Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/11/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 11:52 PM 1998-11-19 +0200, Mike Dembinski wrote: >Back in the days before I traded darkroom for kids, 16"x20" prints were the >final output of my photographic labourings. There's just no way those >Soviet lenses could cut it at enlargements that size. > >So, there we are. For anyone hankering after a f/1.5 Jupiter or a 20mm >Russar - the lenses may be one hundredth of the price (!), but if large >prints are required, stick to Leitz! This is absurd. First, a LOT of us on this list have home darkrooms, but I would suspect that damned few of us do larger than 8" by 10" work. Anything larger escalates the cost dramatically, and, frankly, isn't worth it, as the pictures then can only be displayed in a large hall. I am a proud Leica owner, but I'm certainly not wealthy enough to own a personal art gallery! Second, lens variations in SPS optics are immense, as they were with Zeiss and Leitz lenses until 1970 or so. These lenses are hand-assembled. As I have sad before, ad nauseam et ad infinitum, always buy with a MBG, and pick-and-choose. The best are phenomenal. The worst are horrid. Third, the design of the 1.5/5cm Sonnar or 1.5/50 Jupiter-3 dates from '31. You are buying, for $100, a 1931 design. But, a good one WILL equal a Summilux in performance. I do not know this Mr Dembinski and, from the rathe aggressive tone in his post, suspect he is a bit of an edge-liver, but, if he wishes to post a one thousand dollar bond, I will provide him for ten days with my personal 1.5/50 Jupiter-3 and 1.4/50 Summilux so that he may test them himself. Fourth, Mr Dembinski has never tested, apparently, the 5.6/20 Russar. This is a Zeiss Topogon design. He should try it: I have some edge enlargements from 24" by 30" crops which he would find most interesting. Fifth, that Mr Dembinski, buying in some Warsaw slum, has a single bad experience is statistically meaningless. I have owned dozens of SPS lenses and currently own a score or so. Pick and choose, lads, that's the way. The best is yet to come. Marc msmall@roanoke.infi.net FAX: +540/343-7315 Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!