joe88 wrote:
Adam, I think the fast Leica glass that have smoother bokeh are the 50 Lux pre-ASPH and the Nocts. Have you tried those?
I wouldn't count on the 50 Lux pre-ASPH having nicer boke than the 50 Lux ASPH. There was a shot-by-shot comparison in different situations some time back, and they almost always had the same or very similar boke, and sometimes the ASPH pulled ahead. It has a flatter field, less CA, less softness wide open, and so on. Add the extra sharpness of the ASPH on top, and it is not hard to understand why it is so highly regarded. I have tried a decent number of 50s on various systems, but never found any I like as much. The Sigma 50/1.4 comes close in the boke department, but it lacks the sharpness wide open, and some of the magic.
The legend goes that Herr Peter Karbe, the designed of the 50mm f/1.4 ASPH, played with the design over a number of years until he could no longer find a way to improve it (without making it too large or expensive). Here is an interview with him about this lens.
I should add that the 50 Lux pre-ASPH is a fantastic 50mm lens, perhaps the second-best there is. The ASPH is just that much better. On DSLRs, the 50MP is meant to be very good, but like almost all the ZF/ZE lenses, it has visible CA. A pity.
h00ligan wrote:
Good light is unimportant? Really? Flat midday desert sun isn't going to lead to flat images?.
Depends on what the photographer is seeing. I've seen a few impressive pictures shot in very flat light. it's content first, then content, then content. then geometry. for example:
Thanks Joe! And thanks for the link - I have been wondering the same thing as Joakim. I have everything standardized to Arca-Swiss mount but I do not like having to attach and remove a quick release plate from the M9 (and I don't like to have the plate permanently attached as it ruins the ergonomics). The RRS base plate definitively seems like a viable alternative.
kidtexas wrote:
What's the Rokkor's bokeh look like at medium distances? I seem to remember shots from it by brainiac (maybe) that had somewhat harsh bokeh at longer distances...
The Rokkor has a lively bokeh at f/1.2 which can be a bit harsh on occasion at medium distances (although not always) but it becomes über-smooth at f/1.4-f/2.
I can see you seem to like a bit more going on in the bokeh department than what the 75 offers. It's pretty neutral - a lot of people would like it I feel like a lot of the newer Leica lenses have pretty smooth blur circles - 'neutral' - not bright edged over-corrected nor fuzzy edged under-corrected. Some of the older designs have more character (if we agree to call this stuff 'character'). Some have the under-corrected look, some have the over-corrected look.
That ZM 35 shot you posted is a tricky situation. Without seeing how other lenses compare in that same situation, it's hard to say that it's unique to the lens (not that you don't have other examples of it that you don't like). When I had that lens for about a year, I thought it had pretty nice bokeh. But not like the 100 ZE or 21 ZE pictures you posted (which I personally find a bit busy, but to each his own)....Show more →
I like my bokeh lively but not harsh. The 100 MP does that best. In the wider angle department my favorite is the Zeiss 35/1.4. I would easily pay a Noctilux price for an identical lens for the M9. That would really be a dream come true for me as it is one of my all time favorite lenses plus I love it as a walkaround lens on the 5DII.
There is one of my lenses that I have not mentioned and it's the 25/2.8 Biogon. To be honest, I have used it very little at MFD. Here are two examples shot at f/2.8 (the exif aperture is incorrect as the M9 can't estimate it when using long exposures)
I am however more prone to use the lens at f/4-f/8 as the contrast is a bit low at f/2.8.
Joe, really nice shots! #1 is very good, but I really like #2 the full frame, excellent shot The second shot with less contrast looks a lot better IMO.
Luka, I love the rendering and bokeh, of the Rokkor 58 and Z* 35/1.4. The ZE 21 and 35 are not my favourites, and I know with a lot of the previous travel shots from Thailand, this was commented on a number of times how some people did not like the bokeh. I do like the bokeh from the ZE 50/1.4 and 85/1.4 too. Your shots with the ZE 100 and 50MP are excellent examples of how to make it work for these lenses. But from your shots, my favourite is the Rokkor 58. IMO, I find it similar to the 50 Summilux Asph, except the 50 Lux has bit more bite.
Carsten, excellent info and link You are preaching to the converted It is hard to describe the 50 Lux Asph, until it is in your hands, and you seriously test it out for yourself. A lot of shots posted, don't do justice to the lens with web presentations.
Joakim, nice shot!
Luka, excellent shot of the ducks!!! Beautiful rendering. I really like ths shots with ZM 25
Although I don't use the 21 Distagon a lot for closeups it's, shall we say "extreme" bokeh up close is more related to it being an UWA than the rendering of blur and highlights. When the background is at a larger distance it has a surprisingly even rendering.
Still, I mostly use it for massive DOF landscape shots. The ZE 35 bokeh close up is the only ZE bokeh that I'm not too fond of. Too even and neutral. I do really like it at medium distances though.
As for the Rokkor vs Summilux ASPH.. well, the 75 Cron is supposed to be similar to the 50 lux and one of the early names I gave the 75 Cron was the "anti-Rokkor" So I don't think I agree with you there. IMO the Rokkor is (at least at f/1.2) the lens equivalent of a mad ax murderer
carstenw wrote:
On DSLRs, the 50MP is meant to be very good, but like almost all the ZF/ZE lenses, it has visible CA. A pity.
You mean LoCA? Not the 50 MP - although not an apochromatic design, I'd say it's about even with the 75 Cron - the latter being perhaps a bit better. Still it's not a common occurrence with the 50 MP. The 100 MP on the other hand suffers easily from LoCA and one has to be careful. The 50 MP suffers mostly from being a 50 mm lens and as such inferior to its 100 MP cousin when it comes to bokeh and subject isolation.
As for regular (lateral) CA, only the 35/2 sufferers from it in the ZF/ZE line, the others are virtually free of it as one would expect from any modern high quality lens design.
Luka, very nice duck shot with the 75Cron. Quack quack! That first shot with the 58/1.2 Rokkor is also very nice, the foreground subject framing is perfectly balanced. Like it!
Luka, why not see if you can convert the Z 35/1.4 or 58/1.2 to M mount?
Luka that last shot looks over sharpened based on halos....is that you or the lens. You usually nail sharpening, so it makes me wonder, but otoh....it seems like post as I've seen.
M9 and 50/1.5 Summarit (black levels brought up a bit, as the lens produces very hazy images) I like this lens, a cheap, solid lens that gives some more "characterful" photos
For those here who said they wanted to take a look at some NEX 5 pics, I have posted them here. They are still very preliminary, though, when it comes to PP/resizing/sharpening, and the lens is still the kit zoom. Serious glass to come next week.
Thanks Joe. I have already looked at RRS and their products look great and since I'm already a RRS user I know that they deliver high quality stuff. I hesitate to buy one of their plates because I already bought a Leica hand grip and this would give me a third bottom plate. So I was thinking more in the line of a plate that I could attach when I needed it. Decisions, decisions,...
I feel like a lot of the newer Leica lenses have pretty smooth blur circles - 'neutral' - not bright edged over-corrected nor fuzzy edged under-corrected. Some of the older designs have more character (if we agree to call this stuff 'character'). Some have the under-corrected look, some have the over-corrected look.
