Thanks Carsten Yes the 75 Lux is another one of the special Leica lenses. Fortunately the copy (German later version) I have focuses very accurately and is very easy to use, more so than the 90 Elmarit. Suprisingly it is not as large as I thought either.
The 75 Lux and 80 Lux are based on the same design, and render very similarly. IIRC the 75 Lux is slightly sharper and has a bit less of that veil/glow that I like so much in the 80 Lux, so in fact, I was slightly disappointed with the 75 Lux when I moved from 5D+80 Lux to M8+75 Lux, because it was too good! It is still a fantastic lens though, and one of Dr. Mandler's most famous designs, along with the Noctilux 50/1.
denoir wrote:
Having good performance at f/8 is not that much of an accomplishment.
Oh, oh, oh, I recall a recent conversation here. I claimed that Canon didn't fail this test, whereas you claimed they did i know, I know, I am paraphrasing, and you are about to tell me the differences between my summary and what you actually said, but you know. Eh.
If anyone wants to see some fantastic Leica M8/M9 images without the gear commentary feel free to step over to the GetDPI image thread, it is very active and very positive
Charles, ouch!! razor thin sharpness magic from the 75Lux! Lovely shots and congrats on your new lens. The rendering is interesting and quite magical
All, just to clarify, I asked about the sharpness of the Zeiss SLR lenses wide open compared to ZMs expecting a one or two liner only response. It was not meant to start another debate. I'm not really familiar with Zeiss glass ...my current interest of these lenses at the moment is possibly the 50/1.5 Sonnar and maybe the ZM 25/2.8. Nevertheless interesting reading and lets keep us on track with more pics and less discussions and less charts. Sorry if I sidetracked some of you.
All, with due respect, could we try to keep this to more pics and less discussions. Heated discussions will not help us and may be better addressed thru PM or over some beer or wine. We had a good picture thread going on here and lets try to keep it that way if we can. Maybe its best to stay with pics and move discussions over to another Leica M gear thread.
Joe, you are partially right. I definitely agree with you that personal pissing contests should preferably be kept out of the thread. I'm one of the guilty parties, and I'll try to behave in the future
Legitimate discussions about the gear are good and informative and if you look back to when this was up for discussion last time you'll see that quite a few people were interested in having technical comments with the pictures. I don't think it would work to split it off to a separate thread.
Anyway, pro forma, a couple of pictures.
Nice shot with the 35 Cron by the way. Have you added fill light or added clarity to the shot? It almost looks like HDR. Or is it the natural rendering of the lens?
You guys realize that those MTF diagrams are for only 1 distance, probably somewhere near 'infinity'. I'd not be surprised if the ZMs did worse at minimum focus distance than the ZEs do; as far as I remember, many of the ZE designs have floating elements which can help close in, while almost all of the ZMs do not (the 85 being the exception).
Personally I DO think the ZMs are better. While some of the ZEs might be sharper at maximum aperture, for the most part, even looking at the MTFs, its only by a hair (with the exception of the 35s). And while I have some pretty expensive lenses that I shoot wide open quite a bit, I often stop down a couple stops if needed. Probably 50% of the time. So performance at f/4 or f/5.6 is important as well TO ME. Throw in the better distortion control (ZMs), radically reduced sizes (ZM), and the fact that are meant to be used on a camera designed for manual focusing, I'll take the ZMs any day. Bokeh is subjective. I will say I like the ZM bokeh more for the most part because it's more neutral and smooth, but that really is a subjective matter.
However, if bokeh enters the picture, one needs the upmost in sharpness/contrast, and size and distortion control don't matter, I could see where the ZEs are more appealing. Especially if you shoot close in quite a bit.
Lastly, I don't want to get personal with any of you, but calling owners of any one brand (Leica or Zeiss) "very sensitive to criticism of [their] gear" doesn't accomplish much. I've seen plenty on all sides get irrational about their choice of gear, Canon, Zeiss, Leica, and Nikon. I've not really seen any of that going on here to be honest.
Back to lenses. Denoir, I seem to recall that 35 is a favorite of yours. Supposedly the new Leica 35 ASPH has busier bokeh than the recently replaced 35 ASPH. While some Leica shooters are annoyed by this, you might like it. I've only seen one or two examples of this, but the pictures did back up that statement in that scenario. Something to consider.
You might also look into the 75 Summilux if you want a bit more going on in the background. Might be too big for you though. And you'd have to buy used.
Thanks Charles Yes, I quite like this lens, its over 40 years old, not the sharpest 50Cron but renders like a Leica (to me). Not the first time I coded wrongly, but its not bad at all, except that it does not correct vignetting much and its quite apparent with white walls.
Thanks Luka and nice shots from this page
Actually, around Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur. The older buildings does make it like Malacca. Have you traveled up to take some pics lately?
Joe
Not to recently, early last year I was in both places. And yes from the angles you shot the buildings on it really reminded me of Malacca. The color really reminds me of the material the old buildings were made from, that and the architecture style. Plus in the one shot, it looks like a touristy store, something you'd find in Malacca!
Thanks Luka and nice shots! Love the neutral rendering of the 75Cron. #1 & #3 are my fav from this set
I agree Luka, I actually like most of the discussions here because this thread is quite unique, with a combination of pictures and relevant Leica discussions, even more surprising that this is happening in FM. My wish is that all of us should try to remain civil and avoid personal attacks, which detracts from the beautiful pictures shown here. Lets try to stay positive and see how it goes.. it will be a pity otherwise.
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I kind of expected someone to mention HDR at some point.. I'm finding that the M9 dng files are very rich in color. Coupled with the excellent shadow detail, its quite fun to play around with pp in LR3. I'm getting some HDR like look with a single exposure by adding fill, blacks, contrast, clarity and desaturation. The recovery tool is the finishing touch... or maybe it partly some magic of the 35CronIV.. I don't know ... not an expert ... just having fun taking pictures!
Here's another with M9 35CronIV, almost at the same spot where I took the earlier picture. This was midday sun, if you look at the shadows.
Yes the 75 Lux is another one of the special Leica lenses. Fortunately the copy (German later version) I have focuses very accurately and is very easy to use, more so than the 90 Elmarit. Suprisingly it is not as large as I thought either.
I was looking for a replacement for the Canon's 85L II.
i know, I know, I am paraphrasing, and you are about to tell me the differences between my summary and what you actually said, but you know. Eh.
