Ok that was a joke. Great shots, rsolti13. Your amazing skill really brings the life out of that 50 Lux!
rsolti13 wrote:
Luka, Charles very nice. Luka, really like the 'Ron' shot
Charles - great mood
Luka I would agree for the most part with your Leica vs. Zeiss except the Zeiss seem to be a little 'harsher' when used on people. The portraits that Charles has shown and what I have taken with the Cron seem to have a totally different feel than what I have done in the past with ZM or ZF lenses. Maybe it is just those lenses....but that is where I see the difference. But I agree for the most part that every lens design displays its own unique character and it is hard to say all Leica look the same and all Zeiss look the same.
denoir wrote:
I'm pretty much convinced by now that there is no such thing as "Leica rendering". The variation per lens seems to be much greater than any common style for the brand. Even different versions of the same lens show really great differences (like 50 ASPH and pre-ASPH). There seems to be a vague link between the color rendering of the various Leica lenses but not much beyond that.
There are definitely family traits among Leica lenses, but you have to group them by era, which isn't always simple. The 35 Lux ASPH is a crossover lens, and has some traits from both the pre-ASPH and ASPH eras. The 21 Elmarit ASPH might also fit in this crossover group. The modern lineup has many similarities, but they are not identically matched in look. The 75 Cron is very competent, but on the sterile side. The 50 Lux ASPH, 28 Cron ASPH and a couple of others have more character. The 24 Elmarit is razor sharp but with a great look (I haven't tried this on the M9).
The previous generation includes the 50 Lux pre-ASPH, 35 Cron IV, 90 Cron, 75 Lux, original Noctilux, and a number of other lenses.
The generation before that includes the original 50 Lux, 1st and 2nd versions, and so on.
I have been lurking in this forum, and specifically this thread for a couple of months now. I have been in awe looking at everyone's photos, and was also curious about this "Leica M" experience when taking photos.
But a few weeks ago, I found myself buying my own M9 kit. I also bought the following lenses: ZM 21 2.8, ZM 35 2.0, and Sonnar 50 1.5. So, basically, you are guys are to blame if my future kids (if I ever have any) complain that they don't have braces money.
Here are some shots from my vacation down in South America. I got my gear just a week before the flight, so I am still trying to learn how to use the thing. As well as learning how to do things manually. But still, I'd love to get some constructive critiques.
I couldn't find any ducks... Would balls be a sufficient temporary proxy?
Flowers in Colonia, Uruguay
Bench shot. I believe this is another custom around here.
All of these were shot with the M9 and ZM35 2.0. I coded it as a Chron 35. I loaded them in Aperture, and I am not familiar with it, so the exported photos came out kind of small. I have Lightroom, but I don't want to import the original DNG's until I can correct the lens types in EXIF from Leica lenses (I coded my lenses to the nearest Leica equivalents) to Zeiss lenses. How do I go about correcting them in batch (I took around 1500 photos)? I know it's kind of petty, but my OCD will just bug me if I don't change the EXIF... Thanks!
I've been enjoying all your shots here -really beautifl all around- and thought I would share a few images. Now that I have a Leica, I'm not sure what took me so long to own one. Maybe waiting for full frame. Granted it's expensive and relatively a bit of a one trick pony, but I still don't fully understand why more pros aren't using them.
The first three photos are with the M9/24 Elmarit, and the closer car shot is with the 18 (which is replacing the 24 for me)
Congratulations Nomadic and Silken !!! Really nice shots guys
Nomadic, post processing IMO is the important aspect of getting the most from the M9 DNG files. There has been a lot written recently, on all forums and would pay to get some different perspectives on what best suits yourself. I have no experience with aperture, so I cannot comment here. I have mentioned that I really like C1 Pro 6.1.1 for the RAW conversion, output to CS5. This works well for now, but as Adobe evolves this may change within the next few months.
NomadicTy wrote:
I have Lightroom, but I don't want to import the original DNG's until I can correct the lens types in EXIF from Leica lenses (I coded my lenses to the nearest Leica equivalents) to Zeiss lenses. How do I go about correcting them in batch (I took around 1500 photos)? I know it's kind of petty, but my OCD will just bug me if I don't change the EXIF... Thanks!
Do you want to do that on a Mac or PC? I can help you with this for sure.
Nice shots, Cory! I guess we both need to learn how to post bigger pics.
Thanks, Charles!
Yes, I have read about your transition into C1, and have seen noticeable differences and improvement on how your photos look. But I have just moved away from Aperture to LR3, and I still have to do a lot of learning with either software. And with work, as well as other hobbies, I barely have any time to PP my photos. Though I have to say that after getting the M9, I enjoy taking photos so much more now, that I am thinking about dropping one of the other hobbies.
I think I'd wait out the evolution of the Adobe and Leica partnership for a bit, and see what kind of improvements Adobe can come up with. I do save my original DNG's before importing them into any software, so if I decide to ditch LR3 as well, I will have the untouched files.
Heinz - I would love to be able to do it on a Mac!
Thanks! Those car shots of course had a bit of vignette and rough dodging and burning added in post. I like the shot of the flowering tree against the wall. It's great to read the comments about the 75 and see the pics. I've got a friend who loves it, but I personally find the length neither here nor there for my shooting style (on a regular SLR, I don't have one for the M).
If you like the car, here are a few with a 50 LUX (v2) that I borrowed to test. I should add that they're all processed in Lightroom. I'll have to read up more on processing with C1, which I remember was far superior back in the days of processing 1Ds files. However, I don't like the idea of adding yet another step to the workflow.
Ty- I sell pictures for a living, so small ones on the internet are better for my peace of mind, er, business!
and one with the 50 cron which blows away the sharpness of that lux until f/2.8 or 4:
Then open the Apple-Script editor which is already installed on your Mac.
Copy and paste the following script to the editor, make the changes for your lens and then save as > give a name so that it reminds you which lens > and make sure that the file format in the dialog is "Program".
You can now just drag and drop the image files onto the icon of the script and the EXIF data is changed.
I will write a more extensive tutorial for Windows and Mac in the next days.
Heinz
on open these_items
repeat with i from 1 to the count of these_items
set this_item to (item i of these_items)
set the item_info to info for this_item
if folder of the item_info is true then
process_folder(this_item)
else
process_item(this_item)
end if
end repeat
end open
on process_folder(this_folder)
set these_items to list folder this_folder without invisibles
repeat with i from 1 to the count of these_items
set this_item to alias ((this_folder as text) & (item i of these_items))
set the item_info to info for this_item
if folder of the item_info is true then
process_folder(this_item)
else
process_item(this_item)
end if
end repeat
end process_folder
on process_item(this_item)
try
do shell script "exiftool -m -FocalLength='85' -FNumber='1.4' -ApertureValue='1.4' -Exif:LensModel='Samyang 85mm Aspherical II f/1.4' -XMP:LensModel='Samyang 85mm Aspherical II f/1.4'-MakerNotes:LensModel='Samyang 85mm Aspherical II f/1.4' -LensInfo='85mm f/1.4' -LensID='0' " & " " & quoted form of POSIX path of this_item
on error
set LogDatei to quoted form of POSIX path of (path to desktop as text) & "ExifError.log"
do shell script "echo " & quoted form of (this_item as text) & " >> " & LogDatei
just in case someone wants to revel in my good fortune with me , I found a immaculate looking 90 cron Version 3, non ASPH. Some of us can't afford all ASPH/APO lenses, cough!
It's my second M lens! yeah!
It will ship this week. I paid a little more than wanted, but with Leica filter, box, and all, maybe worth it.
Thanks guys. I got my heart set on a 50 lux ASPH in the middle I think. But that's a ways off, I got to stick to plan, as is, this busted plan a bit. But it will be ok, I just came across it and it was to nice to let it go. Smart move to pick it up I think. I found it on ebay, seems to be reliable seller too, so I feel good about it. Since someone posted a brick walk earlier, I got one of those, 35 CRON ASPH M9
Congratulations, Doug! That'll make a really nice 2-lens kit with your 35. This lens has a really good reputation, so maybe you won't want to give it up later, even if the APO comes within your reach.
Thanks much, well, a good buy in a lens is a good buy. We'll see what the images do, if they meet my approval, this may well take care of this focal length from now on. My goal is a 3-4 lens kit for M9, that works for me, so in time, hopefully get there... thanx.
