I finally got some film into my oldest Canon, a 1950 IV model (a so-called Skinner version, with the baseplate engraved with "Serviced and guaranteed in San Francisco California") that I have not used since about 1969 due to shutter curtain deterioration at the time. My main motivation for this roll, besides testing Dean William's shutter replacement last summer, was to see what the original Serenar lens was like wide open. I remembered a halo effect back then, and indeed that artifact was still there, although not centrally--only well off center in some images. These pix were shot in the back yard yesterday--a very cloudy late afternoon---using Arista EDU 50, so all shots were wide open at f/1.9 from 1/40s down to 1/8s before I was done. My subjects were my daughter Jennifer's family; Fall leaves in my back yard provided the backdrop.

The lens worked well for Joey's portrait--with no highlights off-center, there was no fringing, and his eyelashes are sharp in larger scans.




Jennifer's portrait shows the peculiar, rimmed bokeh of this lens. I think this might be a chromatic issue, especially since it increases away from center. On my next roll, I'll try for some bokeh at about f/4 and see if the fringing goes away.




Abigail was more startled than unhappy here--1/2 second later she was using her little can to harvest leaves, leaves, leaves!








She loves big brother, Ricky--more than he knows.




This was the highlight picture for me--pure joy in Abigail's face as she plunged backwards into the pile:

(large scan--1024x683px)



By now, I needed to crank down to 1/25s. St. Francis is my most patient subject for slow exposures. In larger scans, the fringing effect off his dome looks like he has a bit of a saintly aura. The bird, which I focused on at the near distance of 3.5 feet, is dead sharp (really a credit to Dean Williams' CLA service for me).




As twilight comes, a lesson about how ponds change as winter approaches. Here I switched to a Canon chrome 28mm, f/3.5 @ 1/8s.




So I wonder if any judgment is really needed about the performance of Canon's first fast normal lens. While not as bitingly sharp as the later 50mm f/1.8 bread-and-butter normal lens, it has its own character that leaves me anticipating the next pleasant surprise. I hope you enjoy these dual purpose "lens tests!"