Re: The Leica R8 delema

[Pascal <cyberdog@ibm.net>]

At 15:27 -0400 02-08-1997, MyersPete@aol.com wrote:
>Dear Group:
>
>I am a Canon 1N user considering moving to the R8. The reason for the move =
up
>would be to gain optical quality. Not sharpness, so much as roundness and
>smooth fall off into the depth of the image (bokeh).
> (snip)
>So, how is the new 28mm f2.8R? Plus, I gather that the 35mm f2 is just
>amazing.
> (snip)
>
>Pete

I am now using the new Elmarit-R 28 mm f/2.8 for a month, and can only give
you some preliminary comments.

1=B0 This is the best 35 mm wide-angle lens according to most test reports I
have come across (see on the web:
http://www.scu.edu.tw/~sunnny/photozone/easy.htm). The excellent French
magazine Chasseur d'Images ("image hunter") tested it in one of this year's
issues. The results were very flattering, but its price unreasonable for
such a "banal" lens: "En d=E9pit de sa superbe qualit=E9 optique et m=E9cani=
que,
sans =E9quivalent dans le domaine des objectifs pour reflex, le prix de ce
grand-angle est d=E9lirant, d'autant que ses caract=E9ristiques techniques s=
ont
des plus banales." (translation: Its superb optical and mechanical quality
nothwithstanding, without equivalent in the field of SLR lenses, the price
of this wide-angle is delirious, and even more so considering that its
technical specs are very ordinary).

2=B0 My limited personal experience tells me that this lens is a very good
performer. It shows no signs of barrel or cushion distorsion. It is sharp,
although I sometimes have the impression that it is beaten in this domain
by my standard lens Summicron-R 50mm f/2.0.

3=B0 A negative point: the focusing ring on my 28mm operates smoothly from
the minimum distance up to 10m, but from 10m to infinity it becomes quite
hard. And as you have only to turn a small bit from 10m to infinity, this
is annoying, because it is difficult to focus precisely. On the other hand,
because of the large depth-of-field, this is not always a big problem. But
it should not happen on such expensive lens. My Nikon 28-50mm zoom was
better on this point.

Greetings,

Pascal

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