3rd party lens performance on SL

[ericborgstrom]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Lens seems to perform impeccably on the SL with little if any vignetting.

Yes, I am quite satisfied with the 15mm Zeiss Distagon on the SL. Will probably not buy the Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35 mm in addition to the Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90 mm which I own. The Zeiss is lighter but not so versatile. Hard choice.

[helged]

Yes, I am quite satisfied with the 15mm Zeiss Distagon on the SL. Will probably not buy the Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35 mm in addition to the Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90 mm which I own. The Zeiss is lighter but not so versatile. Hard choice.

Voigtlander super-heliar 150mm, v3, is (also) a fine, small, not-too-expensive, wide alternative. But optically speaking, and when it come to flare resistantance, nothing beats the 16-35...

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[BlackDoc]

Some experimental things with the SL
1. No RAW but JPG

2. BW as primary selection and setting in the cam

3. Pentax 28mm SHIFT via Novoflex adaptor at the SL

 

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!

[mmradman]

3 hours ago, BlackDoc said:

Some experimental things with the SL
1. No RAW but JPG

2. BW as primary selection and setting in the cam

3. Pentax 28mm SHIFT via Novoflex adaptor at the SL

 

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!

looking good for old lens, i assume it is old K or M lens.

[BlackDoc]

vor 7 Stunden schrieb mmradman:

looking good for old lens, i assume it is old K or M lens.

Thanks, it is this lens and  this shift is about 25 years old...

[dkCambridgeshire]

Pheasant, Swaddywell Nature Reserve near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, UK. Pheasant was approx 60 yards distant on a grass covered cliff face i.e. above camera level.  

SL & Canon FD 500/4.5 L lens, plus, Canon EF 2x Mk II extender … and Novoflex EF to SL (SL/EOS) adapter …  the Canon FD lens having been converted to Canon EOS/EF mount.

Image is a crop of the original … f5.6 (thus f11 equivalent aperture) ISO 1600 1/800 sec.

The lens' conversion to EOS mount (but still manual focus) by a well known technician was a very protracted and extremely frustrating exercise and took 6 months … including sending back both this lens, and a Canon FD 300/4L lens (also sent for EF conversion) for adjustments. However, now it's completed, the 500/4.5 L lens can be coupled to Canon EF extenders which are very much better than the original Canon FD 1.4x and 2x 'A' type extenders.

Unfortunately the SL body's live view image magnification facility does not work with this combination of extender and adapter … and exposure measurement requires use of Manual mode and the camera's exposure index … adjusted by altering the shutter speed. Aperture priority does not provide correct shutter speed. All sounds a bit 'Heath Robinson' but it does work and I'm getting used to it. 

The original FD lens plus the conversion cost = approx £1200 … which is still considerably less than e.g. the equivalent s/h Canon EF 500/4.5 Mk I AF lens … which has the same optics. The Novoflex SL/EOS adapter would likely be a 'too slow' AF combination with the Canon EF 500/4.5 Mk I AF lens. 

I was in two minds whether to post this on the SL Vintage Lenses image thread … but posted here because made use of the modern Canon extender and Novoflex adapter. 

Best wishes

dunk 

 

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 November 2, 2018 by dkCambridgeshire

[tritentrue]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Novoflex SL/NIK revisited

Over a year ago I gave up on trying to use the Novoflex SL/NIK with my SL and Nikon 300mm PF.  The camera ran slow; the lens hunted endlessly, worse with a teleconverter attached; and AF inflexibility and inaccuracy made it a less than viable shooting option. I removed the camera-side electrical contacts so that I could use the SL/NIK as a dumb adapter with my TL2 and, more recently, CL.

At the time of its introduction to the marketplace, Novoflex had claimed that Leica's future firmware updates for the SL would improve the adapter's function. As I had not used either adapter or lens on the CL for some time, this morning I decided to reassemble the adapter and see if there was any difference between SL FW 2.0, when I last used the adapter, and the current FW 3.3.

Although the adapter still doesn't support VR or AF-C and still struggles to rack the lens inside 3m distance (same as a couple of entry-level Nikon bodies do), there's a noticeable improvement in focus accuracy--both with bare lens and 1.4X TC.  A single outing with the combo in moderately overcast outdoor lighting showed about 80% critical accuracy and probably could have been higher had I paid more attention to my technique.  Targets with obvious contrasting edges fared better than those without.

The lens + 1.4X TC combo still hunts slowly back and forth before locking even if the subject is already in focus. The two nice surprises are (1) that the bare lens now focuses almost as quickly as a native lens; and (2) the camera (in power-saving mode) "wakes up" and is ready to shoot noticeably faster than before.  I have yet to try it with the 1.7X, but the performance bump gives me another telephoto option for at least some shooting situations.

SL with Novoflex SL/NIK + Nikon 300mm PF + Nikon TC-14E III . . .

 

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 November 11, 2018 by tritentrue

[helged]

6 hours ago, tritentrue said:

Novoflex SL/NIK revisited

Over a year ago I gave up on trying to use the Novoflex SL/NIK with my SL and Nikon 300mm PF.  The camera ran slow; the lens hunted endlessly, worse with a teleconverter attached; and AF inflexibility and inaccuracy made it a less than viable shooting option. I removed the camera-side electrical contacts so that I could use the SL/NIK as a dumb adapter with my TL2 and, more recently, CL.

At the time of its introduction to the marketplace, Novoflex had claimed that Leica's future firmware updates for the SL would improve the adapter's function. As I had not used either adapter or lens on the CL for some time, this morning I decided to reassemble the adapter and see if there was any difference between SL FW 2.0, when I last used the adapter, and the current FW 3.3.

Although the adapter still doesn't support VR or AF-C and still struggles to rack the lens inside 3m distance (same as a couple of entry-level Nikon bodies do), there's a noticeable improvement in focus accuracy--both with bare lens and 1.4X TC.  A single outing with the combo in moderately overcast outdoor lighting showed about 80% critical accuracy and probably could have been higher had I paid more attention to my technique.  Targets with obvious contrasting edges fared better than those without.

The lens + 1.4X TC combo still hunts slowly back and forth before locking even if the subject is already in focus. The two nice surprises are (1) that the bare lens now focuses almost as quickly as a native lens; and (2) the camera (in power-saving mode) "wakes up" and is ready to shoot noticeably faster than before.  I have yet to try it with the 1.7X, but the performance bump gives me another telephoto option for at least some shooting situations.

SL with Novoflex SL/NIK + Nikon 300mm PF + Nikon TC-14E III . . .

Thanks for the update! The Nikon 300mm PF is a fine, small, light-weight lens, albeit with some additional bulk with an adapter. This is the lens (w/the 1.4 extender) I pick if I do hiking that is not tailored for long reach, but just in case. I prefer a manual adapter, since this gives me 11 fps, and not 3 fps as with an electronic adapter.

We can expect Sigma to come with long(er) L-mount lenses in the not too distant future. Another relatively smallish, relatively light-weight, long alternative is the new Nikon 500mm f5.6 PF. But personally, I will wait to see what Sigma will offer. My preferred long lens would be prime a la 400mm f2.8, or 500/600mm f4, with top-end extenders. The existing Sigma 500mm f4 is interesting.

[tritentrue]

Novoflex SL/NIK Part 2:

Today I tried the SL/adapter/lens combination with the Nikon TC-17E II (there is no III). Outdoors in hazy sunshine it hunted at times, froze at others, and did not achieve critical focus on a single shot.

Switching back to the TC-14E III worked reasonably well again on static subjects.  But as the sky grew overcast, the bare lens became the only viable option. I discovered that in good light, back-button (joystick) focus was faster than half-pressing the shutter button.

Seeing a moving target, I used the switch on the lens to change to MF.  I got one shutter activation before the camera's shutter refused to fire again with that setting. The camera also displayed the green focus confirmation brackets (FIeld AF) with random half-presses of the shutter button regardless of whether the shot was focused or not.  

Even though the lens and camera together can create stunning images (when all stars are in alignment 😛), the Novoflex SL/NIK is just not capable of bridging the two in a consistently satisfactory manner.  It was a fun diversion, but for tomorrow's telephoto shots I'll be back to using old MF Leica glass on the SL until the L-mount alliance produces a better option.

SL with Novoflex SL/NIK and Nikon 300mm PF . . .

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!

[helged]

2 hours ago, tritentrue said:

Novoflex SL/NIK Part 2:

Today I tried the SL/adapter/lens combination with the Nikon TC-17E II (there is no III). Outdoors in hazy sunshine it hunted at times, froze at others, and did not achieve critical focus on a single shot.

Switching back to the TC-14E III worked reasonably well again on static subjects.  But as the sky grew overcast, the bare lens became the only viable option. I discovered that in good light, back-button (joystick) focus was faster than half-pressing the shutter button.

Seeing a moving target, I used the switch on the lens to change to MF.  I got one shutter activation before the camera's shutter refused to fire again with that setting. The camera also displayed the green focus confirmation brackets (FIeld AF) with random half-presses of the shutter button regardless of whether the shot was focused or not.  

Even though the lens and camera together can create stunning images (when all stars are in alignment 😛), the Novoflex SL/NIK is just not capable of bridging the two in a consistently satisfactory manner.  It was a fun diversion, but for tomorrow's telephoto shots I'll be back to using old MF Leica glass on the SL until the L-mount alliance produces a better option.

SL with Novoflex SL/NIK and Nikon 300mm PF . . .

Thanks again! By adding extenders, less light hits the sensor, deteriorating on-sensor af detection. This is possibly one of the reasons that we havn't seen any extender(s) for the 90-280mm; the 90-280 w/1.4 extender would result in a f5.6 combo wide open, which would possibly limit the af to such an extent that it wouldn't pass Leica's acceptance criterion. Pure speculation from my side. On the less speculative side: More will be known when Sigma (hopefully) offers a 500mm f4 lens or similar, hopefully sooner than later...

[tritentrue]

The progressive manner in which AF accuracy declines when going from the bare lens at f/4 to the 1.4X at f/5.6 and the 1.7X at f/6.8--as well as from well-lit shooting conditions to darker ones--tends to support what you wrote (and what I have believed for some time).  I'd love to be proven wrong by Leica, but I'll be even happier with a hand-holdable L-mount f/4 lens that's 400mm or longer. 😁

[mmradman]

Or just use Nikon D or Z camera with long Nikon lens.  

Assuming Leica ever produces TC to work with 90-280 and either SL mk1 or future mk2 cost benefit would be in Nikon's favour.

With respect to Sigma i suspect priority will be to convert current ART lenses to L mount.  Are there any long Sigma tele primes/tele zooms to match lightweight Nikons?  

[helged]

1 hour ago, mmradman said:

Or just use Nikon D or Z camera with long Nikon lens.  

Assuming Leica ever produces TC to work with 90-280 and either SL mk1 or future mk2 cost benefit would be in Nikon's favour.

With respect to Sigma i suspect priority will be to convert current ART lenses to L mount.  Are there any long Sigma tele primes/tele zooms to match lightweight Nikons?  

An example of a long, well-received Sigma is the 500mm f4 Sport lens, e.g. here: https://www.tobiashjorth.com/sigma-500mm-f-4-dg-os-hsm-sports-lens-review/. It's relatively large and heavy, at least compared to the Fresnel lenses of e.g. Nikon. I, for one, would gladly substitute Nikon bodies and long lenses, once there are long, sufficently good alternatives in L-mount. The L-mount option will likely not match the top Nikon DSLR (like D5 or D850, and similar Canon systems) when it comes to AF, fps, buffer, etc. (in the same way as Z6/Z7 lags D5/D850 for fast wildlife photography), but I rather bring with me one system, not two as today. Those making a living out of wildlife/sport photography may view this differently. 

[tritentrue]

4 hours ago, mmradman said:

Or just use Nikon D or Z camera with long Nikon lens.  

Assuming Leica ever produces TC to work with 90-280 and either SL mk1 or future mk2 cost benefit would be in Nikon's favour.

With respect to Sigma i suspect priority will be to convert current ART lenses to L mount.  Are there any long Sigma tele primes/tele zooms to match lightweight Nikons?  

The only lightweight Sigma zoom I know of is the 100-400mm Contemporary, which, IIRC, is f/6.3 at the long end. It handles very well, has spectacular center sharpness and decent color and weighs around 1.2kg.  But what I've read is that Sigma plans to offer only the Sport telephotos in L-mount.

As for using a Nikon body with the 300mm PF, I have a D7200 that sits idle in the dry cabinet. For APS-C image quality, I much prefer using the lens as a fully manual option on the CL due to the CL's markedly better image texture and color. All things considered, however, I accept what many others have said for some time now:  that it's probably better to use Nikon lenses with Nikon bodies and Leica lenses with Leica bodies.

[Cowz]

I have a few adaptors for my SL.... the requisite M to SL for my M glass, a Novoflex ‘dumb’ Nikon adaptor for my old Nikon D glass, like my gorgeous 105mm f2 DC.

I just received my Novoflex SL/NIK ‘smart’ adapter with one lens in mind.

Sigma 105mm F1.4 ART lens.  This lens is super complex with 17 elements in 12 groups (way different to M Glass) and a 105mm front filter element which allows a tonne of light in.  The ‘Bokeh master’ has also been designed with minimal sagittal coma flare which makes it perfect for Astro photography as well as portraiture.

examples posted soon

[helged]

On 11/12/2018 at 11:03 PM, tritentrue said:

The only lightweight Sigma zoom I know of is the 100-400mm Contemporary, which, IIRC, is f/6.3 at the long end. It handles very well, has spectacular center sharpness and decent color and weighs around 1.2kg.  But what I've read is that Sigma plans to offer only the Sport telephotos in L-mount.

Interesting. Is this confirmed, or more speculative?

[dkCambridgeshire]

Currently experimenting with SL 601 using several shift lenses  i.e. Canon FD 35/2.8 TS, Canon EF 24.2.8 TS Mk II, Olympus OM 35/2.8 shift, and Leica R PC Super Angulon 28/2.8 … latter is a badge engineered Schneider lens. Yesterday took only the Canon 24/2.8 TS Mk II to Stamford, Lincs. with intention of photographing the town's historic buildings but the very overcast light was not so good … totally grey skies … so decided to try some church interiors including stained glass windows. However, the 24mm focal length is not really suitable for stained glass unless images are heavily cropped to isolate the actual windows. Thus following stained glass window in All Saints Church required cropping from 4000x6000 to 2672x3875 pixels. The second image is an 'actual pixels' crop. Camera was handheld; not possible to set up a tripod in the church pews. This was the first time I'd tried the Canon 24/2.8 TS Mk II with the SL 601 using the Novoflex Canon EF to SL 'smart' adapter. Aperture priority selected with shutter speed adjusted in live view via the exposure compensation index … until it 'looked OK'.

Exposure 1/125sec  f11 ISO 1600 

dunk 

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!

[dkCambridgeshire]

… and this is the 'actual pixels' crop 

dunk 

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!

[dkCambridgeshire]

^^^  Found it impossible to edit the text on the above post??

Plan to photograph more stained glass with SL 601 but using longer focal length lenses from a distance to isolate parts of the artwork. The whole window can appear too overwhelming unless it's presented as a large print. 

dunk 

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica L-Mount

[PeterGA]

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!