Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/08/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Last weekend I took a few M8 shots of some friends as we hiked in a Seattle park along the water in the late afternoon. Among those pictures were two, similarly lit, of the same three people, but taken with two different lenses. The size of the faces on the images are almost the same, inviting comparison. One lens was an old Canon Serenar 50/1.8 from the 1950s, recently CLAed by DAG. The other was a current 35 Summilux ASPH. Take a look at these 100% crops of a face. Put them side by side if you can. This is not a resolution contest. It's simply a comparison of how the lenses draw, under similar (not absolutely identical) conditions. Here is the old Canon 50/1.8, 1/90 at f/11 http://users.2alpha.com/~pklein/temp/L1001098-1to1-50-1_8Canon-w.jpg And here is the 35 Summilux ASPH, 1/180 at f/8. http://users.2alpha.com/~pklein/temp/L1001109-1to1-35LuxAsph-w.jpg Both were processed in Capture One with the same white balance (5000K), and with sharpening at the first "notch." Both are one stop down from their best aperture. Both shots used an IR filter (I have a 40mm lens hood/Series VI filter holder for the Canon, and the 39mm B+W IR filter fits in nicely).The warmer picture (the Canon) was actually taken about an hour earlier, so the warmth is in the lens, not the time of day. Canon 1/90 at f/11, Lux Asph 1/180 at f/8, both one stop narrower than their probable best apertures. On the M8 sensor, the Lux is resolving a little bit more detail in the hair. But that's not what's really important. The Canon has less microcontrast, and there's a definite "glow" to the image. It's also a much kinder lens. The Lux ASPH is mercilessly sharp and contrasty. My suspicion is at least one aspect of the elusive "Leica Glow" has to do with the way that bright areas diffuse slightly into adjacent dark areas. An optical "flaw," but one that has a very pleasant effect under the right circumstances. On film, my favorite 50mm lens, the DR Summicron, draws very much like the Canon. Which makes me all the more eager to try the latter on the M8. Anyway, Sean Reid is right, those old designs make great sunny-day lenses. And they are a lot kinder to people over 25! --Peter