pmendelson Posted April 21, 2019 Share #1 Posted April 21, 2019 Advertisement (gone after registration) I am planning on purchasing the S1R and am considering super wide angle options. Putting budget aside for the moment, would the Leica SL 16-35mm probably be my best bet among currently available offerings? I wouldn't mind going even wider with the Canon 11-24mm, but I'm not sure how it would perform as an adapted lens, and of course it doesn't take screw-in filters. I don't do astrophotography - I just like to shoot close and wide - mainly urban and other landscapes. I have a trip to Greece coming up in a couple of months so I'd like to get things sorted for that trip before too long. Any other options I'm missing that also provide great optical quality on the wide end? Thanks! Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted April 21, 2019 Posted April 21, 2019 Hi pmendelson, Take a look here Best wide to super wide angle AF option for S1R? . I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
helged Posted April 21, 2019 Share #2 Posted April 21, 2019 6 minutes ago, pmendelson said: I am planning on purchasing the S1R and am considering super wide angle options. Putting budget aside for the moment, would the Leica SL 16-35mm probably be my best bet among currently available offerings? I wouldn't mind going even wider with the Canon 11-24mm, but I'm not sure how it would perform as an adapted lens, and of course it doesn't take screw-in filters. I don't do astrophotography - I just like to shoot close and wide - mainly urban and other landscapes. I have a trip to Greece coming up in a couple of months so I'd like to get things sorted for that trip before too long. Any other options I'm missing that also provide great optical quality on the wide end? Thanks! Peter The 16-35 SL is s u p e r b . If you want to go even wider, the latest version of the Voigtlander 12mm has recieved good reviews/tests. For me, 16-35 does the job. Almost, that is: Its not the best performer for astrophotography (some coma/deformation at infinity and wode open; here I prefer the Sigma 14mm f1.8 Art). 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmendelson Posted April 21, 2019 Author Share #3 Posted April 21, 2019 Thanks - I used to have the Voigtlander 10mm 5.6, but this time I am looking for an AF lens (and the corners weren't great on the 10mm, although I suspect the 12mm and 15mm Voigtlanders are better in this regard), and while a prime would be ok, the convenience of a zoom, especially for travel, is great. On the other hand, the zooms are pretty large of course. Right now the 16-35mm SL sounds like it may be the best option. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeR Posted April 21, 2019 Share #4 Posted April 21, 2019 Personally I'm awaiting the release of the Sigma 14mm f1.8 due out in a native "L" mount by years end. That's plenty wide enough for me and my Real Estate work. Not to mention the price should be reasonable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron777 Posted April 21, 2019 Share #5 Posted April 21, 2019 I too am in the market for a 16-35mm lens, having used the Sony GM version since its release. That said, and as the result of recent experience with Panasonic's S Pro lens quality, I am awaiting the release of their 16-35mm F/4 sometime later this year (according to their roadmap). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeR Posted April 21, 2019 Share #6 Posted April 21, 2019 Yeah seems to me I did hear something about that 16-35 f4 coming out. If that does I'll be a shoe in for that as that would work out great for the Real Estate work I've been doing. If it's built at least like the 24-105 should be superb. The only other lens I have earmarked for certain is a 60-600 Sigma with the adapter. Otherwise I might roll over long term for the 50mm f1.4. That would do it nicely for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlashGordonPhotography Posted April 22, 2019 Share #7 Posted April 22, 2019 Advertisement (gone after registration) The 16-35 SL s the best wide zoom I've used. I have the 16-35 GM and 12-24 Art and the Leica is better. It's my wide angle choice. Gordon 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmendelson Posted April 22, 2019 Author Share #8 Posted April 22, 2019 Thanks. Gordon, have you noticed any smearing on the edges of shots taken with the Leica 16-35mm? I was reading a review of it on Diglloyd's website, and the edge smearing he shows and talks about have now gotten me a bit concerned - I would hate to lay out those kinds of funds for a lens that is smeary on the edges. Best, Peter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
helged Posted April 22, 2019 Share #9 Posted April 22, 2019 (edited) 5 hours ago, FlashGordonPhotography said: The 16-35 SL s the best wide zoom I've used. I have the 16-35 GM and 12-24 Art and the Leica is better. It's my wide angle choice. Gordon The 16-35 SL is also clearly better than the Nikkor 14-24 f2.8G. Edited April 22, 2019 by helged Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrp Posted April 22, 2019 Share #10 Posted April 22, 2019 I used to subscribe to the accident-prone DigiLloyd, but gave up on him. Too expensive and his hilighting points that are relevant to pixel peepers only, and even then I could not see them on even the high res images that he offers. Yes, the 24mm Summilux does not have the resolution of the 16-35mm Leica lens, but there are pictures that you can take with the former that are impossible with the latter, even with a body that can produce great high-iso images. In some cases, I prefer the former and others the latter. Lloyd will not help you to decide. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmendelson Posted April 22, 2019 Author Share #11 Posted April 22, 2019 I hear you jrp - sometime he is a bit too much of a pixel peeper for me.. Although the samples he provided on his site did show smeared edges. On the other hand, other samples I have seen showed better edge performance. Thanks all for the input. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bags27 Posted April 22, 2019 Share #12 Posted April 22, 2019 At least until I see what the SL2 looks like, I'm just a fanboy of these cameras and lenses. But, FWIW, the 16-35 produces some of the nicest FF photos I've ever seen. If I had the easy money and my younger arms, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlashGordonPhotography Posted April 22, 2019 Share #13 Posted April 22, 2019 (edited) 9 hours ago, pmendelson said: Thanks. Gordon, have you noticed any smearing on the edges of shots taken with the Leica 16-35mm? I was reading a review of it on Diglloyd's website, and the edge smearing he shows and talks about have now gotten me a bit concerned - I would hate to lay out those kinds of funds for a lens that is smeary on the edges. Best, Peter Smearing? No. My lens does not smear. I have tested for it. At infinity and wide open there is some loss of resolution in the corners (definitely not smearing). But I need to be at 200% to really see it. Or do large prints. Stopping down helps a lot. f8 at infinity is fabulous. Wide edges are great. It's just in the corners. Close in my copy is sharp to the corners wide open at all focal lengths and apertures. Gordon Edited April 22, 2019 by FlashGordonPhotography 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jplomley Posted April 24, 2019 Share #14 Posted April 24, 2019 (edited) I observe a bit of smearing between 16-19mm, majority of which disappears at 21mm. I believe it is field curvature, because I can correct it by bringing the focus forward whilst carefully looking at the corners with the lens stopped down to the taking aperture. What I am currently doing for landscape when shooting between 16 and 19mm is combining two images, one with the focus point optimized for the corners. It is annoying, but there is a workaround. I was a bit surprised about this behaviour for such an expensive lens and contacted Leica and even sent test images demonstrating the poor corner performance. The feedback was that this was within performance specifications. Edited April 24, 2019 by jplomley 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jplomley Posted April 24, 2019 Share #15 Posted April 24, 2019 (edited) Just to add, I will probably sell the 16-35 once the Summicron wide primes are released, as these will also be better performers for street in challenging light where the 16-35 struggles due to its slow aperture. Edited April 24, 2019 by jplomley Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Gough Posted April 24, 2019 Share #16 Posted April 24, 2019 https://www.aphotovid.com/leica-super-vario-elmar-sl-16-35-f-3-5-4-5-asph-full-review/ my review of the 16-35mm on the SL Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom0511 Posted April 26, 2019 Share #17 Posted April 26, 2019 Am 24.4.2019 um 02:12 schrieb jplomley: Just to add, I will probably sell the 16-35 once the Summicron wide primes are released, as these will also be better performers for street in challenging light where the 16-35 struggles due to its slow aperture. the wide primes are not even announced. Add 2 years between annuncement and release and another year until one can buy one in reality I think Leica should really focus to make more lenses available for the SL system, and hopefully at more competitive prices than the 35 Summicron. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlashGordonPhotography Posted April 27, 2019 Share #18 Posted April 27, 2019 4 hours ago, tom0511 said: the wide primes are not even announced. Add 2 years between annuncement and release and another year until one can buy one in reality I think Leica should really focus to make more lenses available for the SL system, and hopefully at more competitive prices than the 35 Summicron. You will have a bunch of choices from Sigma by the end of the year. The Art lenses are fabulous. Gordon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
caissa Posted May 2, 2019 Share #19 Posted May 2, 2019 (edited) On 4/24/2019 at 2:12 AM, jplomley said: Just to add, I will probably sell the 16-35 once the Summicron wide primes are released, as these will also be better performers for street in challenging light where the 16-35 struggles due to its slow aperture. Some buy an extra slow 28mm Elmaron and say they use it for street photography. And the new cameras (so they say about the S1) have enormous ISOs. And then selling the 16-35 because it is too slow.... Not my strategy. Not a clever strategy in my eyes. Rather a way of finding means to spend a lot of money (even more money than before). And the performance benefit is certainly huge 😂🤣 . Show us your results (when the lenses arrive). It will be interesting to see what can be achieved with this switch ... 😜😎 By the way, thighslapper has shown what the S1R (the slower of the two Lumixes) with the 16-35 is capable of, in his holiday snapshots. (Italy at night ?) Edited May 2, 2019 by caissa Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlashGordonPhotography Posted May 4, 2019 Share #20 Posted May 4, 2019 (edited) Tried the S1R with the Sigma MC21 today. The SL16-35 focused much faster than any of the Sigma lenses I tried with the adaptor. Including the 14mm, 28mm and 24mm Art lenses. And it focuse much better in low light as well even though the adapted lenses were much faster. Made a good case to buy L mount versions rather than the adaptor. Gordon Edited May 4, 2019 by FlashGordonPhotography 2 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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