Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 16-35mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH In-Depth Review

[LD_50]

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Below image is taken with Leica UVa II on and image was not cropped, only slight adjustment to brightness in LR. I did not see any hint of Vigneting:

 

L1000046 by sillbeers15

Did you stack the UV filter with a polarizing one? The vignetting comment was related to stacked filters.

[Peter Branch]

Did you stack the UV filter with a polarizing one? The vignetting comment was related to stacked filters.

 

I can confirm that there is no problem with just a UVa II filter.  It is stacking which causes the problem.

 

I'm assuming that with just the Polarising filter that there will be no problem, but I've not had a chance to try that yet.

Edited May 9, 2018 by Peter Branch

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[mmradman]

And did you use Polariser Filter screwed on top of UVA as post #19 suggests?

 

Below image is taken with Leica UVa II on and image was not cropped, only slight adjustment to brightness in LR. I did not see any hint of Vigneting:

 

L1000046 by sillbeers15

[Peter Branch]

And did you use Polariser Filter screwed on top of UVA as post #19 suggests?

 

Yes. I don't remember precisely where but Leica at some point made a feature of the fact that if a UVa II filter was in place then it was unnecessary to remove it to use other filters such as the polariser.

 

I regard the UVa II as simply a means of protecting the front element so leave it on except in situations with a propensity to cause flare.

 

In practice I've never actually seen flair even with the UVa II on. 

[sillbeers15]

And did you use Polariser Filter screwed on top of UVA as post #19 suggests?

My post is without stacking filters.

Yes I did notice vignetting when my filter holder is stacked on. I thought that calls for other solution such as a step up ring to accommodate bigger filters and holders since we are dealing with 16mm wide. I would consider it to be a lens design problem if applying a UVa filter causes vignetting.

[mmradman]

My post is without stacking filters.

Yes I did notice vignetting when my filter holder is stacked on. I thought that calls for other solution such as a step up ring to accommodate bigger filters and holders since we are dealing with 16mm wide. I would consider it to be a lens design problem if applying a UVa filter causes vignetting.

 

That is easily resolved, just use single filter.  

Stacking big diameter filter with adapter rings may block fitting of the lens hood.

 

Btw, polarizer and extreme wides don't go well together as chances are you will end up with unevenly illuminated darkened sky.  Even moderate wides like 24mm need extra care.  ND filters are something completely different.

Edited May 10, 2018 by mmradman

[jrp]

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Does anyone know whether the field of focus bends forwards or backwards with this lens (at 35mm, say).  

[thighslapper]

Doesn’t matter ...... all the distortion is corrected via the codes in the DNG.

I’m sure someone can post a shot using a processor that allows you to disable the DNG corrections.

I suspect it follows the usual worst barreling at the wide end and less, if any, at the long end. 

 

[darylgo]

12 hours ago, jrp said:

Does anyone know whether the field of focus bends forwards or backwards with this lens (at 35mm, say).  

At 35mm the mtf curves are straight except for the falloff at the right, I'm guessing the field curvature should be minimal but don't know direction.  

9 minutes ago, thighslapper said:

Doesn’t matter ...... all the distortion is corrected via the codes in the DNG.

I’m sure someone can post a shot using a processor that allows you to disable the DNG corrections.

I suspect it follows the usual worst barreling at the wide end and less, if any, at the long end. 

 

https://braddlesphotoblurb.blogspot.com/2016/10/decoder-field-curvature.html

"Unfortunately, you cannot solve the negative results of field curvature in post-capture the way distortion, vignetting and chromatic aberration can be.  You can sharpen the edges and into the corners differentially by using a radial sharpen filter options such as that found in Adobe Lightroom.  There are limits however to sharpening, it's not the same as regaining real resolution, a radial sharpening filter that uses deconvolution sharpening methods rather than the regular unsharp mask methods, however, may be able to get a pretty reasonable result if handled with care."

[caissa]

I have the impression that the field of focus is rather flat. But this is just a personal impression, there is no technical/scientific verification. I use the 35 mm sometimes for macro (well almost macro if you want to be strict) and the results are very nice and “quite flat”.

If you own the lens and take a succession of several shots with slightly changing distance (without refocusing) you could probably determine the amount and direction of curvature, if this is important for you. 👍

Edited December 26, 2018 by caissa

[thighslapper]

My impression from a general hunt on the subject (after I mistook the query as one about distortion) is that field curvature in modern high quality lenses is sufficiently controlled to be of minimal or zero importance in normal use. 

I can see it possibly being a factor using WA lenses at very short distances (>1m ...... which is the only occasion where I have found it possibly noticeable on Leica lenses - and that was for test comparison purposes, not to take sensible images) but for normal use it is effectively negated by the large DOF that these lenses have. All the examples posted that I can find use old and pretty crappy lenses and are hardly comparable to the current offerings by the major players.