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Archive 2017 · Anyone actually use the Summilux 50 1.4 SL lens?

  
 
Desmolicious
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Anyone actually use the Summilux 50 1.4 SL lens?


The only 'real' review I've seen is Adam's, but that was from last year, and may be a pre-production model? Not sure. Anyone have any decent input w/ photo samples they can post?
The other stuff I've seen online is either so poor in technique that it could have been taken by anyone with anything, or artsy images so again it could have been taken with anything.

Thanks!
Huss



Mar 15, 2017 at 04:20 PM
flash
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Anyone actually use the Summilux 50 1.4 SL lens?


I've got mine. Nothing special to show but it's the best 50 I've ever used. I like it a lot more than my M 'lux ASPH. Hopefully I'll get to use it in anger later this month as I have some shoots coming up.

What do you want to know? It's sharp as a tack wide open. It has no CA. Distortion is completely corrected in camera. It's huge. It focuses slowly (think 85L speeds). Blur is gorgeous.

Gordon



Mar 15, 2017 at 08:38 PM
adamdewilde
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Anyone actually use the Summilux 50 1.4 SL lens?


Desmolicious wrote:
The only 'real' review I've seen is Adam's, but that was from last year, and may be a pre-production model? Not sure. Anyone have any decent input w/ photo samples they can post?
The other stuff I've seen online is either so poor in technique that it could have been taken by anyone with anything, or artsy images so again it could have been taken with anything.

Thanks!
Huss


My "pre-production" lens and my actual lens perform the same. I'm working on a review comparing the 50ZAFE to the 50SL. But it's slow going as I'm really busy.

I can try to post more images though. I have a ton now.


To elaborate on what Gordon said... It's probably got the best bokeh of any 50mm lens out there. However, tons of CA that is digitally corrected (though REALLY well done with the digital correction, so technically it's non-existent in the final image). Distortion is corrected so it won't bother you, but heads can sometimes be bloated and wonky, especially on shots which are close.

My main complaint is size/weight/price. And minimum focusing is stupid far away for a 50 walk around lens. Of course there's the focus which is stupid slow.. Why bother even designing a lens so slow?

It beats the 50Lux-asph-M by a long shot for "perfect" but you loose something in the rendering. THOUGH to be fair, I've not seen sketchy bokeh from this lens.

I have a lot to say about the 50SL vs 50ZAFE.. I'll try to get the blog post up soon.


Oh and I will add one more thing. With all that mentioned above. I still do like the 50SL, and it's the only reason I still own the SL body. Otherwise I would have sold it off ages ago. BUT is it worth the almost $10,000-ish difference in price from the A7II+50ZAFE?



Mar 15, 2017 at 10:22 PM
Desmolicious
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Anyone actually use the Summilux 50 1.4 SL lens?


Thanks for the replies. Stupid slow af is a buzz kill. The size I already know about. Looking forward to seeing pics taken with it.




Mar 16, 2017 at 01:17 PM
Alex Phan
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Anyone actually use the Summilux 50 1.4 SL lens?


These 2 guys still have the lens and both try to sell it.

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1477494
https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1480038/0#13956422

You might want to pm them. I had mine for less than 48 hrs. Sold it. I agreed with what Adam said. I couldn't live with the AF being too slow.



Mar 17, 2017 at 02:30 PM
adamdewilde
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Anyone actually use the Summilux 50 1.4 SL lens?


Yeah, I'm going to be listing/selling my whole SL kit when I get back to LA in two weeks. SL Body / 90-280SL / 50SL. Just trying to decide if I want to also list my M-D + 50APO or keep something from Leica.

Though honestly the 50SL bokeh is second to none. It's the focusing and weight that put me off the most. I've been using it as a walk-around camera for the last two weeks now, and my arms are getting bigger which I guess is a plus



Mar 17, 2017 at 09:19 PM
flash
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Anyone actually use the Summilux 50 1.4 SL lens?


Honestly, it's not THAT slow. 85L speed. Are we really going to shoot stampeding Gazelle with a 50?

I just like the way it draws. I have shot a few jobs but nothing I can share yet. Here's a couple of wide open tests from todays walk on the beach.

All wide open. LR as imported with sharpening at 35.

Leica SL 50 lux focus test-2.jpg by Gordon Cahill, on Flickr

Leica SL 50 lux focus test-3.jpg by Gordon Cahill, on Flickr

Leica SL 50 lux focus test-1.jpg by Gordon Cahill, on Flickr

Gordon



Mar 17, 2017 at 09:25 PM
Alex Phan
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Anyone actually use the Summilux 50 1.4 SL lens?


flash wrote:
Honestly, it's not THAT slow. 85L speed. Are we really going to shoot stampeding Gazelle with a 50

Gordon


yes..and it is the 85L first version speed. Not even the 85L mkii speed.



Mar 17, 2017 at 09:34 PM
Donzo98
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Anyone actually use the Summilux 50 1.4 SL lens?


Any more discussion about a possible improvement in the AF with a firmware update??


Mar 17, 2017 at 10:55 PM
flash
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Anyone actually use the Summilux 50 1.4 SL lens?


According to the Leica guys I spoke to probably not.

The more I use it the less I even think about it. Today I just shot. Never even thought about the AF except for how it was almost 100% accurate. It almost never misses.

I think it's a bit faster than the first 85L. Closer to the mkII.

Gordon




Mar 17, 2017 at 11:56 PM
Jonas B
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Anyone actually use the Summilux 50 1.4 SL lens?


I'm a sucker for fast 50mm lenses and have used several, tried even more. Not the Otus though (too long and too expensive). This SL lens is also too expensive for me so this is out of general interest only:
Gordon; in the three images above the focus plane seem to be closer to the camera at the left side of the image than on the right side. Is there something with the angles fooling my eyes?



Mar 18, 2017 at 02:38 AM
Lee Saxon
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Anyone actually use the Summilux 50 1.4 SL lens?


I'm surprised the comment above that drew the most interest is the focus speed. I'd be much more concerned about "tons of CA that is digitally corrected." That's a level of compromise that should have, IMHO, resulted in a much smaller, lighter, and less expensive lens.

This isn't just Leica-hate, by the way: I had the same complaints about the 50 Milvus being so much larger than a typical fast 50 while having quite typical vignetting and CA.



Mar 18, 2017 at 02:48 AM
flash
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Anyone actually use the Summilux 50 1.4 SL lens?


Jonas B wrote:
I'm a sucker for fast 50mm lenses and have used several, tried even more. Not the Otus though (too long and too expensive). This SL lens is also too expensive for me so this is out of general interest only:
Gordon; in the three images above the focus plane seem to be closer to the camera at the left side of the image than on the right side. Is there something with the angles fooling my eyes?


Probably. My lens is spot on. Focal plane is even and zero decentering. Middle one is tilted.

Gordon



Mar 18, 2017 at 05:00 AM
flash
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Anyone actually use the Summilux 50 1.4 SL lens?


Lee Saxon wrote:
I'm surprised the comment above that drew the most interest is the focus speed. I'd be much more concerned about "tons of CA that is digitally corrected." That's a level of compromise that should have, IMHO, resulted in a much smaller, lighter, and less expensive lens.

This isn't just Leica-hate, by the way: I had the same complaints about the 50 Milvus being so much larger than a typical fast 50 while having quite typical vignetting and CA.


If there's CA it's completely eradicated in the DNG file somehow. I've never seen any and none of my smples have any CA correction or profiles added. It's a non event in ewal world shooting.

Gordon



Mar 18, 2017 at 05:04 AM
Jonas B
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Anyone actually use the Summilux 50 1.4 SL lens?


flash wrote:
Probably. My lens is spot on. Focal plane is even and zero decentering. Middle one is tilted.
Gordon


OK. That's what i thought but it's good having it confirmed.
Thank you.

/Jonas



Mar 18, 2017 at 05:27 AM
adamdewilde
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Anyone actually use the Summilux 50 1.4 SL lens?


As for the CA, it's there. I shoot a lot of video now with the SL. And I've tried using the 50SL and the CA will once and a while glitch out and show up in my final video. IT NEVER shows up in photos, but it will show up in the EVF sometimes while framing and focusing to take a photo as the EVF has a hard time keeping up with the inbuilt corrections. This also happens sometimes to the barrel distortion that is corrected. So once and a while lines will get all wonky then when you view on the back screen it's fine.
That was my biggest complaint with the 24-90. Was that I would frame a wide shot perfectly, shoot it and go home and would notice items missing from my shot because the digital correction pulled the frame to much. But at the time my EVF would glitch and give me the shot minus the corrections. And once in a while it would be so bad I would see black corners.
I guess it's very similar to the Q in that sense. The Q is really almost a 24mm lens stretched to 28mm.

Basically Leica has done all the corrections and baked them into the raw file. So you won't notice it. But yes, this was my complaint from the get-go. Why is it so big/expensive/slow if they've taken care of most of the corrections digitally not optically?

Also, I will agree with Gordon. The lens renders beautifully. And the bokeh is nice. I just miss the mood of the 50Lux-asph-M sometimes. The bokeh from the 50SL is always smooth and friendly if that's a plus for you, you'll want one.

Also the 50SL seems wider than all my 50s. I think it's more like 47mm++ Maybe to accommodate for the slight stretching it does to relieve the distortion.


BUT despite all that, if I were to keep it, I would be happy with it. It's a good lens in the grand scheme of things. I just think it's heavy/expensive/slow to AF. Though if you don't mind the weight, and don't need to shoot people dancing or moving quickly, the 50SL is a great lens. It's funny it actually seems to be very Zeiss like in rendering, but also still very Leica like.. Kinda similar to what I think of the 50APO, but in a very different way.

The lens hunts less after the firmware update. If that helps anyone. And also it is accurate unlike **cough Canon cough**

AND I would take the SL + 50SL over any other AF 50 out there right now.



Mar 18, 2017 at 06:43 AM
Goodrich
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Anyone actually use the Summilux 50 1.4 SL lens?


http://www.reddotforum.com/content/2017/03/leica-summilux-sl-50mm-f1-4-asph-review-a-new-standard/

includes some comparisons with the M APO 50mm and M Summilux



Mar 18, 2017 at 06:56 AM
adamdewilde
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Anyone actually use the Summilux 50 1.4 SL lens?


These are just two random SOOC JPG snaps.. I opened the JPG files in LR and all I did was change the size. Technically I could have done it in preview on my mac, but thought that for some reason the LR jpg resizing engine might be better?

One at the closest focusing distance, and one further back just to show you. Also the SL jpg has a tendency to shift colors and crush blacks. The raws edited would be better IMHO.

http://www.jupitersnake.com/ftphdd/fm/sooc50sl1.jpg
http://www.jupitersnake.com/ftphdd/fm/sooc50sl2.jpg

P.S. The SOOC JPGS look sharper on the computer than on the web to be honest.



Mar 18, 2017 at 06:57 AM





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