sebboh wrote:
^^love that last shot! does it look alright in color or is there too much mixed light?
Thanks, and no, it's decent enough for the scenario. It's darker since the conversion included a red HC filter to pop the greens. I'll post the color when I get back to my personal computer.
sebboh wrote:
i'm having fun shooting dreamy landscapes at f/1.4 with the 35 lux:
i'm sure i'll move on soon.
To f/2? You're getting some great stuff with it. I find it to be a very easy lens to love. That's one of the reasons I'm dragging my feet on getting the wobble checked. I'm not sure I want anyone mucking around with it.
I'm finding the Pen 42 to be a little bit more of a puzzle. The only thing I've determined so far is that it's a much better lens stopped down than either the 25/2.8 or the 60/1.5. Wide open, though, I've yet to get anything that isn't a complete mess.
Derek, I hold high interest seeing those 35lux shots. I like what I see, a very classic rendering lens. I know It is a very small lens. I tried it at recent California camera show, it seems sharp enough for M9 at center. They charge $1900 for it
Ron, your comment make me have wild guess about lens WO performance for 50lux M. I don't feel it has WO performance indicated by its outstanding MTF at 1.4 AT PORTRAIT RANGE. It was about the same as 50 Sonnar and is about the same sharp as my 50lux R V1, maybe even worse at 1-2M range.(but here platform is different D700, M9) And recently I found my 50lux R V1 MTF, which is in no way comparable to 50lux M. But actually it is one of the best lens WO I have on hand along with 35Lux R. So, I feel those R lens portrait range performance is actually very high compare to even modern M.
Given many lens gain their reputation by MTF chart. Noticable Leica and Zeiss. (Most cases you need pounds of load tripod with all care to attention to bring out extra performance compare to good lens after f4) I feel many lens actually are underrated because of poor MTF at infinity but very good at close range.
Michael - interesting points. That would seem to be why practical use in a variety of shooting conditions is a better source of information, over time, than a handful of technical reviews based on test chart images at fixed distances.
When I did my 21mm lens shootout, I intentionally tested real-world scenes at infinity, far-normal distance, and near distances. It was interesting to see that a lens such as the CV21/1.8 didn't perform well at infinity wide open, but was equally as sharp, centrally at nearer distances, as the 21 Lux when both were at f/2, which is likely a more realistic use of these lenses at that aperture. Then there is a lens like the 21 SEM that is razor at all distances...
I think the 50 Lux ASPH is somewhat over-hyped. It's definitely a great lens, but at nearer distances it's not class leading in terms of sharpness/contrast/resolution. But does it need to be? IMO, Leica did the right thing by apparently optimizing it for far distances where photographers typically expect higher technical ability, especially if stopped down a bit. For example, my opinion is it's much better across the frame than the ZM50/2 at infinity at moderately wide apertures. Some SA at nearer distances of course can be complementary for portraiture...
Derek, I really like those. It reminds me a bit of what I have gotten out of the old 50/1.5 Summarit on the M9. On the NEX-7 it will probably look like mush though wide open. Might be worth trying the CV40/1.4 if you like the 35 Lux look but want to keep the price reasonable. I guess you can never have enough 35/40mm lenses, can you?
50/1 Nocti on NEX-7 - doesn't really show off the Nocti w/o character... but this lens surprised me somewhat by how 'normal' it can behave...
freaklikeme wrote:
To f/2? You're getting some great stuff with it. I find it to be a very easy lens to love. That's one of the reasons I'm dragging my feet on getting the wobble checked. I'm not sure I want anyone mucking around with it.
I'm finding the Pen 42 to be a little bit more of a puzzle. The only thing I've determined so far is that it's a much better lens stopped down than either the 25/2.8 or the 60/1.5. Wide open, though, I've yet to get anything that isn't a complete mess.
i think f/2 is probably the sweet spot for portraits on the lux, so i have done that a fair bit. i'm a bit confused by the lack of brightness change between f/1.4 and f/2 compared to my other f/1.4 lenses. i wonder if it has to do with the nex-7 sensor and what is basically a fast near symmetrical wide angle design?
regarding the pen 42mm, my advice for shooting wide open: don't ever focus then recompose, always focus with the exact framing of the shot already positioned, pay attention to oof parts as you frame and focus as they can change dramatically with small changes in framing, and finally my dirty little secret about many of the images i post with that lens – put the subject dead center of the frame and then crop for a more pleasing composition (it helps justify having 24mp too).
zhangyue wrote:
Derek, I hold high interest seeing those 35lux shots. I like what I see, a very classic rendering lens. I know It is a very small lens. I tried it at recent California camera show, it seems sharp enough for M9 at center. They charge $1900 for it
don't you have the version I cron? when i've been looking around it seems that the cron is pretty much the same price as the lux (well the "bokeh king" version is even more expensive than the lux) you could probably manage a straight up trade if you wanted. though perhaps you have the same disease i do, where you keep accumulating lenses but can't bear to part with any of them.
in any event if you want to meet up sometime to compare the two, i'd be happy to do so.
sebboh wrote:
don't you have the version I cron? when i've been looking around it seems that the cron is pretty much the same price as the lux (well the "bokeh king" version is even more expensive than the lux) you could probably manage a straight up trade if you wanted. though perhaps you have the same disease i do, where you keep accumulating lenses but can't bear to part with any of them.
in any event if you want to meet up sometime to compare the two, i'd be happy to do so.
Derek, Yes, I do. But that 35cron is a very lovely lens. It (8 element) might be most sought after Leica lens now days. I got it accidentally because I love my rigid cron. and they two happened at about same time. The lens is small with high build quality. In the same camera fair, one guy ask $4000 with OBM without google. I have to say it is overrated as well, though it is a very sharp lens leave out the extreme corner. Even at f2, it is decent most of frame. Another great 35mm is Sammron with similar build as this one. at f2.8, I heard it is better than Cron V1.
I will try to find a time that we can have a half day or one day photo walk. I will shoot you a PM if I do. I seems remember you guys have a photo meet up sometime last year bay area. Now it is spring time, can we do a one day like that?
Most of time my weekend is booked by my kids but I will for sure try to join such a meeting this time if we have another one. Maybe a new thread?
If request can be taken here, would someone be so good as to post some images with the ZM21 or opinions. I'm considering it as a "walk-around" and selling off a redundant few 28 and 50's.
lumis beans wrote:
@photoomaha - great action shot.
If request can be taken here, would someone be so good as to post some images with the ZM21 or opinions. I'm considering it as a "walk-around" and selling off a redundant few 28 and 50's.
Hard to talk someone out of a ZM21, however, I own many zeiss products, and to have a walk around that allows mind numbing simplicity (aka AF), and attractive price, the sigma 19mm might be a lens to consider first.
There has been some discussion about the zm21, in my mind I seem to recall it being a less than perfect lens for the NEX (I could be remembering wrong). The CV 21/4 is small and nice but not great in the corners and has some color shift. The Ultron 21/1.8 looks pretty good on the NEX 7 and looks to have promise on the 16mp sensor (I will have experience there soon!). But of course, as Taran mentioned, the Sigma 19 is sort of hard to not try at the price point.
I really would like to find some older manual focus lenses you guys are using. I love the way they render contrast and the muted colors you can get. This is from just a few minutes ago, a clock tower at night. Sony Nex 6, Sigma 19mm. I did do a bit more post processing than I normally do, added some grain and brought the shadows up.
taran wrote:
Hard to talk someone out of a ZM21, however, I own many zeiss products, and to have a walk around that allows mind numbing simplicity (aka AF), and attractive price, the sigma 19mm might be a lens to consider first.
I bought the Sigma pair for when I really wanted to use the camera as a P&S. I haven't come across that yet. I didn't even think of it, frankly. I will try it out, though.
I went back to the beginning of this thread and found a lot of posts on the G21 and ZM25. Lots of color shift. I don't particularly want to use Cornerfix for what would be my "main" lens.
There has been some discussion about the zm21, in my mind I seem to recall it being a less than perfect lens for the NEX (I could be remembering wrong). The CV 21/4 is small and nice but not great in the corners and has some color shift. The Ultron 21/1.8 looks pretty good on the NEX 7 and looks to have promise on the 16mp sensor (I will have experience there soon!). But of course, as Taran mentioned, the Sigma 19 is sort of hard to not try at the price point....Show more →
Thanks, I guessed the ZM21 would have the same issues. But do let us know about Ultron!
Has anyone tried using 135mm alternatives on the Nex-7? I am thinking in particular of the Minolta MD Tele-Rokkor 135/2.8 and the Leica M Tele-Elmar 135 F4.
Beautiful pics. There is no great colour banding here apart, perhaps,for the lowest of the three. Is that a function of the lens or do you use CornerFix or something?
@lumis, it might also be worthwhile to consider the Sony 20mm pancake will be out in a couple of months. I would be hard pressed to think my sigma 19 could be bested for anything (my copy is stellar), but the 20mm Sony lens is certainly going to be attractive if the optical performance is halfway decent.
waterden wrote:
Beautiful pics. There is no great colour banding here apart, perhaps,for the lowest of the three. Is that a function of the lens or do you use CornerFix or something?
thanks :-).
What exactly do you mean with color banding? I didn't use cornerfix, just a minor devignette.
Colour banding or colour shift refers to the magenta stripes at the sides of images created with many wide and wider angle lenses adapted to fit the Nex cameras. It is a particular problem with the Nex7 and both Cornerfix and Lightroom flat field plug-in are used to address it. It is generally only obvious on high key images such as snow scenes so perhaps it is present on yours but not that pronounced. My question was more to establish whether the VM15 is less prone to this effect than other Leica-M fit wide-angles.
On another subject, the script on your photos which describes your camera/lens combinations is very faint and hard to read. Which is a shame because you use an interesting variety of combinations. Would you mind brightening it up a little?
