STurner Posted February 14, 2023 Share #1 Posted February 14, 2023 (edited) Advertisement (gone after registration) I have seen several posts referring to SL lenses, and the SL summicrons imparticular, with some saying they have no equal and some saying XCD lenses are worse, and some saying they are better, etc. I wanted to be able to share some testing that I have done with my SL system and my XCD system that may help to shed some light on these conversations. Let me start by saying that I am in no way talking down to either system and I use both professionally almost daily with great results, but for different uses. So I am not shooting at them, just sharing my testing observations and allowing you to see my test results. I started by testing a multitude of lenses on the SL2 with multi shot in order to get the best resolution possible. I have tested all the Leica zooms, most of the SL primes, most of the Panasonic 1.8 line, all of the sigma 2.0 line and several other faster sigma lenses. I have also used by Hasselblad X2D to test many XCD lenses all the way from 21mm to the 135mm with the converter and almost every lens in-between. The setup was multiple test charts fixed to a 36"x48" board and lit with constant video lighting. I made no attempt to match the color balance or brightness of the captures as for this test, I was strictly looking at center and corner sharpness. I am going to use the Summicron-SL 35mm 2.0 APO as the SL reference as even Peter Karba has stated that he feels this is the pinnacle of SL lens design. I will compare this with a XCD 45mm pancake lens that is equivalent in focal length to the 35mm full frame and show them with a couple of different aperture settings. I will then post a couple of images from the Hasselblad XCD 135mm as a better comparison of a sharper XCD lens as the 45mm is a good lens but not the best in class for the XCD series. This is the SL 35mm at 2.0 in the center 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! Edited February 14, 2023 by STurner 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/366611-leica-sl-lens-sharpness-in-comparison-with-hasselblad-xcd-lenses/?do=findComment&comment=4685103'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted February 14, 2023 Posted February 14, 2023 Hi STurner, Take a look here Leica SL lens sharpness in comparison with Hasselblad XCD lenses. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
STurner Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share #2 Posted February 14, 2023 This is the SL 35mm at 2.0 in the corner 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! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/366611-leica-sl-lens-sharpness-in-comparison-with-hasselblad-xcd-lenses/?do=findComment&comment=4685142'>More sharing options...
STurner Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share #3 Posted February 14, 2023 This is the SL 35mm at 4.0 in the center 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! 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/366611-leica-sl-lens-sharpness-in-comparison-with-hasselblad-xcd-lenses/?do=findComment&comment=4685144'>More sharing options...
STurner Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share #4 Posted February 14, 2023 This is the SL 35mm at 4.0 in the corner 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! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/366611-leica-sl-lens-sharpness-in-comparison-with-hasselblad-xcd-lenses/?do=findComment&comment=4685145'>More sharing options...
STurner Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share #5 Posted February 14, 2023 This is the Hasselblad 45mm f4 pancake lens at 4.0 in the center 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! Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/366611-leica-sl-lens-sharpness-in-comparison-with-hasselblad-xcd-lenses/?do=findComment&comment=4685147'>More sharing options...
STurner Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share #6 Posted February 14, 2023 This is the Hasselblad 45mm f4 pancake lens at 4.0 in the corner 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! Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/366611-leica-sl-lens-sharpness-in-comparison-with-hasselblad-xcd-lenses/?do=findComment&comment=4685148'>More sharing options...
STurner Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share #7 Posted February 14, 2023 Advertisement (gone after registration) This is the Hasselblad 135mm at 2.8 in the center 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! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/366611-leica-sl-lens-sharpness-in-comparison-with-hasselblad-xcd-lenses/?do=findComment&comment=4685150'>More sharing options...
STurner Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share #8 Posted February 14, 2023 This is the Hasselblad 135mm at 2.8 in the corner 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! 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/366611-leica-sl-lens-sharpness-in-comparison-with-hasselblad-xcd-lenses/?do=findComment&comment=4685151'>More sharing options...
STurner Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share #9 Posted February 14, 2023 As you can see, the XCD lenses hold up very well even against the very best SL prime lens available. There are pluses and minuses with each lens and each system but I believe they both have their place. 5 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
huwm Posted February 14, 2023 Share #10 Posted February 14, 2023 (edited) I'm not in the Hasie vs Apo game but I am interested in your impressions with regard to the more 'lowly' kit, in particular the sigma 2s and other 'fast' (presumably art 1.4s) sigmas Edited February 14, 2023 by huwm autocorrect bollocks 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jankap Posted February 14, 2023 Share #11 Posted February 14, 2023 7 hours ago, STurner said: The setup was multiple test charts fixed to a 36"x48" board and lit with constant video lighting. I made no attempt to match the color balance or brightness of the captures as for this test, I was strictly looking at center and corner sharpness. At what distance were the pictures made? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
STurner Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share #12 Posted February 14, 2023 3 hours ago, jankap said: At what distance were the pictures made? It seems there are pros and cons to the distances you do the tests, and you have to be very careful to be perfectly square to your target image and so on that I'm sure my tests would not be "scientifically perfect". But I tried to be as consistent as possible in how I did them as I was evaluating which lenses I would purchase based on performance. I think the best way, would be to do the tests at varying distances near, midrange, and far to get the best feel for the performance of a lens. And when I did these tests, I also took the lenses outside and did real world shooting with each of them to compare and see how they did to help me make a determination that way as well. But to answer your question, in this test I tried to keep the magnification range on the sensor as close to the same between lenses as possible. So I moved the camera closer and further away to the test board until in filled the frame. For sure not the perfect solution, but it gave me some information to work with. Mostly what these resolution tests told me were good comparisons between lenses of the same focal length at the same magnification and it told me which lenses were not as good, not necessarily which lenses were great, if that makes sense. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
STurner Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share #13 Posted February 14, 2023 4 hours ago, huwm said: I'm not in the Hasie vs Apo game but I am interested in your impressions with regard to the more 'lowly' kit, in particular the sigma 2s and other 'fast' (presumably art 1.4s) sigmas Obviously, in this test we're only looking at sharpness / resolution and not considering rendering, ca, etc. - all the other attributes that contribute to a lens selection. However, my broad generalizations of the testing that I did for my own info was that the sigma f2 lenses were noticeably sharper than the Panasonic 1.8 lenses even with the Panasonics at f2 particularly in the corners. The 1.2 and 1.4 sigmas were slightly sharper than the f2 lenses but obviously you pay for it with a weight and size penalty. The biggest difference the I saw between the Leica lenses and the sigma or Panasonics was in the lack of CA or LOCA in the Leica's. Some of the sigmas and the Panasonic 50 1.4 could be close to the sharpness of the Leica but the aberrations were not controlled anywhere near as well. I'm going to post some comparisons below for you of some of the 35mm lenses you mentioned. Note that these were tested at a different time and so I am reposting the 35 Summicron-SL results. These were not shot in multi shot mode so you will notice moire in some of the images that was not present in the multi shot. This is the Leica Summicron-SL 35 f2 at 2.0 in the center. 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! Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/366611-leica-sl-lens-sharpness-in-comparison-with-hasselblad-xcd-lenses/?do=findComment&comment=4685571'>More sharing options...
STurner Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share #14 Posted February 14, 2023 This is the Leica Summicron-SL 35 f2 at 2.0 in the corner 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! Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/366611-leica-sl-lens-sharpness-in-comparison-with-hasselblad-xcd-lenses/?do=findComment&comment=4685572'>More sharing options...
STurner Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share #15 Posted February 14, 2023 This is the Sigma 35mm 1.2 at 2.0 in the center 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! Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/366611-leica-sl-lens-sharpness-in-comparison-with-hasselblad-xcd-lenses/?do=findComment&comment=4685573'>More sharing options...
STurner Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share #16 Posted February 14, 2023 This is the Sigma 35mm 1.2 at 2.0 in the corner 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! Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/366611-leica-sl-lens-sharpness-in-comparison-with-hasselblad-xcd-lenses/?do=findComment&comment=4685575'>More sharing options...
STurner Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share #17 Posted February 14, 2023 This is the Sigma 35mm f2 at 2.0 in the center 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! Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/366611-leica-sl-lens-sharpness-in-comparison-with-hasselblad-xcd-lenses/?do=findComment&comment=4685576'>More sharing options...
STurner Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share #18 Posted February 14, 2023 This is the Sigma 35mm f2 at 2.0 in the corner 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! Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/366611-leica-sl-lens-sharpness-in-comparison-with-hasselblad-xcd-lenses/?do=findComment&comment=4685577'>More sharing options...
STurner Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share #19 Posted February 14, 2023 This is the Panasonic 35mm f1.8 at 2.0 in the center 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! Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/366611-leica-sl-lens-sharpness-in-comparison-with-hasselblad-xcd-lenses/?do=findComment&comment=4685579'>More sharing options...
STurner Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share #20 Posted February 14, 2023 This is the Panasonic 35mm f1.8 at 2.0 in the corner 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! Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/366611-leica-sl-lens-sharpness-in-comparison-with-hasselblad-xcd-lenses/?do=findComment&comment=4685582'>More sharing options...
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