MC and MD lens tests in
photography magazines
These lens test results were copied from old issues of
Dutch photography magazines (Focus and Foto; the source
of each test is given at the bottom line). During the seventies and
eighties, lenses were commonly tested by photographing test charts on
high-resolution black-and-white film and determining the lens'
resolving power by counting lines-per-millimeter on the negative.
Although it's very hard to compare these test results to the more modern MTF
(modulation transfer function) tests, they should still give the reader a
general idea of the lenses' optical quality.
The bargraphs shown below represent the maximal number of linepairs
(white/black) per millimeter that could be resolved at the edge
and/or corner of the image (lowest figure, grey bar) and at the
centre of the image (highest
figure, top of red bar). The blue bars at the top are scale bars,
ranging from 0 to 150 linepairs per millimeter.
The reasonable to excellent specifications were given
by the authors, and represent their overall judgement of the lens' quality
at that aperture. As other factors than resolution may play a role here,
this subjective assessment may vary for lenses having the same score in
terms of resolution.
(Whenever multiple tests of a single lens are available, I show at
least two. Often, striking differences are apparent between various
examples of a single model. Whether this hints at variation in lens
quality or at variation in the measurements - experimental "noise"
- is unknown.)
Available tests:
4 / 17 mm - 2.8 / 20 mm -
2.8 / 24 mm -
2 / 28 mm - 2.8 / 28 mm -
3.5 / 28 mm - 1.8 / 35 mm -
2.8 / 35 mm -
2 / 45 mm - 1.4 / 50 mm -
1.7 / 50 mm - 2 / 50 mm -
1.7 / 85 mm - 2 / 85 mm -
2.5 / 100 mm - 2 / 135 mm -
2.8 / 135 mm - 3.5 / 135 mm -
3.5 / 200 mm
| MC W.Rokkor 4 / 17 mm |
|---|
| F |  | |
| 4 |   | very good |
| 5.6 | | very good |
| 8 | | excellent |
| 11 | | excellent |
| 16 | | very good |
| source: Foto, april 1978 |
| MD Rokkor 2.8 / 20 mm |
|---|
| F | | |
| 2.8 | | - |
| 4 | | - |
| 5.6 | | - |
| 8 | | - |
| 11 | | - |
| 16 | | - |
| source: Foto, may 1979 |
| MD W.Rokkor 2.8 / 24 mm |
|---|
| F | | |
| 2.8 | | very good |
| 4 | | excellent |
| 5.6 | | excellent |
| 8 | | excellent |
| 11 | | excellent |
| source: Foto, april 1978 |
| MD Rokkor 2 / 28 mm |
|---|
| F | | |
| 2 | | - |
| 2.8 | | - |
| 4 | | - |
| 5.6 | | - |
| 8 | | - |
| 11 | | - |
| source: Foto, november 1981 |
| MD Rokkor 2.8 / 28 mm
| MD Rokkor 2.8 / 28 mm |
|---|
| F | | |
| |
| 2.8 | | good |
| - |
| 4 | | good |
| - |
| 5.6 | | excellent |
| - |
| 8 | | excellent |
| - |
| 11 | | very good |
| - |
| source: Focus, october 1978 |
source: Foto, november 1981 |
| MD Rokkor 3.5 / 28 mm |
|---|
| F | | |
| 3.5 | | - |
| 5.6 | | - |
| 8 | | - |
| 11 | | - |
| source: Foto, november 1981 |
| MD Rokkor 1.8 / 35 mm |
|---|
| F | | |
| 1.8 | | - |
| 2.8 | | - |
| 4 | | - |
| 5.6 | | - |
| 8 | | - |
| 11 | | - |
| source: Foto, november 1981 |
| MD Rokkor 2.8 / 35 mm |
|---|
| F | | |
| 2.8 | | - |
| 4 | | - |
| 5.6 | | - |
| 8 | | - |
| 11 | | - |
| source: Foto, november 1981 |
| MD Rokkor 2 / 45 mm |
|---|
| F | | |
| 2 | | good |
| 2.8 | | good |
| 4 | | very good |
| 5.6 | | excellent |
| 8 | | excellent |
| 11 | | very good |
| source: Foto, may 1979 |
| MC Rokkor-PG 1.4 / 50 mm
| MD Rokkor 1.4 / 50 mm
| MD 1.4 / 50 mm |
|---|
| F | | | | |
| |
| 1.4 | | good |
| reasonable |
| good |
| 2 | | very good |
| good |
| very good |
| 2.8 | | excellent |
| good |
| excellent |
| 4 | | excellent |
| very good |
| excellent |
| 5.6 | | excellent |
| excellent |
| excellent |
| 8 | | excellent |
| excellent |
| excellent |
| 11 | | very good |
| very good |
| excellent |
| source: Foto, february 1976 |
source: Focus, october 1978 |
source: Focus, october 1982 |
| MC Rokkor-PF 1.7 / 50 mm
| MD 1.7 / 50 mm
| MD 1.7 / 50 mm |
|---|
| F | | | | |
| |
| 1.7 | | good |
| good |
| - |
| 2.8 | | very good |
| good |
| - |
| 4 | | excellent |
| excellent |
| - |
| 5.6 | | excellent |
| excellent |
| - |
| 8 | | excellent |
| excellent |
| - |
| 11 | | excellent |
| very good |
| - |
| source: Focus, 1976 ? |
source: Focus, september 1979 |
source: Foto, may 1983 |
| MC Rokkor-PF 2 / 50 mm
| MD 2 / 50 mm |
|---|
| F | | |
| |
| 2 | | very good |
| good |
| 2.8 | | very good |
| very good |
| 4 | | excellent |
| excellent |
| 5.6 | | excellent |
| excellent |
| 8 | | excellent |
| excellent |
| 11 | | very good |
| excellent |
| source: Focus, 1974 ? |
source: Focus, 1984 |
| MC Rokkor 1.7 / 85 mm |
|---|
| F | | |
| 1.7 | | very good |
| 2.8 | | very good |
| 4 | | excellent |
| 5.6 | | excellent |
| 8 | | excellent |
| 11 | | very good |
| source: Foto, february 1976 |
| MD Rokkor 2 / 85 mm |
|---|
| F | | |
| 2 | | very good |
| 2.8 | | very good |
| 4 | | excellent |
| 5.6 | | excellent |
| 8 | | excellent |
| 11 | | very good |
| source: Foto, december 1979 |
| MD Rokkor 2.5 / 100 mm |
|---|
| F | | |
| 2.5 | | - |
| 4 | | - |
| 5.6 | | - |
| 8 | | - |
| 11 | | - |
| source: Foto, november 1981 |
| MD 2 / 135 mm |
|---|
| F | | |
| 2 | | - |
| 2.8 | | - |
| 4 | | - |
| 5.6 | | - |
| 8 | | - |
| 11 | | - |
| source: Foto, october 1982 |
| MC Tele Rokkor-PF 2.8 / 135 mm
| MD Tele Rokkor 2.8 / 135 mm |
|---|
| F | | |
| |
| 2.8 | | excellent |
| very good |
| 4 | | excellent |
| excellent |
| 5.6 | | excellent |
| excellent |
| 8 | | excellent |
| excellent |
| 11 | | excellent |
| very good |
| source: Focus, 1976 ? |
source: Foto, april 1978 |
| MD Tele Rokkor 3.5 / 135 mm
| MD Tele Rokkor 3.5 / 135 mm |
|---|
| F | | |
| |
| 3.5 | | good |
| very good |
| 5.6 | | very good |
| very good |
| 8 | | excellent |
| excellent |
| 11 | | excellent |
| very good |
| source: Focus, october 1978 |
source: Foto, december 1979 |
| MC Rokkor-QF 3.5 / 200 mm |
|---|
| F | | |
| 3.5 | | very good |
| 5.6 | | excellent |
| 8 | | excellent |
| 11 | | excellent |
| source: Focus, 1976 ? |
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Page created on June 5, 1999; last updated on April 16, 2000