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75 Summilux


Paul J

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On the A7R in a slightly dilapidated zoo in Lanzhou, China

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I've been enjoying reading everyone's experience here with the 75 Lux. I've been shooting with my M-E for a year and a half and am in the process of making some changes to my lens kit.

 

My primary lens for the past year has been a Mandler design, the 35 Lux pre-ASPH. I bought a mint condition version that I shoot mostly at f2.0. My wife really likes the photographs I make of the family with this lens.

 

I thought I was a 50mm shooter and my first lens I bought was a like mint copy of the 50 Lux pre-ASPH. And I also added another Mandler design, the last version of the 90 Elmarit-M.

 

I can't afford nor will my better half allow me to have all the lenses out there as they all are special in their own as I've become to learn. But this 75 Lux keeps getting my attention. I've not seen one in person, but your experiences here and the photographs I see I know I want one of these in my bag.

 

The downside I have with my 35 Lux pre-ASPH is its 1m min focus distance and flare issues when shooting wide open.

 

Through my research I know the 75 Lux does not focus as close as the 75 Cron but it does focus closer than 1m which I want for close up family portrait type work. Plus the two stop advantage over the 90 Elmarit for some nightclub musician work I like to doing here in town.

 

I'm finding I really really like how the Mandler lenses perform on my camera but I'm thinking of going with a 21mm pre-ASPH for wide, changing my 35 Lux pre-ASPH for the next version 35 Lux ASPH (pre-FLE to get closer focus and less flare wide open) and the 75 Lux.

 

I think the wife would be very pleased with the results from this combo and I could sleep at night not feeling guilty about the investment to be made.

Edited by Duane Pandorf
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I think the wife would be very pleased with the results from this combo and I could sleep at night not feeling guilty about the investment to be made.

 

You have a very understanding wife! Getting a 21, changing 35 for summilux fle and getting a 75 summilux is going to set you back for the price of a used family car :)

 

A good 75 summilux is in the 3000€ range, the 35 slux fle is around 3,5-3,7K and the 21 will cost you at least 2K used.. so your manouver will end up in the 8K euros range even when selling the 35 pre-asph.

 

The 75 summilux is a speciality lens, if you need it then get one. It's a gem.. but don't buy it in whim. It can produce magical photos, but is at the same time the size of a baseball bat and weights a ton and has a really long focus throw. Also critical focus at 1.4 is hard.

 

As for the others, there are many nice lens combos and there isn't going to be any overlap in your kit so it should be quite versatile. 21-35-50-75-90 pretty much covers all there's to it.

 

//Juha

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Through my research I know the 75 Lux does not focus as close as the 75 Cron but it does focus closer than 1m which I want for close up family portrait type work. Plus the two stop advantage over the 90 Elmarit for some nightclub musician work I like to doing here in town.

 

.

 

At close distance focus ring is engraved 0.8m and 2.5ft (2.5 ft is less than 0.8m), it turns even closer. Rest assured that minimum focus distance is as far as RF mechanism would allow it.

 

Please note my copy is later model with integral lens hood, S/N 361####, so can't comment on very early models.

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You have a very understanding wife! Getting a 21, changing 35 for summilux fle and getting a 75 summilux is going to set you back for the price of a used family car :)

 

A good 75 summilux is in the 3000€ range, the 35 slux fle is around 3,5-3,7K and the 21 will cost you at least 2K used.. so your manouver will end up in the 8K euros range even when selling the 35 pre-asph.

 

//Juha

 

I have bought a mint version of the pre FLE ASPH version of the 35 Lux to replace my pre-ASPH version. If the focus shift and character of the newer lens does not suit me I will keep my pre-ASPH 35 Lux and sell the other vice versa.

 

The 21mm pre ASPH Elmarit is on my bucket list. It's a focal length I don't need in my bag and can rent the 21 SEM version in the meantime.

 

But yes the 75 Lux is a unique piece of glass and your mention of its size and weight may not work for me. But until I can get my hands on one how will I know?

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Well, it's about the length and weight of your 35 & 50 summilux pre-asph combined with a radius of 68mm. Just to give you and idea :)

 

I used to have one, cla'd and 6-bit coded too.. eventually what killed it for me was the long focus throw. I could have even lived with the size & weight.

 

But naturally, trying is the best way to find out. And it's unlikely to lose any money on you, if you decide to sell it shortly afterwards.

 

//Juha

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Close focussing to .7m here as well. Late Canadian sample 3685… just freshly back from Wetzlar and never focussed better.

 

It is for me not a lens daily on the camera, as I much prefer a light 35mm and fast 50mm lenses.

The 75 Summilux is a specialty lens, excelling as a portrait lens.

 

People who spend more than 3000 EUR for this one better should know what they get into.

Often a 90 Elmarit or lesser is all that is needed - just saying ;-)

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eventually what killed it for me was the long focus throw.

 

Funny how preferences differ. While I don't own this specific lens, I generally prefer longer focus throws. Going from minimum to maximum focus takes longer, but more importantly to me is that making fine focus adjustments is much easier with a longer, smoother (less 'twitchy') focus, and that actually takes less time and energy…in more frequent shooting situations.

 

Different strokes...

 

Jeff

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Indeed different strokes. I much prefer the short'ish and light focus throw of a 50 summilux or the 90 elmarit-m. It's pretty much effortless to go from one end to the other.. and I like to focus using just my left hand thumb and index finger..

 

At the same time I dislike focus tabs, which many simply love..

 

//Juha

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Funny how preferences differ. While I don't own this specific lens, I generally prefer longer focus throws. Going from minimum to maximum focus takes longer, but more importantly to me is that making fine focus adjustments is much easier with a longer, smoother (less 'twitchy') focus, and that actually takes less time and energy…in more frequent shooting situations.

 

Different strokes...

 

Jeff

 

Specially for 75lux and similar lenses one needs longer focusing range to be able to focus precisely.

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  • 2 months later...

Alpine chough

 

 

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M8.2 • 'lux 75 • LR 5.6 • Nebelhorn, Allgäu Alps • August 2014.

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Bokeh is not something I comment on very often but the background to the chough photo looks a little busy. Maybe exaggerated by clarity/structure sliders when post processing?

Thank you for your absolutely correct observation.

Yes, the controller for clarity was trying to work out the fine hairs of the black plumage.

Therefore some more "film grain" for the background had to be accepted, which was unfortunately reinforced by the reduction of the photo to 300 KB.

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2nd attempt of alpine chough photo #313 without using the sliders for clarity and sharpening.

Only the contrast remained increased - hope it is somewhat better.

 

 

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!

 

 

M8.2 • 'lux 75 • LR 5.6 • Nebelhorn, Allgäu • August 2014.

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It can produce magical photos, but is at the same time the size of a baseball bat and weights a ton and has a really long focus throw.

 

//Juha

 

Could you exaggerate a little bit MORE? Like the focus throw being really a few kilometres long?

 

Actually, the lens has nothing to do with a baseball bat and weighs nothing close to a ton. It fits in the hand and it's about the same size as the camera itself.

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Bokeh is not something I comment on very often but the background to the chough photo looks a little busy. Maybe exaggerated by clarity/structure sliders when post processing?

 

Looking at the edges of some OOF objects, the ugliness might also be due to PP when converting to B&W.

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It can produce magical photos, but is at the same time the size of a baseball bat and weights a ton and has a really long focus throw. Also critical focus at 1.4 is hard.

//Juha

 

To be fair to this wonderful lens only the first observation contained in the above quote is correct. The 75 Summilux is not that heavy nor is it that large. I use it for a walking around lens on an M9 on a daily basis, I am not that strong & I do a lot of walking, I found the Noctilux 0.95 too big and heavy, the 75lux is not.

Nor is it particularly difficult to focus at 1.4, I have never experienced any problem and my eyes are no longer young.

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Just out of curiosity I overlapped these MTFs

I'm a proud owner of 75 Lux and 90 Apo and thinking of getting 75 Apo but this comparison put me off.

 

It is important to note that these MTF are calculated at infinity. At portrait distances, MTF graphs are very different. The 90 Apo performance at MFD is disappointing.

 

I wish Peter Karbe could design a 75mm Apo-Summilux-M ASPH I would pay $7K for that :cool: instead of another 50 :(

 

+1... but not sure I would pay 7k though...

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Personally, I'd side with those that find the Lux 75 quite big and heavy. However, for me, that doesn't really matter as I use it almost exclusively for portraits with the sharper and easier to focus APO 90 being the lens of choice to come out with me walkabout when a longer FL is called for.

 

Having had the chance to use my Lux 75 quite a bit now, I'm coming round to the view that, given the wafer thin DoF and difficulty in nailing focus at f/1.4 stopping down to f/2 or even further makes for a far easier life and far fewer binned images. Sacrilege, no doubt, to those who'd say, with some justification, why bother with the weight, size and expense of a Summilux if you're going to shoot it stopped down. However, I don't find I loose much of the inherent quality of this lens by stopping down a bit and it sure helps if your eye isn't as perfect as it once was and you're not using a magnifier or EVF as a focus aid. Of course, I might change my opinion once I get the lens back from CLA and coding though I'm rather doubtful.

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M240, Summilux 75

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