DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register) 
 

DPChallenge Forums >> Individual Photograph Discussion >> Street Life
Pages:  
Showing posts 26 - 37 of 37, (reverse)
AuthorThread
 04/27/2013 01:30:06 PM · #26
Isn't it a bigger piece of glass?
 04/27/2013 01:31:50 PM · #27
Really, it's fairly simple - as the lens gets faster, the lens needs to have larger lens elements in order to project a sufficiently large image circle to cover the aperture.

And of course, as you go faster, you see more of the 'character' of each lens, sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, so with really fast lenses, it's critical that they are engineered well enough to have a desirable character even wide open.

Many of the really good modern lenses also incorporate fluorite elements to remove chromatic aberration, and since these are single crystals that are artificially grown to optical specifications, then ground and polished to spec, you can bet that adds significant cost to the lens as well.

04/27/2013 03:58:17 PM · #28
I have resolved myself to shooting with the Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f1.1 it is a poor mans Noktilux
I also have the Voightlander Nokton 35mm f1.2 and that is very cool too.

It seems that with the Leica MM (as far as i can tell so far) has a preference to older glass.. My friend has left the FLE ASPH 35 and 50 summilux at my house (they are on eBay) so i have been comparing shots and of cause the summilux's are both amazing but have no character on the MM they just look SHARP! but my wife's Leica 35mm Summaron made in 1950 makes amazing shots..
 04/29/2013 06:26:38 PM · #29
Originally posted by Dennisheckman:
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Originally posted by Garry:
I'll apologize upfront for my naivete, but why would somebody get a camera with a black and white only sensor? What is the benefit of this over a color sensor followed by B&W processing?

Basically, a color sensor involves using filters to split the light into 3 components (RGB) before capture. Each photo-receptor-site on the sensor has 3 little components, to capture each wavelength of the split. They're not in perfect alignments, so various forms of correction have to applied to create the RAW image.

The B/W-only sensor of the Leica bypasses all that, with startlingly beautiful results. There's nothing else like it.


Right Robert, there are color filters on regular sensors, RGB, but with the MM, they simply replace the color filters with clear filters so the sensor is picking up all wavelenghts of light. The native ISO of the sensor is 320 instead of 160. There is vertualy no noise all the way up to 10,000 ISO.

About a month ago, I bought the Leica M-Notcilux 50mm ASPH lens. OMG what a lens! I wasn't planning on buying it, but the local camera store here ordered one two years ago, and after it arrived they were calling around to find out who might be interested in it. I thought about it for a few days, and then decided to get it. You only live once, I figure. I will post more shot from it here soon.


I spotted you had a Noctilux just the other day! I bought myself an M9 last week and got my first lens for it on Saturday - just a Zeiss 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar though - it has some character and I've had it optimised for f/1.5. I think my next lens will be the 35mm FLE but not for a while. I need to get acquainted with shooting this way before I splash out any more.

Looking forward to seeing what you fine fellows produce with this stuff! I'll be a way behind for a while.
 04/29/2013 10:15:08 PM · #30
"noctilux" = "nightlight" :-)

Is it because that line of lenses specializes in ultra-wide apertures?
 04/29/2013 11:37:07 PM · #31
Originally posted by GeneralE:
"noctilux" = "nightlight" :-)

Is it because that line of lenses specializes in ultra-wide apertures?

Yup!
 04/29/2013 11:40:27 PM · #32
Originally posted by Paul:
I spotted you had a Noctilux just the other day! I bought myself an M9 last week and got my first lens for it on Saturday - just a Zeiss 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar though - it has some character and I've had it optimised for f/1.5. I think my next lens will be the 35mm FLE but not for a while. I need to get acquainted with shooting this way before I splash out any more.

Looking forward to seeing what you fine fellows produce with this stuff! I'll be a way behind for a while.


Wow! Another Leica owner! Seems like we have a good start to a Leica Club here. I hardly believe you will be behind for a while. I find shooting with it a very enjoyable experience. I've learned how to zone focus and hyper focus and I have gotten much faster at precise on the go focusing. I don't hit every shot, but neither does an SLR with auto focus. Looking forward to seeing what you produce Paul.
 04/29/2013 11:46:43 PM · #33
Very nice! I remember my Dad telling me when I was a kid that the Leicas were the best. If you happen to get tired of it, I'll be happy to look after it for you. ;-)

Look forward to seeing more photos. Trollman on here has an M9 and I love his photos.
 04/30/2013 06:31:10 AM · #34
I am very 'up for' A leica gang, maybe we can do a month where we only submit using the Leica .. and/or maybe start a Leica side challenge. we will be publicly flogged for our snobbery but I don't mind that :)

I have just sold my Leica R system with DMR :( but the monochrom is so good I am thinking also about selling my RD-1 and M8 too...
 04/30/2013 09:42:01 AM · #35
Sigh. Me and my baby Leica are jealous. Still, my little point and shoot is one of my favourite cameras.
 04/30/2013 12:49:08 PM · #36
Leicas are a bit of an anachronism without autofocus. You have to like manually focusing, have a sharp eye> a good feeling for distances and understanding of dof. In street shooting with my m43 camera I was not particularly successful using zone focusing with adapted manual lenses and did not enjoy the experience. I guess this is where the Leicas are better?

The MM should be criticised for only having a minimum shutter speed of 1/4000. To use fast glass on bright days and Max low Iso of 360 you'll have to use a nd filter. I would'nt want to put anyghing in front of such equisite glass except for my subject.
 04/30/2013 02:46:23 PM · #37
Originally posted by Olyuzi:
Leicas are a bit of an anachronism without autofocus. You have to like manually focusing, have a sharp eye> a good feeling for distances and understanding of dof. In street shooting with my m43 camera I was not particularly successful using zone focusing with adapted manual lenses and did not enjoy the experience. I guess this is where the Leicas are better?

The MM should be criticised for only having a minimum shutter speed of 1/4000. To use fast glass on bright days and Max low Iso of 360 you'll have to use a nd filter. I would'nt want to put anyghing in front of such equisite glass except for my subject.


You are right, you do have to like using MF lenses, and I do very much. I have a good eye for distance, (something I practice), and the DOF scale on the lens helps too. I don't know if Leica lenses are any better at zone focusing than another brand of MF lens, but they are a dream to focus. I do know that if I set it to hyper focal distance and start stooting, the quality of the image is far better than other lenses. That's due to the quality of the lens, glass, etc.

I have a high quality B&W ND filter for the Noctilux 0.95 and I use it in very bright scenes. But the Noctilux is a specialty lens. It is made to be used in lower light and still get a stable shutter speed with exceptional image results. I think somewhere they advertise using a ND filter at a beach in the middle of the day. You can do that, just need a very high quality filter and expect some extra vignetting.

The low ISO of the MM is 160, it is the pull setting. You still lose a whole EV of dynamic range though. 360 ISO is the native setting for the sensor. It is 80 and 160 on the M9 even though it is the identical sensor.
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 09/04/2025 09:34:06 AM

Please log in or register to post to the forums.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 09/04/2025 09:34:06 AM EDT.