[Leica] Leica-M 35mm apo v. 50mm Elmar-M pan

[Frank F]

The 50 Elmar is a sleeper. Sharp and tiny.
Nice comparison testing. The enlarged shots are really easy to see the
differences.

On Wed, Nov 16, 2022 at 1:34 PM Paul Roark via LUG <lug at leica-users.org>
wrote:

> The Leica-M 35mm apo is an excellent, modern lens.  However, for daylight
> landscape shooters who like the least heavy outfit, the now-discontinued
> 50mm Elmar can produce some outstanding results (at f/6.7 down [within an
> 8x10 crop] or if used in a multi-shot panorama mode).  Below is a link to a
> comparison of f/11 shots with the 35 apo v. the 50 Elmar pan (4 stitched
> images).  Both images were enhanced with Topaz's AI Gigapixel software.
>
> https://paulroark.com/Leica_35mm_Apo_v_50mm_Elmar_pan.jpg
>
> In addition to the 50mm pan's sharpness advantage, note the lack of corner
> shading and rectilinear distortion.  The 50mm pan image looks much more
> like the scene itself.  (Note that straight lines in some compositions will
> look curved, however.)
>
> The Sony a7c with the collapsible Elmar fits into the Sony RX1 case.  That
> case is made for the belt, but I found it too heavy for that.  With a
> shoulder strap addition, however, the case is excellent.  It makes a good
> one-lens, daylight, "walk-around" landscape outfit.  The camera+lens weight
> is about 80% of the camera+35apo weight.  With the 35mm, however, I usually
> also take the 90mm collapsible on my belt; so the total system weight and
> convenience is more than the 80% comparison suggests.  The 50 Elmar, being
> a rather traditional Tessar formula, is very sharp in the center (sharper
> than the 35 apo at f/11 -- my preferred f-stop), which, particularly with
> Topaz's AI Gigapixel software, makes enlargement of cropped images
> practical.
>
> Of course, I take the 35 apo in many if not most situations, but for light
> weight, daylight shooting, the collapsible 50mm Elmar makes a very useful
> alternative.
>
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com
>
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-- 
Frank Filippone
BMWRed735i at gmail.com