Image thread for the Leica Summilux-SL 50mm f/1.4 ASPH

[steppenw0lf]

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The real world and the world of the working professional are two separate things I'm afraid. It would be much less of an issue of the camera was 50MP. See, there really are reasons why people need more megapixels other than stupidity, marketing victims, bragging rights etc and some which remain mystery to those who have not discovered the need.

 

Has been discussed at length before - if you need 50 MP simply use a camera with 50 MP.

E.G. I use the Canon 5Ds if I need 50 MP.  (I use it rather seldom). If you prefer the X1D, simply do.

 

Do I need a new 1.4/50 ? Probably not. So I simply do not buy it. Is the Canon with 1.2/50mm much sharper, or shows more details ? Probably not. Is it better with Otus 55mm ? I do not know and I do not want to spend the money to find out (too expensive for a manual only lens.)

 

I use the Canon with 1.8/50mm STM (costs 100$). And yes, if the object is detailed enough the 5Ds offers sometimes more details. But not at 1.8, but maybe at f/4 or f/5.6 .  It also has a tiny amount of barrel distortion - no problem in reality.

Edited December 9, 2016 by steppenw0lf

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[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

some of this evening, I'm just to tired to do more.

 

So far:

 

- yes this lens is VERY big and VERY heavy. You really need or want to shoot with it. But it handles well on the SL, which is heavy itself

- it performes very very well, probably the best I have seen wide open. no fringing, but a bit flare (the Nikon 56/1.4 is better in this respect).

- AF performance is solid, but not stellar like the zooms

- bokeh is fantastic imho

The second picture you can get with any lens.......... just turn the focus wheel the opposite direction. The first is okay but it's ozzing boorishness. I'm looking forward to seeing real pictures with people or something interesting in the forplay with nice bouquet

[jrp]

It would be good to see your comparisons with the 58MM f1.4 Nikkor, which is softish wide open but which gives very characterful rendering (like valve-based  audio) and is just the job for portraits.

[LocalHero1953]

The real world and the world of the working professional are two separate things I'm afraid. It would be much less of an issue of the camera was 50MP. See, there really are reasons why people need more megapixels other than stupidity, marketing victims, bragging rights etc and some which remain mystery to those who have not discovered the need.

Paul, I fully understand why you and others need and want more pixels, and I accept that you and others would rather the best lenses required no digital corrections. 

In return it would be good if you understood that many others do not need/want these things, and that there are valid reasons for having fewer pixels and using digital correction in all the compromises of lens design. Dismissing those who disagree as "casual users" is not helpful.

 

I also suspect that your needs are not the same as those of all working professionals either, but that is a separate argument.

Edited December 9, 2016 by LocalHero1953

[jrp]

http://jarlehagen.no/ulla-fog has some pics from the 50mm f1.4.  Testing a lens that has gentle background rendering in the fog does not really show off it's best features.

[Paul J]

Paul, I fully understand why you and others need and want more pixels, and I accept that you and others would rather the best lenses required no digital corrections. 

In return it would be good if you understood that many others do not need/want these things, and that there are valid reasons for having fewer pixels and using digital correction in all the compromises of lens design. Dismissing those who disagree as "casual users" is not helpful.

 

I also suspect that your needs are not the same as those of all working professionals either, but that is a separate argument.

 

OK, I see where the problem is - I say Casual Use, not as a slur. My own casual use is taking photos of the kids, travels,  etc. I say casual as in relaxed and not having the demands some professional work has on it. It's tricky using any kind of classification or terminology! It's always subjective and people will always take things in different ways, negative, positive or otherwise.

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.... the corrections you speak of in the M are less complex and work sufficiently. They are not as extreme or complex as distortion correction, they are not shifting pixels around like this in the context of image composition.....

I don't quite share your optimism; anyway, have you considered how the computer reconstructs the colors of each pixel by interpolating two of three colors from adjacent pixels? I would think that the demosaicing introduces at least as many artefacts as does the mere correction of a fairly well known distortion of the image within the plane.

[Paul J]

On a pixel level, sure that could be an issue for a few pixels at a time, but I don't have an experience of that being a problem with my lenses and in my use, and for what would amount to colour noise, is quite an easy thing to remove in post. Distortion correction like this corrects for much larger areas though and in more distracting ways, and that is something I have experienced as an issue, and enough to warrant turning distortion correction off. With what I have seen of this lens, and bear in mind there is no telling if it was a pre production sample at this point, the distortion is horrid - it's affecting a large amount of the frame in a way that is plainly noticeable, it is asymmetrical. and even after corrections it is still there. An Otus killer, like people were hoping for and being apparently told by some Leica people, it is not.

Edited December 9, 2016 by Paul J

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

An Otus killer, like people were hoping for and being apparently told by some Leica people, it is not.

thank god for that mate. I love my Otis

[LD_50]

It would be interesting to review images from cameras with digital correction (SL, Q perhaps) against those without (D750 and 24-70G or Canon equivalent perhaps) in a blind test format and see if anyone can actually point to the artifacts supposedly created by the correction.

 

I can't see anything in my 24-90 images that's worse than my Nikon 24-70G images. In fact the 24-90 images look better to me much of the time.

Edited December 9, 2016 by LD_50

[steppenw0lf]

I always thought the Nikon Cameras also use in camera corrections - is this not the case ?

https://www.dpreview.com/articles/4729294719/nikon-updates-distortion-correction-data-for-dslrs-adding-latest-lenses

When they started doing it, I regarded it as an advantage compared to Canon.

Does Canon also do it - in the meantime - or explicitly not ? I think they do since a few years. (In the better cameras).

http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/education/infobank/digital_camera_features/in_camera_lens_correction.do

 

So this topic seems quite "unreal" to me.

Edited December 9, 2016 by steppenw0lf

[zlatkob]

I always thought the Nikon Cameras also use in camera corrections - is this not the case ?

https://www.dpreview.com/articles/4729294719/nikon-updates-distortion-correction-data-for-dslrs-adding-latest-lenses

When they started doing it, I regarded it as an advantage compared to Canon.

Does Canon also do it - in the meantime - or explicitly not ? I think they do since a few years. (In the better cameras).

http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/education/infobank/digital_camera_features/in_camera_lens_correction.do

 

So this topic seems quite "unreal" to me.

 

Those are optional correction settings with Canon (for chromatic aberration and vignetting).  Geometric distortions (barrel, pincushion) are not corrected at capture, but can be corrected post-capture with an in-camera Raw to Jpg conversion, provided the camera has data for the lens.

[Chaemono]

With a long track record of optical excellence and respected lens designers I would put my money on their choice being 'right', considering price, size and other constraints ......

Below is the first of three links to Summilux-SL images that I took today. The upload takes so long that I thought I'll post this one already.  

 

This is the best I could do. Hopefully, it takes away some of the anxiety here which I had as well about how detrimental to resolution and sharpness the in-camera software corrections to the barrel distortion of this lens may be and why Leica would do this to a 50mm lens. Based on what I'seen so far, you win the prize for the most accurate analysis and assessment of what the Leica engineers tried to accomplish and have accomplished by balancing optical and digital corrections with this lens. Actually, the Leica engineers win the prize. To my eyes there is no loss in resolution or sharpness by correcting the distortion digitally.

 

I've removed the opcodes on eight of the many images taken today and uploaded them in the gallery that the link below leads to. The first image of a set is the digitally corrected one. The second one is with the opcodes removed. The third is a crop of a digitally corrected corner and the fourth is a crop of an uncorrected corner. The last two apply only to the first seven sets. If people want to download them they can. Again, this is the best I could do. Look for others to test this lens scientifically.

 

https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-C3jP8s/ 

Edited December 9, 2016 by Chaemono

[ImmerDraussen]

Here is a first shot with the Lux:
f=1,4; Iso 400; 1/30s

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[FlashGordonPhotography]

Leica Australia was very kind to let me have a good play with the SL50 lux at the store grand opening last night.

 

The lens is larger than most other 50's. I was expecting a monster based on some reports but, for me, it seemed reasonable. It balances brilliantly on the SL. It's a solid lens for sure. Build is exemplary.

 

Focus is noticeably slower than the zooms. It's dead silent and focus speed doesn't change for different focus spots, just like the zooms. Just don't expect super snappy focusing. We were in reasonable shop lighting but it wasn't bright.  It may be better in better conditions. It reminded me of how my SOny lenses slow down in lower light.

 

Although slow focus was extremely positive. It locked on very well. And you can really see it in the viewfinder.

 

I have never owned an Otus. I've done some very casual testing. I have never owned a 50 M Summicron AA either. So I'm not qualified to say if it's better. Leica is very proud of this lens though. Images I shot were very sharp wide open but not brutal. Blur is absolutely fabulous. Fall off is very fast but nice and buttery. I saw nothing that concerned me regarding aberrations or fringing. The lens looks incredibly well controlled.

 

My pre-order is in. Unfortunately no Australian stock till January.

 

Gordon

[Chaemono]

The second and third links to images taken with the Summilux-SL today. By the way, after walking around with it on the SL for hours using the Leica SL strap, I think the lens is neither too big nor too heavy. Despite being only a bit shorter than the 24-90, it makes the camera look less obtrusive and the user less pretentious, I think.

 

These have been processed the way I like it but no sharpening beyond the default settings in LR was applied.

 

https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-gp9RKx/

 

And here some of the same as above in B&W achieved by just desaturing the color in LR.

 

https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-m5pD9W/ 

[thighslapper]

Thanks ....... my immediate impression is that it has the same very neutral and well behaved characteristics of the 50/2 APO...... and similar very unobtrusive OOF rendering that gives images a delicacy and subject isolation that is very pleasing on the eye.

 

Hard to put into words exactly ..... but definitely distinctive enough to be worth adding to the lens arsenal. 

 

I had pondered on cancelling my order for what will be my 9th 50mm lens ....... but I think it will be some of the others I rarely use which will get the ebay/forum classifieds call instead ......

 

....... particularly as the anticipated M10 doesn't look that exciting ...... unless something spectacular is shoehorned under the bonnet.....

[LD_50]

The second and third links to images taken with the Summilux-SL today. By the way, after walking around with it on the SL for hours using the Leica SL strap, I think the lens is neither too big nor too heavy. Despite being only a bit shorter than the 24-90, it makes the camera look less obtrusive and the user less pretentious, I think.

I don't understand the user looking "pretentious" with a large camera and lens nor do I particularly care what people think.

 

If I'm attempting to be discreet I understand the problem with a larger body and lens. Pretentiousness? No.

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[jrp]

Thanks for putting up those images.  They show that the lens has a delicate, subtle, subdued character that is very attractive.  They also illustrate that it is always possible to produce ugly bokeh if you really try and that shooting at wide apertures is not always the right answer.

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Below is the first of three links to Summilux-SL images that I took today. The upload takes so long that I thought I'll post this one already.

 

This is the best I could do. Hopefully, it takes away some of the anxiety here which I had as well about how detrimental to resolution and sharpness the in-camera software corrections to the barrel distortion of this lens may be and why Leica would do this to a 50mm lens. Based on what I'seen so far, you win the prize for the most accurate analysis and assessment of what the Leica engineers tried to accomplish and have accomplished by balancing optical and digital corrections with this lens. Actually, the Leica engineers win the prize. To my eyes there is no loss in resolution or sharpness by correcting the distortion digitally.

 

I've removed the opcodes on eight of the many images taken today and uploaded them in the gallery that the link below leads to. The first image of a set is the digitally corrected one. The second one is with the opcodes removed. The third is a crop of a digitally corrected corner and the fourth is a crop of an uncorrected corner. The last two apply only to the first seven sets. If people want to download them they can. Again, this is the best I could do. Look for others to test this lens scientifically.

 

https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-C3jP8s/

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