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Question regarding Summilux-M 50mm ASPH wide open performance


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To yet again hijack the thread (sorry @Bangrossi - congrats on the APO by the way)

The Leica store tested my lens and found it was indeed with a serious problem.

They sent it to Germany, I've just had, and authorised the repair quote, and I'm excited I'm going to finally own the legendary Summilux over two years since I bought it!!

Thanks to everyone that provided feedback and help

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15 hours ago, Adam Bonn said:

To yet again hijack the thread (sorry @Bangrossi - congrats on the APO by the way)

The Leica store tested my lens and found it was indeed with a serious problem.

They sent it to Germany, I've just had, and authorised the repair quote, and I'm excited I'm going to finally own the legendary Summilux over two years since I bought it!!

Thanks to everyone that provided feedback and help

Please redo the test you've did before. I really want to know how much improved it is after adjustment done by Leica.

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2 hours ago, Bangrossi said:

Please redo the test you've did before. I really want to know how much improved it is after adjustment done by Leica.

100% absolutely I’ll be doing this

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  • 1 month later...

Update:

I just got the call that my freshly fixed and CLA’d Lux is back from Wetzlar and is ready for collection from the store, I just need to pop into town with a shit load of cash to collect it 

More too follow…

Seems that Christmas came early, my family and friends are lucky that I got their presents already as suddenly there’s a potential budget issue 😂😂

 

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On 10/2/2021 at 8:30 PM, Adam Bonn said:

Ok so I had a little time for this today, but to be honest I suspect I've wasted my time (and now yours) as it was a bit of a rushed test and I suspect I should've let the sky blow out and get a clearer shot of the telegraph pole (that doubles as a lamp post)

So (again) I've made a slight edit, +5 on shadows and contrast, +0.6 on exposure, but with LR6 default sharpening and zero clarity

Shot using a tripod.

Here's the whole frame screen grab

 

Focus was on the post, so no where near infinity, but certainly some meters away 

Now let's see it at 100% (DNG exported to jpeg at 2048 200ppi)

 

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This shows what I mean, we can see the details but there's a kinda haze or smear to it... perhaps I'm just being picky... truth be told I wouldn't normally focus on something 10-15 meters away wide open then zoom in to inspect the fine details.

But this what I see using my example of the Lux...

Also... I've been giving this some thought today...

Running around taking shots, then not hardly editing them at all to try a show potential problems to solicit online advice is all very well and good...

....but it's hardly how I work in real life...

So science be damned !!!!

Here's a selection of screen grabs that show my lux in real life... that's edited shots, focus and recompose (I only recently sprung for the EVF), largely shot through a 2 or 3 stop ND, some might be at F2 or F1.7.

In short, real world usage

When I see these shots I don't really see any big problems, but I'm interested in your feedback on the apparent performance of my copy of this hallowed glass...

If you want my personal opinion...

I came to the lux from v5 cron. The cron is an easy charmer, contrasty from the get-go (IMO anyway) and forgiving to use with it's flat field of focus.

The lux demands more... you put more in then you get more out.

I was possibly naïve about this.... screwed my expectations and first impressions last

If we were to plot the 10+ meter wide open performance of a bunch of Luxes, then I suspect that mine might away from the top end of the bell curve... but within spec

However with the shots that I make in real life I don't see any reason to be too worried...

In fact looking at these shots (randomly pulled from LR based on lens and aperture) I'm not sure I've got a a particularly defective copy.

 

But please - have you say and I welcome your input

 

 

DNG no edits =

 

different day (and month) different light...

looks better too me....

Edited by Adam Bonn
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a quick and dirty attempt to brighten up the newer shot

before CLA and "re-centring optic module"

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after

(fyi shot handheld with the rangefinder, first shot was tripod and EVF)

I'm sure someone with a sharp eye will be along to piss on my chips soon enough 😂 - but it looks to me that I might actually have the lens I thought I was buying in the first place!

Edit:

I'll spare you the endless shots of nonsense I shot to test it, many of which needed an ND filter to shoot wide open anyway (yes I know that skews the result, but I have many images with an ND filter before the CLA too...)

But initial impressions are that it's so much better than before, it looks like a layer of Vaseline has been removed from the photos!

Edited by Adam Bonn
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18 minutes ago, lct said:

No more glow though... Just kidding ;). Well done.

 

Thank you.


Yup nothing that 2 and bit months away and money couldn’t fix!

On the one hand this proves to me that if the price is too good to be true… but on the other hand even including the CLA I’ve actually still managed a reasonably good deal… 

Looking at today’s kitschy-crap-arama of test shots I could see even on thumbnail view that I was shooting with a lens that was so much better than before

I’m just a little pissed with myself for being in denial that I’d bought a lemon, and brushing it off with thoughts like perhaps the lux is overhyped or well I guess sample variation and mine is just one of the less good ones 🙄

The clue should of been how it didn’t get sharp until 2.8… 

These things happen  Live and learn. Etc etc 

 

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17 hours ago, Artin said:

Glad it all got fixed Adam, the 50lux is arguably the best of the litter when it comes to wide aperture and sharpness collectively its the perfect blend of the Apo Cron and the Noctilux. Hope you enjoy it now that it’s sorted out 

 

Thank you Artin, I just got back from a heavy day of deeply scientific lens testing erm strolling around a medieval town shooting shiny things wide open (even when it was moronic to do so) and the difference in the rendering between before and after is truly night and day.

I flipped my 50 (non-APO) cron to get the Lux and I was quite disappointed at the time, not today though

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righty, crappy test shots... some from today some from yesterday.. screen grabs only cos there's a few to see

(Obviously??) I can't exactly replicate the test shots I showed earlier in this thread (that I've threadjacked so badly from @Bangrossi that I might as well ask it too fly me to Cuba) bar the telegraph pole because they're times, places and light that I don't have access too any more

So all I can do is shoot a bunch of stuff then see if I (and I guess you) think the problem is fixed!

I'm going with yes it is !!!

Many of these are shot with an ND filter, all should be wide open... maybe there's an F2 in there as well... mixture of M9 and M10, some I've edited a bit, others maybe not at all.

Anyways.

I'm in a pretty good mood about this right now, now obviously that's red rag to a bull in internet land to try and bring me down, but if anyone has any serious and reasoned concerns about what they're seeing in these screen grabs then please comment.

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