I feel it is the standard against which all M-mount 50mm lenses of its ilk are to be judged. It's a surprise we hear so little about it. Now thirteen years old. (thanks for posting)
EMH2025 wrote:
I loved visiting the old fish market in 90s when I worked in Tokyo for the US govt.... I used to take visitors there for the dawn sales and have sashimi for breakfast- those were good times, and few tourists then, it had not really been "discovered" yet= so the stall people were endlessly amused by my interest- and I shot film them- being pre digital .... good times
Never made it to Tokyo, but Hong Kong and Singapore ... the market was always a must stop for me. The live fish and fowl could be seen coming in on the ground floor, fresh in the "concrete river". Carts of fresh fruit ... and the "food court" on the top floor was soooooo good. Best kept secret ... well, it was back then (80's).
One of my friends here in Parma is the latest in a family of famous Luthiers. He has a small workshop near the famous Teatro here. He hand makes each violin out of special woods he sources from the same forests that stradivarius violins were. He says that getting the quality of wood he needs is very difficult and sometimes he must wait years to purchase the woold. He uses Flame Maple, Spruce, and Willow each for a different part of the instrument. Reminds me of sourcing gem rough. He can only make about 8 to 10 instruments a year, and sells to collectors from around the World. I am a great admirer of these kinds of craftsmen.
philip_pj wrote:
'It would probably be the last lens I keep'
I feel it is the standard against which all M-mount 50mm lenses of its ilk are to be judged. It's a surprise we hear so little about it. Now thirteen years old. (thanks for posting)
Probably because many did not spring for the apo, mostly I see posts with 50 cron that is <50% the cost and is still wonderful. I guess because it is (wildly) expensive for a 50/2 and it lacks that "vintage" character as well, but for me I enjoy shooting wide open as recommended, stopping down only for DOF and the detail and resolution is amazing and at F2 it has good subject separation just not noct separation that is an entirely different scale- benchmark they say. It is tiny, E39 and often all I need, but if I want to bracket it in case a 28 and 90 colorskoper keeps it E39 and light carry, or alternately if I really want a 50 less than perfect to get that character a LLL rigid SP2, or elcan can do the trick, or the LLL 35 mm F2 and all stays E39. Add in a couple E39 NDs and a CP and I have for me a great tiny kit- unless I decide to take both a M11 and a film camera then it doubles the camera weight- but still swaps the same lenses. But much of the time I am happy just leaving the apo on the camera if I am doing one lens that as the reason I got the lens.
1bwana1 wrote:
My little D-Lux 8 is perfect for a walk around town to see the lights...
This is a nice camera. I have the older and cheaper version, a LX-100 II.
And I cannot help but notice on your pictures the same problem: images tend to be flat and limited DR is obvious in the faces, in the sky...
Those are still good pictures but even in this size and in my browser, the difference with the ones you shoot with a SL3 or a M is obvious.
pmeheut wrote:
This is a nice camera. I have the older and cheaper version, a LX-100 II.
And I cannot help but notice on your pictures the same problem: images tend to be flat and limited DR is obvious in the faces, in the sky...
Those are still good pictures but even in this size and in my browser, the difference with the ones you shoot with a SL3 or a M is obvious.
I agree that images from the D-Lux 8 are not even close the the same IQ as what I get from my SL3/APO-SL or M11/Summilux kits. But that is expected due to the small sensor, zoom lens, and the minimal processing effort I generally invest in these images. When I am choosing to shoot with the D-Lux 8 it is a time when I would not have a camera at all due to convenience issues.
This doesn't mean that I never get great images from the D-Lux 8. I have images that have been selected for publication that I shot with it.
These two images in particular suffer from many of the limitations of the D-Lux 8 lens and sensor. They were shot in very low light so high ISO and still undrexposed in the shadows to preserve the highlights. So some areas (notably the people) in shadow were brought up significantly. Because of noise from this and high ISO Lightroom noise reduction was applied which does tend to flatten the DR.
Is sum, I agree with your assessment. These were not great conditions for a limited camera like the D-Lux 8. Still, better than a phone image, and enjoy sharing life in my new home city with family and friends. For that, the little D-Lux 8 is perfect.
Random snaps while pedaling my jalopy one speed beach cruiser around the island with M11P and 35 APO slung over my shoulder. Not that I was bothered by magenta cast before, but with the latest firmware update allowing for white balance adjustment I've been more than happy with M11P colors.
Flying through Seattle at breaking dawn, timed so the plan was to be on left side window and capture Rainer in whatever nature presented for conditions. Today cloudy and diffuse light. Leica M11P and 50 mm apo summicron known as a benchmark perfect lens through a far less than optically perfect airplane window.
