KatieInTexas wrote:
Adam - LOVE LOVE the horse images. The processing is great too. Can you expound upon this 50 AA? Is this the summicron? I don't know Leica lenses that well and am currently shopping for a good 50mm ...
Hi Katie, I have the 50 Summicron APO, not to be confused with the regular 50 Summicron (both lenses are decently similar though). I'd suggest if you want a good 50mm lens, to look at the 50 Planar ZM from Carl Zeiss, it's gonna get you the closest to what I've got, without such a heavy investment. Another good lens to seek out if you want speed would be the 50 1.5 CV (since you're already familiar with the 28CV), but if budget isn't a concern then I'd suggest the 50 Summilux-asph. Sorry if this is all overwhelming, and honestly if you're confused, just go for the 50 Planar ZM.. It's a FANTASTIC lens.
BTW, nice photos, you're off to a great start!
charles.K - Love the 21 SEM shots (especially the first, that one sold me), I'm thinking thats my next purchase. Way down the road.
airfrogusmc - Great shots. You nailed the third from the bottom, do you focus and wait, or try to follow?
airfrogusmc wrote:
Never saw the film but is the ranch still in biz?
I am in the process of moving completely over to Leica even for my professional work. WIth a little luck in the next 4 years I will be DSLR less.
This is my favorite thread on FM. I think the most talented photographers are posting here (excluding myself of course). I get inspired daily from tuning in. I have to formally apologize for not always commenting. My excuse, which is not much of one, is this thread moves fast at times and work can keep me away for days sometimes. I do hit the like button often though.
What do you shoot professionally? And what do you shoot X with?
I've toyed with the idea of switching over to the M-system professionally, but I don't actually think it's a smart move for me. That and my wife things that using the M for work, would taint the user experience, and that then when I use it outside of work, it would still feel like work (sort of how I don't like using my DSLRs outside of work anymore).
edwardkaraa wrote:
Adam, I know what you mean, Indiana Jones movies are what really inspired me to study archaeology, but in reality it's nothing like that There are no treasures to be found, just tedious digging in the dirt with brushes that look very similar to visible dust sensor brushes I was lucky to become the official photographer of the archaeological excavations in downtown Beirut for several years before moving to Bangkok.
To be honest, I have always noticed the similarity in drawing style between the ZM planar and the ZE MP. The optical formula of the 50 AA is quite similar to the ZM planar, but certainly the ZM is not as sharp especially wide open, and the bokeh not as smooth. The MTF tell the whole story. I would personally take the 50 AA over the Lux, because I can't stand to have the resolution drop in zone B while a slight loss in zone C is perfectly acceptable for me. With the 50 AA you don't have to worry about any resolution drop, even wide open. The perfect lens....Show more →
Yeah, if Indiana Jones movies were reflections of real life, I'd have before an archaeologist myself
Being an official photographer for digs might be cool. I wouldn't mind that job at all, assuming cool stuff was being dug up.
I still to this day don't know how to read MTF charts, but what I do know is, if I focus and recompose the 50APO, for portraits, the eye is likely to stay sharp. If I do that with the 50Lux, even on f/2 or 2.8, the image is likely to be soft. Unless I get lucky and roll forward or backwards in the exact right degree.. Which isn't something I often do right. It is a really great lens, I'll give it that. I just don't know if I could give up the 50Lux, maybe if I had a Noct for speed, I could..
Joakim, Ryan, Charles, Katie, Allen, I fully enjoy the photos you post. Great work.
Adam, 50lux is not that bad, use 1/3 rule, you should get sharp image at f1.4 by FRC. But certainly not at 1/5-1/6 of the frame. A great lens! Deserve a better love than I gave it .
Also, I appreciate the comments and like you guys give, you all are too generous!
zhangyue wrote:
Joakim, Ryan, Charles, Katie, Allen, I fully enjoy the photos you post. Great work.
Adam, 50lux is not that bad, use 1/3 rule, you should get sharp image at f1.4 by FRC. But certainly not at 1/5-1/6 of the frame. A great lens! Deserve a better love than I gave it .
Also, I appreciate the comments and like you guys give, you all are too generous!
zhangyue - You're much better with your focusing technique then me
airfrogusmc - Great shots. You nailed the third from the bottom, do you focus and wait, or try to follow?
Thanks. I pre focus and watch for the moment. That the beautiful thing about the MM is I can actually use 1600 or 3200 ISO and shoot at 1000 of a sec at f/11.
adamdewilde wrote:
Yeah, if Indiana Jones movies were reflections of real life, I'd have before an archaeologist myself
Being an official photographer for digs might be cool. I wouldn't mind that job at all, assuming cool stuff was being dug up.
I still to this day don't know how to read MTF charts, but what I do know is, if I focus and recompose the 50APO, for portraits, the eye is likely to stay sharp. If I do that with the 50Lux, even on f/2 or 2.8, the image is likely to be soft. Unless I get lucky and roll forward or backwards in the exact right degree.. Which isn't something I often do right. It is a really great lens, I'll give it that. I just don't know if I could give up the 50Lux, maybe if I had a Noct for speed, I could.....Show more →
Well we didn't dig up lots of interesting objects, but it was a chance to get involved in excavations doing what I love, making decent money, and going through thousands of slide and b/w rolls of film.
Due to the wavy nature of the Lux field curvature, you are right that it's not really the best lens for focus and recompose. However the 50 AA should be great for that, and the 50 planar as well. In fact I do focus and recompose with all ZM lenses and they seem to have no problem with that. The Nocti has similar wavy field curvature to the Lux, so unless you like to use focus peaking on the M, it's also problematic.
airfrogusmc wrote:
Thanks. I pre focus and watch for the moment. That the beautiful thing about the MM is I can actually use 1600 or 3200 ISO and shoot at 1000 of a sec at f/11.
edwardkaraa wrote:
Well we didn't dig up lots of interesting objects, but it was a chance to get involved in excavations doing what I love, making decent money, and going through thousands of slide and b/w rolls of film.
Due to the wavy nature of the Lux field curvature, you are right that it's not really the best lens for focus and recompose. However the 50 AA should be great for that, and the 50 planar as well. In fact I do focus and recompose with all ZM lenses and they seem to have no problem with that. The Nocti has similar wavy field curvature to the Lux, so unless you like to use focus peaking on the M, it's also problematic....Show more →
I knew I wasn't imaging things. It sucks that the Noctilux is the same way
But yes, the 50APO doesn't seem to do that to me. And yes, I remember the 50zm being a lot better at that as well. Don't remember how the 50cron-non-apo does.
Thank you Adam and Michael!
Katie, love the last set of images, particularly #3 with the late afternoon sun
Adam, the 21 SEM is an amazing lens! I never thought I would like it so much. It is like and easy to use with the M240. I think my issue with the WA's less than 28, has been the external VF's, and getting the perspective right. With LV at least you have a choice now. Also the better ISO performance, allow you the chance to use lenses stopped down.
The 50 Lux Asph, IMO opinion is one of the best all round 50's. It is sharp, yet has the glow for portraits and rolls off well in the background. The 50 Cron AA looks fantastic, but it is like having a completely different paint brush.
Edward, agreed the ZM 50 Plannar, is great also, but I have always love the ZM 50 Sonnar, except for the focus shift. Had there been no focus shift, I would still have this lens. The Sonnar design, is unique and is one of the strengths of the RX1/RX1R too, as you have an amazing sensor, with a unique lens signature.
Tri Tan, what a wonderful secluded beach!
Michael, very nice series, but #3 is awesome!!!
Allen, love this capture.
Edward, btw I completely overlooked your sentence where you talked about the dig. Even if you didn't find anything awesome, it seems like a real cool job cataloguing stuff at a dig. I wouldn't mind at all doing a job like that on a freelance basis.
Charles, the SEM shot is nice again. And yes I agree live view makes using wide angles a breeze on the M240. I agree with you on the lux, but I have never gotten use to the sonnar, every time someone posts photos with it, I go out and buy it. And after a month it's gone from my lineup. I just can't get it to work for me the way others do. But now that you have LV, you can probably cope with the sonnar's focus shift.
Allen, great street shots. The last one is really outstanding.
Charles, beautiful dusk photos! I also love the rendering of the C-Sonnar but definitely the focus shift killed my interest too. Btw, the bonfire shot is fantastic!
Zhangyue, the last 2 sets are superb. Great work recently from you!
Adam, love the lonely man shot. It would work even better if shown larger, and some dramatic PP added.
Mitch, spending a lot of time in Thaniya? Nice work as usual.
There are no treasures to be found, just tedious digging in the dirt with brushes that look very similar to visible dust sensor brushes 
I was lucky to become the official photographer of the archaeological excavations in downtown Beirut for several years before moving to Bangkok. 
, use 1/3 rule, you should get sharp image at f1.4 by FRC. But certainly not at 1/5-1/6 of the frame. A great lens! Deserve a better love than I gave it 
. 
