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More musings on lenses and ergonomics ...


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I spent a few days walking about with the M-D fitted with the WATE set to 21mm and the Universal Wide Angle Finder. For some reason or another, I hardly saw anything that I wanted to photograph. I put the same lens on the CL, set to 16mm, and did the same: nada again.

Yesterday, I fitted the enormous (by comparison) Super-Elmer-R 15mm f/3.5 to the CL ... And the world came alive in the viewfinder! 

Am I really that sensitive to the handling feel of a lens that it can switch my ability to see on and off so dramatically? I'm fairly stunned. 

What affects you the most when you pick up a camera and lens?

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Interesting! I'm ready to practice other esperiments 😊, but I felt some combo camera-lens more attractive among others.

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Imbalance between camera and lens is probably what affects me the most. I don't own an R 15/3.5 but i would not use my R 21/4 let alone R 28/2.8 PC on the CL if i were not compelled to do so. On the other hand, my Tessar 35/3.5 (pic) sits happily on the CL but i did not use it on my bigger bodies so far and i don't feel the need to try it on them. Same for my Elmar 35/3.5. YMMvastlyV.

 

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It's dark out, but the preceding posts pose an interesting challenge.  To see what Godfrey was responding to, I pulled out my R 15 mm (it's the Super Elmarit, by Schneider and a little bit bigger than the 3.5).  It's a difficult lens to use on the SL at FF:

R1000046 by scott kirkpatrick, on Flickr R SE 15/2.8@f/5.6 on the SL

but it becomes quite relaxed and natural on the CL:

C1090950 by scott kirkpatrick, on Flickr same lens on the CL

and it really doesn't seem such a giant if you look at it the right way:

R1000047 by scott kirkpatrick, on Flickr CL 60/2.8 macro on the SL

Edited by scott kirkpatrick
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Shooting with this combination in a very traditional neighborhood of Jerusalem, but with some exotic stuff:

C1090995 by scott kirkpatrick, on Flickr

C1100011 by scott kirkpatrick, on Flickr

 

Edited by scott kirkpatrick
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On 1/2/2019 at 4:57 PM, ramarren said:

I spent a few days walking about with the M-D fitted with the WATE set to 21mm and the Universal Wide Angle Finder. For some reason or another, I hardly saw anything that I wanted to photograph. I put the same lens on the CL, set to 16mm, and did the same: nada again.

Yesterday, I fitted the enormous (by comparison) Super-Elmer-R 15mm f/3.5 to the CL ... And the world came alive in the viewfinder! 

Am I really that sensitive to the handling feel of a lens that it can switch my ability to see on and off so dramatically? I'm fairly stunned. 

What affects you the most when you pick up a camera and lens?

Grey old winter days at home in the UK.  Surroundings and the light are always what affect me most.  I always have a camera with me, walk dogs every day, this time of year I just get home with flat grey dull images, whatever the gear.   Little bit of winter sun or hard frost - helps.  Travel, new experiences (not new gear, I have at last come to realise) helps the most.

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I know that feeling. Generally i learned to love the EVFs and my favourite is the one of the CL. When I capture something I might shoot running around with the M (whatever M) I often saw nothing in the VF. That is my first aspect: EVF's (and the real time view of adjustments) beat the M-system. Finally I sold the M. Lenses are a question of my daily mood, it is a kind of preset in my mind ("today I want Bokeh (zeiss 2/50)", "today I want to capture everything (super-vario-TL 11-23)". And yes, if these two aspects do not match, i come home with nothing, or might not even go out.

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I see some folks are into the "smaller is best" thing, and others commenting about the EVF vs other viewfinder types, etc etc. I dunno about all that. I have the CL, and I have this lens... :) 

I had the Super-Elmar-R 15mm lens on my CL last night and snatched a photo of my partner in our home office when he was reviewing a book that was misplaced. Just a grab shot: quick focus, ISO 3200 @ f/5.6 @ 1/30 second. The CL's sensor showed its excellent ability to hold detail even at this elevated ISO setting in contrasty light, and the SER15 did its usual magic for me. Yeah: I had to do some image processing on this frame to get the rendering where I wanted it; nothing unusual in that. 

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There's something about what this lens does in the viewfinder and in a photograph that just inspires me. I don't pretend to understand it, or try to explain it in terms of flare, contrast, whatever. The size of the camera and lens ... no matter. The weight ... eh? It's heavy. It does still fit in my Peak Design Everyday Sling 5L along with the Pentax-L 43mm lens. I just want to make more photos with the SER15, and prefer it over the WATE and other potential lenses I might purchase. It's a big heavy beast of a thing that, curiously, fits my hands and eye just perfectly. For that I can be grateful. 


Leica CL + Super-Elmar-R 15mm f/3.5
1,557 grams
A little over 15 cm back to front .. 150mm ruler provided for scale.

Love it... I'll work out a little more so I can carry it all day without becoming winded. :D 

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A photo from the CL + SER15 combination: 


Leica CL + Super-Elmar-R 15mm f/3.5
ISO 125 @ f/5.6 @ 1/30[/CENTER]

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Trying to find a wide angle that I would like, the 11-23 is just too slow at the long end. I decided to adapt a Tokina 11-16 f2.8 I have with my Nikon, a big lens compare to the CL but balances nicely and the adapter has a tripod mount on it. The adapter allows f stop setting on a Nikon G type lens. Handles well and has focus peaking working on the CL. The photo of the kitchen was hand held at 1/20 at 16mm. 

 

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