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Tri Elmar 28-35-50MM f/4


Guest stanjan0

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Guest stanjan0

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Well, the Tri finally arrived and I opened the package and the lens looked brand new(WOW) so I strapped on my M9 opened the door sat in my car and aimed at my house at f/8. Now I don't think I posted an image here so now I'll try, patience people. The first image is 28MM f/8, second image 50MM f/8, last image 35MM f/8, all right out of the camera only down sizing. I can't get over the sky there was no filter on board. So what do you think?

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It's a great lens. i bought an E49 version as soon as they came out. Great image quality - bit of barrel distortion at 28 but otherwise cracking. I sold mine in the end as i couldn't live with the F4 max aperture. I shoot too much lowlight and might time work. As a daytime travel lens though, it's the tops.

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difficult to say if your photos are sharp or not. In my eyes they aren't, but I may be completely wrong. And it's f8, not the best aperture for checking a lens.

 

Now I say this as I bought a Tri-Elmar some years ago and were a bit disapointed about the quality on the M8. I sent it to Leica for coding and for adjusting and it was totally transformed once it was back. At F4-5,6 it now compares easily with the best Leica-glas actually available from Leica.

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Stephen_W, I can't believe that you say my images are not sharp, then there must be something wrong with your computer. The lens opening was set at f/8 as it was very bright, sunny when those images were captured. I have some captured at widest opening f/4 I'll post later.. Thanks for looking :confused:

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Stephen_W, I can't believe that you say my images are not sharp, then there must be something wrong with your computer. The lens opening was set at f/8 as it was very bright, sunny when those images were captured. I have some captured at widest opening f/4 I'll post later.. Thanks for looking :confused:

 

Below find images shot with the Tri Elmar at f/4 the same day as the ones above. I must admit at f/4 on a very sunny day they are not so good as the others.

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Indeed, at f/4 you start losing contrast. Still the MATE is one of my favourites for "happy snapping". I find that I nearly always use it at 50mm, 28mm is the least used possibly to the slight distortion (& that I have a 28/2 ASPH in the bag).

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I think you should get out of the car first then take your photos.

 

:D

 

Oh you are a wag, James.

 

Mine has gone now (as have the M8 and M9, come to think of it :(), but it was a fine walk around lens and I often went out with just it and a camera, when low light wasn't going to be an issue.

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Got,up early this morning to see if any replies, I want to thank,Stephen, Steve, and even James:p for their remarks and insight. Perhaps I'll get out of the house and snap some and even entertain James. ;)

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I think you should get out of the car first then take your photos.

 

Take it easy, Stanjan! Here in Europe we're envious this summer, because there is no chance to get sun burned this season.

 

So please don't listen to him. Just stick the hand out a little :D

 

Serious, I love the lens, too!

 

Been using it for years on my M8 untill I read how sensitive it is and now it's mostly in the drawer. Had two 49mm mint copies (it was the only lens I used, and being discontinued I thought I must have a back-up). Sold one for a crazy price last year (got an M9) and lately noticed that it appreciated even more this year.

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Tri, I have seen your email address before and figured that Tri was a short acronym for that lens. You must be well fixed to have had three of them, thanks for your reply as to that other guy I guess in Europe there is a different type of sense of humor. Please don't take offense to that I mean no disrespect to European members or anyone else even that other guy. Why no sunshine in Europe this year???

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Tri, I have seen your email address before and figured that Tri was a short acronym for that lens. You must be well fixed to have had three of them, thanks for your reply as to that other guy I guess in Europe there is a different type of sense of humor. Please don't take offense to that I mean no disrespect to European members or anyone else even that other guy. Why no sunshine in Europe this year???

 

Thank you for your nice answer, stanjan :)

I hope you didn't take offense from what we sometimes think passes for humorous, though it could be misunderstood.

Few here were aware of the snowstorms in the more northern states of the US months ago and for you in sunny Florida it may have gone unnoticed, that round here in Germany it has been raining almost every day for months now.

Please enjoy Leica photography also with your new lens and the nice climate in your beautiful surroundings.

 

Best regards from Frankfurt,

Simon

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I have both versions of the lens and while it's a good walkaround lens, the lack of lens speed is an issue. You get lulled into the P&S mentality where pretty much everything is in focus where the faster lenses allow you to isolate what's important in the shot. Depth of field - or lack of it - is unknown to P&S shooters. Take a look at Edmund's Noctilux shots to see what's really special about M photography. If all you know is f4, you are so missing out.

 

You should also know that this lens is very fragile. I once dropped one of mine - in a padded bag - all of 18 inches and it was ruined. The focus and focal length rings jammed and the lens had to be rebuilt by Leica at a cost of £350. Go easy on the focal length ring.

 

Besides, a "zoom" ratio of less than 2:1 is barely worth the bother. I use an 11:1 zoom lens on my D3 (28-300mm) when I don't know in advance what I am going to be shooting, don't want to constantly change lenses and where the best IQ is less important. The downside is always the excessive depth of field. By comparison, 200mm shots at f2 can be very special.

 

With Leica M, I prefer to put a single fast lens on the camera and stick with it. Summiluxes reign supreme.

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I am with Mark on the TE. F/4 is limiting when you like to isolate subjects. Sold mine when I needed to raise some money for a M9 (should have kept it as an investment as the prices have gone a bit nutty).

 

I don't feel the same way about the WATE. An awful lot of DOF at those focal lengths anyhow and the convenience of 3 in one (for the WATE, in betweens also), trumps f/4. but the MATE is a very good lens and it sounds like StanJan will enjoy it.

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Mark, thanks for your concise problems I may have with the slow (f/4) Mate but, you see I am very aware of them as I have the Nikon D3, Noctilux (f/.95), 28MM f/2, the newest 35MM f/1.4, and the 50mm f/1.4. I bought the Mate because in September my wife and I are are going a 70 day cruise to Russia, Korea, China, Vietnam, Australia, and many other places. Our cabin only has a very small safe and I didn't want to bring too many expensive lens with us. I appreciate your taking the time to explain the pitfaults of the Mate as I never owned one before. ;):)

 

Alan, I agree with you and Mark about the Mate and have an order for the Wate with a local Florida Leica dealer. Imagin having both the Mate and the Wate for travel picture taking, the only downside is a smaller estate for your heirs.

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Although I would agree that the speed is a factor in actual daylight practice the f/4 limitation is hardly an issue. With my faster lenses still I would probably use f/4-f/5.6 in daylight as a starting point, even f/8 - f/11 in some cases. Isolation in DoF makes sense in evening/night-time shots, when the human eye is also wide open. The blinding light of heaven in daytime gives about 2m-infinite for the human eye DoF (guestimate) & that is what it "should" look like.

 

Also & more importantly the 28-50-35 tri-elmar has a rather nice "character".

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