One silly question ryan - when does the focus shift give you problems in real life pics? group shots when you use higher f stops or in your case is it a shift at the wide open end?
I can't tell you the exact distance where it becomes negligible but at closer distances where you focus wide open the focus point will gradually shift as you stop the lens down. So, looking at a test chart you will focus lets say 4 ft away and from a range of 1 - 20 you focus on the 10 wide open. Stop it down to f/2 and 10 is slightly out of focus and now 11 is perfectly focused. Stop it down to f/2.8 and the focus point has shifted to 11.5 but from 11 - 12 is now in focus because of the increased DOF. Stop it down to f/4 and 12 is perfectly focused but now 10.5 - 13 is in focus b/c of the DOF...and so on. At about f/5.6-f/8 your original focus point will now be in focus b/c of the increased DOF.
Because as you move the focus point further out the DOF is increased this is only a real problem when shooting at close distances. Shooting f/1.4 at infinity and stopping down you won't see the effects of focus shift.
***Anyone that has something to add/correct, please chime in***
That being said, some samples shift greater than others. I did a focus test and mine barely moves at all. Its there, but barely. Luka also says his shift is not enough to worry about. I have heard others say though that it was so bad the lens was unusable. Best thing to do if you are looking to purchase is test it.
To answer your question...it will depend on your copy. For group shots say 10-15 ft away you probably wouldn't ever see an impact with a copy that shifts minimally such as mine. Close up, you will need to adjust slightly. If you use it enough you will find out where its optimal sharpness is. For instance, just like you do with the 50 Lux, focus on the nose instead of the eyes at say 5 ft if shooting at f/2-f/5.6
As you can see there is focus shift, but it falls within DOF. So there are no problems with it in practice. You have to be lucky there with the 35 Lux ASPH as the Leica tolerances for this are rather liberal. So there are copies out there with far more focus shift than what you see above - and when it falls outside of DOF you can have some issues with nailing focus - especially at shorter distances.
Luka, yours performs actually really well. I tested mine back then and it performed similarly to yours as well. I didn't notice any issues with it in real life shots. Well, Joe is enjoying the lens now and I am sure he will chime in.
Joakim, it's not bad but I think the colors are a bit overcooked. You can apply the curves as an adjustment layer and then pull back on opacity to lessen the effect.
Thanks Luka You have an excellent copy of the 35 Lux I. Great examples, showing the difference in RGB and Lab
Ryan, great shots! Your 35 Lux is magic in its glow like rendering. From what I have read on forums, the 35 Lux I is lens to get if there are no focus issues. Love the first two shots!
Joakim, nice but I agree with Luka, the colours look a bit over cooked. The level and curve adjustment are so sensitive, that just increase of +/- 1 in the levels will change the hue significantly, from crimson to turquoise in the "a" channel, and from burnt gold to cobalt in "b". A neat adjustment is the contrast/brightness adjustment, simple but it works well now, as it only works on the L channel. My understanding in the past was to avoid this adjustment and work with curves instead, but recent changes in PS, have improved this adjustment so it only works on the L channel now.
Tx for the info Ryan and Luka! I think i finally understand focus shift now! Wow, makes buying the older 35 lux a little risky. I do prefer it's bokeh to the new floating element one (by just a tad). I'll keep on looking then.
Any thoughts on the 35 Cron (current generation)? "Bokeh King' is what it's called right?
singletrack wrote:
Tx Phil. Nice work too on your Noct! Is this the less $$$ one right? ARGH, I hate it when the lens lust takes hold, i thought i was cured.
Cheers
kl
Thanks Kl
Yes its the less $$ one . I thought about selling it, and after a few minutes I changed my mind
finally managed to get capture one pro 6 demo to work - i think initial impressions are that skin tones are much easier to get right than with LR. I must confess to being a total newbie in CS1 and for LR3, i am also fairly new to it.
Only managed to upload one rather dark shot using CS1
Will try to upload a comparison of skin tones of LR3 and CS1. The thing is.. it's really hard to achieve the same output (in order to compare) since there's enough of a difference in the way the 2 apps approach post processing (from my noob perspective).
Thank you for the tips, I did try the contrast/brightness adjustment a few days back with good result and I will certainly try to use it more since I often find it hard to get a good contracts using curves without making the image to dark. Opacity is an excellent tool that I often forget to use so thanks for the reminder. I am going to sign up for kelby training and take some classes soon and spend more time processing images and less time posting images
Phil, great portrait! I love this Nocti I cannot afford this lens!!!
KL, very nice shot I do find the C1 Pro colours richer. Yes you improve colours in CS5, but a lot more PP IMO. Maybe the next Adobe updates will include some better default profiles for the M9!
Phil - awesome portrait with the Noct! Several of your latest portraits with that lens have been awesome!
lovinglife - great portrait! Really looking forward to seeing more from this lens
KL - The latest 35 Cron is the ASPH. Some say it is too clinical. I happened to love it. It was sharp as could be out to the corners and I loved the bokeh. Nice and compact lens. The Cron prior was the version IV which Joe still has. It has a totally different rendering where it isn't as sharp past about the middle of the image and the bokeh looks smoother. It has a little bit of a glow that the Cron ASPH eliminates. I would say the Cron ASPH is for extreme sharpness and the Cron IV is for character.
Congratulations on your 21 Lux 
