Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/03/14

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Subject: [Leica] (no subject)
From: bdcolen at MIT.EDU (B D Colen)
Date: Mon Mar 14 06:49:54 2005

Seth Rosner contends that my equating glow with distortion is ...

Rubbish.

My favorite lens, the DR Summicron, "glows" at all apertures. Flare is gone 
by f/2,8 except when light sources are within the frame. Distortion 
virtually imperceptible. At apertures f/4 through f/8 it is sharper (better 
resolution and equal contrast)  than any other 50/2 Summicron Leitz-Leica 
has made.


----

Boy, Seth, I've seen some BS in my day, but to right "flare is gone by f 2.8
except when light sources are within the frame" is a real corker. What that
translates to in English is that the lens is flare prone. Period. Assuming 
that
you're doing photography of anything except rocks and trees with the light
behind you, how can you with a straight face say that a lens is flare proof
"except when light sources are within the frame?" That's a common 
photographic
situation. And to say that flare is gone by 2.8, when it's an f2 lens, and
people presumably by a lens to use it at it's maximum aperature? Please.

And to say that distortion is "virtually imperceptible" means that it is
perceptible - with the naked eye.

You may like the lens - that's fine. I owned one back when and I was happy 
with
it at the time - I have some images I took with it that I like to this day. 
But
looking at them, I can see that they "glow" - they are just a tad soft. And
yes, they are focused properly. ;-)

Today Leica manufacturers some of the best lenses ever created for 35 mm
photography - but that's today.

And Erwin Puts? Don't go there. ;-)

And saying that I am on the warpath against Leica because I am criticizing
lenses manufactured 50 years ago is like saying that I'm on the warpath 
against
Ford if I point out that the cars Ford is manufacturing today make the cars 
of
30 years ago look like junk heaps.



Replies: Reply from sethrosner at nycap.rr.com (Seth Rosner) ([Leica] (no subject))