Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/02/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Tom and others: Leica is the best 35mm camera you can buy, and it ends there. You may find a nicer translation, that is, the Leica lens may render a more pleasing image than an MF lens, but film size will get it for detail and resolution every time. With B&W, you also get more and better tonality with a bigger negative. Ever see a well done 8x10 contact print? Tom At 10:03 AM 2/19/98 EST, you wrote: ><< Even with the high quality and extreme sharpness of Leica lens, does > > anyone believe that they can compare favorably with the image qualities > > produced by medium format lens such as those from Hasselblad? >> > >There are a couple of issues to consider here. > >The first is that even the highest quality medium format lenses are not nearly >as sharp as the best 35 mm lenses. Accordingly, the advantage of medium >format is significantly reduced by this. > >Secondly, the resolution of film has so dramatically improved that the >advantage of medium format has been reduced by this also. The lesser lens >quality of medium format is the limiting factor. Improved film does not has >as much advantage to medium format as it does to 35 mm, because of the >limitation of the lenses. 35 mm lenses can take better advantage of the better >films. > >However, in my opinion, high quality medium format equipment can produce >prints that are somewhat sharper than those taken with the best 35 equipment. >This is evident in prints larger than 11 x 14. > >