Bought a "new" SL2 with 50mm 1.4

[gvaliquette]

Justin:

Nice lens on your SL MOT. How do you like the Angenieus?

Guy

[gvaliquette]

Sorry

Angenieux

Guy

[hektor]

Originally Posted by gvaliquette

Justin:

Nice lens on your SL MOT. How do you like the Angénieux?

Guy

Dear Guy,

My ideal "zoom" lens would be 35mm - 90mm. I bought this mint Angénieux-Zoom 1:2,8/45-90mm because of the extra 20mm at the top end.

Unfortunately it comes no where near the standards of modern lenses, not even prime lens quality of the seventies. It is flare prone, soft by comparison with fixed focus lenses, and most importantly has a colour shift inconsistent with Leica lenses. The latter is a disturbing feature when projecting slides; Beautifully made, but ergonomically not intuitive.

Today I use the Vario-Elmar-R 1:4 / 35-70 which is indistinguishable from prime lenses. With modern 100 ISO films and even the new Provia 400X the loss of one stop does not concern me, although I still would like to stretch it to 90mm. Yes one can step forward a few paces, but the perspective changes.

If you are tempted, try the Angénieux-Zoom before you buy. In fact that is my advice with any lens.

Have fun.

Justin