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

[thighslapper]

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... well we all have our own preferences and nothing is perfect so arguing over the merits of 'very digital ' SL lenses versus 'magic film like' M lenses is a bit futile as it is all so very very subjective and wrapped up in preconceived ideas and bias.

 

I suspect with the right processing you could achieve much the same results irrespective of what lenses you use within fairly broad limits. 

 

Frankly we are all fairly delusional about equipment and forget that composition and subject choice is 90% of the process in producing memorable images. 

 

..... but if we all stuck to that there would be precious few photography forums or anything much to argue about ....

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[John Black]

...versus 'magic film like' M lenses..

 

And don't forget - how many threads have there been which described the 50mm Summilux-M ASPH as "sterile" or "clinical".  Then we got the 50 'Cron APO, and it's described as "transparent".  Evidently that is a term endearment meant to characterize its lack of distortion, CA or any other aberrations a lens may impart upon an image.  If there ever was any such thing as magic, seems the tank has been empty for awhile now

[Guest VVJ]

They look very digital and lack the magic film like feel that the M lenses have.

 

When I look at my 24-90 images I don't have the feeling these would have been better with M lenses...

 

For me the main reason to keep M lenses (or to invest or re-invest in M lenses) is the weight. 

 

The other reason is the slow rollout of native SL lenses which makes a snail race look like a speedfest...

[Vogelweide]

 

There's nothing special about it; don't get me wrong it's a perfectly fine image and as a client I would be happy, but that image is not showing anything special and certainly not '3-D Pop' - the background is as saturated and contrasty as the foreground and the only thing separating the subjects from it is the shallow depth of field. It could have been made with any Nikanon + 50mm 1.4 for a quarter of the price.

 

I know that this '3-D pop' thing can be a bit of a woolly term but i would suggst it looks more like this:

 

 

You don't need an expensive lens to create this effect, you just need to use the right lighting.

 

Don't get me wrong but I'm not talking about the couple in my pic. For me it's the branch and the look in the dof :-)

I never had a 50mm lens that was that good. It is the sharpest that I ever owned with the smoothest transition.

I am looking for AF-Lenses so the M-Lenses are nice to have when I have time but I would never spend 3000 EUR ore more for a manuell lens. 

What does that mean: there are different conditions :-)

 

This is the image thread of the 50/1.4 - I understand it as a place for showing images, not talking about overpriced lenses or which lenses create a "film look". Often if not very often everything is "voodoo" that one sees and the other doesn't. 

 

Edited June 15, 2017 by Vogelweide

[almoore]

The SL50 costs the same as any Sony crap, the market rate.

 

Does repeatedly pouring scorn on Sony make you feel better about your choice of camera? 

 

Leica should be very careful about courting those who value bling over functionality. Reputational damage can kick in very quickly, as other 'luxury brands' like Burberry have found in recent years. 

[steppenw0lf]

I thought this thread was about using the SL 50 lens and showing interesting results with it (not reference photos as these are extremely rare here or in any forum). With the well-known problem that allowed resolutions here are very low.

 

But now it is mainly about people who have never been able to use this lens - and somehow think it is worthwhile to write about this non-usage in abusive words. Or even think that this lens is only worth non-usage, well simply BECAUSE (THEY SAY SO) ....

 

Somebody is here in the wrong thread or shows a behavior that I find inapproriate for this thread.

 

I suggest opening a separate thread - "why the SL 50 is not worthy of my usage". Including some prominent samples of non-usage. And the operater can clean up the mess here afterwards.

Edited June 15, 2017 by steppenw0lf

[steppenw0lf]

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Maybe generally we could create several new threads:

I like the xxx (for example SL 50, or SL, or EVF, or M10 ... )

and for the spoilsports:  I dislike the xxx and find it far too expensive for what it's worth.

[steppenw0lf]

I noticed that some speak a lot about art - but argument often with price and money.

Very strange combination.

Probably it is "art" when they talk about their own creations. And "not worth the money" when it is about products they do not like and would never be using.

But generally (and maybe too naive) an artist should not be in a situation where he defines his artistry mainly by the weakness and "not-priceworthyness" of everything/everybody else.

 

Can we now get back to a clean thread and get rid of all the non-users ?  (Shift them to the non-users thread).

The title once suggested a simple dedicated "picture" thread. I did not see many, lately.  

Edited June 15, 2017 by steppenw0lf

[tom0511]

 

Edited June 15, 2017 by tom0511

[tom0511]

Now that I have used the lens for a while I really like it a lot. The 24-90 is a fine sharp lens and I dont find anything wrong, but the 50/1.4SL in regards of detail, bokeh,color is still special for my taste. 

[Chaemono]

Does repeatedly pouring scorn on Sony make you feel better about your choice of camera? 

 

Leica should be very careful about courting those who value bling over functionality. Reputational damage can kick in very quickly, as other 'luxury brands' like Burberry have found in recent years.

 

My choice of cameras includes a Sony. See here: https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-7Wx3DS/

 

What's in it for you to jump in here like this?

[almoore]

What's in it for you to jump in here like this?

 

What's in it for me is a desire not to see the forum descend into cheap and boorish camera wars. 

 

There are no 'crap' cameras or 'crap' lenses out there. Leica, Sony, Canon and Nikon offer a level of quality that's all but indistinguishable in the final result. All cameras have their strengths, their weaknesses and their quirks. Isn't it possible to use and like Leicas without pointlessly pouring scorn on other brands?

[Chaemono]

I think the Mods should ban hypocrites from this forum.

[steppenw0lf]

What's in it for me is a desire not to see the forum descend into cheap and boorish camera wars. 

 

There are no 'crap' cameras or 'crap' lenses out there. Leica, Sony, Canon and Nikon offer a level of quality that's all but indistinguishable in the final result. All cameras have their strengths, their weaknesses and their quirks. Isn't it possible to use and like Leicas without pointlessly pouring scorn on other brands?

 

So I see you are a Leica SL lover - well I believe you, great, welcome here in this specialists forum, my friend.

And you are afraid that your fellow SL users might offend users of other brands ...   well I believe you again.  

And because this thread is so popular with users of other brands that danger is really great - and needs special notification and a special warning by you.  And one more time I beiieve you, very well.

 

And now I think you can finally add a few pics (according to the threads topic), to prove your noble intentions being here in this forum, so to speak.  Don't be shy. We will be glad to see your contribution. Be brave !

And this will make it all much easier to believe.

 

 

P.S.

Most of the photographers I know in real life (not exclusively in fora) have several brands of cameras - over the years normally there is a vast selection of favorites. So in real life it is not the least problem if anybody calls my cameras crap. I simply shrug it off - just as any normal/sane person would. The same with my cars, and other technical equipment. (But of course not with a wife or members of the family. )  

But the virtual "people" I meet in fora are very often terribly easily irritated.  This leads sometimes to these incredible stories where brands are being "attacked" and need to be "defended". Being virtual, it should be even easier to shrug them off.

 

In the meantime any new pics made with the SL 50 ? Hey, that is why I came here !

Edited June 15, 2017 by steppenw0lf

[Alistairm]

I haven't had the lens for very long, so relatively few shots with it, mostly of the family which I won't post, but I have found it an amazing portrait lens.  Here is a photo shot at 1/50 sec at f/1.4, ISO125. Just a quick grab shot. Nothing special, but I didn't think the thread would suffer from a few more posts of pictures shot with it. 

 

 

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[dancook]

Not 1.4

 

L1010367 by dancook1982, on Flickr

[steppenw0lf]

Not 1.4

 

L1010367 by dancook1982, on Flickr

 

Hello Dan, I wonder if you have also tried the electronic shutter (FES) with the SL 50. I am currently looking for good or bad examples. I am especially interested in difficult situations, e.g. maybe the images of musicians in bars and concert halls could be such a difficult area. 

Strange enough I had difficulty of finding problems with FES, especially banding. Probably because I use it mainly in daylight. So I (safely ?) assume this picture could just as well be taken with the electronic shutter ?!

Edited June 17, 2017 by steppenw0lf

[dancook]

Hello Dan, I wonder if you have also tried the electronic shutter with the SL 50. I am currently looking for good or bad examples.

I am especially interested in difficult situations, e.g. maybe the images of musicians in bars and concert halls could be such a difficult area. 

Strange enough I had difficulty of finding problems with FES, especially banding. Probably because I use it mainly in daylight. So I (safely ?) assume this picture could just as well be taken with the electronic shutter ?!

I have not used electronic shutter for any significant length of time, I find the SL shutter noise inoffensive enough to prefer it to risking banding and rolling shutter.

 

If one of the kids starts running around, I'm going to be a bit annoyed if I get rolling shutter whilst trying to get a shot.

I haven't done any live music since the FW3 update, so I might consider it then - but will have to take a few test shots.

 

but yes banding will occur in certain artifical lighting, due to the refresh rate of the lights.

Edited June 17, 2017 by dancook

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[steppenw0lf]

I find your remarks very valuable - as I like your practical results.

Summary you do not need ES because MS is providing all you need. (with less risk of unpredictable results).

 

Currently I am a bit torn between believing the hammering Sony gives us that ES is the future (in the form of the A9). And the many testers that suggest that ES has its flaws. Nobody completely believes the testers, often they are a bit regarded as spoil sports. Fair or unfair ?

 

Even with the A9 and its "faster" sensor, specialists found artefacts. But users are not interested in finding out the details - rather I have heard many times repeated that Sony will fix this with a new firmware release. But this only seems to be made up by enthusiasts. It is not clear, yet, if the artefacts are the same as on earlier models and if they are even accessible to software corrections.

Actually Sony does not promise anything - they actually do not even officially accept the found artefacts.

And they have every interest to keep it under the carpet - as their "top" camera depends on ES. It has only a 5 fps mechanical shutter - so this seems a problem and completely overprized, unless ES is 100% perfect. The body looks level with an a7, only the sensor is faster and AF quicker - but the difference is 2500 dollars.

 

Currently I feel a bit lost. I would really like to see what is the current status of ES implementations - and if the SL can keep up. I would not mind if it cannot. I am more interested in the "truth". But at Sony "everything is fine" is the slogan - marketing dominates everything.

And Leica SL tests by specialists are still missing  (maybe not enough umph in it to plan a in depth test. When a bashing of the SL was to be expected it was much easier to get the writers motivated. Writing nice stuff about SL will not bring many new readers. And no easy thumbs up from the editors).

 

The good thing is that we are flexible - we have 11 fps mechanical and 12 fps (see Scotts tests) with ES. But still I find it not so easy to switch modes, and really miss a icon or a abbreviation to show the shutter status.

 

Rolling shutter is no problem for me - it is easy to predict it and "handle" it. While banding leaves me quite puzzled. Is it typically so small as in the A9 that it can be ignored in most cases ? (not perfect but good enough for practical sports shots).

During the day (in daylight) I find no banding - so in a non-scientific way I'd say no problem at all.

But as soon as "slow" artificial lights are involved, the results are almost unpredictable - at least for me.   (So should we get a function that automatically disables ES from a few minutes before sunset to a few minutes after dawn. Connected with the internet to provide the local times of sunset etc.) 

 

Between hammering "ES is the best thing since sliced bread" and my usual attitude - "let's wait and see if/where I really need it" I am left dumb what the current status is.

I hope that some specialists have the same "problem" and plan a test (between a7R II, A9 and SL) to clear this.   (Now that the quality of the SL 50 is not such a big question mark anymore.)

[dancook]

Rolling shutter is no problem for me - it is easy to predict it and "handle" it.

i'm interested to understand what your scenario and solution is?

 

If have I have been using silent shutter to remain discreet, then I suddenly want to capture a running child and I have to pan for the shot. The child will be ok, whilst the background would be leaning.

 

I cannot change shutter mode that quickly, and for me I will just have to user mechanical shutter from the offset.