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M8 + 75 'lux a Killer Combo!


Kent10D

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Earlier today I was taking a pic of my M6 to post on the film forum using my M8 and 75 Summilux, and it reminded me what a knockout combination the M8 and 75 'lux can be. The pic, included below (with apologies for posting the same pic in two different places) was shot at f/4 from a distance of about 1.5 meters, and even at that aperture there's a smooth transition to gentle blur at the bag in the background and even the front of the lens. Any wider and the only thing that's sharp is the "LEICA M6" engraving. In addition to the way the camera and lens handle the tonal gradations of the subject, which I think is beautiful, the ability to finely control DOF over a wide range is a huge advantage. If only it were easier to evaluate these types of transitions on the LCD. As it is, you really need to see the image on a good display to know whether you've nailed it or not. But I guess that's where experience comes in.

 

Anyway, my point: what a great combination!

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Well, yes, it is a nice lens;

 

But I find it very difficult to shoot because of three reasons:

 

- Frameline accuracy dramatically depending on object distance

- I seem to need a fairly high shutter speed to avoid hand-shake blur (1/250 ideally); maybe image stabilization on DSLR's spoiled me in the past...

- Focus accuracy very critical for f.4 - as expected (I need to test out whether I have a backfocusing issue; I think I do).

 

When it works, its great.

 

Recent portrait attached (studio lights).

 

Peter

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The Summilux 75mm is an incredible lens:

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Well, yes, it is a nice lens;

But I find it very difficult to shoot because of three reasons:

 

- Frameline accuracy dramatically depending on object distance

- I seem to need a fairly high shutter speed to avoid hand-shake blur (1/250 ideally); maybe image stabilization on DSLR's spoiled me in the past...

- Focus accuracy very critical for f.4 - as expected (I need to test out whether I have a backfocusing issue; I think I do).

 

I agree about the frameline accuracy and difficult focusing (at first), but I find it fairly manageable even at relatively slow shutter speeds.

 

The photo of the M6 I posted above was shot at 1/30 sec., hand held. It may not be pixel-peep sharp at huge magnification, but it's pretty good and illustrates the surprising stability of the M8 even with a long-ish lens like the 75 'lux on it.

 

Focus, however, is definitely critical. This is a lens that requires a little bit of practice (and I'm still practicing), but I think the effort pays off. After some initial frustration I'm beginning to see a higher percentage of hits than misses. The 1.25x magnifier helps a lot too (although I didn't use it for this particular shot).

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