Canon 50 1.8 II vs Super Takumar 50 1.4

Should I trade my Canon 50 1.8 II for a Super Takumar 50 1.4 with an EOS Converter and $20? I know I won't have auto-focus anymore, but auto-focus on the Canon sucks, anyways. Especially with a Rebel. Will the Takumar give me sharper, more contrasty images? Should I trade!?

no.

The super-takumar isn't as nice as the SMC version, but still goes for ~80$ on ebay by itself. Add in the 20$ and you have yourself most of the way to the SMC version, which is much nicer IQ wise than the Canon 1.8.

How do I know which is the SMC version?

It's labelled Super Multi Coated on the front facing. It is optically equivalent to the SMC version, which came later and has rubber instead of metal for the focusing ring.

SunnyOctopus wrote in post #11844417
...auto-focus on the Canon sucks, anyways. Especially with a Rebel.

Pictures from a Canon Digital Rebel T2i and a Canon 50mm f/1.8 II, with the lens set in autofocus and the camera in AI Servo autofocus.

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you should not worry about the gear and just shoot with your canon 50 1.8, it's a fine lens.
http://www.bythom.com/​blame.htm

I've found it to be a great lens, if you want manual focus, there is a switch.

I'm impressed w/ the sports shots, my first nifty had all but unusable AF, the second copy forced me to take three shots of everything to get fairly consistent shots in focus.

IRT to the OP

I'd take the Tak, the bokeh is lightyears better on top of the better IQ. Like you said, the AF is generally terrible on this lens.

jminchoi wrote in post #11845147
you should not worry about the gear and just shoot with your canon 50 1.8, it's a fine lens.
http://www.bythom.com/​blame.htm

I've found it to be a great lens, if you want manual focus, there is a switch.

Some of my shots with it:

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Haha, that very link says one should upgrade lenses. : p

SunnyOctopus wrote in post #11845204
Haha, that very link says one should upgrade lenses. : p

You're missing the point . Anyways it seems like your mind is already made up and you just want some justification. If you've got the money to burn you may as well go for it.

jminchoi wrote in post #11845225
You're missing the point . Anyways it seems like your mind is already made up and you just want some justification. If you've got the money to burn you may as well go for it.

I haven't! I just want the best lens, and if I can upgrade my lens, and GET money by upgrading it, why not? I do want the best lens, though, and I don't know for certain that the Takumar provides better image quality, but the majority opinion seems to be that it does.

Riiiight, you complain about the autofocus and then you get a lens that will have no autofocus capabilities on your rebel. Good luck trying to nail focus through the rebel viewfinder at F1.4. You also claim to want a sharp and contrasty lens. The 50 1.8 is fine in that area too. I kind of like the bokeh on the 50 1.8, but it's all subjective. What is it exactly that you can't achieve with your lens? Post up some pics that you are unhappy with. I doubt that getting the pentax would make your shots any better unless you want to shoot at F1.4

jminchoi wrote in post #11845316
Riiiight, you complain about the autofocus and then you get a lens that will have no autofocus capabilities on your rebel. Good luck trying to nail focus through the rebel viewfinder at F1.4. You also claim to want a sharp and contrasty lens. The 50 1.8 is fine in that area too. I kind of like the bokeh on the 50 1.8, but it's all subjective. What is it exactly that you can't achieve with your lens? Post up some pics that you are unhappy with. I doubt that getting the pentax would make your shots any better unless you want to shoot at F1.4

The focus on the 1.8 isn't really an issue. I was saying that the fact that the Takumar doesn't have autofocus isn't an issue.

Since your camera doesn't have interchangeable focussing screens, I have no idea how you plan to meter.

Not recommended. I use manual focus lenses sometimes, but very rarely, on my 450D, simply because its such a pain to MF with the tiny viewfinder, and I don't like switching to live view and magnifying 10x for every shot I take.

@melcat: metering is no problem, especially with AF-confirm chips on the adapters.