On Sep 17, 2005, at 5:03 AM, Fred wrote:
Is it at least as good as the M version? Solid feeling? Comments
appreciated. Tks!
No. The A 50's are not quite as nice to focus as are the M's (in my
opinion). Plus, the A 50/1.7 specifically seems to have a weakness
in the
aperture ring design, where the plastic aperture ring sometimes
starts to
bind (but the other A 50's seem to be immune to this, as far as I
know).
The specific issue is that the aperture ring on the A50/1.7 is
plastic and the detent mechanism is a pair of spring steel fingers
fixed to the ring with a small pair of plastic studs in an
interference fit. I bought on A50/1.7 where the aperture ring jammed
when one of those fingers came loose and jammed ... Fred Mueller
fixed it for a few dollars: he improved the aperture ring feel by
drilling little holes and securing the detent fingers with tiny
screws. (He's the one who told me of this problem.)
The A50/1.7 is smaller and lighter than the f/1.4 model, works better
close up when used on extension tubes. On the DS body, the aperture
ring feel issue is largely irrelevant as you normally just leave it
locked on the A position. I don't find the focus ring to be
substantially different in feel from the A50/1.4, and other than a
small difference in OOF rendering, they're virtually identical in
optical performance. A50/1.7s sell for about $50 less than A50/1.4s
last time I looked.
I find the access to all exposure modes and 'on body' control of
aperture setting to be much more convenient to use with the DS than
the M50/1.7, so I'd prefer the A50/1.7 if there was a choice between
them.
Godfrey
