Re: Too Hot To Handle in Pop

[Dan Cardish <dcardish@microtec.net>]

At 02:35 PM 06-03-97 PST, David wrote:
>     Hi,
>     
>      I was browsing the articles in Too Hot To Handle in February 1997 
>     issue of Popular Photography.  There Pop mentioned something about the 
>     Leica lens legends,
>     
>     "For example, when we recently tested the legendary 50mm f/2 Summicron 
>     and 50mm f/2.8 Elmar made in Germany by Leica (November, '96 page 86), 
>     we found their performance to be near the top of their class but 
>     hardly in a class by themselves.  According to our SQF test (which are 
>     based on MTF, the most accurate lens testing system in use), several 
>     Japanese 50mm lenses from top makers equalled them and a few even 
>     deged them out. ....."
>     
The proof is in the pudding.  You can test these lenses til the cows come
home.  Nothing is proven until you actually go out and photograph real life
objects, people and scenes.  Only then can you truly come to any sort of
conclusions as to the relative merits of a lens.  And I suspect that when
the dust settles, the leica lenses will more than hold their own.  Some of
my best pictures were taken with my 50/1.4 summilux.  Yet when I
photographed a test target with it, it compared miserably with similar tests
I performed with a Minolta 50/1.4 lens.   I can do one of two things.  Worry
myself silly as to why my expensive leica lens was such a lemmon, or simply
continue to try to take memorable pictures with it  (which it is perfectly
capable of doing; if only I'm up to it!).

Dan C.