Well, you’re Fred Miranda. I’m a bloke on the internet! I’ll give it a go though. I may end up going the eBay route. I spotted one from a reputable location last night.
Fred Miranda wrote:
Send an email to LLL, they may still have some left. I picked one up from them just last month.
RomanMF wrote:
Well, you’re Fred Miranda. I’m a bloke on the internet! I’ll give it a go though. I may end up going the eBay route. I spotted one from a reputable location last night.
Ha, don't think of it that way, it's not about who's asking. Either they have remaining stock or they don't, that's really all it comes down to. Before jumping to eBay and likely paying more, it's worth giving LLL a shot first, can't hurt to ask.
RomanMF wrote:
Well, you’re Fred Miranda. I’m a bloke on the internet! I’ll give it a go though. I may end up going the eBay route. I spotted one from a reputable location last night.
I'm also just some guy but I was looking for a 50mm Elcan in June when they were OOS and I messaged them asking when the next restock would be. Turns out they had one in inventory and I was able to get it!
For those who want the Light Lens Lab 50mm f/1.5 Z21's look but more even performance across the field wide open, the 75mm f/1.5 Z21 is my recommendation. https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1945403/
A couple shots showing the effect of subject placement.
If the subject is centered there is almost too much sharpness: Jenny by Jim Fischer, on Flickr
If the subject is away from center, it's a blurry/dreamy mess (sometimes in a good way): Jenny by Jim Fischer, on Flickr
Nikon Zf, Light Lens Lab 50mm f/1.5 Z21
Jim, how are the tolerances on your copy? I bought one from The Latent Image and it's got a little play up by the aperture ring area. Images seem good, but there's a little wobble. _jim_ wrote:
A couple shots showing the effect of subject placement.
RomanMF wrote:
Jim, how are the tolerances on your copy? I bought one from The Latent Image and it's got a little play up by the aperture ring area. Images seem good, but there's a little wobble.
Bummer! How bad is the play?
I own five LLL lenses. The machining on the external parts and the painting of letters/numbers are always top notch. That seems to be a real point of pride. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for internals - the tolerance allowed in the guides means that every single one of my lenses has a degree of small wiggle. Nothing extreme, doesn't really affect operation. But not nothing.
I would love to see them figure this out on future production runs. For the most part, I only have positive things to say about their products. Early Voigtlander lenses had their share of issues. It took them a while to work it out. It's worth supporting new companies as they move through growing pains.
I actually created a custom Lightroom preset that addresses this exact issue (balancing out that high center contrast/sharpness relative to the mid-field and edges). If you shoot in LR, I think you'll find it really helpful!
It's not awful, but yeah, just a bit of wiggle. The base where the focus distance scale lives is solid as a rock, but the part that travels with focus and contains the aperture ring, just has a little bit of play. I wish that were more solid. Also feels like a portal for dust, we'll see. I really like the finish on the lens. I've got a glossy black one and it's neat.
Hopefully they fix the tolerances with the 35 APO. Fred, definitely report back on that front, please!
_jim_ wrote:
Bummer! How bad is the play?
I own five LLL lenses. The machining on the external parts and the painting of letters/numbers are always top notch. That seems to be a real point of pride. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for internals - the tolerance allowed in the guides means that every single one of my lenses has a degree of small wiggle. Nothing extreme, doesn't really affect operation. But not nothing.
I would love to see them figure this out on future production runs. For the most part, I only have positive things to say about their products. Early Voigtlander lenses had their share of issues. It took them a while to work it out. It's worth supporting new companies as they move through growing pains....Show more →
OK, this thing is NUTS! Completely unhinged rendering and I'm all over it. Putting anything outside the center of the frame when shooting wide open is a mistake, but it's really fun. Night Stroll in Los Feliz, August 2026 by Roman France, on Flickr
Nice samples. I actually prefer the look of the subject when it's placed off-center, even though the contrast and detail drop off a bit. With this lens, I try to avoid compositions where a single subject spans the entire frame at the same distance, because the sharpness discrepancy between the center and off-center areas will be very obvious.
For example, in the first image I really like the lower contrast and glow when the focus is placed off-center. On the other hand, the second image shows that having a subject span across the entire frame doesn't quite look right with this lens.
LEICA M10-PLight Lens Lab 50mm f/1.5 Z21 lens50mm1/4000s200 ISO-0.7 EV
LEICA M10-RLight Lens Lab 50mm f/1.5 Z21 lens50mm1/2000s100 ISO-0.7 EV
I cannot wait to see how the film photos came out with the lens. The ZF provides the luxury of seeing where the flares are falling. This lens also makes me yearn for an even better EVF because sharpness at 1.5 is a mere concept for this lens, lol. I am also curious to see how it renders on a higher megapixel sensor.
RomanMF wrote:
I cannot wait to see how the film photos came out with the lens. The ZF provides the luxury of seeing where the flares are falling. This lens also makes me yearn for an even better EVF because sharpness at 1.5 is a mere concept for this lens, lol. I am also curious to see how it renders on a higher megapixel sensor.
Because of its intentionally lower resolution and contrast wide open, the 50/1.5 Z21 works best in my opinion with lower MP sensors (around 18/24MP) or film, as you mentioned. Using it on my M11-D 60MP sensor doesn't yield sharper images - it just amplifies the optical flaws without really adding anything extra (except for bigger files), which is pretty common with classic uncorrected lenses.
