Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/04/25
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Sorry to rehash a subject, but I have been out of town for a few days and did not get a chance to respond during the discussion about the tri-elmar. Yes indeed, the Tri Elmar does have a flare problem. In particular at the 50mm setting. I have a stack of slides that were trash because of the unpredictable nature of this lens at the 50mm setting. What was baffling to me was that the flare occured in shots that would not normally be a problem for most modern lenses. I found that hazy/bright days gave the tri elmar fits. The flare was identical to that seen in the shots posted earlier on this forum. The character of the flare made me believe that it has to do with reflections in the inner barrel of the lens, between element and camera, not between lens elements themselves. If you look into the back of the TE while pointing it at a light source you can see that a LOT of light reflects off the inner barrel in the 50mm setting. Little or none at the 28 or 35mm setting. I also noticed that the inner barrel is painted more of a flat grey than black, when compared to my other Leica or Contax lenses. If this was an SLR lens you would be able to see the flare before taking the shot...and correct for the situation by reframing or changing magnification. Since you can not see THROUGH the lens you are left unaware until you get the ruined shots back. It was this nasty traight along with a ton of distortion at 28mm that made me give up my TE. The fact that these issues have not been more of an issue with the LUG and especially with Erwin Puts has suprised me. How the TE is constantly refered to as one of Leicas "best" really has me stumped. Am I too picky? Are most users not seeing the problem in the snapshots they are getting back from walmart? Best wishes Dan States Grand Forks (Americas wonderland) ND _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html