Rollei planar 50mm 1.8 HFT or Canon 50mm 1.8 lens?
 

I have a Canon 500d camera and the 18-55, 55-250 lenses, but have wanted a 50mm fixed lens for a while. I was going to sell my 18-55 and get the Canon 50mm 1.8, but today my dad gave me his Rollei 50mm lens off of his old camera and I'm going to buy an adaptor ring, so it fits to my Canon.

But, as the Rollei is such an old lens, there doesn't seem to be many reviews of it on the internet, but loads of the Canon 50mm. Does anyone on here please have any advice as to which would be the best lens to have? I don't shoot portraits, so don't need it for that purpose.

The Rollei lens is made in Singapore and not the German Zeiss lens.

Thanks. :)

http://www.luciolepri.it/lc2/marcoca...ory/00_pag.htm

(Google Translate if you can't read Italian)

The f1.8 Planar does seem like a real gem, it was also called the Voigtlander Ultron. Of course it won't autofocus and you might not be able to focus to infinity. However it's an excellent lens for sure. That said the Canon nifty fifty is a sleeper as well, great piece of glass for the money, in fact I've got one coming my way now ;-)

Hi Alex,

Thanks for the reply, but I am getting the lens that was made in Singapore, not the German Zeiss one. I'm really not sure what the differences are though. I really have no idea about this lens. :confused:

I hope you enjoy your Canon 50mm. :)

Hi there

While not as valuable and perhaps not quite as solidly put together as the German Zeiss the Rollei Planars made in Singapore are of the same design and are thus roughly comparable to the legendary Zeiss ones.

Ok, thanks Alex. ;)

I think I will just try the lens (once I get the adaptor) and see if I like it, then if I don't, get the Canon. I'm not sure there is much difference between the two lenses.

You'll have to squint to see it ;-)

I have tried the Rollei 50mm f1.8 Planar and I was'nt impressed...Exactly the same performance as a Pentacon 50mm f1.8 and the Pentacon is a very cheap lens (I paid just £3 for mine, including postage!).
Have tried numerous 50-58mm primes and the best of the best so far is my fantastic Canon FL 55mm f1.2.
Unfortunately, it has a 42mm registration distance so unless you convert it to EF mount you would be forced to use it via an optical FL/FD-EF adapter and that will ruin its image quality.
I converted mine to SA mount so I could use it at infinity on my Sigma DSLR's which like Canon EF cameras, also have a 44mm registration distance, without having to use an optical adapter.
There is another option you may not have thought about...Nikon lenses...The Nikon E-Series 50mm f1.8 Ai-S...Very sharp, great contrast, very small and lightweight, nice bokeh and yet it goes very cheap...Noticably better than the Rollei too.
If your budget is increased a bit then look out for the Nikon 50mm f1.4, 50mm f1.2 or 55mm f1.2...All worth a look and all will focus to infinity of the EF mount. Just get yourself a Nikon-EF adapter and you would be in business.
:D

Seems to me that there are practical problems with the free Rollei so if that does not suit why go for a Nikon when the optical properties of the little Canon are recognised to be pretty good? You have a Canon so why not fit a, er, Canon? Keeps things simple.

i aggree with the otheres the 1.8 50mm lens is worth investing in

i have the nikkor 1.8 50mm and it was a great investment and very cheap for such a good quality lens for low light and great depth of field capabitys to get some great pictures, its great for portraiture

the manual focus is alittle bit of a pain but worth it if you have the patience and the patience pays off wth the photography produced

Put Canon 50mm f1.8 on your Canon camera then you have the best of all worlds, super sharp little lens with autofocus.