Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/03/28
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Tarek-- Of course you don't understand. Don Rickles was an American comedian. he was well known for shooting at f/22 even in the darkest lounges of Vegas, where guys like Norm Crosby opened for Englebert and Don Ho imitators. He (Rickles) had to use a flash of course. One of his tricks -- he became very good at this -- was to bounce the light off his head. Vince On Sun, Mar 28, 2010 at 5:58 AM, Tarek Charara <tcharara at mac.com> wrote: > I don't understand this discussion... You choose whatever f-stop you need > to get the result you desire, no? If I need depth of field I close, when > there isn't any light, I open the aperture, change ISO or use a tripod. > What > is so complicated? That goes for all brands of lenses. > > All the best from the south of France! > > Tarek > > ------------------------------------------------- > Tarek Charara > <http://www.pix-that-stimulate.com> > > NO ARCHIVE > > > > Le 28 mars 10 ? 04:13, Mark Rabiner a ?crit : > > > Frank writes: >>> "If you are shooting at f5.6 Leica lenses are a bit of a waste of >>> money. My Leica 50mm f1.4 is noticeable better that my Nikon 50mm f1.4 >>> -at- f1.4, but at f5.6 i see very little difference. The price >>> differential is almost 10:1. >>> That is my experience in general, sure all lenses get better stopped >>> down, very particularly the cheap ones. What makes Leica worth the >>> money (if you have it) is it loses so little quality as you open up, >>> compared to others. >>> IME." >>> >>> >>> I echo Franks opinion. A number of years ago one of the big US photo >>> magazines did a survey of all major manufacturer 50mm lenses on the >>> market. I forgot whether it was Modern Photography or Popular >>> Photography. The survey included resolution, flare, fall off, >>> distortion and all the usual suspects. While there were distinct >>> differences wide open, not always in Leica's favor, when closed down >>> to f8, all lenses were virtually identical. This finding was more or >>> less confirmed by Canon in their detailed lens guide of 1969. In fact >>> Canon said that when it came to photographic quality, lenses designed >>> for lesser maximum apertures were better at reduced lens stops than >>> faster lenses. Generally a f3.5 lens stopped down to f8 would >>> outperform a f2 lens stopped down to the same aperture. The slower >>> lenses had fewer elements and were of simpler design. Given the >>> technology of that period this implied lower flare and internal >>> reflection. Erwin Puts concludes that the f3.5 50mm Elmar lasted so >>> long in the quality lens arsenal because the design was so simple that >>> technical improvements in lens construction, including coating and >>> rare earth glasses, made little difference in actual performance. I >>> don't know if advances in lens design have closed the gap but if you >>> commonly shoot at apertures of f5.6 through f16, then $3000 objectives >>> are overkill. Better to use the money on a two year supply of single >>> malt scotch or a lifetime supply of Belgian ale (or 100 Tilly hats). >>> Larry Z >>> >>> >> >> I love you guys' opinions. You should all agree with each other. >> Any commercial photographer who shot 99 percent of their jobs they were >> hired to do wide open would never collect and would be laughed out of >> town. >> Wide open shooting with its super limited in focus depth of field look is >> a >> rare look applicable for a small minority of the photographs people want >> to >> be looking at or hire people to make for them. >> Photography is not rhetorical philosophy. Its a craft and a job. >> Does "Leica shooters always shoot wide open" sound good to you? >> It sounds just a great to a working photographer as >> '"Twas brillig, and the slithy toves >> Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;" >> Its not how things sound or read that counts. Its how they look in print. >> More often than not the client wants to see not just the subject but also >> the environment that subject is sitting in. not a mass of wonderful bokeh. >> >> >> >> [Rabs] >> Mark William Rabiner >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >