Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/05/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Well, folks, here are a couple of shots that really show the characteristics of the 90/2 APO ASPH. I don't own this lens, I borrowed it to see what it might do for my theatre and concert work. These are from the "Music of Remembrance" series, but the first has not been seen here before. These are old Tri-X, f/2 at 1/125. The performers are about 30 feet away. The faces were burned in slightly. On this one, I focused on the female cellist's face. Even wide-open, the 90/AA is so sharp you could commit suicide with it. But you pay a price--the focus drops off more quickly than a conventional-design lens, so the *usable* depth of field is less. Look at the other performers in the above picture, and you'll see what I mean. They're just not that far apart, relative to the camera. The Asian cellist on the left may have been moving when I took this, but the others were quite still. http://www2.2alpha.com/~pklein/musicremem/2-09SchulhofBowsWeb.jpg This one shows the same effect, to a lesser degree. http://www2.2alpha.com/~pklein/musicremem/2-03LonyaMischaWeb.jpg Now here's a picture taken with my "Nippon-Sonnar," a 1950s 85/2 Nikkor, at f/2.8 http://www2.2alpha.com/~pklein/currentpics/quartet.htm Now granted, it's a stop down, and from a bit farther away. And the 90/AA is visibly better at f/2 than the Nikkor is at f/2.8. But the three performers in the front are all in acceptable focus, and the quality is still quite usable. Perhaps curvature of field helped me here. Even at f/2, the Nikkor is still usable, though decidedly a notch below its f/2.8 performance. http://www2.2alpha.com/~pklein/currentpics/katimsaward.htm This session has triggered some serious thinking. One one had, I look at the image quality of the 90/AA, and I think, I *want* that. On the other hand, I might be better off pushing Tri-X to 800 and shooting at f/2.8 whenever possible for greater depth-of-field. At which point, other, less costly lenses are quite good enough. Now I've got to borrow a pre-ASPH 90 Summicron-M (the small one) and try that one out under similar conditions. - --Peter Klein Seattle, WA - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html