Sterile aside, i think the 90AA is a pretty nice lens to look at. A lens that looks good makes you want to use it. When you're out with it and not using it, you can look at it, and that gives you happy tingles. That said most leica lenses are good looking. Okay I shall stop now...
Last few from that aforementioned good looking lens
I received the lens quite late today... feel sorry for the overworked UPS driver. But didn't give me a lot of time to go out and shoot something before it got dark. I pretty much concentrated on wide open performance/rendering.
Initial impression is it's pretty decent, but no Otus, or ZM, haha. I do like the rendering at near distances. OOF specular light sources seem to have a pretty even blur disk. I primarily bought it for shooting events/weddings, so in other words, people photos. That said, I'd also like to use it as an all around lens.
My 35mm M mount experience is primarily with the ZM 35/2.8 and CV 35/1.2 II. The 35/1.7 definitely renders faithful to the Voigtlander family - moderate contrast and saturation. Not a huge amount of bite. Wide open across-frame performance is pretty decent, but not perfect. My copy seems to be a bit soft on the right side compared to left. Not enough light this evening to really compare stopped down results to see how this changes. There is some SA wide open, enough to take some edge off. Seems a bit more noticeable at near distances, but again, not so bad. I haven't really noticed any regular CA, yet. There's definitely LOCA, which can be obvious in certain situations (bare branches against a bright sky) but overall, in most normal situations, LOCA isn't too bad and I haven't yet noticed any really bad purple fringing (though branches against the sky will probably be problematic). Distortion seems pretty low. So far I've only used it uncoded on the M240 and there might be a slight amount of magenta color shift along the right edge. No idea how it will be on Sony.
I bought the black version. In-hand it feels pretty light and build quality is decent, though not quite as nice as Leica. Biggest beef at the moment is that the focus feel is a bit gritty and uneven. I'm hoping this smooths out over time. I also don't like the supplied hood. The lens is already a bit long and cuts into the corner of the M OVF. The supplied hood isn't vented and only makes this worse. I guess it's no big deal for use on other mirrorless cameras.
Anyway, some quick photos. These are pretty much straight from the camera, DNGs converted with default LR settings and only tweaked to pull back highlights in a few cases. No additional clarity...
All are wide open unless stated otherwise.
Minimum focusing distance (EVF live view focused):
No onion rings, yet, yay!
Minimum RF coupled distance (70cm):
And a bit farther away:
Far distances:
Last one at f/5.6.
Distortion seems minimal:
Right side is a bit soft compared to right, in this one...
aFrIcanSH wrote:
Sterile aside, i think the 90AA is a pretty nice lens to look at
I'm not sure I've fallen for the 90AA as an object, a bit too much taper, she's a broad shouldered beauty maybe
I love it to use though, I think it's amazing. You don't get APO lenses for their charm I guess. I tend to use mine as a landscape lens that people sometimes get in the way of, rather than a portrait lens.
I hope it's adequate excuse for a couple of older shots with it on a7r
on reflection, too sacrilegious, duly removed
On the Sony you must focus infinty, and if you have AF glass...well cross your fingers. Give me headache thinking about it At about this range the true contrast starts to show:
The Konica Hexanon 50/1.9 certainly has some really ugly bokeh in certain situations, leaves on a distant tree is a good example of that, but it looks like it also can be interesting sometimes and I like it in the last photo for example. More shooting and trying is certainly needed, thanks for the feedback.
Gary, thanks for the recommendation.
Charlie, excellent info on the Nikkor 50 variants. Not sure which one to go for yet.
Yes, for paid work - because I am lazy. It mostly involves kids and getting accurate manual focus is hard.
A few from yesterday at guitar/drum lessons for the kiddos. Here's what you'll see in the waiting room here in my small town - yes that is my bestie and her kids. We are certainly not your normal mamas.
Leica M-E and ZM 35/2 (my daily setup that will now be with me daily, as I just got my gorgeous new Ona Capri bag).
Hmm.. I've always found the 50L a bit on the slow side, even mounted to a 1 series camera. But I totally understand what you mean. Sometimes MF can be a pain.
BTW, I like the leather on the Ona Capri bag. What color did you get? The canvas is significantly lighter in weight, which can be a plus. I like the design of the bag though. Not camera bag styled at all.
50L surely isn't fast, but it's easier than doing a one hour sesh with running kids trying to manually focus.
I got the black leather Capri... Almost got the brown, but thought the black matched more of my boots than the brown did. I'm so tired of being hot, I can't wait to wear long pants and boots again with a cute sweater.
KatieInTexas wrote:
50L surely isn't fast, but it's easier than doing a one hour sesh with running kids trying to manually focus.
I got the black leather Capri... Almost got the brown, but thought the black matched more of my boots than the brown did. I'm so tired of being hot, I can't wait to wear long pants and boots again with a cute sweater.
I'm in Singapore. It's 24/7 hot and humid. Today I decided to wear a sweater because I was sick of wearing t-shirts. Bad idea and I was in an air conditioned mall.
I guess I shouldn't complain about getting very warm when walking home from work today when we have Texas and Singapore on the line From that walk with the Konica Hexagon 50/1.9 on the M Monochrom
joakim i prefer this set to the other. Maybe because the monochrome takes away a little of the distracting aspect of the bokeh, or maybe because the backgrounds work better. Really like the first shot.
Btw Ron, thanks for posting the 35 1.7 cv test shots. I supposed I've to wait for more samples around to make better judgement but for a 35mm the 35 1.4 zm seems more appealing to my tastes at this point.
Attended my first political rally (held by the (very) dominant party here in Singapore).
The opposition party rallies apparently have a much higher turnout and are a little bit feistier.
. This distant shots are a joy M9 v A7. You just hit the infinty stop, get some speed, hold it steady, and "pow":
