Edward, Joakim thanks for your welcome.
My seller lent that Leica M to me for a few days. I guess he hopes I will buy it but I'm not good enough as a photographer to spend that much on a camera.....
Joakim - interesting to bring up the C/Y 85/2.8... I've contemplated it too, and saw a bunch of them while in Japan, but all around $500. While I like the 90AA, when I look at my typical 90mm usage it's often outdoors in decent light, usually stopped down a ways. Maybe I shouldn't have sold Gary my Summarit. Truthfully, I'd really like to go for the 90/4 Macro, but even used, the prices feel too high for an f/4 lens. However, the size would be great!
Michael, thanks for the kind words!
Charlie, I've shot a bit now with the CV15 vIII, though haven't posted much. Here is my impression: relative to vII of the lens, it seems equally sharp, with similar contrast and color. Sharpness falls off in the outer zone to 'OK' rather than excellent like in the central 2/3rds. It requires more experimentation, but I wonder if edge sharpness can be improved by intentionally misfocusing the center - perhaps there is some field curvature, but difficult to tell with the deep depth of field. There is CA, but it cleans up. Much better distortion correction and of course, no color shift, even if uncoded on the M240 (haven't yet tried the M9). Coding with the usual 11134 21/2.8 non-ASPH setting used for so many other UWAs results in edges with cyan shift.
Here are some plant details from my greenhouse visit a few days ago:
Lieutenant Z wrote:
Edward, Joakim thanks for your welcome.
My seller lent that Leica M to me for a few days. I guess he hopes I will buy it but I'm not good enough as a photographer to spend that much on a camera.....
You're an excellent photographer, Philippe, but too humble to admit it
Be careful, the longer you keep the M, the more difficult it will be to return it. These things are very addictive
I've been way too busy recently to even check in to look. Hopefully I'll get more time this week, some fab photos have been posted, love your ferns Ron.
Decided to pick up a SF58 flash to use with my M240 for fill flash outdoors. Here is its first outing with a 35mm Summulux ASPH (non-FLE). Only complaint about the SF58 is the size.
@ Edward nice work with Sonnar!!
@ Philippe, the M is something which will help your shooting, however good you already are....or like me ...are not!!!
@Vincet, those are sweet!!
@Ron, very nice work in the greenhouse and excellent report on the CVv3 15. From your report, it sounds like the new lens may not be any sharper than the old one on the thin sensor stacks? I had thought it was bigger AND better , of course for colorshift and the A7 stock cameras, I'm sure it is better. However the ZM18 does seem a solid cut above?
@Adam re Sonnetar I find the lens excellent for high speed stealth work with of course a distinct sig. Edges? Forget it You will never find them at any aperture. Just like the 1937 CZJ 50/1.5 !! But, besides the increased speed over the original, the maker has carefully selected his glass from latest options and you get colors which are very rich. The aperture is german made, always round no matter what. Here you can get a good idea of performance down around 5.6:
Basically centers are excellent, edges terrible, but overall look I really like. Now maybe if you are really good, you learn the curve and have your edge subjects closer and they really are in focus
As we all know, edges are important for best technical landscapes and architecture; but that leaves many other shots where edges are moot. So the Sonnetar is quirky, but truly outstanding in it's own way; and it will slip into any little nook you have free, being considerably smaller and lighter than even the 50 APO or 50 cron v5.
and it's a very nice toy for A7 also: Sonne by unoh7, on Flickr
uhoh7 wrote:
@ Edward nice work with Sonnar!!
@ Philippe, the M is something which will help your shooting, however good you already are....or like me ...are not!!!
@Vincet, those are sweet!!
@Ron, very nice work in the greenhouse and excellent report on the CVv3 15. From your report, it sounds like the new lens may not be any sharper than the old one on the thin sensor stacks? I had thought it was bigger AND better , of course for colorshift and the A7 stock cameras, I'm sure it is better. However the ZM18 does seem a solid cut above?
@Adam re Sonnetar I find the lens excellent for high speed stealth work with of course a distinct sig. Edges? Forget it You will never find them at any aperture. Just like the 1937 CZJ 50/1.5 !! But, besides the increased speed over the original, the maker has carefully selected his glass from latest options and you get colors which are very rich. The aperture is german made, always round no matter what. Here you can get a good idea of performance down around 5.6:
Basically centers are excellent, edges terrible, but overall look I really like. Now maybe if you are really good, you learn the curve and have your edge subjects closer and they really are in focus
As we all know, edges are important for best technical landscapes and architecture; but that leaves many other shots where edges are moot. So the Sonnetar is quirky, but truly outstanding in it's own way; and it will slip into any little nook you have free, being considerably smaller and lighter than even the 50 APO or 50 cron v5.
My first attempt with a "new to me" 90AA on a M9. Still learning how to focus it accurately. The first photo is slightly off focus. Thanks to Ron (rscheffler) for his guidance and advice.
There is a weekend biker hangout on Black Creek here in Walton County, and I drove (no bike) up there this afternoon with an M246 and APO Cron 50 knowing that there would be plenty of subject matter to shoot. In that regard I was not disappointed, but I must remember to check the aperture ring after each shot; several shots meant to be shot wide open were accidentally stopped down quite a bit, because I oftentimes moved the aperture when focusing. Am I the only one having this issue with the small Leica lenses?
recordproducti - I see you kept the 50 Lux ASPH - how's it working for you?
Vince - cute shots of the kids. I agree that flash options for Leica M are very limited. The 58 is huge. I haven't tried it, but I use my Canon 600EX-RT on the M from time to time (in manual or auto thyristor modes), but it's the same problem of being very large. I think the Nissin i40 has been recommended, though no TTL...
Edward - Sonnar smooth!
Werner - that building is certainly providing a lot of photo options - very interesting.
René - really like the second one.
Charlie - the Sonnetar color is definitely nice and rich. I like what you're doing with it. Most of what I've seen from the lens on Flickr, etc., has been shots done strictly for 'bokeh' effects. Nice to see some 'real world' use.
Joakim - yes, very nice pop in that image! Hmm... will have to keep that lens in mind.
Robert - did you use any filters (red, orange, etc.)? TBH, for these kinds of scenes, I'd probably shoot stills with the 246, process to taste in LR, etc., and import the full rez images into the video editor and do pans across the stills. But that's just me and of course your intention was to test the video.
Cuong - these look great! The first one is definitely close enough. The second is very sharp. Great work nailing focus! Glad I could help!
Robert - great characters! I haven't tried the 50AA, but it has a tab and I've found that any Leica lens with a focusing tab has not been a problem for me to keep the two rings separate. Where I've had more trouble is with the 21 Lux. It doesn't have a focusing tab and the two rings are extremely close together and feel pretty much identical. It was a big hassle especially with gloves until I put the 'steer' accessory from Leica Goodies on the focusing ring. But it won't work with a tabbed lens.
Philippe - Lt. Z - even if it's just a loaner, hope to see more of your images here. Great to see you in this thread!
Sunrise sequence from the LAX-YYZ redeye last week...
The first couple are the east shore of Lake Michigan by Silver Lake State Park. The fourth is while passing Bay City, MI, not that you can see much of the ground.
...are not!!!
