[Leica] Image Circles

Ken Iisaka ken at iisaka.com
Wed Jan 16 09:37:57 PST 2019


As most things are, “it depends”

Certainly, Leica engineers would not consider the image quality outside the
image circle of 43mm or so necessary to cover 36x24mm. However, some lenses
have been shown to have a larger usable image circle.

The biggest constraint is the diameter of the mount which is pretty small.
If the position of the exit pupil is close to the mount, you may not
experience vignetting due to the mount. And yes, wider apertures would
result in greater vignetting.

Back in the film days, I have encountered people using Leitz Viso lenses on
Medium format cameras with a focal plane shutter. I recall that Elmer 65mm,
90mm, and 135mm provides enough coverage.

After losing my SL to theft last month, I had been pondering replacing it
with a Fujifilm or Hasselblad, because the Olympus micro four thirds is
adequate for 80% of my use cases. If I bother carrying a second system for
tripod mounted landscapes, it doesn’t have to be hand-held camera like the
SL or the M.

Fujifilm makes excellent lenses and I would not be surprised if you get
better results by using the native lenses than adapted lenses.
On Wed, Jan 16, 2019 at 08:58 Bob Adler via LUG <lug at leica-users.org> wrote:

> I think you’re right on Paul. There is a thread on the GetDPI Medium
> Format forum that concludes exactly this with good examples...
> Thanks,
> Bob
>
> Bob Adler
> www.robertadlerphotography.com
>
> > On Jan 15, 2019, at 5:51 PM, Paul Roark via LUG <lug at leica-users.org>
> wrote:
> >
> > I think it's safe to assume it will not.  Leica is not about to built the
> > best, most compact lens for a "35" film/sensor size (minimum image circle
> > about 44mm) that would cover the 55mm image circle you need.  All else
> > being equal, the larger the circle the lower the quality/$.
> >
> > Paul
> > www.PaulRoark.com
> >
> > On Tue, Jan 15, 2019 at 4:22 PM Robert Adler via LUG <
> lug at leica-users.org>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> Hi All,
> >> I need some technical help please. I'm trying to find what the size of
> the
> >> image circle on both the 75mm f/2 ASPH and the 135mm f/3.4 ASPH. The
> real
> >> question is will the image circles of these lens cover a sensor size of
> >> 43.8mm X 32.9? Is the image circle different at f/2 than f/11?
> >> Thanks for your help,
> >> Bob
> >>
> >> Bob Adler
> >> www.robertadlerphotography.com
> >> *"Capturing Light One Frame At A Time"*
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Leica Users Group.
> >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> >>
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Leica Users Group.
> > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>
> _______________________________________________
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