Peter, very nice and I really like the last two of the second set. My girlfriend was there a couple years ago: Höllentalklamm. I was just archiving her photos, going through her take from that location and immediately recognized your photos... unfortunately I haven't made it out there, yet. BTW, if you're ever in Taiwan, there's a somewhat similar experience at Taroko Gorge on the central east coast:
(sorry, above shot on Canon)
Leonas, the first and third in particular look really nice.
Kevin, congrats and give it a good workout! I think it will suit reportage style shooting. Doesn't hurt that it also looks interesting. Black or chrome?
Michael, thanks for the feedback. It would have looked calmer with the 50 Lux ASPH.
More from the Zeiss-Opton 50/1.5, more or less test shots while getting a feel for the lens. Joe, note the third shot, which was shot into the sun and handled it pretty well. I'm sure the leaves blocking some of the direct sunlight also helped.
Ron, f/16 for au natural anti aliasing ! I start to see diffraction on my 28Cron and 35Lux ASPH at f/11 to f/16. Never really tried f/16 in the past unless it was really necessary as I always thought IQ would be worse than shooting wide open. Also thanks for the samples on the Opton's coating, looks like it handles flare pretty well, excellent set, that second shot is so sharp and smooth. 4th shot is interesting, OOF region giving me a bit of a headache
Peter, another excellent set and hike!
Leonas, nice set with the 90AA.
Michael, maybe new tool syndrome equals better focus accuracy . Actually, I have no idea, but it works.
Kevin, congrats on the CV 50/1.5. Looks excellent!
rscheffler wrote:
Edward, from my understanding, if there is consistent back focus at all distances, adding a shim to the lens should resolve the problem.
I think a factor working against you is it's a wide aperture telephoto lens compounded by the fact it's a Zeiss on a Leica body. As has been discussed/rumored before, the Zeiss Ikon flange distance was or may have been slightly different from Leica's. When I tried Andrew G's ZM85/2 on my M9 I was very surprised to find it focused accurately. Unfortunately this focus lottery seems to be part of the RF experience, and not saying this to make excuses for it... Of my lens collection right now, most don't focus perfectly on my M9 and each of those needs slight RF tweaks. Mental microfocusadjustment if you will... Curious now whether or not that would be much different with the M240. ...Show more →
Hi Ron,
In theory, indeed, there is a difference between the Zeiss Ikon and Leica M flange distance. In practice, there are so many variations in lens calibrations, both from Zeiss and Leica, that buying a new lens is definitely like a lottery. I had to send my brand new 35/2 and 25/2.8 for calibration, but Zeiss did an excellent job with them. Unfortunately I think Zeiss tolerances are not sufficient for using the Sonnar on a digital body.
If the solution is that simple, I am sure the Leica technician will do it easily, especially that he's working with a Leica body not absolute numbers and measurements as in the factory.
Gary Clennan wrote:
My keeper rate has definitely improved....
zhangyue wrote:
Joe, Gary, and Adam, I can understand they might improve tolerance? But I am puzzled how they can improve operator’s tolerance, I have a hard time see it clearly in focus, and I have good eyesight. Unless they change the focus window somehow?
Another thing I am very interested is: Did they improve the reliability of focus mechanic part. As I usually have no problem what so ever for a while, and start see things change over the time. Thus, I like wide angle lens like 24/28/35 with f2 even f1.4, and so far 50cron rigid has been very consistent and can tolerate some error of M9 over the time. ...Show more →
I really don't know how this could be possible either, I'd say if you had a perfectly calibrated lens on an M9 and on the M240, you should technically be the one at fault for focus error, YET everybody I've asked has said that focusing the M240 is easier and the keeper rate is up.
They did in fact redesign the whole rangefinder focusing mechanism, from what I've been told. It's suppose to be better according to Leica. But I never got details as to WHY.
Indeed!
Great portrait from 85mm! You can expect something great happen once nail focus with Sonnar!
Hi Edward, I was thinking the same thing as Ron suggested, remove the mount, put a few pieces paper or plastic paper underneath, and put back the mount. That is all you need to do.
Another thing is if you can consistent nail ‘back focus’ you can compensate it!
Thanks Zhangyue Yes, in fact, that portrait was compensated for back focus
I must have accidentally switched to jpg instead of DNG in the menu. To my surprise today's snapshots turned out to be jpgs. This said, I really like the M9 jpg engine, the colors are better than what I usually get on AWB from ACR. I wish Leica could provide their own raw processor based on the in camera engine.
Edward I know what you mean forgetting to set to raw! Nice jpg's output in the right hands such as yours Im glad I don't have to worry about white balance on my mono
Phil
Mono w/Voight 21 1.8 Ultron - morning sun before the high desert sun comes and invades
Edward, jpegs look excellent.
Jonas, classic car, nice!
Phil, love those CV21/1.8 shots! Composition on 2nd one is my favorite of the two. Beautiful tonality on both and the crop ratio makes them appear medium or larger format
Thanks Phil! Yes, still have my Mono. I have too many cameras and not enough time to shoot
zhangyue wrote:
Another thing I am very interested is: Did they improve the reliability of focus mechanic part. As I usually have no problem what so ever for a while, and start see things change over the time. Thus, I like wide angle lens like 24/28/35 with f2 even f1.4, and so far 50cron rigid has been very consistent and can tolerate some error of M9 over the time.
Joe, very vivid color. Noct render nicely at park
Thanks Michael.
The mechanical tolerances have improved and I think what is happening is that there is less "play" and more accurate mechanical coupling when trying to align focus patch. I don't think it is a coincidence as many users have had the same experiences.
Jonas, great colors in the first one.
Phil, great photos with the Mono. My favorite is also the second one in the first set.
Joe, very good photo of the fireworks.
Joe: great set's of the Nocti at the playground, excellent firework! I like the way you use your Nocti, it really shines in your hands
Edward: I am sorry to hear about your problems with the M system and hope you getting it working right, instead of switching! Although I like the picture of the chef, I almost believe it would be even more interesting when the focus was placed on what he was proud showing you and he him self would be melted in bokeh. But that's is of course just my personal thoughts and doesn't mean anything!
Ron: From the 50mm bokeh test I like also the Lux the most. Yes, the Höllentalklamm is a very popular tour and very much frequented. I haven't been there for years and I only like to go there doing the week when the weather is really bad, this way you can avoid all the crowed!
Ryan: very niche pictures from you and your daughter! I also like the view over the bridge.
Rich: I really wish you a good recovery!
zhangyue: very nice film shots!
Phil: wow, those 4 are great! For my landscape shots I prefer 85% of the time color, but every time I see shots from the MM I get so temptet!
Thank you Peter for the kind words! To be honest, I thought exactly like you, but I only had a couple of seconds to focus and shoot, so I instinctively went for the chef.
Edward, those look great for jpg...have never tried to be honest. Really like #2
Phil - those 21 Ultron shots look great....all 4 of them. My favorite is the 2nd on the 2nd post, but really like them all. I just got the 21 Ultron and took a few sample shots, I am just blown away with this lens. May be one of my favorite lenses I have ever used, it provides for some very unique shooting
Joe - Very appropriate post of the fireworks. My oldest is terrified of the noise and the youngest was passed out at 7:00 from going to the beach earlier....maybe next year
After the beach....50 Nokton
21 Ultron....wide open, look at the unsharpened 100% crop
crop:
50 Nokton
Have to say, the more I use the 50 Nokton the more I like it. I think the only area where I question the look is when shooting wide open in the 5-15 ft away range. At that point the bokeh is very busy if you have objects in the oof area relatively close to the subject. Outside of that, the lens is spectacular. An example being the images posted above, near distance I find the lens renders beautifully
Jul 05, 2013 at 07:09 AM
Jonathan Huynh Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
! I start to see diffraction on my 28Cron and 35Lux ASPH at f/11 to f/16. Never really tried f/16 in the past unless it was really necessary as I always thought IQ would be worse than shooting wide open. Also thanks for the samples on the Opton's coating, looks like it handles flare pretty well, excellent set, that second shot is so sharp and smooth. 4th shot is interesting, OOF region giving me a bit of a headache 
you can compensate it!
