[Leica] Less you scoff at R lenses compared to 21st Century M lenses.........

Wed Jul 5 02:01:11 PDT 2017

In that era it wasn’t only zooms that were Minolta. The 24mm f2.8 R lens was still the Minolta design up to the end of production, though again, I believe built by Leica in a Leica quality mount.
cheers,
Frank D.

> On 5 Jul 2017, at 09:57, Christopher Crawford <chris at chriscrawfordphoto.com> wrote:
> 
> Some Leica R zooms were actually Minolta designs, and the earlier ones
> were actually built by Minolta. That’s back when R-series cameras were
> still based on Minolta designs (R3, R4, R5, R6, R7).
> 
> -- 
> Chris Crawford
> Fine Art Photography
> Fort Wayne, Indiana
> 260-437-8990
> 
> http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com  My portfolio
> 
> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-Crawford/48229272798
> Become a fan on Facebook
> 
> 
> 
> On 7/5/17, 4:47 AM, "LUG on behalf of Frank Dernie"
> <lug-bounces+chris=chriscrawfordphoto.com at leica-users.org on behalf of
> Frank.Dernie at btinternet.com> wrote:
> 
>> Interesting Frank, with respect to the R zoom I had always thought that
>> they were Sigma designs built by Leica to Leica tolerances in Leica type
>> mounts. Thanks for the update.
>> My main 50 is the f1.4 Leica on an M though.
>> cheers,
>> Frank D.
>> 
>>> On 4 Jul 2017, at 23:07, Frank Filippone <red735i at verizon.net> 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
>> 
>> 
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