Granted, I have not shot with the Contax or Voit, but it would be hard for me to be happier than with this beauty. Perfect balance of sharp and smooth, contrasty and colorful.
All of these were shot handheld with a Canon 580EX mated to a Ray Flash ring flash (not made to be a macro flash, but worked pretty well that way). Flash output controlled manually, little trial and error.
Comments, critiques, jeers all welcome. Feel free to post your pics as well.
Jim
Absolutely a favorite of mine ... to dream & drool
The barbecue shot about 1/2 way down page 6 of the APO thread is the shot that is etched in my mind regarding this lens ... somewhat like Richard's motorcycle shot is etched in my mind for the Zeiss 21mm 2.8
If I could have only two lenses, it would be this one and the Zeiss 21mm 2.8.
Of course, I'd have 3 different bodies FF, 1.5x/1.6x & 4/3 (or micro) to achieve various effective FL's with the ability to use a TC and/or crop this resolution ... what more would you need?
Or maybe the Voigt 125, and Contax N 100 Macro, and ...
Grenache wrote:
Can you use R lenses on an M body?
Jim
Yes, there is an R-to-M adapter. However, it is impractical for non-wide angle lenses, because focusing is not rangefinder coupled, so you can only focus by the distance scale. That's why Dan mentioned live view.
Beautiful photos guys. The three 'crons that I recently bought are conditioning me to prefer the Leica image style. Oh well, I guess the quest continues...
Wayne ... your butterfly is up there with the ribs ... both look so NATURAL.
Jim ... I just picked up the M645 80mmm/4 Macro ... and a new FotoDiox adapter. That's as close as I can get to the Leica ... for now
Dan ... captivating shot ... strangely discomforting & alluring at the same time ... nice.
Okay, question ... what is it about Leica that I can drool over shots for their ability to look so 'natural' ... then dislike shots from the same lens that exhibit the 'Leica glow' ... which BTW, I respect and understand to be desirable for its uniqueness?
Is there a specific technique / aperture / working distance etc. that renders the 'Leica glow'? Sometimes I find it really lovely, but I'm confused as to why / how a lens can seem to have a 'split personality' ... and how to best control (use, not eliminate) it ... in the event that my wife wants to buy me one for Valentine's Day
RustyBug wrote:
If I could have only two lenses, it would be this one and the Zeiss 21mm 2.8.
A nice pair indeed. If I did not have kids to chase around and generally so enjoy my 24-70, it would be replaced by a ZE 21 in a heartbeat. Oh the agonizin choices in life.
RustyBug wrote:
Wayne ... your butterfly is up there with the ribs ... both look so NATURAL.
Jim ... I just picked up the M645 80mmm/4 Macro ... and a new FotoDiox adapter. That's as close as I can get to the Leica ... for now
Dan ... captivating shot ... strangely discomforting & alluring at the same time ... nice.
Okay, question ... what is it about Leica that I can drool over shots for their ability to look so 'natural' ... then dislike shots from the same lens that exhibit the 'Leica glow' ... which BTW, I respect and understand to be desirable for its uniqueness?
Is there a specific technique / aperture / working distance etc. that renders the 'Leica glow'? Sometimes I find it really lovely, but I'm confused as to why / how a lens can seem to have a 'split personality' ... and how to best control (use, not eliminate) it ... in the event that my wife wants to buy me one for Valentine's Day ...Show more →
Thanks Kent! Look forward to seeing shots from your newly acquired M645 80mmm/4 Macro.
When you talk of Leica glow, I think of only the Leica R 80 1.4 with its famous Mandler glow at f1.4. The glow goes away when stopped down f2 and beyond. I don't think the 100 APO has any glow.
Jim, very sharp shots of the windmill blades with no CA, just nice and clean.
Hard to beat? I'm not seeing it. Not at these small sizes. These are all (so far) nice images, properly exposed and processed - sure. And it does look like a "good" $500 to $800 lens. And it's APO so you don't have to be careful with edge CA showing up in ultra high contrast scenes. I hate to say it but my point and shoot competes well among the images posted here - at this size. At 100% I'm sure it looses out tho. Also isn't this lens like $4,300 or something? And my $200 P&S is competing almost directly with it (at these sizes)?
Maybe I need educating but where's the "hard to beat" part?
That's a courageous post, Bif. I guess it must be a matter of taste, but most things Leica do not get my aesthetic appreciation going either, old HCB-style B&W excepted. I can't imagine shooting landscape with the R lenses going by their look.
Can't agree re your P&S comments however, and good luck with the incoming, hah hah...a thick skin/sense of humour helps if you want to dissent from the zeitgeist in this world of ours.
