Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/10/28
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Mark, Unless you've used one of these lenses, your criticism is theoretical and unproven. My experiences with the zoom parallel NS's. It's a heck of a lens. Just not too sharp at f2 and f2.8 :-). This zoom and the 100 apo are the ONLY reasons I maintain an R system. Not the 50 summicron. It's a great lens, but not from any practical standpoint better than my Contax 50 f1.4 or even my Nikkor AI f1.4 . But neither of these systems has a 35-70 zoom as good as Leica's. John At 12:43 AM 10/27/1999 -0700, Mark Rabiner wrote: >"N.S. Ng" wrote: >> >> Hello, >> >> I have been using this lens for about 11/2 years, I purchased this because I >> like to have a short range zoom and on occassions when I want to travel >> light. Many of my shots were taken at f4. My other zoom is a 70-210 >> Angeniuex. I have the 50 Summicron R as well. >> >> The 35-70 f4, is a fine performer. At its widest aperture, f4, its >> performance is better than the 50 Summicron at f4. It seems to be sharper, >> probably due to its higher contrast. I have also compared the performance at >> 35mm. end to my 35 mm. Summicron-M ( non- aspherical) at f.4 and I could not >> see any difference. I have not compared this to my 35mm. Summilux-Asph. At >><Snip> > >IF the 35-70 f4,zoom is sharper at f4 than the 50 Summicron is more then >just a >"fine performer". The 50 Summicron has been lens all other 50mm lenses have >been compared against for decades (but not usually zooms) and defines "Leica" >and I won't go on and on. >That zoom would be on the cover of Time: the man of the year would be a >lens...a >technological object. Like the Prozac pill. >Comparing the results of a premium quality if not legendary fixed lens to a >zoom >at all is a little unlogical in my opinion but saying the zoom is better is >downright delusional. Wouldn't it be nice if we lived in a world where you >could >get a zoom sharper than a 50 Summicron?! I'll dream about that tonight! >Zoom technology has come far hasn't it? NOT THAT FAR! In the morning I'll be >waking up to the real world again. >What the zoom does better is zoom. Everything else is a trade-off. >Especially in >anything resembling a flair/backlit situation. Too many elements! Too much >wizbang! >Mark Rabiner >