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 p.491 #1 · Leica M/X/T/S/Q/CL/SL Picture Thread | |
Thanks guys! And Gary - happy belated Canada Day to you too - meant to reply to your earlier greeting but got sidetracked.
Joe - thank you so much for noticing that, as it too is my favourite from the entire event - it's actually a girl in the stroller.  She was embarrassed to be photographed in it (I assume it's meant for her brother behind the flag) and would try to hide from the camera each time I passed by. Really great B&W set, each image is captivating.
Jonas - lovely texture with a lens that seems to have recently gotten some renewed attention in this forum.
Adam - yes, I can see the image now. The 35 Lux looks great and I can appreciate the dilemma deciding between it or a 28/50 spacing. All I can say is I have been able to make do with 28 Cron and 50 Lux ASPH. Since acquiring the 28 Cron, I have used my CV35 f/1.2II for probably less than 20 frames. With the 35 I still felt the need for a 50. With the 28 I don't miss as much the 35 (though as I stated earlier, there have been times when it would have been better than 28 and cropping).
I think the 28 Cron is a good compromise between the 35 Lux and 28 Elmarit. 28mm at f/2 and one stop shutter speed slower than shooting the 35 wide open at the same ISO has generally worked for me. For some reason I have a lot better luck with the 28 Cron and the 1/focal length shutter speed rule than with 35mm and longer. Definitely with the 50mm I try to avoid shooting below 1/125 for this reason. And the 28 Cron wide open still provides decent subject isolation:
Regarding your 28 Elmarit image: I can only offer opinion based on looking at the lens's paper specs. I'll point out that the MTF indicates wide open performance will not be great in the extreme corners. An interesting difference between it and the 28 Cron is that the Elmarit seems to hold sharpness (40 lp/mm values) and global contrast (5 & 10 lp/mm values) very steady over a wider area, then suddenly drops off. The Cron's central values wide open are very similar to the Elmarit wide open. At f/2.8 it appears to be a touch better. But the Cron's MTF curves immediately begin a gradual, steady drop towards the edges/corners, not the Elmarit's sudden drop, meaning a gradual drop in fine detail sharpness and global contrast, which likely results in a subjectively more pleasing transition to the image periphery. The Elmarit's sudden drop is therefore more obviously noticeable. If you photographed the same building with the 28 Cron wide open, the corners would also be somewhat soft, but perhaps not as jarringly noticeable. It's something I noticed when I tested it at the store photographing buildings across the street. Past f/4 the Cron's corners are not a concern.
Both of the 28s are great lenses. If you opt to keep the 28 Elmarit, you'll probably still have a need for a faster wide, such as the 35 Lux. Two stops, especially on the M9 at higher ISOs makes a significant difference, both in ISO and shutter speed considerations as well as subject isolation. The 28 Cron, IMO, is an all purpose 'compromise' solution offering a midway point for ISO and shutter speed, while still providing good subject isolation, though does mean you need to take a step closer to your subject than with 35mm . It's between the two lenses in size (though with the hood will somewhat obstruct the viewfinder, which so far I haven't found to be a major issue) but still small enough, IMO, for a suitably compact solution.
Some numbers:
28 Elmarit + 35 Lux = $7k, whereas 28 Cron = $4k, putting you 75% towards a 90AA.
28 Elmarit + 35 Lux + 50 Lux = $11k
28 Cron + 50 Lux = $8k
A few more of the soccer celebration:
50 Lux ASPH:
21 Lux (I think all wide open):
28 Cron:
The second to last was a situation where I turned around and saw them running at me. I noticed the lens was set to 1m, so just waited until what I thought was about the right distance and shot one frame. Turned out focus was OK, but they were about two stops under. Illustrates again how nicely the M9's files can be opened at base ISO. 1.5m probably would have been better, not cutting off so much of their hands and the flag, but I'll take it as is.
I also shot with the Canon 1DIV and 70-200 f/4L IS. The interesting thing was that for the first half of this celebration I didn't pull the Canon out of the bag. With the street closed down to traffic, it was easy to get close to everything and just shoot with the M9, though at times I did feel I was missing certain kinds of shots, such as tight framing of faces. I also noticed during the edit that early in the event I was missing focus a lot with the M9. Maybe I was just a bit out of practice, but started to give that more consideration as the event developed and as a result focus consistency improved. But there were times when the movement was very fast and erratic, making accurate RF focusing difficult. After the street was reopened to traffic, and the police were keeping us off the road, it was difficult to get in front of the action for wider shots, so I found myself using the Canon more to isolate details either across the street or farther away along my side of the street. And being AF with 10 fps, my shooting style immediately changed to lengthy high fps bursts. Looking back at the numbers, total output was around 2/3 Canon vs. 1/3 Leica with the first edit being about 2/3 Leica vs. 1/3 Canon, and a number of the Canon images are very similar and could be reduced further. There were times with the M9, such as when I was in the middle of the group of young guys with the drum, where I would have loved a deeper buffer and faster frame to frame capability. Quite a few times I hit the buffer wall and literally had to wait while the action was going on around me.
In case anyone is interested in seeing the overall edit, I wrote up a brief blog post. The full first edit can be seen in this gallery.
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