rscheffler
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 p.420 #10 · Leica M/X/T/S/Q/CL/SL Picture Thread | |
seekuh - looks very nice!
Same also for Peter and very nice series Ash!
As I mentioned maybe a week or two ago, I found a relatively local Leica dealer with the 21 Lux in stock... well, I gave it a lot of thought and took the plunge.
I had some mixed thoughts about it after my initial round of images, but after having given it a more thorough workout, feel it's quite a versatile lens. Obviously, there's nothing else with f/1.4 and having that option really does present new opportunities for this focal length, for me at least. I was concerned with how it would perform stopped down, but in comparison to my ZM 21 f/2.8, I think it's about a stop to 1.5 stops ahead in terms of edge/corner quality as the lens is stopped down. The Lux also has quite a flat plane of focus compared to the ZM, with decent edge/corner rendering for larger objects mixed with an interesting amount of fine detail blur at the same time. This also results in an overall smoother background blur through the aperture range because the ZM's plane of focus curves towards infinity at the corners, resulting in some busyness there. Central sharpness at f/1.4 is pretty decent, and improves at f/2, though at the expense of some 'character' smoothness that is mixed in when wide open.
Initial negative qualities of the 21 Lux are CA (ZM21 has none), though it should be fixable, purple fringing around specular light sources at or near wide open, which of course is a problem with pretty much any high speed lens on digital, a fair amount of resolution drop in the B zone between the image centre and edges, which seems to be most noticeable between f/2.8-5.6, and very strong vignetting wide open. I actually don't mind the vignetting, but one has to be careful if placing important picture elements off center because the vignetting could shroud those details. Stopping down to f/2 helps, and 2.8 is even better. The vignetting is so strong that if you shoot on aperture priority, the camera will meter only a half stop difference between f/2 and 1.4, though the central part of the image is pretty closer to a one stop gain, though maybe in reality more around 2/3 stop... Oh, and the 70cm minimum focusing distance really does suck with a 21mm lens! But that's a RF compromise. Unfortunately Leica doesn't off an uncoupled additional range down to 50cm like Zeiss does. The focusing throw is also quite long, which is good when shooting at f/1.4, but the lack of a tab makes it too easy to accidentally nudge the aperture ring, which is very nearby, especially if wearing gloves.
I was thinking I would still add the SEM21 at some point, and maybe I will, but for now I can 'live with' the 21 Lux as my all purpose super wide. I might instead trade in the ZM21 for the ZM18 to give me something a bit different and wider for when I need that.
Some Christmas themed photos from a friend's place, offering a brief snapshot of middle class life in Canada:
Both at f/1.4:
An idea of how much 70cm minimum focusing distance sucks on 21mm:
An idea of the vignetting difference in dark scenes between f/1.4 and f/2:
Merry Christmas everyone!
Ron
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love the rendering on portraits with the 75 Lux
