lincoln_m Posted August 31, 2012 Share #1  Posted August 31, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) On Wednesday I decided to go to London and make a day of buying a mint 35mm f2 asph and also pop in to the Leica store in Mayfair. After a quick stop to pick up the new lens, it really is mint even though it's from 2002, I stopped for coffee and bought the Leica Pocket book 8th edition from Amazon online as they had a reference one in the quiet Leica/Nikon shop and I'd not realised it was out. I then visited the Aladdin's cave in Bruton Place that is the Leica store. 2 rooms opposite each other. I asked to look at the 35mm f1.4 and the 50mm f2 app-asph. I was allowed to fit these lenses to my M7 with TMAX 100 in and take some shots of the salesman outside in quite poor overcast light. I'll need to finish the film soon so I can get these shots developed and scanned. As it was quiet mid-week I had a good long chat while we looked at their sample shots of the 50f2apo-asph on M9 and MM. With the M9 you need to go to iso3200 before any noise becomes a little like grain. On the MM you need iso 10,000 to get a grain effect. There didn't seem to be much zooming going on when they showed the shots at 100% on the 27inch iMAC, then I remembered the M9, MM are only 18Mpixels but my usual film scans are 35Mpixels, the iMAC 27inch is the same as I have.  35f1.4asph : Oh that was lovely to handle (but so too was my "new" 35f2) The hood on the summilux is a new screw on type, with the last quarter turn torquing up nice and tight. The view finder blockage was minimal with the bottom right corner hidden but only just as the hole in the hood lets you see through. For the image quality I'll have to get the film developed and scanned to comment.  50f2 apo-asph : Again a very compact lens with a hood that pops up when twisted, like a lipstick! I took a few shots at f4 of the brickwork, lets see how it looks in a few weeks when I have the shots. The compactness and build quality of Leica lenses always impresses me. On the digital cameras I don't think they have the resolution to really see the difference. I'm hoping the 100lp/mm of TMAX100 will be evident  The staff at Leica were very hospitable, no rush, good technical chats and coffee too. I had to leave after an hour or I would have been tempted to spend even more on a brand new lens from the source. 35 summilux especially, probably the only lens you need on an M.  Leica store is well worth a visit (in any country) so don't forget if you are in town. Regards, Lincoln Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 31, 2012 Posted August 31, 2012 Hi lincoln_m, Take a look here New 35 & 50 mm Leica Store. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
IWC Doppel Posted August 31, 2012 Share #2 Â Posted August 31, 2012 Yes a great place for a coffee and chat. I have popped on a number of lenses to try and they have always been very helpful and accommodating. Â I may try the MM again when I'm near Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philipus Posted August 31, 2012 Share #3 Â Posted August 31, 2012 Thanks for the report Lincoln. I'm sad not to have had the time when I went to London a few weeks ago to visit the Mayfair store (took the Eurostar, btw; a great way to travel from Holland to London). But I did visit Aperture's cosy little shop at Rathbone place which is also a nice place for a tea. Â I'm receiving a 35/1.4 FLE early next week from Red Dot and look forward to trying it on various films. I had heard it blocks the finder a little but reading your comment about the vent in the hood simply made me smile; the thought-through details of these cameras and lenses really add to the experience. Â Philip Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lincoln_m Posted August 31, 2012 Author Share #4 Â Posted August 31, 2012 Philip, Oh so it was you. I saw the 35 FLE on Red Dot for a few days the other week then it was gone. Â I wasn't going to name Aperture so I could keep their sensible deals to myself, but the cat's out of the bag now. I'll try and finish my film soon and I'll post some 100% crops here when I have them. Â The hood on the 35 FLE spins on like the centre nut of a E-Type Jags wire wheels, you'll love it. From memory the range finder blockage on the FLE seemed less than on the 35 asph with the click and twist hood, but I only tried that lens for 5 minutes some 6 years ago. Â I forgot to mention that the 50 apo-asph hood has to be twisted to pop up like a Chanel lipstick. The "hood" is quite thick when compared to say the 50 summicron with that late version's slide out hood. It all adds to the great handling qualities of these lenses. Â Lincoln Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philipus Posted September 1, 2012 Share #5 Â Posted September 1, 2012 Sorry about that Lincoln. A lucky shot on my part, I just had a look the other day and there it was. Then I waited another day to let the whole thing marinate a bit and then checked again. It was still there so I sent the order during the Sunday before the bank holiday. Â Thanks for the info on the 50 APO hood. I have the 50 Summilux asph and find its hood rather flimsy in construction. The metal is pretty thin and the twist-lock motion not very confidence inspiring. Luckily the lens handles flare very well without the hood so I never use it. Â Cheers Philip Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lincoln_m Posted September 8, 2012 Author Share #6  Posted September 8, 2012 35mm f1.4 Asph FLE test shots at Leica Store Mayfair, London. Andrew@Leica kindly modelled for my few test shots.  M7 + 35mm f1.4 Asph FLE @ f1.4, TMAX100 developed by Peak Imaging, Sheffield, Scanned on KM Elite 5400 at 5400 dpi (212pixels/mm) with Vuescan TMAX 100 CI=0.4. Only manual dust spotting and S curve contrast adjustment in Aperture and exported to 960x640 jpegs. Second image is close up of focus area (glasses) at 100% pixel for pixel.  The bright dot on his shirt is a Leica pin badge. @f1.4 there is very shallow DOF with smooth transition from focus to out-of-focus.  Regards, Lincoln 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/186859-new-35-50-mm-leica-store/?do=findComment&comment=2108033'>More sharing options...
lincoln_m Posted September 8, 2012 Author Share #7  Posted September 8, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) 50mm f2 Apo-Asph @f4 Same TMAX100 workflow. The light was very dull low contrast and overcast cloud during both these lens tests and almost about to rain.  50mm Apo_Asph detail at f4 if I remember correctly. Shutter speed was 90-125th I can't quite remember. If I stopped down too much I'd be getting camera shake to mess up the high resolution sharpness. Zoom crops are 100%.  Notice the detail in the flower stems and cables and detail in the lead flashing/gutter thing. Not the best conditions for a resolution test I admit. I should have shot a comparison shot with my 50mm f2.8 Elmarit but I went for a late lunch after as it was raining when I left Leica. Regards, Lincoln 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/186859-new-35-50-mm-leica-store/?do=findComment&comment=2108038'>More sharing options...
lincoln_m Posted September 8, 2012 Author Share #8  Posted September 8, 2012 50mm f2 Apo-Asph @ f2 Zoom is 100% pixel for pixel on the focus point (glasses). Thanks again to Andrew @ Leica for being the model in the dull damp conditions. Regards, Lincoln 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/186859-new-35-50-mm-leica-store/?do=findComment&comment=2108040'>More sharing options...
philipus Posted September 8, 2012 Share #9  Posted September 8, 2012 Tmax's smoothness shows really well here. Very good reasults all around. I'm rather impressed with the APO's performance though for the money the FLE is, imho, better.  I was going to make a new thread but I figured I could just as well post here.  I used my new 35 FLE almost exclusively this week and was really amazed about the image quality. These two images were taken on a Fuji-made ISO 400 film (sold here in Holland at the Hema chain as a no-name film) without hood. Pretty amazing that the first one didn't cause flare and that, in the second one, there was so much to be retrieved from the shadows, which were very very underexposed. Both scanned on Nikon Coolscan V and developed in ColorPerfect without any adjustments. 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/186859-new-35-50-mm-leica-store/?do=findComment&comment=2108257'>More sharing options...
philipus Posted September 9, 2012 Share #10  Posted September 9, 2012 I see now that the images ended up in the wrong order. Sorry about that.  By the "first one" I meant, of course, the image with the man on the bicycle.  I'm quite surprised how much information is present in the darker areas of the image. Here's a 100% crop after a simple levels adjustment. Note the reflection of myself in the window to the right. 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/186859-new-35-50-mm-leica-store/?do=findComment&comment=2108710'>More sharing options...
lincoln_m Posted September 9, 2012 Author Share #11 Â Posted September 9, 2012 Philip, On the first one you have a veiling glare that covers most of the image, the church anyway. If you had stepped to the right 1m then the sun would have been hidden by the white wall and you wouldn't have any glare. But if it was a lens test shot to see how it handles glare then actually this is quite impressive. I assume this is colour print film as if it was Fujichrome Velvia especially but even Provia would have blocked up the shadows. Regards, Lincoln Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philipus Posted September 9, 2012 Share #12  Posted September 9, 2012 Philip,On the first one you have a veiling glare that covers most of the image, the church anyway. If you had stepped to the right 1m then the sun would have been hidden by the white wall and you wouldn't have any glare. But if it was a lens test shot to see how it handles glare then actually this is quite impressive. I assume this is colour print film as if it was Fujichrome Velvia especially but even Provia would have blocked up the shadows. Regards, Lincoln  Hi Lincoln  Yes, I deliberately stepped into the sun to check what would happen (and it was colour negative film). Actually I would have been pleased with a nice backlit photograph with the dark silhouettes and long shadows of the couple. But when I started playing with the image in Photoshop and ColourPerfect I realised that the lens had done a good job.  cheers philip Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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