adopted to Canon EF by means of still making sense. That excludes most zoom lenses, lenses without aperture ring, most middle and big format lenses because of their lower resolution and lenses that have to be corrected by using glass elements in the mount adapter pieces (Canon FD and Minolta for example). These glass elements are often either low quality or the adapter itself is very pricey. You can use the cheap ones without their glass elements, but this will result in less working distance and loss of infinity focus. Since working distance is already very limited with macro lenses and loss of infinity not really makes sense for wide or tele lenses, this method is not considered a real option, when buying a lens for normal usage.
2.) Limited EOS compatibility: Useless to say, all lenses in this list are limited in their EOS compatibility. There will be no AF nor In-Focus-Indication and there will be no time priority nor full auto mode due to missing electronic coupling between lens and body. Auto apertures are not available (while this feature will still be very useful for manual focusing).
Also, I don't make a distinction between fully manual and preset aperture mechanisms, they are just referred to as manual diaphragms.
3.) Asahi production periods: M42 preset Takumars 1957-1962, Auto-Takumars 1958-1962, Super-Takumars 1962-1971, Super-Multi-Coated (S.-M.-C.) Takumars early period and SMC Takumars later period of 1971-1976 (source: Frank Mechelhoff)
Pentax vintage mount versions: M42: 1957-?, SMC-M: 1975 -?, SMC-A: 1983 - ?
4.) There is a huge range of super fast F1.0 to F1.2 standard lenses with focal lengths from 50mm to 58mm available. Most of them are to be considered trash, namely the Leitz and Canon F1.0 (collectors trash) and a big bunch of F1.2 lenses (namely Porst, Revuenon, Tomioka Chinon and all the major brands).
To tell it shortly: If you are not damned to use F1.2 better stick to the F1.4 lens line for better overall performance. If you are damned to use F1.2 best stick to the Nikons, to the Yashica ML or the Olympus lenses (all selling at around 300€). For the F1.4 range the Asahi 50mm is considered at least one of the best by most people. Sources:
  • Color Foto standard lens test from 1980: Asahi 50mm F1.2 SMC, Canon FD 55mm F1.2 SSC/SSC AL, Konica AR 57mm F1.2 Hexagon, Leitz 50mm F1.0 Noctilux, Minolta MD 50mm F1.2, Nikon 50mm F1.2 Nikkor, Nikon 58mm F1.2 Noct-Nikkor, Olympus 55mm F1.2 G-Zuiko Auto-S and Yashica ML 55mm F1.2
    They only published a kind of scoring result, no MTF or contrast data. The Canons and the Minolta were best ones. Too bad you can't adapt them reasonably.
  • Erwin Puts about super fast/fast high-end standard lenses and their limitations: Canon FD 50mm F1.2L, Canon FD 55mm F1.2 Asph., Canon FD 50mm F1.4, Leitz 50mm F1.0 Noctilux-M, Leitz 50mm F1.2 Noctilux, Leitz 50mm F1.4 Asph. Summilux-M, Leitz 50mm F1.4 Summilux-M I + II, Leitz 50mm F1.4 Summilux-R I + II, Nikon 58mm F1.2 Noct-Nikkor, Nikon 50mm F1.4, Voigtländer 50mm F1.5 Nokton, Zeiss 55mm F1.2 Planar and Zeiss 50mm F1.4 Planar (MTF data)
  • If you happen to know about any tests or comparisons including Porsts and alikes or the Canon EF 50mm F1.4 or F1.2 USM please tell me!!
5.) Sean Carpenter published The Normal Lens Shootout, a highly detailed PBase user review for fast F1.4 to F2.0 standard lenses (mostly made by Asahi) with focal lengths from 50mm to 58mm (additionally includes the Nippon Kogaku 55mm F3.5 Micro-Nikkor). The following lenses are included:
  • Asahi 50mm F1.2 SMC -A (1), Asahi 50mm F1.4 Super-Takumar (13), Asahi 50mm F1.4 S.-M.-C. Takumar (4), Asahi 50mm F1.4 SMC Takumar (2), Asahi 50mm F1.4 SMC -FA (3), Asahi 50mm F1.7 SMC -M (12), Asahi 50mm F1.7 SMC -F (8), Asahi 50mm F2.0 SMC -M (14), Asahi 55mm F1.8 Auto-Takumar (15), Asahi 55mm F1.8 S.-M.-C. Takumar (11), Asahi 55mm F2.0 SMC Takumar (9), Fuji 55mm F1.8 Fujinon (6), KMZ 58mm F2.0 Helios 44M-4 (16), Nikon 50mm F1.4 Auto Nikkor-S (10), Nippon Kogaku 55mm F3.5 Micro-Nikkor (5), Sears 55mm F1.4 Auto (7)
  • If you happen to know about any tests or comparisons including Porsts and alikes or the Canon EF 50mm F1.4 or F1.2 USM please let me know!!
   
Also see the processing log. Additions and corrections are welcome.