Mark K wrote:johnstra wrote:You may be able to pick up a secondhand Minolta 50mm f1.4. They are said to be better than the f1.7. I have an f1.7 and my example at least is pretty soft wide open.
50mm on apsc is a great focal length for portraits.I do not understand the reason why my soft 50/1.7 produces excellent images on my Nex5 via adapter 1.
Not sure what body you are using the 50mm with (SLR wise)
Check your AF it might be slightly off, try manual focus too. The no.1 reason I see for "lens is soft" complaints is the AF might be out a bit, which for a fast prime can turn a sharp lens into a hmm one. I had this problem on the Nikon bodies I was using, AF off= disappointing images even with sharp lenses.
If it's producing good images on the NEX then that's a sign the optics are fine