Comparison of three 50mm lenses at f2.0

It looks like the lighting is quite a bit different in the middle photo.

There isn't much between them.

The first image A seems to have the smoothest out of focus rendering and to be shot under the best lighting.

The second image (B) seems to be shot under slightly harsher sunlight. Perhaps because its a bit brighter it on the whole looks a slight bit better than the rest. It also has some lively distracting bokeh.

Detail seems best in the third image perhaps due to no harsh direct light on it causing reflection\glare.

For this scene, I prefer A. I might prefer one of the others with different scenes.

Love this idea. However as mentioned the lighting is a bit different throughout so hard to fully judge. “A” looks a bit smoother given the variable lighting but would love to see new shots of it with more consistent setup. Excited to hear which lenses you used here.

What is actually the reason to limit your comparison to only 1Mpx and to f2 (instead of max aperture)? Both options kind of blur the differencies between them.

As everyone else said the lighting is a little off which affects the comparison.

A blurs the background more but not crazy about it.

C makes the object pop out of the scene a little more for me.  Could be the lighting though.

Martin_99 wrote:

What is actually the reason to limit your comparison to only 1Mpx and to f2 (instead of max aperture)? Both options kind of blur the differencies between them.

I'm guessing that f2 is the widest common aperture between the three, and /or that the maximum apertures would give away the three lenses when the OP has posted the survey without EXIF.  In any case, I'm not sure that comparing the rendering of three lenses at three different apertures would be all that useful.....

Cheers, R

Hi,

'A' for me, but I would be interested to see the three in the same light and contrast.  I might review that outcome.

Cheers, R

Is op going to give feedback on his blind test?

on second thoughts i agree with others that A is the most pleasing image

I prefer the rendering of A, then C, then B.  
What are the lenses used for this comparison ?

Old internet proverb, except I changed two to three to match the post.

I don't see a whole lot of difference when shot at that distance. If you had moved in closer to the subject the background difference may be more apparent. 
What lenses are we looking at here?

AeroPhotographer wrote:

I posted these pics because many photographers discuss rendering where I can't see why they prefer one lens over another.

Several of you expressed preferences, but none have explained any reasons for their preferences. I would love to learn your reasons.

I also agree with several of you that the same lenses might produce different preferences with a different scene. I walked around my neighborhood and shot a bunch of scenes that appeared to demonstrate bokeh. This scene seemed best for comparison, so I returned and shot it with three different lenses. And yes, f2 was the largest aperture available on all three lenses.

The distance to the background is usually ignored when discussing bokeh. But if the background is sufficiently distant, it will blur quite well at f11.

I invite all of you to post lens comparisons on some other scene. You are welcome to do it on this thread.

TBH the exposure change is clouding some of the differences, and I don't know that this is necessarily the best scene to point out differences in rendering, it's almost the opposite (a scene where the differences will be more minor). I do think it's a worthwhile excitement tho, since so much is often made of some lenses' so called rendering.

To me the background in A is ever so slightly more soft (less contrast and hard edges to the OOF elements) but it's really subtle. "Rendering" is also often used as a catch all (or an entirely meaningless adjective) so I can imagine why you would want specifics pointed out. To me it usually does encompass a few things, tho mostly related to how the background and transition zone look, tho that can be tied to contrast and other aberrations like SA and LoCA.

I think a scene with more highlights in the background (shape and cleanliness of bokeh balls as well as their edges, and whether they start to swirl) as well as a background that's closer and melts away, could reveal more differences. Denser vegetation tends to do so as well, but against empty space or the sky it's easier to see whether it looks busier on one lens or the other.

I've been meaning to do a test like this with some lenses at wildly different price brackets, just for fun (I don't shoot each of them strictly for their rendering but it played into why I bought them). They're slightly different FLs so I'll have to frame carefully and crop some then equal out the res tho or it'd probably give it away. You telling us which is which yet?

Edit: Shooting something more level rather than into the ground might result in more highlights, likewise shooting something close by that fence (plush toy, whatever) with the fence fading more directly into the background would show more of the transition zone. To me the shadows/contrast in C just look a little harsher in the background (than A), the plant on the bottom edge is ever so slightly more obvious...

And B just looks brighter overall so more distracting. Again tho, it's pretty darn subtle here. Sometimes subtle differences that some people will only notice subconsciously can be what makes a lens more liked or less liked tbh, even while many won't give a toss or care.

Ryanide wrote:

I don't see a whole lot of difference when shot at that distance. If you had moved in closer to the subject the background difference may be more apparent.
What lenses are we looking at here?

Two weeks since the first post. Maybe after a month has passed the OP will provide the lens info..

AeroPhotographer wrote:

I posted these pics because many photographers discuss rendering where I can't see why they prefer one lens over another.

Several of you expressed preferences, but none have explained any reasons for their preferences. I would love to learn your reasons.

I also agree with several of you that the same lenses might produce different preferences with a different scene. I walked around my neighborhood and shot a bunch of scenes that appeared to demonstrate bokeh. This scene seemed best for comparison, so I returned and shot it with three different lenses. And yes, f2 was the largest aperture available on all three lenses.

The distance to the background is usually ignored when discussing bokeh. But if the background is sufficiently distant, it will blur quite well at f11.

I invite all of you to post lens comparisons on some other scene. You are welcome to do it on this thread.

What are the lenses used for this comparison ?