Comparing My Nifty Fifties

I currently own 2 different nifty fifty lenses, a vintage Pentax SMC Takumar 50mm f/1.4 (7-element), the first lens I ever bought myself, and a TTArtisan 50mm f/1.2, a newer addition to my kit. They're both quite cheap manual focus prime lenses, each just over 1000 NOK.

I thought I'd do a few quick tests to better compare the lenses as I'd like to know the strengths and weaknesses of each one.

Sharpness

The image below shows photos taken of a painting at different apertures, cropped at the center and bottom-right corner for comparing the sharpness of each lens under similar conditions. Above f8, no obvious increase in sharpness were found for either lens.

While slightly soft at f/1.4, the Takumar is clearly sharper in the corners. It is usably sharp at f/2, making this lens a great candidate for astrophotography. The TTArtisan is comparable in the center, but doesn't get sharp in the corners until f/4 or f/5.6.

Bokeh

One of the main features of fast fifties is their bokeh balls, and both lenses perform well in this regard. Subjectively I think the Takumar is nicer with it's larger and slightly diffuse bokeh.

Vignette

Both lenses show some vignetting at their lower apertures, though less than I expected. It is functionally gone from both lenses at and from f/2.