Najibs, nice set! All the Leica lenses are so different in their character. The 50 Cron is a great lens.
Malkovic, Barcelona...wow! Have fun What a great setup, the M2 and plenty of film
Ryan, Very nice set! The 90 Summarit is one nice lens! Love your last shot, the gentle tones and simple composition
Yes Jerry, I did. What I really didn't like with the 90 Macro was the ergonomics of it. Actually, I hated it. In the bag the lens opens/collapses/opens/collapses and then when you take it out you have to be so delicate with it. Always having to reverse the hood is also a pain. Sharpness and bokeh were excellent, but the speed of the Summarit wins out for me . I want 90 to be mainly for portraits and f/2.4 fits my needs better than f/4. I like the 11 bladed diaphragm in the Summarit as well . Makes for a very smooth image. The Elmarit-M, Macro and Summarit are all great in their own ways with very little to complain about. Great options available at this length. Obviously the king is the Cron...haven't tried that one....yet
Thanks Charles. I have read on Leica forum, that some Elmarits are opening, some not... Eh... Strange...
I was thinking of Macro version as very light (travel), ultra sharp (Luka, wouldn't you prefer it for travel and shots at f/5.6-f/8?) and... portraits - but - very close ones, probably using 70-100cm distance. Then - probably you can survive with f/4. But maybe I am wrong, I need to close down my Summarit and check. But what I won't be able to check - is getting closer than 1m...
Summicron seams to be huge and heavy... I need to see black one day.
PS: When I think of portraits containing more than just head, or maximum head and shoulders - then I would rather use 50mm.
Jerry_R wrote:
Thanks Charles. I have read on Leica forum, that some Elmarits are opening, some not... Eh... Strange...
I was thinking of Macro version as very light (travel), ultra sharp (Luka, wouldn't you prefer it for travel and shots at f/5.6-f/8?) and... portraits - but - very close ones, probably using 70-100cm distance. Then - probably you can survive with f/4. But maybe I am wrong, I need to close down my Summarit and check. But what I won't be able to check - is getting closer than 1m...
Summicron seams to be huge and heavy... I need to see black one day.
PS: When I think of portraits containing more than just head, or maximum head and shoulders - then I would rather use 50mm....Show more →
Jerry - the 90 Macro is excellent for extremely tight head shots. EXCELLENT! Like you mention, you can get in to .7m with a 90mm and that is very beneficial. Yes, it is very sharp and the bokeh is some of the best I have ever seen from any lens. That being said, doing a portrait from 6 ft away the f/2.5 (actually f/2.4) vs the f/4 does make a big difference. The portraits I care about are of my kids and I can't rely on them sitting still at .7m to get an in focus shot . Working a few feet away at f/2.5 is far better suited for me than slightly closer distance at f/4 to get great blur. I would say that anyone that does portraits of teenagers up the 90 macro is probably a better choice
I don't know what you mean by Elmarits opening...but what I didn't like with that lens is the 9 diaphragm blades. Take a look at the pic below....I don't doubt the Summarit would have looked far better here with smoother bokeh. I showed this pic to my wife without saying a word and she complained that it wasn't smooth in the background . The lens was fantastically sharp, I just wasn't a fan at all of how it rendered the oof areas. For non-portraits....a hell of a lens
On the way home from my Wisconsin trip earlier in the week I drove past this place. Wow, a photographer's wonderland for slow decay!
M9 & ZM35C:
ZM21:
ZM50P:
ZM35C:
It's the Russell Military Museum just off the I-94 in Illinois right at the Wisconsin border, and while they do have some restored stuff inside, most of the equipment outside is in various stages of decay. While it's somewhat sad to see, it's an amazing place for finding all sorts of textures. Unfortunately I was driving home that day and had a ~9 hour drive ahead of me, and still wanted to get through Chicago before rush hour, so I only stayed about 1.5 hours. I found the tanks and trucks the most interesting and the ones out back of the main display area are not roped off and you can walk all around them. There are also some aircraft and helicopters, but they're mostly roped off, so it's difficult to get close for some detail shots.
Jerry_R wrote:
Interesting motto: "Why are people obsessed with lines and f...g sharpness. Why do lines have to be straight? Who sees the world in such symmetry? I don’t." http://jtinseoul.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/imperfections/
My head started spinning looking at his 'unsharp' photos...geez. Everybody has different styles....
Ron - nice set...interesting to see all of these vehicles available for anyone to walk around. My favorite is the first with the old washed out American flag. I also really like the 50 Planar shots
Ryan, nice portrait - I agree that the polygon bokeh is a bit disturbing.
Ron, nice set. I really like the first ZM50/2 shot (the tank tracks).
Joakim, cool car shot
charles.K wrote:
I find it a lot easier to get quick and accurate focusing with the 75 Lux than I do with the 90 Cron AA. I find the design of the 90 Cron V3 better with the focusing than the 90 Cron AA too.
Really? That's interesting. I have not found any difference between the two as far as focusing goes. The focus throw is the same and the rings have the same amount of stiffness. Generally speaking I've found both 90s to be surprisingly easy to focus wide open.
rsolti13 wrote:
Luka - of your 75 Cron shots always my favorites are your portraits. Anything but I always find the rendering kind of meh....
Yeah, "meh" sums it up just about right.
I had not time to shoot a lot with it today except for a couple of shots to test focus. It is however striking how each time I get it back from Solms, I inevitably come to the same conclusion: that lens has no character. It's not good, it's not bad, it's just completely neutral. In terms of optical performance one can't complain about it. I generally don't buy lenses just because they are "sharp". Buying the 75 Cron was a spur of the moment thing - at the time it was the only modern Leica lens that happened to be in stock in a local store and it filled a focal length gap. I had not seen sufficient sample shots taken with it, so it was a stab in the dark. And it missed.
Just as an example, here are a couple of shots that I took today. The common thread is that they were just focusing & metering tests. They were never intended as serious shots and don't have interesting content or compositions. So any quality they may have depends on the rendering style of the lens. Normally I wouldn't bother to develop these, and much less to post them, but they can be used to make a point here.
We start with the 75 Cron focus tests:
Well, they've fixed the back focus. The focus is dead on. But as far as rendering goes..meh. The net sum of the value of those images are the same as the rendering (zero). It's just a nondescript lens with high optical quality.
Now if we take a look at some 50 Lux ASPH shots, also taken today, also just test shots (metering rather than focus) that are relatively content & composition free:
See? There's actually something to the shots thanks to the rendering of the lens. That's what I expect from a lens - some form of meaningful contribution to the final image.
Having said that, there are few limits to my stubbornness. I have seen (rarely admittedly) images with interesting rendering from the 75 Cron. And I'm not quite willing to admit defeat and sell it.
Anyway, I've got the mandatory 75 Cron bashing out of my system now, carry on
Ryan, beautiful portrait of you daughter
Ron, love your set of "decay"!! Great set and PP'ing, favs here #6, 7 and 8
Joakim, cool shot... love the comparison
Luka, I really like your 75 Cron shots IMO, but then if you feel the lens does express the way you see images, do move it on. I personally really like the 75 Cron AA, but I don't use all that often either as I my preference is always the 75 Lux
charles.K wrote:
Luka, I really like your 75 Cron shots IMO, but then if you feel the lens does express the way you see images, do move it on. I personally really like the 75 Cron AA, but I don't use all that often either as I my preference is always the 75 Lux
You are of course right Charles, but I guess I'm just to stubborn to accept it. I keep thinking that I'm missing something - that there must be some way of using that lens in an interesting way. And there sort of is, neutral rendering isn't bad per se. There are uses for it. I also dislike the whole selling process so for the most part I keep my gear regardless if I use it or not. At one point I should really sell off everything I'm not using - it's a waste as somebody else might actually put it to good use. In the case of the 75 Cron however I can't resist using it although I inevitably end up with the same conclusions.
Finally what makes it annoying is that rarely, very rarely I do get something interesting out of it that can only be attributed to the lens. I have however not found any general pattern so that I can reproduce - just hints here and there. For instance there's definitely something interesting going on here:
I really like the rendering in this case. Ironically it's also an example of severe APO failure (look at the green fringing).
Plus I've also found that it works rather well for B/W shots. I'm not sure why, but I guess that a generally neutral rendering is preferable when you primarily work with shapes and contrasts.
Nice review and his conclusions are pretty much the same as mine, although his subjective opinion is different.
Any comments how you compare it to 90 APO?
There's a pretty big difference between them. The 90 AA has a distinct style to it and is definitely not neutral. Unlike the 75 Cron you can rely on the rendering alone to provide a nice visual impression. Here are a couple of shots that I haven't posted before but that were taken when I first got the 90 AA and they show some of the characteristic rendering style of the lens:
Gary, very nice shot! What a great spot to live on the water
Luka, excellent set of examples The 90 Cron shot are very nice. I also have also found some lenses are better for B&W conversions, such as the 28 Elmarit and 75 Cron AA. IMO another important factor is some of the Leica lenses work better in different styles and quality of lighting.
Jerry, great link to Adam's review!
Thanks Luka for more 90 Cron comments and photos.
Thanks Charles for more 90 Macro comments and photo.
I have looked once again on friend's 90 cron and my Summarit 90. On test photos of charts, lines - I didn't see difference. That says, that my Summarit is really very, very good.
What I initially said few posts ago, that I was not fully happy with my Summarit - I withdraw.
I said this after seeing some photos taken in very bright light. Later I saw results from 35 Lux in the same light, seems it was not perfect environment to give valuation.
(I didn't use that Summarit earlier a lot).
I took few more test shots, real life, and I see now the difference between the Cron and Summarit.
So I decided to order one, defintely black - due to weight.
I planned to buy Macro one, as I did some very close-ups too in past, but for this - I will use NEX-7 or Ricoh back, when it would be available.
I already did some time ago some tests with NEX-5 and 50 Lux plus macro lenses - fully acceptable.
But soon I sold NEX-5.
PS: it is interesting, how people change their mind, or get more mature to some focals or apertures.
Long time ago - I never felt the need for fast (f/1.4) 50. After I saw so many great samples in the thread - it became my favourute lens. Now, I know I will use 90mm at f/2 too, even if initially I was more thinking of f/2.8 and above.
I will post some photos soon too, I feel bad that I only "talk". I am simply finishing cleansing and developing old photos in chronological order, so its mostly stuff from the "before M9" time.
Btw:
- is it possible to see preview of the post, before sending it?
Dierk, stunning shots! My favourite is the fruit on the plate, beautiful rich tonality
Joakim, no doubt you would have tried a few different SD cards to eliminate that as a possible cause. Also if you are using a card reader, maybe there is a gliche there within the reader. If you are viewing on the M9, and problem persists this would be eliminated. Otherwise a definite trip to the service centre. I do feel for you
Ryan, I'm looking forward to seeing more from the 90 Summarit from you. It's a lens I'm also considering. Still a lovely portrait of your daughter, even if the light blobs show the aperture shape of the 90 f/4
joakim - nice find (toy car) and sorry to see you're having some trouble. The first thing I would try is a different card reader and re-download the card. If the problem persists, then I would be suspicious of the camera and cards. Difficult to rule one or the other out.
Gary - cool location and good job on the pano. I think what you're seeing with the funky sky is from use of the clarity slider and/or fill light (shadow recovery). Both will introduce halos and a dark strip of sky around a bright white cloud is a telltale sign.
Luka - even if they're just test photos, very nicely done!
Dierk - your images are always so lush! I love the second to last (toothed vegetation) as well as the last one a lot.
What a great setup, the M2 and plenty of film
. The lens was fantastically sharp, I just wasn't a fan at all of how it rendered the oof areas. For non-portraits....a hell of a lens
