Tag: leica review

Eating light lens —— Leica eica super angulon 21mm f/3.4

Leica leica super angulon 21mm f/3.4 + kodak tri-x 400

Leica’s first 21mm ultra-wide-angle lens was manufactured by Schneider of Germany. This 21mm is the famous leica super angulon 21mm f/3.4.

Eating lens

It is generally believed that the Schneider lens eats light, which means that it will not be overexposed. At the same time, Schneider’s design is often accompanied by dark corners and dark parts.

Schneider Tradition

The 21mm f4 and 21mm f3.4 Super Angron designed by Schneider for Leica are such “eating light” philosophy. Including large-format lenses is also this tradition, and is loved by experienced users.

Leica leica super angulon 21mm f/3.4 + kodak tri-x 400

A philosophy different from Leica

Leica lenses are good at showing details in low light and natural grayscale. Leica is not as good as Schneider in controlling the highlight overflow.

High contrast unlike any other

Generally speaking, a high-contrast lens takes two extremes, the highlight is very bright, and the dark light is very dark. However, leica super angulon 21mm f/3.4 is that the highlights are not very bright, and the dark areas are dark enough.

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Leica 50mm f/2 Summicron Rigid

Leica 50mm f/2 Summicron Rigid

The Leica summicron 50mm f/2 rigid is the most beautiful lens in the Leica 50mm lens. Leica lenses in the 1950s and 60s are very delicate and beautiful like the Leica m3. There is a clicking sound when turning the aperture ring, crisp and sweet. It’s a pity that this sound can’t be heard in later Leica lenses.

Rigid performance is very good, whether using film or digital.

Later summicron 50mm f/2 DR used the same optical design. DR can shoot at closer distances and is used as a macro lens. But many people prefer rigid because of its simplicity.

If elmar 50mm f/3.5 established the authority of the early Leica, rigid led the new trend of lenses after the 1950s. After decades of rigidity, even today, it is still the top lens. It is the world’s first lens designed using a computer. It is Leica’s first lanthanide glass lens.

Leica 50mm f/2 Summicron Rigid

Lens glass

In 1949 Leica developed its own lanthanide glass to increase the refractive index and reduce dispersion. This glass is not radioactive. Rigid uses leaded glass, which can increase the refractive index.

Sharpness

The rigid is not sharp, but delicate. Especially the minute details are abundant. And from high light to shadow tone is very natural, which makes many people obsessed.

Digital

Glare when facing the light.

rigid version

Narrow focus ring and wider focus ring.

Some are in feet scale, some are in meters scale, and some are in meters + feet.

There are L39 mouth and M mouth.

In the late 1950s, there were a black paint rigid version and a black paint DR version, which were good collections.

In some versions, the depth of field has a lettering at infinity. 7 or 18 represents the actual focal length of the lens is 51.6mm, 8 or 19 represents the actual 51.9mm, and A represents 52.2mm.

Image Simples

Leica 50mm f/2 Summicron Rigid
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leica elmarit-m 28mm f2.8 asph

leica m3 ＋ summicron-m 90mm f2

leica elmarit-m 28mm f2.8 asph
This is a Leica compact 28mm lens. The f/2.8 aperture is good for a wide-angle head. It was not my original intention to buy this elmarit 28mm, it was bought with the camera kit.

This is an asph lens. Compared with pre-asph lens, its advantage is small, but its disadvantage is lack of personality. Compared with summicron 28 f2 asph, elmarit-m 28mm f2.8 asph has only price advantage.

My favorite Leica 28mm lens is elmarit 28mm f/2.8 v1. It is the only 0 distortion lens in the Leica 28mm lens.

Although the later ASPH version has improved corner sharpness, the old version of the lens is still irreplaceable.

leica m3 ＋ summicron-m 90mm f2

Leica elmarit-m 28mm f2.8 asph is sharp when focusing accurately, and elmarit 28mm f/2.8 v1 is more three-dimensional when focusing is not accurate. In fact, street photography is often too late to focus.

leica elmarit m28 2.8 asph is digital friendly, there is no doubt about it. It came along with the Leica m8.

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leica 35mm f/1.4 summilux pre-asph leica glow review

leica summilux 35 1.4 pre-asph

Leica fans have at least two 35mm lenses:


There is a sharp lens, as fine as a needle, capable of stitching time with water.
There is a soft lens, it is as sweet as cherry, and it can feel sour with eyes.
leica summilux 35 1.4 pre-asph, with both personalities. It has the characteristic “leica glow” that many people like.

In 1960 Leica released the world’s largest 35mm lens. The world’s smallest 35mm lens with 1.4 aperture. It is the longest lens produced by Leica.

Many people used leica summilux 35 1.4 pre-asph, but could not find leica glow. Leica glow does not appear just by taking a photo. When? When the aperture is f1.4, photograph the object in the noon sunlight.

where is leica glow

I’m talking about being in the sun, not talking about shooting at the sun! If you are stupid enough to shoot at the sun, then you will not find leica glow, you will find light leakage, the shutter curtain is burnt! If you don’t use f/1.4 aperture, sorry, you can’t see leica glow. If you are in the shade, sorry, you will not see leica glow. If you are indoors, sorry, you will not see the Holy Light.

leica summilux 35 1.4 pre-asph

You will only see leica glow under strong light and high contrast. It’s a cloudy day, under the shadow, and indoors, it turns into a great lens, and the aperture of f/1.4 can also be trusted.

Bokeh

Leica summilux 35 1.4 pre-asph is 80% similar to summicron 35mm v4 at aperture F1.4.
Leica summilux 35 1.4 pre-asph is 90% similar to summicron 35mm v4 at aperture F/2.
Leica summilux 35 1.4 pre-asph is 99% similar to summicron 35mm v4 at aperture F/4.

leica summilux 35 1.4 pre-asph VS summilux m35 1.4 ASPH

The asph version is the winner at any aperture. But in size, pre-asph is the winner. Many people like leica summilux 35 1.4 pre-asph mainly because of its small size.

leica summilux 35 1.4 pre-asph

Hood

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LEICA 28MM F/2 SUMMICRON-M

Image Samples

LEICA 28MM F/2 SUMMICRON-M leica m8

Leica’s wide-angle lens LEICA 28MM F/2 SUMMICRON-M is a great lens. The image is very sharp from f/2, and each aperture is very similar. It is so good that there are not many stories in this lens.

sharp

LEICA 28MM F/2 SUMMICRON-M was released in the film age. It evolved from the fourth generation elmarit m28 2.8. The LEICA 28MM F/2 SUMMICRON-M has a good three-dimensional feel, and its style is between classic and modern lenses.

Air cutting

LEICA 28MM F/2 SUMMICRON-M bokeh is very smooth, “air cut”. The protagonist and background are a combination of sharpness and beauty. However, I don’t like its front bokeh, it’s not natural. The bokeh behind it is very good, making the picture clean and tidy without clutter.

Closer distance

The wide-angle lens does not put more things into it, but makes you closer to the subject.

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leica summicron-m 90mm f2 v1 review (black & white film)

leica m3 ＋ summicron-m 90mm f2

There are three versions of the first generation leica summicron 90mm f/2. The optical design is the same. The main difference is the appearance.

What I like the most about leica summicron 90mm f/2 is the design of the hood. When the lens cover is pulled out, the lens hood is pulled out one by one, and finally the lens cover is removed. I have never seen a lens with such a magical design. Later Leica summicron m90/2 E55 and 90 AA did not have such a design.

The biggest weakness of the 90mm lens is the long focusing stroke and slow focusing speed. Another big weakness is the weight and size. The 90mm lens is actually a very useful focal length, especially for street photography. There are many masters of street photography with 90mm lenses in history. In fact, 90mm lens is most suitable for portraits.

For a 90mm lens, the biggest problem is not the sharpness problem, but the hand shaking problem. The success rate of 1/8s is still very low, and 1/15s is not much better. An iron hand is better than sharpness, trust me.

leica summicron 90mm f/2 v1 vs v2 v4

leica m2 ＋ summicron 90mm f/2

The more sensible choice is the second-generation summicron m90/2 E55. The price is similar, but v2 is more beautiful, lighter, and smaller. The cheaper 90/4 is more cost-effective.

90mm VS 75mm

The 75mm frame is a problem, and many Leica m cameras do not have a 75mm frame. Any Leica m camera has a 90mm frame.

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leica elmarit-m 28mm f2.8 review

leica elmarit-m 28mm f2.8

Wide-angle lens can get more scenery, just like 21-year-old age is easy to think too much.

0.7 meters

With the lens focal length set at 0.7 meters, street photography can be performed. It is more concealed at 0.7 meters. The 21mm lens can increase the distance between the main body and the background, and put more background than 35mm, the picture is more impactful.

1.5 m

1.5 meters can get a greater depth of field, get clearer characters and background images.

Bokeh

21mm has many bokeh, really, and very beautiful. The f/2.8 aperture is used up close, and the bokeh has the style of leica summicron 35mm f/2 v4.

Not many masters have used 21mm lenses in history. Let Rupp Siff like to use Leica 21mm. His photos are very stable on 21mm perspective control, and there is almost no perspective distortion. It is indeed a master.

leica elmarit-m 28mm f2.8
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