rsolti13 wrote:
Luka, very nice. How is the sharpness edge to edge stopped down on the Sonnar?
Good but not brilliant edge sharpness.
I am however pretty sure that there is something wrong with my copy as I'm seeing asymmetric blur (top corners sharp, bottom corners blurry). The focus shift also seems dependent on where on the frame I put the focus point (again up-down asymmetry). So I'm guessing an element is misaligned and at an angle instead of perpendicular. I have not gotten around writing to Zeiss tech support but I plan to do so.
thrice wrote:
Great work with the sonnar Luka, there's a lens I've only really used to shoot people, maybe I should take it out more often
Jeff, thankyou I enjoy the look for something different. Doesn't seem so popular on the landscape forum haha!
Thanks Dan! It was actually some of the Sonnar portraits that you posted early in this thread that made me interested in the lens. In fact as nice as the 35/2 Biogon is and as excellent as the 25/2.8 is, so far the 50 Sonnar is the only one that has contributed with something that I would consider an interesting rendering style. Apart from the 50 Sonnar the only other Leica M lens whose rendering I'm impressed with is the noctilux (new and old). I've sort of bored of technically perfect lenses - I've gotten used to that with my Zeiss ZE glass. So when it comes to lenses I'm currently more interested in unique drawing styles, painterly bokeh etc and I have not quite found anything yet for the M9 - apart from the two lenses I mentioned.
This is grossly offtopic (not Leica), but you might find this interesting:
60 images gigapan:
156 images gigapan (Canon 70-200/II @ 200mm):
100% crop:
16 images (hey, I'm back on topic )
A "tiny" gigapan, 26 images only:
This is what the setup looks like:
With Ze Big Lens:
The reason why I've basically given up on this is because of the extreme weight of the set up. Too much to carry. With a smaller gigapan + M9 it could perhaps be tolerable. There is another thing though.. my Zeiss 35/1.4 can do those kinds of shots (perhaps more medium format than large format) without any stitching:
If there was an equivalent lens for the M9, I'd be thrilled. I'd pay noctilux money for it. But alas, no such luck. The 35 lux ASPH is nothing like it and neither is the CV 35/1.4. If there is a single very good reason to keep my 5DII, it's that lens.
Dan, Great shot! Just keep posting in this thread too
Luka, excellent shots! My favourite here is #3 of the leaf and the depth of #1 is great. I am really enjoying your shots with the Sonnar. Interesting shots with the Gigapan
With respect to rendering, there are so many lenses, that are available, particularly like the 35 Summilux pre Asph, which may suit you. There is a shot on GetDPI by Ashwin, showing the rendering of this lens. I know if I can purchase an older one, I will try it out. Don't know when the 35 Lux II will be available yet.
18mm ZM Distagon, single frame ND1.8, B+W Linear polariser.
This is the Tarawera River, very clear water! Especially considering it's source is a waterfall bursting through a wall of solidified lava flow about 60m high... Yes I have a picture of the waterfall, it's on the way
Incidentally the nearby town of Kawerau is one of the worst smelling places I have ever been. Lots of intense geothermal activity in the area.
So this evening I was doing some lens testing and I realized something I had stupidly missed before. My genetic tremor is a major part of the issue ihave with sharpness. I'm very disappointed to see this is apparently quite an issue. I know it sounds like a no brainer to consider that but for most purposes my tremor is, at this point in my life, not a really invasive thing..it's very minor even when shooting at the gun range. Unfortunately I learned that trying to use the inverse focal length method is..well..not enough.
Given that I like low light people photography, this is a pretty disheartening bummer. Mft with ibis and legacy lenses won't work due to crappy iso...primes on 7d, same thing. I may simply have to go full frame for the best high iso support..or call it a day.
I shot the x1 with a timer, in low light, resting on something with a long exposure..and I get it now..I was really silly for not figuring this out earlier.
That sucks h00ligan, you could try the poor man's IS, a large steel washer tied to a string, the other end of which is tied to a bolt that screws into your tripod socket, when you take a shot you stand on the washer, pull the camera until the string is tight then take the shot.
Obviously you'll need to work out the ideal length for the string, depending on your shooting stance.
Here are two different perspectives of the same waterfall. First shot is a stitch shot with the 35mm C-Biogon, the second shot is a single frame shot with the 18mm Distagon.
Awesome shots Dan! My favourite is #1 of the 2nd set.
Luka, love the rendering of the 35/1.4 Distagon
Swoop, really nice shots! I really like #1 and 2.
denoir wrote:
I need an UWA lens and the candidates are the (Zeiss) 18/4, 21/2.8 and 21/4.5. The 18/4 is appealing because of the wider angle but with the disadvantage of being rather bulky. The 21/2.8 has the advantage of f/2.8 but is close in FL to my 25/2.8. The 21/4.5 is appealing because of its ultra compact size but the disadvantage is that it's slow, has a very serious red/cyan coloring on the M9 (this is the only lens Zeiss advises against using on the M9) and again is close to the 25/2.8.
21 Lux FTW!
Then I need a tele lens. At 90mm, I have the 90 cron and the 90 summarit and I'm not too crazy about the samples I've seen. At 75 the cron looks really nice but is almost as difficult to find as the 50 lux asph. I'd like the tele to be a Leica lens, just for change. Otherwise I would have just gotten the Zeiss 85/2..
My 90 AA isn't coded, unfortunately, so I cannot pull out any old images to describe the look I am referring to, but I will throw it in my bag for the next few days instead of my D3 and see if I can't make a few shots to show its characteristics. I currently only have the M8, but I guess you can imagine slightly worse corners on your own
Luka, I had the 90AA on my R8 and 5D mk II, a lens without flaw. If you like your bokeh SUPER blurry, then it's not the best, as it maintains a little definition in the out of focus areas, but by no means is it harsh nor does it show bright rings or anything.
)
ND1.8, B+W Linear polariser.
