Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2017/07/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Not at all nerdy. A really fascinating insight. Thanks for sharing with us. It would be interesting to see the images though. Peter On 04/07/2017 23:07, Frank Filippone wrote: > #1. if you do not wish to read about techie stuff, quit now. This is a > very > nerdy test that takes absolutely no interesting pictures. It is a Lens > test. Period. > > > > For a while I have been trying to cut the weight and bulk of my M kit, at > the same time, making travel photography less complicated. > > My preference is towards the least user intervention in the photographic > process. Changing lenses is a big distraction. > > Getting a SL and lenses, is not in my budget, even after they dropped the > price of the body by almost $1500. > > > > Museums and Churches are dark places. I want one fast lens to do Churches > and museums. 50mm seems the right lens. > > To that end, I collected a bunch of lenses, and ( thanks to Doug, yet > again) > a Sony A7II body (24MP body). > > Using that body as my test device, I tested out my 50mm lenses for use in > low light conditions.. Full open Aperture.. For zooms, they were only > evaluated at 50mm. > > I used a tripod, self timer, manual focusing at max magnification, distance > of about 12 feet, in bright light, ISO 50. > > My subject is the cedar fence ( now 45 years old) in my front yard. Lens > Hoods were used in all cases. > > I took 3 images for each lens, keeping the best , and evaluated all the > images through LRCC at 1:1. > > Only the center of each image is evaluated, at full aperture ( F1.4 or > whatever) Because that is how I will use this lens. Full open aperture. > > > > For the results.. Best to worst.. This is all about central resolution, > and > ability to get fine detail... > > 1) Leica M 50mm F1.4 ASPH. Wins by a big margin optically. Fully > manual > operation, as are all M and R lenses. > > 2) LeicaFLEX Vario Elmar R 28-70 F3.5-4.5 ( 1990 design, Rom version, > with Novoflex adapter. Fully manual) ( Stick that in your .. "old lenses > suck". pipe and smoke it) > > 3) Sony 55mm F1.8 ( very close to the Leicaflex lens. Lightest lens in > the test and it is AF and auto-aperture) > > 4) Leica M 50mm F2 ( early 1990's vintage) > > The next bunch are pretty close, but if you leave out 1 lens, the > differentials are greater. so the lenses do decrease in capability > > 5) Leica M 28/35/50 Tri Elmar F4 > > 6) Sony 28-70 F4.5-5.6 Zoom (AF) > > 7) Nikon 50mm F1.4 AF non D lens ( with Fotodiox adapter, no AF as it > has > a mechanical aperture connection to the body) > > 8) Nikon 50mm F1.4 G lens ( which will AF on the Sony body with the > Fotodiox adapter) > > Big gap in image quality, but that is not the prime purpose of these lenses > > 9) 7 Artisans 50mm F1.1 Chinese (New, $369, 400grams, delivered in 1 > week!) > > 10) Noctilux 50mm F1.0 > > > > Yes, the best lens of the bunch was the 21st century marvel. But you > probably believed that before you started to read this. > > To me, the surprise was the Leicaflex lens doing so well... FYI, I believe > this lens is a Leica design produced by Sigma in Japan > > And to me, the most rewarding part of the test is how well the Sony 55 F1.8 > lens did..since that lens is part of my proposed new kit. Optically, it IS > good enough to do what I ask of it.. > > > > Remember, these results are specific to MY lenses and MY needs (wants?). > If > you were to evaluate your kit, or, even using my images, or making up new > images using my lenses, may result in a different order. (YMMV) > > > > Comments? > > > > I also tested the Sony 16-35 Zoom lens against the Leica 16/18/21mm Wide > Angle Tri Elmar. > > Hands down, the Leica lens is superior at 16mm. At 18mm, they are much > closer, but the Leica is still better. At 21mm, the Sony lens is superior. > > > At these focal lengths, manual focusing errors are more prone to happen, > AF > was used and results were gathered from the AF Sony images. > > > > BTW, my time to do this came about as I tend to my Wife, as she is now > lying > prone ( last 4 weeks) with back issues. so getting further than the cedar > fence surrounding the house is an issue.. > > > > Frank Filippone > > > > Red735i at verizon.net > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > . > -- =========================================================== Dr Peter Dzwig