Jump to content

APO-Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90 zoom


IkarusJohn

Recommended Posts

Advertisement (gone after registration)

The Otus looks impeccable.  But then again it's so huge and heavy -- even bigger and heavier than the 24-90, for a prime!

Yes, it's an amazing lens. Definitely the best wide angle I've ever used and the size is manageable compared to other lenses from the Otus line, as well as the Canon lenses I use regularly (11-24, 24TSE, etc). Even at 5.6/infinity you can clearly see exactly where the point of focus is. It's completely sharp to the edges wide open at F1.4 but has a good amount of vignetting...F2 reduces the vignetting considerably.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Is the M 28mm lux as bad (comparatively) as this test suggests?  Is it the matching with the SL?

You know, it's really better than those crops suggest, and it's a great lens in my opinion. All of those test shots were center focused at infinity and you are viewing 100% crops of the far left edge. My experience with the 28 Lux is that you need to fine tune the focus to account for what I'm assuming is field curvature (I think there may be some focus shift as well). It's easy to see through the SL viewfinder when you find the sweet spot, which is just a little short of infinity. However, I was just trying to run through all of the different lenses before the light changed too much, so I didn't spend extra time trying to optimize the focus for any particular lens.

 

Here is a full frame sample from the 28 Lux, along with a crop of the left edge. This was a 30 minute exposure at F4...so there is some noise, but you can see that the stars are sharp.

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!

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

But the specs say the 28 is the heaviest and biggest in the Otus line of lenses.

 

It does look pretty awesome.  I think it will attract a lot of former medium / large format people.

 

Yes, it's an amazing lens. Definitely the best wide angle I've ever used and the size is manageable compared to other lenses from the Otus line, as well as the Canon lenses I use regularly (11-24, 24TSE, etc). Even at 5.6/infinity you can clearly see exactly where the point of focus is. It's completely sharp to the edges wide open at F1.4 but has a good amount of vignetting...F2 reduces the vignetting considerably.

Link to post
Share on other sites

But the specs say the 28 is the heaviest and biggest in the Otus line of lenses.

 

It does look pretty awesome.  I think it will attract a lot of former medium / large format people.

They are all huge. It's probably 10% larger than the 85.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

An overly enthusiastic user has given the SL 24-90 the title of Apo. Well, maybe it deserves it, even though it is a false title.

I'd like to see a comparison of the old and new "normal zooms", of the SL 24-90 to the humble and much older Kyocera built Vario-Elmar-R 4.0/35-70 Macro, which deserves also the title of ASPH..

Has anybody made a comparison of these two lenses or can anybody do it ?

I like the 4/35-70 because of its size. And I like the pictures made with it and that are published here in the forum. They often have a distinctive Leica look. Or simply, they often look good.

On the other side the 24-90 has excellent technical specs, there ought to be splendid photos, but most photos I find rather lack-lustre, sorry.

So I woud like to see a comparison - 1 in technical quality  and 2 maybe more important in "memorable photos".

 

Stephan

 

It is clear that the zoom ranges are different, so no need to repeat this. 

Ad 1   Has anybody made a side by side image quality comparison ? (How sharp it is, the amount of detail etc., comparison in macro mode, ...)

Ad 2   Any examples of memorable photos.

I have the Vario-Elmarit 24-90mm since beginning of April now, or for around 7 weeks, and have taken around 700 photos with it now. Just yesterday I took photos at a dinner party, both with and without flash. I noticed that the DOF at F/4.0 and 90mm was no more than an estimated 5 cm on the photos I took with a flash at 1/125 sec. Looking up the data sheets of the 90mm lenses in the Leica line-up, I get for the distance of 2 meters around 12 cm (1.94-2.06m) and for 3 meters distance around 28 cm (2.87-3.15m). I am wondering what the official Leica data would be for the Vario-Elmarit. Overall I have to say, despite the great convenience of having a zoom lens covering my three favourites 24mm, 50mm, and 90mm in one, and the autofocus that has lifted my in-focus percentage substantially, I am seriously considering going back to fixed lenses with wider apertures (F/1.4-2.0). When I think back to my M8 combined with the 50mm Summilux I had 8 years ago, it feels as if I got the same DOF with the Lux at F/1.4 as I get with the Vario-Elmarit 24-90mm at F/4.0, and that looks like a bad trade-off to me. Perhaps it is all perception, and no substance, or I have to send my lens to Wetzlar for inspection. Has anybody done direct comparisons?

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!

Edited by mjk
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Advertisement (gone after registration)

There is nothing wrong with your lens...

 

DOF is an approximation at best. It's not an absolute measurement. Never was. The focus point, and the difference in the rendering/falloff of different lenses can lead to it looking like DOF is different but it won't be (not by much, anyway). Also the M8 has a smaller sensor which will affect DOF calculations and if you're looking at 100% magnifications then all bets are off because you are now looking at different enlargements of the image as well.

 

Why not just stop down to 5.6?

 

Gordon

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

There is nothing wrong with your lens...

 

DOF is an approximation at best. It's not an absolute measurement. Never was. The focus point, and the difference in the rendering/falloff of different lenses can lead to it looking like DOF is different but it won't be (not by much, anyway). Also the M8 has a smaller sensor which will affect DOF calculations and if you're looking at 100% magnifications then all bets are off because you are now looking at different enlargements of the image as well.

 

Why not just stop down to 5.6?

 

Gordon

Thanks for your feedback. You are right in suggesting I should stop down to 5.6, that is easily done when using a flash. For completeness, I should add that in the first photo the lady was sitting at the other end of the table at a distance of 2.50m, so I got a bit more DOF than in the second photo where the girl was sitting opposite at a distance of perhaps 1.70m.

I also stand corrected, I underestimated the distance between eye socket and earlobe, I thought the distance cannot be more than 5 cm, whereas in actual fact it is somewhere around 9 cm, and then the DOF in the second photo matches the published figures by Leica quite well.

The 50mm Lux on the M8 was of course effectively a 67mm, closing in and not too far off the 90mm in the photos above.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Vario-Elmarit 1:2.8-4.0/24-90mm Asph., OIS, at 26mm, F/8.0, 1/25, ISO 50

 

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

Vario-Elmarit 1:2.8-4.0/24-90mm Asph., OIS, at 70mm, F/3.8, 1/25, ISO 80

 

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!

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

Vario-Elmarit 1:2.8-4.0/24-90mm Asph., OIS, at 24mm, F/2.8, 1/50, ISO 500

2.50 x 3.50 x 0.01 m = 220 kg at 2.5 g / cm3. 37 kg per person in the picture.

Glas is heavy. All those who own the 24-90mm Vario-Elmarit know it =)

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!

Edited by mjk
Link to post
Share on other sites

Did the total exposure take 60 min? Since turning off LENR is not an option on SL, how does one deal with this issue, especially for night and astro photography?

 

 

I presume you just wait it out. Talk with Michael Kenna about his night images on slow, 120 format film. Reciprocity can make some of his exposures take three hours!  :wacko:

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I presume you just wait it out. Talk with Michael Kenna about his night images on slow, 120 format film. Reciprocity can make some of his exposures take three hours!  :wacko:

That's correct, you just have to be patient. Most of the time I have a few cameras going, so there is something to check every half hour or so. Of course, I can shoot 3-4 hour exposures with my 1D-X at ISO 100 that require no noise reduction, so the SL still has some ground to make up when it comes to long exposures. The 1D-X II is on another level - I suspect 8 hour exposures with no LENR will look great.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

That's correct, you just have to be patient. Most of the time I have a few cameras going, so there is something to check every half hour or so. Of course, I can shoot 3-4 hour exposures with my 1D-X at ISO 100 that require no noise reduction, so the SL still has some ground to make up when it comes to long exposures. The 1D-X II is on another level - I suspect 8 hour exposures with no LENR will look great.

For what it's worth, this was done with 6 minutes exposure, and noise reduction took another 6 minutes, no choice as far as I know. I have tried DNG format only, it will still go into noise reduction mode after the exposure. If anybody has a work-around I'd be interested.

Vario-Elmarit 24-90mm, 6 min at F/16, 24mm, ISO 50, with polarising filter.

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

For what it's worth, this was done with 6 minutes exposure, and noise reduction took another 6 minutes, no choice as far as I know. I have tried DNG format only, it will still go into noise reduction mode after the exposure. If anybody has a work-around I'd be interested.

Vario-Elmarit 24-90mm, 6 min at F/16, 24mm, ISO 50, with polarising filter.

Nice shot! Unfortunately, there is no workaround until Leica adds a menu selection to disable long exposure noise reduction via a firmware change.

 

It's a shame, as that is one of the few remaining hurdles that prevent this camera from being a no limits professional tool. The other obvious issues are the lack of permanent exposure simulation in the EVF and the card management limitations.

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

For comparison

Vario-Elmarit 24-90mm, 60 sec at F/11, 24mm, ISO 50, with polarising filter.

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

For what it's worth, this was done with 6 minutes exposure, and noise reduction took another 6 minutes, no choice as far as I know. I have tried DNG format only, it will still go into noise reduction mode after the exposure. If anybody has a work-around I'd be interested.

Vario-Elmarit 24-90mm, 6 min at F/16, 24mm, ISO 50, with polarising filter.

If it was only one shot, then I would probably put the lens cap on and walk away from the scene with the camera and let the camera do whatever it does for LENR while I am scouting around for another location. Unfortunately, it's never only one shot for me :(

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...