Leica R Series Lenses
p.89 #1Leica R Series Lenses
Splendid image!
telyt wrote:
Captive non-releasable Golden Eagle:
R8/DMR, 280mm f/4 APO-Telyt-R
telyt wrote:
Captive non-releasable Golden Eagle:
R8/DMR, 280mm f/4 APO-Telyt-R
May 07, 2012 at 02:19 PM
p.89 #2Leica R Series Lenses
AhamB wrote:
@Samuli: Interesting findings with the APO-Elmarit-R 180. I have the Mamiya 645 200/2.8 APO, which some have compared to the Leica and said that it favourably compares to it. The Leica's bokeh reminds me of the APO-Macro-Elmarit 100, which displays the same bright edges at times. The Mamiya certainly doesn't have this, but probably has a bit less "bite"/acutance too. Ok, didn't know about APO 100 had the same. I have noticed that the Mamiya 200APO bokeh is almost always very smooth (on the few hundred images I have seen from it).
AhamB wrote:
Are you taking any countermeasures to prevent your sharpening routine from making the bright edged bokeh too strong? I've found that the step sharpening method can have a huge impact on bokeh, so I either use layer masks or the history brush to remove excessive hardening of the bokeh.No, I don't work that way.
First of all I'm lazy and I really really hate sitting in computer and doing something like that.
Second I have learned hard way (close to 20kEUR investment on L-glass etc. stupid) that "sh#t in = sh#t out". No matter how much you massage it, it will never be same as the stuff, which is shoot right in the first place.
So the way how I compensate for this is that I don't shoot the way it will bring ugliness (=subjective) to bokeh. These were initial test shots of the lens and idea is to show the nature of the lens - internet is full of pictures showing only the best side of equipment. My personal preference is always to have little rough bokeh, all smooth is just boring. Depending on lens I may learn it in few days or they may take months or even years before I get the feeling I get predictable results.
I could compensate using "softer" step sharpening algorithm, but there is no way to compensate for this expect getting soft photo (no sharpening or poor sharpening technique, which also would not help since these bokeh ring edges are also enhanced by traditional edge sharpening algorithms) or doing some masking (too much work, boring an I just feel fake doing it).
Grenache wrote:
Samuli, the 80-200 shots are really lovely. Hope it found a good home. What was its weight like? I also mainly shoot primes, but a zoom in that range would be nice. Since I shoot almost exclusively outdoors, f/4 would not be a problem.
I have not sold 80-200, I may use it as 135-150mm f/4, I have never seen anything like it in this focal length range. But it's awful heavy for such limited use and I have hard time justifying carrying it so I doubt it will see much use. Have to get Leitax for it, the 180APO is really good after Leitaxing it; no "play" at all, I have always hated the "play" lenses have when they have adapter.
Weight, about 1kg, quite much of the weight in front - not ideal lens with small and light cameras like 5DmkII, it may feel much better with pro-bodies.
Nice flowers, specially the "jellyfish" some parts of the flower don't even like flower, more like somebody would have put small paper streamers into huge flower...
Sebboh & Telyt, I see the difficulty in bird photography , in Saturday big bird happened to come to tree in my back yard (quite close to house, about 6m/18ft), but even I shoot it with 500mm it wasn't so big I imagined, only filling in 1/4 of the width of frame (and it was big bird). Naturally my Sigma 150-500 isn't very good @ 500mm, I usually try to avoid using anything over 400mm, and I doubt shooting through window (I opened the inner door so there was only one glass, but still it must have bad effect to image quality) helped either. I would never have patience for bird photography, or I would sleep after I would get bored waiting the birds, not my thing...
carstenw wrote:
One from the Hansa Kokerei. Leica Summilux-R 35mm f/1.4 @ f/8, I believe. 8 shot HDR
Wow, really good "look" again, well done HDR.
Worldinlens, liked the 35mm photos, thanks for showing them.
Few more studies of 180APO rendering - I doubt I will shoot this much wide open when I really start to use the lens.
f/2.8
f/2.8 - really liking the quite lively bokeh
f/2.8
f/4 - larger
f/2.8 - rather difficult photo to bring same "depth" as the fullscreen (2560x1600 monitor), but the larger is much better than thumbnail shown below
f/2.8 - not very good test photo, could have shoot with almost any lens, but I kind of liked it...
Samuli
@Samuli: Interesting findings with the APO-Elmarit-R 180. I have the Mamiya 645 200/2.8 APO, which some have compared to the Leica and said that it favourably compares to it. The Leica's bokeh reminds me of the APO-Macro-Elmarit 100, which displays the same bright edges at times. The Mamiya certainly doesn't have this, but probably has a bit less "bite"/acutance too. Ok, didn't know about APO 100 had the same. I have noticed that the Mamiya 200APO bokeh is almost always very smooth (on the few hundred images I have seen from it).
AhamB wrote:
Are you taking any countermeasures to prevent your sharpening routine from making the bright edged bokeh too strong? I've found that the step sharpening method can have a huge impact on bokeh, so I either use layer masks or the history brush to remove excessive hardening of the bokeh.No, I don't work that way.
First of all I'm lazy and I really really hate sitting in computer and doing something like that.
Second I have learned hard way (close to 20kEUR investment on L-glass etc. stupid) that "sh#t in = sh#t out". No matter how much you massage it, it will never be same as the stuff, which is shoot right in the first place.
So the way how I compensate for this is that I don't shoot the way it will bring ugliness (=subjective) to bokeh. These were initial test shots of the lens and idea is to show the nature of the lens - internet is full of pictures showing only the best side of equipment. My personal preference is always to have little rough bokeh, all smooth is just boring. Depending on lens I may learn it in few days or they may take months or even years before I get the feeling I get predictable results.
I could compensate using "softer" step sharpening algorithm, but there is no way to compensate for this expect getting soft photo (no sharpening or poor sharpening technique, which also would not help since these bokeh ring edges are also enhanced by traditional edge sharpening algorithms) or doing some masking (too much work, boring an I just feel fake doing it).
Grenache wrote:
Samuli, the 80-200 shots are really lovely. Hope it found a good home. What was its weight like? I also mainly shoot primes, but a zoom in that range would be nice. Since I shoot almost exclusively outdoors, f/4 would not be a problem.
I have not sold 80-200, I may use it as 135-150mm f/4, I have never seen anything like it in this focal length range. But it's awful heavy for such limited use and I have hard time justifying carrying it so I doubt it will see much use. Have to get Leitax for it, the 180APO is really good after Leitaxing it; no "play" at all, I have always hated the "play" lenses have when they have adapter.
Weight, about 1kg, quite much of the weight in front - not ideal lens with small and light cameras like 5DmkII, it may feel much better with pro-bodies.
Nice flowers, specially the "jellyfish" some parts of the flower don't even like flower, more like somebody would have put small paper streamers into huge flower...
Sebboh & Telyt, I see the difficulty in bird photography , in Saturday big bird happened to come to tree in my back yard (quite close to house, about 6m/18ft), but even I shoot it with 500mm it wasn't so big I imagined, only filling in 1/4 of the width of frame (and it was big bird). Naturally my Sigma 150-500 isn't very good @ 500mm, I usually try to avoid using anything over 400mm, and I doubt shooting through window (I opened the inner door so there was only one glass, but still it must have bad effect to image quality) helped either. I would never have patience for bird photography, or I would sleep after I would get bored waiting the birds, not my thing...
carstenw wrote:
One from the Hansa Kokerei. Leica Summilux-R 35mm f/1.4 @ f/8, I believe. 8 shot HDR
Wow, really good "look" again, well done HDR.
Worldinlens, liked the 35mm photos, thanks for showing them.
Few more studies of 180APO rendering - I doubt I will shoot this much wide open when I really start to use the lens.
f/2.8
f/2.8 - really liking the quite lively bokeh
f/2.8
f/4 - larger
f/2.8 - rather difficult photo to bring same "depth" as the fullscreen (2560x1600 monitor), but the larger is much better than thumbnail shown below
f/2.8 - not very good test photo, could have shoot with almost any lens, but I kind of liked it...
Samuli
May 07, 2012 at 02:45 PM
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p.89 #3Leica R Series Lenses
carstenw wrote:
Gorgeous shot of your daughter, Aleksandr!
crazeazn wrote:
^agreed!
Thanks
carstenw wrote:
One from the Hansa Kokerei. Leica Summilux-R 35mm f/1.4 @ f/8, I believe. 8 shot HDR:
Thi is one the the best HDR, which I saw, friend! Maybe crop 1:2.35 as movie?
Gorgeous shot of your daughter, Aleksandr!
crazeazn wrote:
^agreed!
Thanks
carstenw wrote:
One from the Hansa Kokerei. Leica Summilux-R 35mm f/1.4 @ f/8, I believe. 8 shot HDR:
Thi is one the the best HDR, which I saw, friend! Maybe crop 1:2.35 as movie?
May 07, 2012 at 02:56 PM
p.89 #4Leica R Series Lenses
Worldinlens wrote:
Thi is one the the best HDR, which I saw, friend! Maybe crop 1:2.35 as movie?
Thanks, Aleksandr! I tried it, but it is too narrow, and I can't fit everything any more. 16:10 or 6:9 might fit
carstenw wrote
One from the Hansa Kokerei. Leica Summilux-R 35mm f/1.4 @ f/8, I believe. 8 shot HDR: Thanks, Aleksandr! I tried it, but it is too narrow, and I can't fit everything any more. 16:10 or 6:9 might fit
May 07, 2012 at 03:05 PM
p.89 #5Leica R Series Lenses
Samuli Vahonen wrote:
Wow, really good "look" again, well done HDR.
Thanks, Samuli! I am quite happy with this shot. I showed it to me girlfriend, she wanted more pop, maybe more saturation, but this time I was stubborn. I like the subtle, dark look to it.
I really like your 180APO test shots, and feel that the lens has a lot of promise, but also some challenges in processing in making the images closer to your 85P shots, etc.
carstenw wrote
One from the Hansa Kokerei. Leica Summilux-R 35mm f/1.4 @ f/8, I believe. 8 shot HDRThanks, Samuli! I am quite happy with this shot. I showed it to me girlfriend, she wanted more pop, maybe more saturation, but this time I was stubborn. I like the subtle, dark look to it.
I really like your 180APO test shots, and feel that the lens has a lot of promise, but also some challenges in processing in making the images closer to your 85P shots, etc.
May 07, 2012 at 03:10 PM
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p.89 #6Leica R Series Lenses
carstenw wrote:
Thanks, Aleksandr! I tried it, but it is too narrow, and I can't fit everything any more. 16:10 or 6:9 might fit
I'm kidding, everything is fine
Thanks, Aleksandr! I tried it, but it is too narrow, and I can't fit everything any more. 16:10 or 6:9 might fit
I'm kidding, everything is fine
May 07, 2012 at 03:38 PM
p.89 #7Leica R Series Lenses
Another Hansa shot with the 35 Lux-R, this time maybe around f/2.8-f/4, 7 shot HDR:
May 07, 2012 at 03:39 PM
p.89 #8Leica R Series Lenses
I like both of those last two, Carsten. I'm particularly impressed with the reflections in the standing water in the first one.
May 07, 2012 at 04:40 PM
p.89 #9Leica R Series Lenses
My daugter Alfrun Embla. Leica Elmarit-R 90/2.8 wide open on Canon 5D2.
May 07, 2012 at 06:20 PM
p.89 #10Leica R Series Lenses
Hauxon, great shots. It amazes me how Leica can hold such saturation and subtlety all at once.
Carsten, tunnel shot is amazing with the periodic side lighting.
Samuli, thank you for the details on the lens.
Jim
Carsten, tunnel shot is amazing with the periodic side lighting.
Samuli, thank you for the details on the lens.
Jim
May 07, 2012 at 10:03 PM
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p.89 #11Leica R Series Lenses
- Hauxon, Oh the Elmarit 90 renders beautiful portraits.
- Carsten, You are really getting into the Lux 35 and HDR. Getting better all the time.
- Samuli, I did not comment at your previous shots with the APO 180/2.8 as I thought it might be the crap monitor I was using at the office. But again some of the last shots just do not seem to be as sharp as they should. Could it be possible that your lens is somehow out of alignment? I don't suppose you bought it new and frankly it is not the easiest lens to focus, actually most other R Lenses are easier!
Maybe you want to double check your lens for focus?
- Carsten, You are really getting into the Lux 35 and HDR. Getting better all the time.
- Samuli, I did not comment at your previous shots with the APO 180/2.8 as I thought it might be the crap monitor I was using at the office. But again some of the last shots just do not seem to be as sharp as they should. Could it be possible that your lens is somehow out of alignment? I don't suppose you bought it new and frankly it is not the easiest lens to focus, actually most other R Lenses are easier!
Maybe you want to double check your lens for focus?
May 08, 2012 at 06:19 AM
p.89 #13Leica R Series Lenses
What a lens! My favorite is the second from last and the last.
May 08, 2012 at 02:03 PM
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p.89 #14Leica R Series Lenses
carstenw wrote:
What a lens! My favorite is the second from last and the last.
...and this is crop-camera, Carsten!
What a lens! My favorite is the second from last and the last.
...and this is crop-camera, Carsten!
May 08, 2012 at 02:22 PM
p.89 #15Leica R Series Lenses
Hrannar, wonderful color and background (blur) on the portraits.
Worldinlens, 3rd (tree, the only one, which was not shot wide open) and 2nd last one (sunset and branches) were very nice.
Almass wrote:
- Samuli, I did not comment at your previous shots with the APO 180/2.8 as I thought it might be the crap monitor I was using at the office. But again some of the last shots just do not seem to be as sharp as they should. Could it be possible that your lens is somehow out of alignment? I don't suppose you bought it new and frankly it is not the easiest lens to focus, actually most other R Lenses are easier!
Maybe you want to double check your lens for focus?
Almass, thanks for pointing this out, I never view my own images (after all I have seen them when I copy paste the URLs to posts). Lens is fine, I focus 99.9999999% of time with live view using actual pixels so focus is 99.99999996% of times right.
The root cause for weird images seems to be that Fred Miranda forum breaks images having odd dimensions (fine if both x and y dimension are even). Fred's forum software cannot calculate dimensions with odd pixel width images, and adds wrong height and width attributes to HTML code for those, which forces browser to do scaling.
For example I use 975px on longest side of the image. This makes standard 2:3 image to have 650px on the shorter side. In HTML Fred Miranda forum software however announces size 974px by 650px in HTML-code. This makes the browser to scale the image. Due to this some images look awful. I'm not sure why Fred has changed this to broken version - this used to work fine.
HTML code Fred Miranda forum used for my picture (real size 975x650):
<img width=974 height=650 border=0 alt="This image is copyrighted by the owner" src="http://www.vahonen.com/2012/Q2/05-01_Seitseminen_and_Riuttaskorpi,Ylojarvi/20120501_191929_L180mm_f28_1per400s_975px.jpg">
Can't change the old photos, but new ones I'll post 974px on longest side (assuming shorter side will also end up to even number of pixels) so the badly written forum software won't break my images. For old images the only way to view them properly is to right click and "open image in new tab". Apologies for less pleasurable viewing experience due to Fred's broken software.
PS. Be careful when you crop and end up to some size with odd number of pixels on shorter side of picture, then Fred's forum software will break your images even the other side of image is even number. I checked and this is not only my problem, but same happens to anyone who happens to post odd pixel dimension images.
Samuli
Worldinlens, 3rd (tree, the only one, which was not shot wide open) and 2nd last one (sunset and branches) were very nice.
Almass wrote:
- Samuli, I did not comment at your previous shots with the APO 180/2.8 as I thought it might be the crap monitor I was using at the office. But again some of the last shots just do not seem to be as sharp as they should. Could it be possible that your lens is somehow out of alignment? I don't suppose you bought it new and frankly it is not the easiest lens to focus, actually most other R Lenses are easier!
Maybe you want to double check your lens for focus?
Almass, thanks for pointing this out, I never view my own images (after all I have seen them when I copy paste the URLs to posts). Lens is fine, I focus 99.9999999% of time with live view using actual pixels so focus is 99.99999996% of times right.
The root cause for weird images seems to be that Fred Miranda forum breaks images having odd dimensions (fine if both x and y dimension are even). Fred's forum software cannot calculate dimensions with odd pixel width images, and adds wrong height and width attributes to HTML code for those, which forces browser to do scaling.
For example I use 975px on longest side of the image. This makes standard 2:3 image to have 650px on the shorter side. In HTML Fred Miranda forum software however announces size 974px by 650px in HTML-code. This makes the browser to scale the image. Due to this some images look awful. I'm not sure why Fred has changed this to broken version - this used to work fine.
HTML code Fred Miranda forum used for my picture (real size 975x650):
<img width=974 height=650 border=0 alt="This image is copyrighted by the owner" src="http://www.vahonen.com/2012/Q2/05-01_Seitseminen_and_Riuttaskorpi,Ylojarvi/20120501_191929_L180mm_f28_1per400s_975px.jpg">
Can't change the old photos, but new ones I'll post 974px on longest side (assuming shorter side will also end up to even number of pixels) so the badly written forum software won't break my images. For old images the only way to view them properly is to right click and "open image in new tab". Apologies for less pleasurable viewing experience due to Fred's broken software.
PS. Be careful when you crop and end up to some size with odd number of pixels on shorter side of picture, then Fred's forum software will break your images even the other side of image is even number. I checked and this is not only my problem, but same happens to anyone who happens to post odd pixel dimension images.
Samuli
May 08, 2012 at 03:00 PM
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p.89 #16Leica R Series Lenses
Samuli Vahonen wrote:
Worldinlens, 3rd (tree, the only one, which was not shot wide open) and 2nd last one (sunset and branches) were very nice.
Samuli
Samuli, thanks! But all shots on wide open. I can clearly see it in full resolution by the presence of specific chromatic aberrations and bokeh.
This is wide open shot from latest R80 on the Sony A100:
Leica several times changed the coatings of the R80. And the most recent version has a slightly smaller soft on wide open, especially in the high contrast conditions. This is a subjective more sharpens in these conditions. In addition, the latest version has neutral colour rendering.
Regarding the sunset, it's an orange car in the background
Worldinlens, 3rd (tree, the only one, which was not shot wide open) and 2nd last one (sunset and branches) were very nice.
Samuli
Samuli, thanks! But all shots on wide open. I can clearly see it in full resolution by the presence of specific chromatic aberrations and bokeh.
This is wide open shot from latest R80 on the Sony A100:
Leica several times changed the coatings of the R80. And the most recent version has a slightly smaller soft on wide open, especially in the high contrast conditions. This is a subjective more sharpens in these conditions. In addition, the latest version has neutral colour rendering.
Regarding the sunset, it's an orange car in the background
May 08, 2012 at 03:56 PM
p.89 #17Leica R Series Lenses
One more from the Hansa Kokerei, Leica 35 Lux-R around f/5.6, 7 shot HDR:
May 08, 2012 at 04:13 PM
p.89 #18Leica R Series Lenses
love this one carsten:
carstenw wrote:
One from the Hansa Kokerei. Leica Summilux-R 35mm f/1.4 @ f/8, I believe. 8 shot HDR:
It was almost pitch-black here, I used a flashlight to focus, and just saw tiny bits of light coming in from the side. I couldn't do the full series because it was so dark I hit the maximum exposure limit of 30 seconds, and didn't have a timer.
http://throughthelensdarkly.com/forums/CW_20120415_NikonD3_0001-3-2.jpg
the rest are too heavy with the tone mapping for my taste.
carstenw wrote:
One from the Hansa Kokerei. Leica Summilux-R 35mm f/1.4 @ f/8, I believe. 8 shot HDR:
It was almost pitch-black here, I used a flashlight to focus, and just saw tiny bits of light coming in from the side. I couldn't do the full series because it was so dark I hit the maximum exposure limit of 30 seconds, and didn't have a timer.
http://throughthelensdarkly.com/forums/CW_20120415_NikonD3_0001-3-2.jpg
the rest are too heavy with the tone mapping for my taste.
May 08, 2012 at 04:17 PM
p.89 #20Leica R Series Lenses
And a final one for today, Leica 35 Lux-R, f/8, 7 shot HDR:
May 08, 2012 at 05:00 PM