crazeazn wrote:
John, love the lux. i'm on the fence about it. how do you like it?
I love it. It's not a perfect lens and it's not for everyone but I've certainly not looked for a replacement in the last 20 years that I've had it. I've had fast Contax, FD and EF 85's too.
I don't really use the Lux very often these days but that's mainly because I have quite a few lenses in this focal length, from enlarging lenses on helicoids to Medium format on T/S adapters. But when I want to shoot portraits then I find this is my best lens for the task (or the Leica R 180/2.0 if room allows). I really like it's rendition wide open or particularly at F2. When stopped down to F8 it's just very sharp and, dare I say, boring. If you want a sharp lens stopped down then you don't need this lens at all as there are plenty to choose from. When wide open it gives a slight veil of softness but with excellent resolution (just lower contrast due to increased SA). I love that look and it works well in many situations such as portraits, scenic or pictorial applications. Most fast 80-85's have some focus shift as does the Lux.
Do you already have one (and are deciding to keep or sell) or are you trying to decide if you should buy one? If you can try before you buy you would be much better off, IMHO. They are not cheap and you can buy a lot of glass for the price.
douglasf13 wrote:
Whoa, is that a G45 in a Rokkor housing? Now THAT is porn, sebboh!
yeah, it's dirty...
i got tired of turning the adapter focus ring in the wrong direction so i stuck my g45 in a rokkor 58/1.4 body. much nicer to focus, but i feel like it's a bit to big now, so i'll probably downgrade it to the rokkor 55/1.7 body. my g28 is due to make that transition first though.
I love it. It's not a perfect lens and it's not for everyone but I've certainly not looked for a replacement in the last 20 years that I've had it. I've had fast Contax, FD and EF 85's too.
I don't really use the Lux very often these days but that's mainly because I have quite a few lenses in this focal length, from enlarging lenses on helicoids to Medium format on T/S adapters. But when I want to shoot portraits then I find this is my best lens for the task (or the Leica R 180/2.0 if room allows). I really like it's rendition wide open or particularly at F2. When stopped down to F8 it's just very sharp and, dare I say, boring. If you want a sharp lens stopped down then you don't need this lens at all as there are plenty to choose from. When wide open it gives a slight veil of softness but with excellent resolution (just lower contrast due to increased SA). I love that look and it works well in many situations such as portraits, scenic or pictorial applications. Most fast 80-85's have some focus shift as does the Lux.
Do you already have one (and are deciding to keep or sell) or are you trying to decide if you should buy one? If you can try before you buy you would be much better off, IMHO. They are not cheap and you can buy a lot of glass for the price....Show more →
My local store got a bunch of R lenses and they know I'm a sucker. I had a C/Y 85 1.4 but hated the CA at 1.4...and I miss having something in the 85 range. That being said its in pristine condition and I can haggle maliciously...and I've never tried anything in the R range.
a.RodriguezPix wrote:
holy crude its the John Curtis Holmes edition lens!! just to stay on topic
Heh. Yep, though I think it's just been surpassed by uhoh's Vivitar macro up there
Actually it's not as big as it looks (did I just say that?). The 180/4 is pretty tiny for a 180mm FF lens. At 1:3.5 close-focus it's all, uh, elongated like that but still relatively compact.
