Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2008/01/10

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: [Leica] Old Leica lenses
From: len-1 at comcast.net (Leonard Taupier)
Date: Thu Jan 10 07:28:29 2008
References: <F77845A0-B132-4DAF-997E-D5A2550CDBA4@COMCAST.NET> <642B10EA-4FDA-4C6A-A0F3-BD83BD260EEF@nathanfoto.com>

Hi Nathan,

Thanks for looking and for your thoughtful comments. You are right,  
of course. The Summilux Asph is a vastly superior lens. But the  
Summarit has a charm of its own if used properly. My photos in this  
comparison are not a proper use of the lens. I think portraiture  
might be.  I think what it shows is what digital manipulation can do  
to an image that was not possible 45 years ago when this lens was  
made. I like experimenting with the older Leica lenses just to see  
how they perform. For my more serious old Leica bw film photos I  
prefer my type 1 50mm Summicron and 35mm Summaron in any LTM body.

Best Regards,
Len


On Jan 10, 2008, at 12:45 AM, Nathan Wajsman wrote:

> Thanks for an interesting comparison, Len. I suppose everyone will  
> draw their own conclusions. Mine, even though I viewed the images  
> on a laptop screen (Powerbook G4), is that the Summilux ASPH is so  
> obviously superior to the Summarit that the only possible reason  
> for choosing the Summarit would be budget--and even in that case, I  
> would personally go with one of the modern CV offerings instead.
>
> Nathan
>
> On 8-jan-2008, at 20:07, Leonard Taupier wrote:
>
>> Ever since I purchased my M8 I've been experimenting with it and  
>> my older LTM Leica lenses. This not only gives me an idea on what  
>> my film photos taken with the Leica III series bodies will look  
>> like but it allows me to compare performance to the modern lenses.  
>> I find the older Summars, Xenons and Summarits are very low  
>> contrast, flare easily and definitely need a lens hood at all  
>> times.  However that does not mean they are low resolution lenses.  
>> The next 5 photos will demonstrate what to expect from a 50mm  
>> Summarit directly from the camera and then 3 easy post processing  
>> steps ending up with the comparison of the final photo compared to  
>> a 50mm Summilux Asph.
>>
>> First I would like to mention that none of the photos have  
>> sharpening applied during the process.
>>
>> The first photo is taken directly from the camera and has not been  
>> altered except to convert it from a raw file to a jpeg. All the  
>> Summarit photos are from the same M8 digital photo. It has low  
>> contrast even at f4.
>>
>> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/LeonardT/Summarit/ 
>> L1008908.jpg.html>
>>
>> The 2nd photo is the same as the first except the saturation was  
>> reduced to zero in the raw converter.
>>
>> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/LeonardT/Summarit/ 
>> L1008908_BW.jpg.html>
>>
>> The third is the original except Auto Levels was used on the  
>> image. Things are looking better.
>>
>> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/LeonardT/Summarit/ 
>> L1008908a.jpg.html>
>>
>> The fourth photo is the same as the third except contrast was  
>> increased +20 and green was increased +20 in Color balance.
>>
>> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/LeonardT/Summarit/ 
>> L1008908a_Color_Contrast.jpg.html>
>>
>> or
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/373sce
>>
>> The final picture is a comparison shot to a 50mm Summilux, unaltered.
>>
>> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/LeonardT/Summarit/ 
>> L1008910_SummiluxAsph.jpg.html>
>>
>> or
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/37tctj
>>
>> The Summarit lens cost me $275  1 1/2 years ago. The Summilux cost  
>> me $2350 two years ago.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Len
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>>
>
> Nathan Wajsman
> nathan@nathanfoto.com
> General photography:
> http://www.nathanfoto.com
> http://www.greatpix.eu
> http://www.frozenlight.eu
> Picture-A-Week: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws
> Blog: http://www.fotocycle.dk/blog
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information


Replies: Reply from jsmith342 at gmail.com (Jeffery Smith) ([Leica] Old Leica lenses)
In reply to: Message from LEN-1 at comcast.net (Leonard Taupier) ([Leica] Old Leica lenses)
Message from nathan at nathanfoto.com (Nathan Wajsman) ([Leica] Old Leica lenses)