Light Lens Lab 50mm f/2 "Speed Panchro II" for Leica M

[hdmesa]

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Since I can’t edit the post above any longer:

Observation on glow at f/2 was not correct once I shot them both side by side. Like the original SPII, the Rigid doesn’t glow much at close distance. At mid-distance, the Rigid actually glows a bit more. I think this may be copy variation since my copy of the Rigid seems slightly less sharp than my copy of the regular SPII. Haven’t tested at infinity for glow yet.

More later on.

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[hdmesa]

After spending some more time with the Rigid SPII, I decided to return it. At the hard stop, it was slightly short of achieving perfect infinity focus; and, at all distances it was slightly less sharp than my original SPII. I did like the extra glow from the softer performance, but it did make it harder to focus when using it on mirrorless. Sharpness could be copy variation, but the infinity focus is a definite miss from a quality control perspective. It would have been better if it hit infinity slightly before the hard stop than to not hit infinity at all.

The only character trait of the Rigid SPII that may be concerning in my opinion (like the original SPII) is the central veiling flare when stopped down past f/4. Due to the adding multicoating on the elements, the flare is no longer blue/purple, it's just a lighter area in the frame – that's an improvement over the original SPII since the blue/purple was quite distracting. However, the better contrast from the coatings does make the central flare more visible so that it starts to show up about one f-stop sooner than it did on the original SPII. The different number of aperture blades on the Rigid, also makes the central flare shape more elongated vertically instead of just being a perfect circle on the original SPII. I think the shape change of the central flare will actually be a positive thing for video shooters, since the elongated veiling flare shape acts more like traditional flare in that it changes shape and angle as the camera is panned around. This could add an interesting mood to a video, but I don't think it's necessarily flattering for stills photography.

I'm on the fence as to whether I'll exchange it for another copy or not. My original SPII is perfect – very sharp, infinity focus is perfect at the hard stop, rangefinder patch alignment at infinity is nearly perfect (better than some recent Voigtlander lenses I've bought), and the glow is very nice at longer distances. But the Rigid SPII's physical housing is gorgeous, while the original SPII is "a face only a mother could love" 🫣 

[69xchange]

Thinking about picking up this lens to pair with my steel rim reissue since both lenses render similarly. I also have the 50mm lux pre-asph v2. Would it make sense to have a SP ii and a 50mm lux pre-asph v2?? I wonder how close are the renderings for these two lenses compared to the steel rim reissue. 

[hdmesa]

2 hours ago, 69xchange said:

Thinking about picking up this lens to pair with my steel rim reissue since both lenses render similarly. I also have the 50mm lux pre-asph v2. Would it make sense to have a SP ii and a 50mm lux pre-asph v2?? I wonder how close are the renderings for these two lenses compared to the steel rim reissue. 

I've never used the 50 Lux Pre-ASPH v2, but the samples I've seen don't look like the Steel Rim at f/1.4 at mid to long distance. I think the SPII does look like the SR at longer distances when wide open at f/2. Where the SPII will differ from the SR is at infinity at f/2, the SPII is sharp across the frame with glow. The SR at f/1.4 and infinity will be sharp in the center with glow and very, very soft at the edges, almost hazy. Also worth noting the SPII is obviously an f/2 lens, so there are many situations where you won't get f/1.4 separation. 

Here is the SPII on the M11M at f/2 and mid distance. Buildings and mountain out the window vary from across the street to a few blocks away to a few miles away. I think I used a light red filter.

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Crop of the previous image to show the glow:

SPII on the M11 at f/2 and infinity focus with light red filter:

Crop of previous image to show the glow:

 

Edited February 18, 2024 by hdmesa

[69xchange]

5 hours ago, hdmesa said:

I've never used the 50 Lux Pre-ASPH v2, but the samples I've seen don't look like the Steel Rim at f/1.4 at mid to long distance. I think the SPII does look like the SR at longer distances when wide open at f/2. Where the SPII will differ from the SR is at infinity at f/2, the SPII is sharp across the frame with glow. The SR at f/1.4 and infinity will be sharp in the center with glow and very, very soft at the edges, almost hazy. Also worth noting the SPII is obviously an f/2 lens, so there are many situations where you won't get f/1.4 separation. 

Here is the SPII on the M11M at f/2 and mid distance. Buildings and mountain out the window vary from across the street to a few blocks away to a few miles away. I think I used a light red filter.

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Crop of the previous image to show the glow:

SPII on the M11 at f/2 and infinity focus with light red filter:

Crop of previous image to show the glow:

 

These glows are very similar to the SR reissue and exactly what I am after. Before you returned your rigid SPII, did you by chance take some sample shots?

[69xchange]

3 hours ago, Al Brown said:

I wonder if this glow would be very easily duplicated with a tad stronger black promist put over a regular 50 pre-aspherical.

I will test this out with my 50mm lux pre-asph v2 this week and report back! 
 

I am also curious what a 1/8 diffusion filter on a SP2 would look like.

[69xchange]

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9 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

Great, looking forward! Not sure if 1/8 Promist will do it though, factoring the focal length should be 1/4 minimum or even 1/2.

Good point. I have both 1/8 and 1/4. I’ll try both of them out anyways.

[hdmesa]

8 hours ago, 69xchange said:

These glows are very similar to the SR reissue and exactly what I am after. Before you returned your rigid SPII, did you by chance take some sample shots?

I didn’t keep the Rigid long enough to shoot samples worth posting. Glow was similar, but it was much less sharp, which make it difficult to focus using the EVF compared to the original SPII. But it could be I just got a soft copy, I don’t know. 

[hdmesa]

7 hours ago, Al Brown said:

I wonder if this glow would be very easily duplicated with a tad stronger black promist put over a regular 50 pre-aspherical.

If used judiciously in high contrast light, a diffusion filter can get pretty close or sometime look even better. In other light, these filters can look a bit artificial because the softness is too uniform across the frame. It might be worth noting that the glow with the SPII decreases the closer the subject is. Once you get close to MFD, it’s mostly gone. So using a diffusion filter with the SPII can be helpful if you want to keep the look for say a headshot portrait.

[69xchange]

2 hours ago, Al Brown said:

Some weeks have passed, how is that test going?

There hasn’t been a single day with sun since, I’ll report back soon! 

[Warton]

I have this timed version of SP2. It renders really well and low contrast. Vignetting is minimum at f/2, almost not visible starting f/4. Focus is right on. What else can we ask? 
I like it better than 35f2 8-element clone.

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[graphlex]

The rendering evokes scenes out of Raymond Chandler.  In particular, the ones in which Marlowe recovers after being knocked unconscious.

[markc2]

My local camera shop had the LLL SP2 2nd edition, man it's a very dense "heavy" relative to its size feeling lens. Felt super well made, the only thing I found off as opposed to Leica lenses is that the aperture dial didn't really click, it kind of had the thought of click. I wasn't sure quite what to expect but it gave me a live B&W TV's broadcast kind of feel.  Oh Leica m8.2 Light Lens Lab SP II 2nd gen

Really like the lens but I have a Summarit 50mm LTM and just don't know about having 2 50's and I really would like to have a 90mm. Oh well Leica things 🙂

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Edited October 8, 2024 by markc2

[markc2]

Question about this lens as well, does it come with a front cap? The dealer was going to sell it to me but it didn't have a cap, I know, but he couldn't find one, It does come with a front cap does it not?

[aficionados]

33 minutes ago, markc2 said:

Question about this lens as well, does it come with a front cap? The dealer was going to sell it to me but it didn't have a cap, I know, but he couldn't find one, It does come with a front cap does it not?

No it doesn’t have cap

[markc2]

4 minutes ago, aficionados said:

No it doesn’t have cap

So what was your solution to that? Thanks for your time as well.

[aficionados]

1 hour ago, markc2 said:

So what was your solution to that? Thanks for your time as well.

No cap is no cap, I don't need solution to that.

It comes with a gigantic hood, which protects the lens. Besides, the lens has built in filter in front ( you can use pliers to screw it off you really want to), which provides more protection.

If you are really uncomfortable without cap, you can buy a 43mm thread size pinch style plastic cap from Amazon costing less than $5.

Edited October 10, 2024 by aficionados

[intangiblethings]

I used a spanner to get my built-in lens filter off and then used an orange filter for B&W.

Edited October 10, 2024 by intangiblethings
wrong word

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[Dr. G]

Really like this lens (this was taken with my SL2-S) but I recently realized my copy focuses well short of infinity.  I tried different adapters with no success.  Anyone know of someone in the US who can fix it?  Mine is out of the warranty period.

 

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[graphlex]

SP2’s color rendition has bit of Wes Anderson to it.

M10-D

 

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