Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/12/22

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Subject: [Leica] Re: Nikon F/F2
From: John Gong <jgong@cisco.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1998 12:00:37 +0000

This LUG stuff is telepathic...  This past weekend,  I was performing a side-by-side comparison between:  R8 with 80 Summilux and an F2 with 85 1.4 AIS.  Subject was our xmas tree from 6 ft.  

I used the same roll of film, same lighting.  It was print film - AGFA HDC 200.  

Conclusions:  Well, not really conclusive in all regards, as a number of things affecting the final result were beyond my control - namely negative processing and printing.

at f1.4, the R8 is sharper in the center and edge.
at f2.8, the R8 is sharper at the edges.
at 5.6, the results are virtually the same.

Other misc. details:

Color rendition and saturation was the same.

Bokeh behind the focus plane were very similar.

I haven't tested the lenses with people yet.  That comes next.  One thing I really like about the Leica lenses is their ability to render the in-focus subjects nearly 3d in its differentiation from the background.  I don't know if this is true with Nikkors.

My next test will be to use slide film - then the variables involved with printing are eliminated.

The price difference between the kits is dramatic:  R8 + 80 Summilux cost me $3500;  F2 + 85 + Sekonic 308 meter  cost $1100...


Happy Holidays,

John