gvaliquette Posted February 11, 2012 Share #1 Posted February 11, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) I have recently taken an interest in exploring the performance of older Leitz lenses. These are images from a 35mm Elmar, F3.5 (1941, uncoated) on my M9. The lens was not coded. All images shot at f3.5, full frame, unedited in PP. The Elmar clearly is not a Summilux ASPH-FLE, but, for a 1941 uncoated lens, the results are not bad at all! Guy Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 1 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/172503-elmar-35-cm-135-performance/?do=findComment&comment=1924210'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted February 11, 2012 Posted February 11, 2012 Hi gvaliquette, Take a look here Elmar 3,5 cm 1:3,5 performance. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
andym911 Posted February 11, 2012 Share #2 Posted February 11, 2012 i love this lens too....very very nice shots, thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted February 11, 2012 Share #3 Posted February 11, 2012 Super, love the pics! My dream, with all the hype over sharpness and contrast of modern lenses, is 'what if' Leica could make a super sharp lower contrast range of lenses? I do get fed up with modern lenses almost poking you in the eye with contrast, its so easy to add in post processing, even for film, but less easy to get rid of. In the meantime the older lenses can fill the gap as you have shown very well. Steve 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted February 12, 2012 Share #4 Posted February 12, 2012 It is also very easy to decrease contrast in PP. Or is it the detail that is bothering you? The old man from the Age of the 3.5cm Elmar 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc_braconi Posted February 12, 2012 Share #5 Posted February 12, 2012 Some lens are giving a better rendering in digital than on film . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvaliquette Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share #6 Posted February 12, 2012 I don't want to leave a false impression of this lens. It does have its limitations which may not have been obvious in the first, 3 dimensional, images. Here is another image, of a flat subject, not a brick wall, but still flat. The first image is the full frame. The second image is a 100% crop of the center. The third is a 100% crop of the top-center. Guy (I still have to learn to manage images better :-) P.S.: the date is 1844 Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/172503-elmar-35-cm-135-performance/?do=findComment&comment=1924979'>More sharing options...
maxspbr Posted March 7, 2012 Share #7 Posted March 7, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) The little Elmar 3,5cm is wonderful. The preferred lens of Alfred Eisentaedt. Mine is from 1932, and always loved the tones it give. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted March 7, 2012 Share #8 Posted March 7, 2012 It can indeed happen that a lens performs better on a digital M than with film. That was the case of my old v.4 35mm Summicron. The result was that I sent it to Solms for a CLA and now I do use it again occasionally (its performance does not compare with that of my Summilux ASPH "FLE", but it's compact!) LB Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym911 Posted October 2, 2012 Share #9 Posted October 2, 2012 let me revive this thread..i really enjoy this lens...here a quick shot from today... shot at about f6...with IR filter on the M8. Sharp enough for me for such shots. best andy Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 7 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/172503-elmar-35-cm-135-performance/?do=findComment&comment=2131305'>More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted October 3, 2012 Share #10 Posted October 3, 2012 Here we dive into subjectivity. This lens, like all early Elmar designs, is characterised by low micro-contrast in the central area going to effectively nil outside it, where coarse detail too takes a nose dive. This lends a certain kind of smoothness (= lack of fine definition) to the image that some people like. They are welcome to it, of course. Problems arise only when enthusiasts try to establish as a general truth that "I like this" equals "this is best for everybody". Me, I have seen enough fuzz and 'Leica glow' in my younger days to last me a lifetime. But I am happy that my lifetime has come to be extended into an age where modern optics are available. The old man from the Age of the 3.5cm Elmar 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym911 Posted October 3, 2012 Share #11 Posted October 3, 2012 Lars, I agree with you entirely. Particularly with the Elmar lighting conditions influence the result tremendously.Flare and glow can be in abundance under the wrong conditions. Conversely I have seen enough edge to edge biting sharpness and detail to last me for a lifetime from some modern lenses. At the end of the day I still wait to see good a photograph which was ruined by lens quality. If it is good then it is good, either taken with an aged Elmar or the latest and greatest, within reason of course. At the end of the day I suppose it is what you want and can afford. I can afford a brace of older lenses instead of 1 newer lens, and at my level the lens is the least limiting factor to my photographs. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted October 3, 2012 Share #12 Posted October 3, 2012 Andy, these are wise words. The limiting factor is usually the photographer, not the gear. I know. When I grew up a simple meniscus lens in a box camera was the norm, and a three-element Zeiss Novar (uncoated, of course) on a 6x9cm folder was a fine lens. Guess how much glow I've seen? But Edward Steichen used to say that there are more good pictures in a box camera than people suspected. The old man from the Kodachrome Age 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torquinian Posted October 5, 2012 Share #13 Posted October 5, 2012 Here we dive into subjectivity. This lens, like all early Elmar designs, is characterised by low micro-contrast in the central area going to effectively nil outside it, where coarse detail too takes a nose dive. This lends a certain kind of smoothness (= lack of fine definition) to the image that some people like. They are welcome to it, of course. Problems arise only when enthusiasts try to establish as a general truth that "I like this" equals "this is best for everybody". Me, I have seen enough fuzz and 'Leica glow' in my younger days to last me a lifetime. But I am happy that my lifetime has come to be extended into an age where modern optics are available. I have an instruction book [in three parts] for a Leica IIIa. In the section on the 3.5cm Elmar it says "only use at full aperture if you have no alternative." 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gvaliquette Posted October 6, 2012 Author Share #14 Posted October 6, 2012 (edited) I have an instruction book [in three parts] for a Leica IIIa. In the section on the 3.5cm Elmar it says "only use at full aperture if you have no alternative." I totally agree, and my second set illustrates this very well, but when one closes down the aperture, lenses tend to loose their "personnality". I'll have to go back and retake that old church at f3.5 and f8 and post these here. Give me a few weeks. Guy Edited October 6, 2012 by gvaliquette Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
delonlemos Posted October 17, 2012 Share #15 Posted October 17, 2012 (edited) Very nice Shoot I like it Edited October 17, 2012 by delonlemos Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted October 21, 2012 Share #16 Posted October 21, 2012 I inherrited my grandfathers leica gear and in it was a wonderful example of this lens. I really look forward to using it on my M9 and keeping the family traditions alive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym911 Posted October 25, 2012 Share #17 Posted October 25, 2012 just to keep things moving here a shot from the weekend...my Elmar on the IIIf and sunny 16 exposure. tri-x and hc110. still good enough for me:D Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 3 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/172503-elmar-35-cm-135-performance/?do=findComment&comment=2150736'>More sharing options...
andym911 Posted October 25, 2012 Share #18 Posted October 25, 2012 and one more...same roll. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 1 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/172503-elmar-35-cm-135-performance/?do=findComment&comment=2150743'>More sharing options...
jc_braconi Posted October 26, 2012 Share #19 Posted October 26, 2012 (edited) About the Elmar 3.5/50, some are better than the others and some are reallly exception due certainly from the combination (at random) of best elements put together during their assembly. I will say based on the pictures posted in here during this last years that the one that James owned and the one from Andy are part of this ones Edited October 26, 2012 by jc_braconi Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted October 26, 2012 Share #20 Posted October 26, 2012 I really like this lens and use it regularly on my II and on my GXR. The GXR "likes" it too - it gives nice results, thus: Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! It is also a classic example of a lens you will use because you have it with you Regards, Bill 1 Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! It is also a classic example of a lens you will use because you have it with you Regards, Bill ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/172503-elmar-35-cm-135-performance/?do=findComment&comment=2151152'>More sharing options...
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