Its so nice to come back to this thread. Glad to see all the activity, and all the nice photos. I have been travelling a lot with work in recent months, both here in Norway and in China, so not so much time for photography.
But that doesn't mean I haven't had any time to plan for photography in 2017 My christmas gift to myself was the Leica Summicron 75 AA. Yes, the 75 and not the 90. And not the magnificent Loxia 85 that get so much praise on this forum. I got the 75 AA.
Why? Well, first of all, its a wonderful little lens, which will be perfect for hiking and travelling. And I usually bring around me a 35mm, and then I find 50mm to be a bit close, and 85mm or 90mm to be a bit to far away. I used to have the Voigtlander Heliar 75 and really liked the focal length, but sold it when i got the 90 Elmarit. And when I decided that I want to get a 75mm again, it had to be Leica. After all, after getting used to the rendering of the 90 Elmarit, I would opt for nothing else than Leica
So here's a few shots with my first test round with this lens. First impression is positive of course. All are wide open apart from the landscape, with is a panorama taken at 5.6.
rji2goleez wrote:
Still cold but sunny. Went for a walk on the lake with the A7r2 + 24-70GM
I was surprised by the sun flairs in this first image. I wonder what others have experienced when shooting into the sun with this lens.
Bob, I haven't had mine long enough to be able to tell you, that what you are seeing is representative. My own impressions are based only on 3-4 sunrise/sunset outings, so take them with a grain of salt. From what I've seen so far, it seems to flare pretty easily, especially compared to the Loxia 21 or 35 ZM.
Fred too had mentioned flaring as a weakness in the big test thread. On the other hand, Joshua's great seascape set from the coastline (a few pages back) also had the sun in the frame too and I don't recall seeing any flare in his shots.
The less than great flare resistance and arguably the sunstars are the biggest weaknesses of the zoom. That's consistent with what I've seen from Sony over the last decade, though. Flare resistance isn't one of their strengths (or may be Zeiss is just way better than Sony). The longer zooms (both e-mount and a-mount) also suffer from it to a degree. Among the e-mount lenses I've used, the 55 1.8 and the 35 1.4 have had the best flare resistance.
AGeoJO wrote:
Thank you very much, Chris! Finally, you got a winner! Great images from that new lens!
In about a month or so, it will be time for the mask carnival....again. I am warming myself up and here are two images from the previous carnival.
Thanks for the advice back then, Joshua. It's ironic that in a decade of shooting Sony my most expensive Sony lens to date was the only one I had to return (twice).
I see this thread hasn't exactly slowed down while I've been away. Nice work everyone.
I very nearly made a switch to the Nikon Df last week, with that 16mp sensor with its "softer" draw that I'm so attracted to. But then everytime I go out with the A7 as a walkabout, I get a reality check. (Even if a battery only lasts about 15 minutes in this cold we've been having recently – how do you get on with it, Helena? Is it better on the A7II?). It's just very hard to beat from a usability perspective, for me.
Other than just walking around, I brought it to a wedding in october.
fe28:
fe55:
Batis 85:
Edit: I have to mention I love that landscape shot, Werner. And the perfectly timed Basset hound, agentbird. Probably not easy to do with that lens. Excellent bw.
Looking at Fawn White Tail Deer
Heavily cropped tripod mounted Canon new FD 500mm f4.5 L lens and Sony A7r camera
ISO 200, f4.5, 1/400 second
Exposure corrected by +0.48 Stops; processed in LR6.4
August 12, 2015
At Big Meadows, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
My christmas gift to myself was the Leica Summicron 75 AA. Yes, the 75 and not the 90. And not the magnificent Loxia 85 that get so much praise on this forum. I got the 75 AA. 
