rscheffler wrote:
...It kind of 'hurts' my eyes at first...)
Then this should be really send you over the edge – misfocused and missed my composition because I shot from the hip
I completely missed focus way in front of the subject instead of behind, so of course nothing is in focus. And no glow because I was stopped down. Kind of reminds me of a very old misfocused image from the early days of photography.
highdesertmesa wrote:
Then this should be really send you over the edge – misfocused and missed my composition because I shot from the hip
I completely missed focus way in front of the subject instead of behind, so of course nothing is in focus. And no glow because I was stopped down. Kind of reminds me of a very old misfocused image from the early days of photography.
Haha, but for me front (mis) focus has a different look that isn't as painful as back focus.
Fred Miranda wrote:
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They don’t appear soft where they are focused on, but Sonnar-7 tends to prioritize focusing on distant subjects. As a result, this can cause closer foreground objects to be out of focus due to the wide-open aperture.
There might be quite a lot of that, I tend to focus behind some subjects for them to inhabit the photo more than to be the subject of it, it is probably to a fault even if it can work from time to time. The Panchro with its organic rendering makes me be more bold with that tendancy.
highdesertmesa wrote:
I think they are out of focus. Mid-distance with this lens at f/2 using the rangefinder is very tricky: focus is right at the very near-most side of the DOF with the sharpest point just behind the point of focus. This happens from around 3-5m distance. Closer or farther and the point of focus is more toward the center of the DOF. And just genre-wise, without a dominant subject to focus on, I would choose f/5.6 at these distances.
Example at ~3m where rangefinder focus was on the front-most leaf of the metal plant sculpture, but sharpest focus is about 10cm behind. The point of focus actually is within the DOF, but it’s close enough to the edge of the DOF that it takes on more glow and softness. Just something to account for when shooting at f/2. Perhaps others lens/body/rangefinder combos give different results, but I’m happy that the rangefinder is perfect at closer distance below 3m and further than 5m out to infinity.
If using an EVF and the results are not sharp, I’d blame low shutter speed or not zooming in to focus as the culprit. It’s not possible to focus this lens at f/2 when zoomed out and looking at the entire frame....Show more →
I used an evf for those so I can’t blame my never verified rangefinder, I used the Z6 because I wanted liveview and being able to shoot everyhing wide open, I might be more technical with the M9 since I can’t see nothing and the shutter won’t allow me any foly.
I think as said before that I fell into some gimicky situation with my experiment of the Panchro, I still hope to be able to strike a balance between what I wish to accomplish and just poor choice of decision making while shooting.
For instance before it was pointed out by @Desmolicious I didn’t even notice that I had some perfectly sharp photos of the bakery with the blue front but chose the one that was blurry because the overall rendering of it felt more pleasing to me.
I need to work on that, sometimes I just like it but it’s maybe not well executed or repetitive when overly done.
On another note, the Panchro due to its glow does challenge the evf and focus peaking quite a bit.
rscheffler wrote:
I see this especially with Sonnar-7's Panchro images - they kind of look like film scans where the film 'popped' and the resulting scan was soft at the grain level. But I've also noticed it less intensely with wide open shots posted by others, which when zoomed in the focus appears to be correctly on the intended subject. But when the same images are zoomed out, the lens's wide open glow somewhat obscures the exact point of focus and my eye instead latches on to background content that appears snappier/sharper. It's difficult to describe but the example by HDM directly above is a good visualization of what I mean.
Yes, Sonnar-7 appears to like putting a lot more OOF foreground elements in images than we're probably used to seeing, which I think makes the images look even more misfocused. It kind of 'hurts' my eyes at first but it also has a certain nostalgic charm (thanks to the Panchro's wide open glow) that I can't help but look at more closely. ...Show more →
Yeah the Panchro made me do this, it often offers a charm in its output and I push the lens to produce it even when the conditions are not met. It’s also something that I like but may not master properly, I do like to a fault out of focus subjects in a scene.
Listopad44 wrote:
Which coating of LLL lenses is more wear resistant: silver chrome or black paint? Which looks better?
Silver will show the least wear. Black paint over brass is expected to wear away to show the brass underneath as part of the look and charm of the finish. I bought the pre-brassed at the edges version, which is not really brassed to simulate wear but to highlight the barrel edges, etc. I’ve seen both the black and black-brassed, and I much prefer the brassed version. Never seen the silver in person. Go with what your personal preference tells you.
Popflash has a brassed one for $718 and silver for $618. I would jump on that price as I paid a lot more for mine as did others. The two they have at this price will say “demo”, but they usually arrive as new and unused.
highdesertmesa wrote:
Silver will show the least wear. Black paint over brass is expected to wear away to show the brass underneath as part of the look and charm of the finish. I bought the pre-brassed at the edges version, which is not really brassed to simulate wear but to highlight the barrel edges, etc. I’ve seen both the black and black-brassed, and I much prefer the brassed version. Never seen the silver in person. Go with what your personal preference tells you.
Popflash has a brassed one for $718 and silver for $618. I would jump on that price as I paid a lot more for mine as did others. The two they have at this price will say “demo”, but they usually arrive as new and unused....Show more →
I really like the black paint with brass that comes straight from the factory. But I have to say, the super shiny black paint is the most stunning I've ever come across. The shiny version is a limited edition though, and it might show signs of wear more quickly. Still, the natural aging look is pretty cool.
The most wear resistant should be the silver chrome.
highdesertmesa wrote:
Popflash has a brassed one for $718 and silver for $618. I would jump on that price as I paid a lot more for mine as did others. The two they have at this price will say “demo”, but they usually arrive as new and unused.
Yes, but likely returns so not brand new lenses from the factory.
Fred Miranda wrote:
Yes, but likely returns so not brand new lenses from the factory.
Could be, but it’s their standard practice to list an item as demo or certified in order to sell it below retail. A quick email or call will tell you for sure. Just as likely to get a returned one with one not labeled as demo since these are unsealed from the factory.
highdesertmesa wrote:
Could be, but it’s their standard practice to list an item as demo or certified in order to sell it below retail. A quick email or call will tell you for sure. Just as likely to get a returned one with one not labeled as demo since these are unsealed from the factory.
These items have been used and priced appropriately. They could be in excellent condition, similar to brand-new. However, they might also be items that were returned. This is similar to purchasing a like-new lens from FM. The cost is lower than a brand-new one, but it doesn't necessarily indicate any issues with it.
The question is: Where are the new batches from LLL? I thought that PopFlash was their only US distributer.
Fred Miranda wrote:
These items have been used and priced appropriately. They could be in excellent condition, similar to brand-new. However, they might also be items that were returned. This is similar to purchasing a like-new lens from FM. The cost is lower than a brand-new one, but it doesn't necessarily indicate any issues with it.
The question is: Where are the new batches from LLL? I thought that PopFlash was their only US distributer.
Popflash uses “Demo” or “Certified Pre-Owned” as a way to sell new items below retail price — they have told me this. Impossible to verify with LLL or Voigtlander gear, though, since neither manufacturer seals their boxes. Popflash Leica gear has always arrived as new/factory sealed for me when buying demo.
Not sure why stock is so low, especially for the 8E. LLL could have time gaps between batches.
Using the Panchro Speed II lens wide open. What's great about this lens is that it keeps good detail all the way to the edges of the photo. The LLL Elcan and Voigt Heliar lenses, on the other hand, have a big decrease in resolution off-axis.
LEICA M10-RCooke Speed Panchro II 50mm f/2 lens50mmf/2.81/125s100 ISO+0.3 EV
I think it's their own design (Perhaps based on an existing 28/2 lens). The Leica 28/2 Cron ASPH (v1 and v2) have a completely different optical design.
