Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/12/28
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]My latest version of the Summicron R50 also exhibets field curvature of this nature. It is actually quite an irritation in some situations. The one salvation is that with the SLR you can actually SEE the effect before you press the shutter. It can allow you to correct your focus if necessary. Without a doubt the worst curvature of field I have encountered is in the 35mm Elmar 3.5 LTM lens. Focused at infinity the edges are not sharp until F8+..Yet if you have any forground in the shot you will find it is quite sharp at the closest distance in the frame. This can be OK with subjects at extreme angles, but a complete downer in most other situations. Best wishes Dan > >I've been using an f2.8 24mm Elmarit R (ROM) for a while and I find it to >be >most satisfactory. Lovely colour rendition, good flare control and low >distortion to my experience. But it does seem to have more pronounced >field >curvature than my other R lenses. And the field curvature appears to cause >the in focus zone to curve away from the camera when moving away from the >centre of the image. But I'm no techo on this stuff. With my other >lenses, >the curvature is both less and moves towards the camera, it seems. Could >this be caused by gravitational differences between Germany and Japan? > >I'd be happy if this comment tripped a discussion on field curvature, in >general. > >Do any of our more skillful users consider the field curvature >characteristics of their lenses in day to day use? It strikes me that >knowing where the field will be with a wide open wide angle lens could make >for interesting photography. > >Regards > >Rick Dykstra > > > ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com