Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/03/14
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]BD wrote (in response to a post about the qualities of the 35 pre-asph.): ROFLOL! :-) Glow=flare, distortion,softness Flare and "softness" can certainly contribute; distortion I'm not so sure about, unless one wants to link residual distortion in optical designs to tradeoffs in astigmatism, field curvature, and spherical aberrations. Me, I certainly wouldn't go there... However, let me add some more speculation to this persistent subject (I'm sure I'm not the first guy to bring this up.) Simply put, some lens designs image a point of light as a bright spot surrounded by a darker patch (Leica lenses are by no means unique in this regard.) Areas of the negative which don't get much exposure don't show this dark patch. Therefore, they show higher resolution. The highlight areas do show up this additional blurring component, therefore edges get softer in the highlight areas. So, it is possible for a lens to look softer in the highlights than in the shadows. Some lenses exhibit this quality more than others. Throw in a bit of flare, etc., and there ya go... Bob Palmieri