Thanks Wayne for the link! Yes I have already read part 1 of the review, and I do have my name on the list for the M-M I really feel the IQ is very like MF.
charles.K wrote:
Thanks Wayne for the link! Yes I have already read part 1 of the review, and I do have my name on the list for the M-M I really feel the IQ is very like MF.
Charles,
Cool! Congrats to you early as I now have made a note to myself to never open this thread again.
Too Dangerous! !
To get such incredibly high resolution files even in low-light using high ISO's with Leica M lenses sounds like a unique and very alluring camera.
Ron, another great set. The 1st one with the BBQ ribs is mouthwatering, and the one with the little boy looking out the window is a great capture! I have never really seen portraiture done with a 28mm before, but you really make it work.
Charles, it looks like you having fun in Taiwan! I really like number 1 & 4.
Gary Clennan wrote:
Very nice shots Charles. That third pic is the one that really stands out for me. Wide open, at "medium" distances - that lens really shines.
Absolutely agree. The portraits have such a thin DoF I think it detracts from the pic. However, very nice work as always Charles.
Thank you Ash and Andrew! Much appreciated Andrew, the 50 Nocti f 1.0 IV, is the version just before the 0.95. It is lighter and smaller, and most importantly less than half the price for a good copy. It feels about the same as a chrome 50 Lux Asph.
Andrew, nice sharp shot from Sequoia. Which camera were these shot with? NEX?
Charles, very nice dreamy portraits with the Nocti, 3 and 4 are my favorites from this set. Agree with Gary, the medium distances is where this lens seems to shine. Also nice street scenes with the 24Lux.
BTW, Charles, I went to your Zenfolio site and viewed some of your pictures and they look so much nicer, crisp pp and color. The Nocti shots on your site are tack sharp but when viewed on FM it looks as if its out of focus on some shots. I don't know what Zenfolio does with the resizing but the files look softer on FM, as if someone added an AA filter. I have the same problem when I link my pics from Zenfolio, it looks crisp on my site but the pics on FM looks really soft
Luka, the last 2 shots with the 28Cron are also excellent! Love the composition on #1.
Joakim, congrats on your 35Lux! Very nice first post with this lens. #3 is my favorite from this set.
A question for our fellow 35Lux FLE users here, does your lens exhibit any internal rattling sound? Mine does but am not sure if its the floating element making the noise or there's something wrong
Thanks guys! Andrew - 28mm works pretty well for portraits. I think just keep the person relatively central to avoid distortion effects, at least at nearer distances. In this case, with the boy running around a lot, 28mm was easier to focus. 50mm would have been a chore, and I did use the 50 Lux a bit when he was stationary.
Joe, regarding soft images, someone on the Zeiss Z* thread suggested there is an issue with posting images here when the image has one of its dimensions ending in an odd (rather than even) number. Not sure if this is true of not... I don't really see any problems with Charles's images, and yours look fine as well, to my eyes. Nice set! #3 is kind of an optical illusion for a moment.. Speaking of 35 FLEs... did you get yours serviced for the infinity focus issue? Can't help you about the rattle, other than my CV12 LTM also makes a sound that implies a loose internal element. I went back to the shop and checked another LTM copy and it made the same sound.
Charles, loving the street scenes and portraits!
Andrew - nice forest set. I'm interested to see your results if you indeed do get the XP-1.
Luka - very clean and clear images. I really like the last two of the first set and the first one of the last set.
Joakim - congrats on the lens! Good move IMO to buy new and seems you didn't have to wait too long. Maybe Leica has managed to ramp up production a bit.
I returned the Nikkor 10.5cm to its owner a couple weeks ago, and he was kind enough to loan me his Nikkor 5cm f/1.4 for a while. I haven't shot much yet, but had it with me for the visit with the friends and their son, and used it a little bit. I was hoping to get more chances to use it and test various background bokeh scenarios, but that didn't happen. It ended up being more of a 28mm rather than 50mm day.
Not really a great shot, but about the only one I got so far with a distant busy background. I had an aftermarket vented hood on it, but as you can see, it will flare with direct light on the front:
A couple thoughts: it seems to front focus a bit. I haven't tested it for focus shift yet, but since it's a Sonnar design, would expect that it has some, so maybe it's rangefinder calibrated for f/2 or f/2.8? I find the 50 Lux ASPH easier to focus. Maybe it's the Nikkor's long focus throw? One cool feature though is it will focus very close, but is rangefinder coupled only to 1m, so on a NEX or GXR, etc., will work nicely for very near distances.
I like the look. It's not super sharp wide open, but has a really nice quality, and I like the busier background rendering.
While editing this session, every time I transitioned from a Nikkor sequence to a 28 Cron sequence, I was struck by how 'real' the 28 Cron images felt. Very crisp and clear. The Nikkor is a touch dreamy.
Ron, interesting set with the Nikkor 5/1.4. Have been enjoying your post with these older lenses. I like the flare shot a lot on this set, this can be a special effects lens if desired It immediately reminded me of this shot from Alex Webb, incidentally one of the first digital pictures he published http://www.webbnorriswebb.com/#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=31&p=8&a=1&at=0 Also, thanks for info, interesting observation. I just realized that I get this "fuzzy" IQ only when I view this site on my NEC PA wide gamut monitor, but when viewed on my other non wide gamut monitors of similar resolution, the pics appears sharper on those monitors. I tried different browsers and its the same.
I haven't sent the 35Lux FLE in to Leica for the infinity check as I haven't had the time. Probably will do so when I return from my next trip.
M9 28Cron. The B&W files from the M9 are still quite decent and I can't fault the resolution but I can't deny that I'm lusting after the MM.
Ron - nice shot's with the 5.0cm. I also like the flare in #1 a lot. I have always wondered if this type of flare is caused by the silver/chrome ring at the front of the lens. Some of my ZM glass exhibits the same behavior. And yes, it does indeed have that dreamy effect wide open...
Very nice Charles. Do you ever make it to Taipei? If so, you should go to Longshan temple - always seems very busy there and makes for interesting people photos. Some of mine: http://www.ronscheffler.com/blog/?p=45
Gary - thanks. I get similar flare from the 5cm f/1.5 Summarit, though I think the Nikkor has generally better contrast wide open (I've only tried it wide open so far). I think it's direct light on the front element, rather than reflections off the chrome. I had an aftermarket hood attached and it's painted matt black inside, so I think that rules out the chrome. Which of your ZM lenses do this?
Joe - thanks, and excellent B&W! I agree the M9 still makes for a nice B&W camera. I also agree with Charles on the wide gamut monitor being the problem. I don't have one, but have read a few complaints about web pages (sRGB generally) looking incorrect in wide gamut.
OK, something a bit different. I have been chipping away at my images backlog. These are from last August at the Wisconsin State Fair…
B&W because the WB inside was haphazard and there were a lot of distracting colour elements in many images in otherwise very monochromatic environments. But I was happily surprised at how nicely the M9 handles B&W at ISO 1250. Way more leeway for pushing and pulling tones than when working in colour, IMO.
Those did turn out really nice Ron. Such detail in these images. I recall you posting some really nice shots with this lens a long while ago. There was one which was a silhouette of a woman by a lake (in Europe?) which really stood out. Did you use any NR on the above images? Were you using a finder?
I really feel the IQ is very like MF.
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