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

[hdmesa]

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2 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

But coming in L and M mount in 2024.

Businesswire article says RF and L. B&H article says L and M. 

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The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[Ecar]

There will be an M mount:

https://cookeoptics.com/lens/sp3/

But I very much doubt it will be RF-coupled.

[YB Hudson III]

Apparently the Cooke SP3’s are manufactured in China with QC and finishing in the U.K. some of the optical elements were revised to compensate for the difference in glass formulas from the originals.my doubts that they were anointed with the magical pixie dust of the originals…😜

[Huss]

3 hours ago, YB Hudson III said:

Apparently the Cooke SP3’s are manufactured in China with QC and finishing in the U.K. 

I'd feel better if it was the other way round.

[keeping_a_balance]

Just received this lens last week, has been quite fun shooting with it, very happy so far....

A few shots with it...

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[keeping_a_balance]

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[keeping_a_balance]

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[avoll]

On 7/14/2023 at 11:44 AM, hdmesa said:

LLL SP II (V2) -|- GFX 50SII in 35mm crop mode

– – –

click to be able to see actual sharpness

f/2

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Crops from f/2 to f/8

 

f/2

Crops from f/2 to f/8

 

f/2

Crops from f/2 to f/8

Do you know if you can use this lens with the gfx with the 24x64 aspect ratio? Is the vignetting very heavy mid-frame edge or is it mostly concentrated in the corners of the frame?

[hdmesa]

7 hours ago, avoll said:

Do you know if you can use this lens with the gfx with the 24x64 aspect ratio? Is the vignetting very heavy mid-frame edge or is it mostly concentrated in the corners of the frame?

At close range with a central subject, you can get good results wide open using:

• 16:9 cropping in a little
• X-Pan
• Square

For these crops, only expect optimal sharpness close to a 35mm sensor-equivalent area. This lens could be used with the above crops for portraits for example.

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At infinity:

• Square cropped in a little (corner/edge sharpness extremely poor)
• X-Pan cropped in a little (corner/edge sharpness extremely poor)
• 4:3 expanded to be slightly larger than 35mm (good performance to the edges)

I wish Fujifilm would offer a second option to the 35mm crop mode (which is a hard crop applied even to the RAW), which would be to crop the width the same width as 35mm but expand the frame vertically to give a 4:3 final image ratio. 

 

Edited October 8, 2023 by hdmesa

[avoll]

6 hours ago, hdmesa said:

At close range with a central subject, you can get good results wide open using:

• 16:9 cropping in a little
• X-Pan
• Square

For these crops, only expect optimal sharpness close to a 35mm sensor-equivalent area. This lens could be used with the above crops for portraits for example.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

At infinity:

• Square cropped in a little (corner/edge sharpness extremely poor)
• X-Pan cropped in a little (corner/edge sharpness extremely poor)
• 4:3 expanded to be slightly larger than 35mm (good performance to the edges)

I wish Fujifilm would offer a second option to the 35mm crop mode (which is a hard crop applied even to the RAW), which would be to crop the width the same width as 35mm but expand the frame vertically to give a 4:3 final image ratio. 

 

Thank you for doing this! I just got a gfx 100s and I'm really into experimenting with 24x64. Very close to 70mm ultra panavision film stock aspect ratio. For my liking, maybe not in all circumstances, but the mid frame vignette is pleasant and unexpectedly not as harsh as I imagined. 

It would be interesting to be able to custom adjust the aspect ratio in camera. I appreciate the Fujifilm cameras completely blacking out the image around your chosen aspect ratio. Some other cameras just use a semi transparent gray out that is distracting. 

I prefer a the stockier 4:3 native to the gfx. The first film camera I loved was a mamiya rz67 and that 6x7 frame as dictated every digital photo since then. 

Of course a little crop from a 50 or 100 mp camera never hurt anyone.

I think I'm going to have to pick up a copy of the panchro. 

Thanks again!

[hdmesa]

3 hours ago, Al Brown said:

According to my eye and perception the SPII wide open has a strong similarity in rendering of both the glow and the bokeh to Steel Rim re-edition. It is more of a modern spin on the old flaws - both the original SP and the original Steel Rim render differently to their current counterpart remakes.

The pairing of the LLL SPII 50 and SR reissue is a good one for matching the looks between 50 and 35. I can't think of another 50 that has the same glow. The big difference between these is that wide open at infinity, the SPII is sharp across the frame whereas the SR reissue "blooms" outward from the sharp center and becomes quite dreamy and foggy at the edges. I think the 35 Lux pre-ASPH v2 is closer to the LLL SPII for shooting wide open at infinity.

[GFW2-SCUSA]

Because of this thread and the interesting pictures posted I bought a nice demo Panchro II and have just received it. I think I like what I am seeing thus far; nice color, smooth yet sharp focus, fine build quality. Mine is the black paint version. I hefty little beast but solid. I am posting a picture which shows, for me, the nice quality this lens offers. Not a great picture, but I thought it handled the range very well. 

This is my first upload so I hope I did it correctly. 

 

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[Almizilero]

Some more portraits with this lens:

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[69xchange]

Looks like the rigid version of the SP II is now available on eBay from a Chinese seller. 

[hdmesa]

5 hours ago, 69xchange said:

Looks like the rigid version of the SP II is now available on eBay from a Chinese seller. 

Also available from Popflash (US buyers): https://www.popflash.com/leica-lenses/light-lens-lab-50mm-f/2-rigid-spii-chrome-leica-m-mount-lens-new/

Price is a bit higher than I expected, but I like this design so much better than the other one.

Edited January 31, 2024 by hdmesa

[69xchange]

8 hours ago, hdmesa said:

Also available from Popflash (US buyers): https://www.popflash.com/leica-lenses/light-lens-lab-50mm-f/2-rigid-spii-chrome-leica-m-mount-lens-new/

Price is a bit higher than I expected, but I like this design so much better than the other one.

I agree, and it’s more compact. I wonder if they have addressed the micro focusing issue or was it only specific to early versions/batches of the SP 2 lens?

[hdmesa]

34 minutes ago, 69xchange said:

I agree, and it’s more compact. I wonder if they have addressed the micro focusing issue or was it only specific to early versions/batches of the SP 2 lens?

By "micro-focusing" issue, do you mean the focus ring was not moving smoothly causing difficulty with small adjustments? Mine was a bit uneven at first but smoothed out with use over a week or two. 

Here's what the LLL rep said about the Rigid version over at FM Forums,

• Same optics as the original SPII
• Elements are now multi-coated for a more modern look
• Has 8 aperture blade instead of 10
• Is a bit smaller and lighter than the original SPII

My hope is the multi-coated elements will solve the blue/purple veiling haze effect in the center of the image at small f-stops. I don't use my original SPII stopped down smaller than f/5.6 because of this.

[69xchange]

26 minutes ago, hdmesa said:

By "micro-focusing" issue, do you mean the focus ring was not moving smoothly causing difficulty with small adjustments? Mine was a bit uneven at first but smoothed out with use over a week or two. 

Here's what the LLL rep said about the Rigid version over at FM Forums,

• Same optics as the original SPII
• Elements are now multi-coated for a more modern look
• Has 8 aperture blade instead of 10
• Is a bit smaller and lighter than the original SPII

My hope is the multi-coated elements will solve the blue/purple veiling haze effect in the center of the image at small f-stops. I don't use my original SPII stopped down smaller than f/5.6 because of this.

Yup, I see. My Elcan never smoothed out even after month of usage. Anyways, this will be interesting with new coating for a "modern look". Hope to see some reviews soon!

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[hdmesa]

32 minutes ago, 69xchange said:

Yup, I see. My Elcan never smoothed out even after month of usage. Anyways, this will be interesting with new coating for a "modern look". Hope to see some reviews soon!

You should have a lens repair shop replace the grease on your Elcan. If you're in the US, send your Elcan to Don at DAG. He doesn't charge much and does impeccable work.

I'll report back on how the Rigid version performs!

[hdmesa]

SPII 50 Rigid in silver arrived today.

Ergonomics:

– Feels lighter than the SPII as advertised
– Well balanced on the M, which does not tip forward with the lens attached
– Build quality seems high
– Aperture ring movement and clicks are nice; more Summicron-like compared to the regular SPII
– Focusing was a bit uneven for the first few minutes then smoothed out quickly
– Focus tab and infinity lock feel similar to the Leica 28 Summaron reissue
– Focus ring knurling allows the lens to be used as if the focus tab isn't there, and disengaging infinity lock while using the ring instead of the tab was easy to do
– Focus smoothness when using the ring is well dampened and uniform from MFD to infinity
– Focus smoothness with the tab is less uniform due to angle of pressure applied in order to operate it (as happens to me with other lenses with this kind of focus tab/knob)
– MFD appears to be 0.6m if the spacing of the lens distance markings is accurate; the rangefinder works all the way to this minimum distance
– Lens hood is well-matched to the lens

Optics:

– Stopped down central flare is now completely neutral and not blue/purple
– More saturated modern color versus the regular SPII
– Optics are perfectly centered
– Rangefinder patch at infinity hard stop is a hair short of alignment just like my regular SPII 
– Actual infinity focus at hard stop is perfect
– Infinity sharpness is like the regular SPII, very good across the frame wide open and excellent by f/5.6
– Unlike the regular SPII, there is little to no glow at f/2, perhaps just a bit in out of focus areas, especially off-axis

Images samples to come over the next few days.

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