Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/07/26

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Lenses' test for grey rendition in B/W
From: Doug Herr <telyt560@cswebmail.com>
Date: 26 Jul 2000 08:18:55 -0700

On Wed, 26 July 2000, Michel LE wrote:

> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> If some of you have made a test regarding grey tonal range rendition of
> Leica lenses 
> for B&W work, I'll be delighted if he's willing to share his experience
> over here.
> 
> Basically, I'll be very interested if you have a test where a same scene
> has been taken with lenses of different brands and where one can see a
> difference in the tonal range on the negative.
> 
> As far as I'am concerned, the issue of resolution in this discussion is NOT
> important.
> 

Michel,

My tests have involved R lenses and color film vs. "Brand N" and my observation is that the Leica glass gives me a longer tonal range with deeper shadows and brighter highlights, showing greater detail at the extremes of the tonal range.  My guess is that the Leica lenses control internal reflections to a greater degree than the "Brand N" lenses.  According to this theory the shadows are not fogged by scattered reflected light; the deepest shadows are darker and the subtle details in those areas are not obscured by fog.  I found it hard to explain the differences just by looking at the slides but once I had high-resolution scans and Photoshop the difference was obvious.

Doug Herr
Sacramento
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/telyt
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