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

[Chaemono]

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Are these photos straightly out of camera JPEGS or processed ?

These are from DNGs processed in LR.

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[thighslapper]

Santa and his sleigh missed me out at the weekend ..... but the elves have emailed to say he is belatedly bringing me a 50/1.4 tomorrow. 

 

having gasped a sigh of relief at having a reasonably cheap xmas for once .... my optimism was short-lived.

 

Life is so cruel. 

Edited December 28, 2016 by thighslapper

[leica5]

well! you are blessed now but 24-90 is a fantastic lens besides weight difference is not significant.

[leica5]

I

 

well! you are blessed now but 24-90 is a fantastic lens besides weight difference is not significant.

 

I forgot to mention about better focusing speed with zoom than lux

[helged]

Santa and his sleigh missed me out at the weekend ..... but the elves have emailed to say he is belatedly bringing me a 50/1.4 tomorrow.

Looking forward to hear about your impressions!

 

When time permits - can you run a quick coma-check (e.g. highlights/stars off centre at f1.4)?

[jrp]

When time permits - can you run a quick coma-check (e.g. highlights/stars off centre at f1.4)?

 

f1.4, ISO 560:

 

20161217-182811_L1050835.jpg

[thighslapper]

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50/1.4 appeared at 9am.

 

Not as big as expected ...... not much different to having a Noctilux on the SL.

 

No OIS brought me down to earth with a bump ..... 1/f handheld requires a very steady hand ..... eventually shifted to 'M' and kept speed 1/80 or above and changed aperture mostly from there.

 

AF is fine, but having been spoilt with instant response with the 2 zooms it seems a bit sluggish in comparison.

 

Image quality can't be faulted at any aperture ....... although for practical purposes f2 seems enough for isolation of subjects and still provides enough DOF for most things. 

 

Sub 0.6m focussing would have been nice. 

 

Mostly just frosty things to photograph this morning, either in shadow or strong sunlight, so hardly much variety to check out the lenses pros and cons.

 

With the 24-90 being so good from a versatility and image quality point of view ..... plus OIS ..... this is really a lens for specific tasks. If you are a 50mm devotee you will be delighted. I have a portraiture day out in 6 weeks or so and will no doubt use it extensively then. Otherwise I'll be dabbling with it on and off over the next few weeks till it either finds a permanent space in the camera bag ....... or will be 'rested' in the safe ..... time will tell. 

 

cropped (2.8 @ 50 iso) .... 

 

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Edited December 29, 2016 by thighslapper

[thighslapper]

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[scott kirkpatrick]

@jrp Could you make the Flickr copy public so that we can click on it at full size, or post a 100%corner cropped shot?  I sure don't see no coma at web scale.  Maybe they are right that all aberrations are corrected in the imaging chain.

 

scott

[phongph]

Hi All!

I think the images of SL lux f1.4 are cool and have not much feeling as other M lens. Its IQ is good, but not much better than SL 24-90 ASPH.

I am still happy with SL 24-90/ ASPH & M Apo 50 f2 with SL 601 and may wait for orther SL lens.

It is just my private opinion!

Thanks!

[LD_50]

How can you compare the 24-90 and 50 from what you've seen? I have not seen direct comparisons nor tests. I would expect better IQ across the frame from the 50 at equal aperture.

[horlogere]

How can you compare the 24-90 and 50 from what you've seen? I have not seen direct comparisons nor tests. I would expect better IQ across the frame from the 50 at equal aperture.

 

At the same aperture there is no big difference between 24-90 an 50. But you buy a lens witch is perfect at 1,4. With the 24-90 at 50 mm you have around aperture 3,3. 

[LD_50]

At the same aperture there is no big difference between 24-90 an 50. But you buy a lens witch is perfect at 1,4. With the 24-90 at 50 mm you have around aperture 3,3.

Has this been tested? 24-90 at 50 against 50SL at the same aperture? I've not seen any examples, which is why I'm asking how it can be determined by what's been published.

 

The only test I've seen compares the 50SL vs the 50M and the SL looks much better in that test.

[Lynx]

Has this been tested? 24-90 at 50 against 50SL at the same aperture? I've not seen any examples, which is why I'm asking how it can be determined by what's been published.

 

The only test I've seen compares the 50SL vs the 50M and the SL looks much better in that test.

http://www.fotointern.ch/archiv/2016/09/26/was-das-leica-summilux-sl-11450mm-und-ein-ferrari-gemeinsam-haben-koennten/

 

This is from another thread earlier this year about the new SL 50/1.4 (don't remember the name of the thread anymore).

 

Not scientific but a quick comparison .

 

//J

[LD_50]

http://www.fotointern.ch/archiv/2016/09/26/was-das-leica-summilux-sl-11450mm-und-ein-ferrari-gemeinsam-haben-koennten/

 

This is from another thread earlier this year about the new SL 50/1.4 (don't remember the name of the thread anymore).

 

Not scientific but a quick comparison .

 

//J

I forgot about that thread. Thanks for reminding me.

 

The 50SL looks sharper in those images even in the center. I expect the biggest difference to be outside the center.

[thighslapper]

I posted some comparison images from a selection of lenses here http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/267776-please-convince-me-the-sl-5014-is-better-than-summilux/page-2?do=findComment&comment=3176693 if anyone is interested ......

 

Happy New Year !

 

and here are the identities of the images:

 

My ranking:              Image No:                 Lens

1st                                 6                           SL 50/1.4

2nd                                2                           Apo 50/2

3rd                                 7                           Tri Elmar .... a bit of a cheat as I had to boost contrast a bit

4th                                 3                           50/1.4

5th                                 1                           Noctilux 0.95

6th                                 4                           50/2.8

7th                                 5                           Zeiss planar 50/2

 

I based my judgement on the details on the berries, the flower shaped gold bits on the glass ball mostly .... and the reflections.

The SL Summilux stands out as a much better 3d rendering and crisper image ..... as Karbe claims, the Apo 50/2 second, and the others as also-rans where you can quibble about the precise middle order. 

I'm surprised there is actually a clear difference, even in the central image, and with lenses that are already considered class leading ..... 

Hats off to Karbe and his team. Their claims appear to be entirely justified. 

Edited January 1, 2017 by thighslapper

[kikouyou]

I posted some comparison images from a selection of lenses here http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/267776-please-convince-me-the-sl-5014-is-better-than-summilux/page-2?do=findComment&comment=3176693 if anyone is interested ......

 

Happy New Year !

 

and here are the identities of the images:

 

My ranking:              Image No:                 Lens

1st                                 6                           SL 50/1.4

2nd                                2                           Apo 50/2

3rd                                 7                           Tri Elmar .... a bit of a cheat as I had to boost contrast a bit

4th                                 3                           50/1.4

5th                                 1                           Noctilux 0.95

6th                                 4                           50/2.8

7th                                 5                           Zeiss planar 50/2

 

I based my judgement on the details on the berries, the flower shaped gold bits on the glass ball mostly .... and the reflections.

The SL Summilux stands out as a much better 3d rendering and crisper image ..... as Karbe claims, the Apo 50/2 second, and the others as also-rans where you can quibble about the precise middle order. 

I'm surprised there is actually a clear difference, even in the central image, and with lenses that are already considered class leading ..... 

Hats off to Karbe and his team. Their claims appear to be entirely justified. 

 

The Tri-elmar Mate is far beyond the Summilux and the Noct... It should be at the end of your list... I do not have the Summilux any more, but I do have the APO and the Noct and tested them extensively against the Tri-Elmar before selling my sample...

[anickpick]

Thanks thighslapper for this comparison.

 

I mostly agree with your ranking, although Summilux M would be third on my list.

 

One reason I sometimes prefer the Summilux M over the Apo Summicron M is the degree of background blur the Summilux offers. The bokeh of the Apo can be a bit too busy in some situations in my opinion.

 

Now based on the still very few online images of the Summilux SL, I have the impression that the Summilux SL offers less background blur than the Summilux M.

 

Can you confirm this impression?

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[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

I stick to my guns
The Noctilux can do everything that the Summerlux and Summercron can do plus some more............its a no brainer The Noctilux wins hands down
Just pop out and get the adapter and be done with it
Happy Christmas
Neil

 

Noctilux at f5.6

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Noctilux Wide open

 

 

Both on the New SL........Noctilux and SL are a partner in crime.........both complement eachouther 

Edited January 2, 2017 by Neil D

[thighslapper]

The Tri-elmar Mate is far beyond the Summilux and the Noct... It should be at the end of your list... I do not have the Summilux any more, but I do have the APO and the Noct and tested them extensively against the Tri-Elmar before selling my sample...

 as I said .... the first two sort themselves out and then its a scramble for the line amongst the rest. The tri-elmar is very low contrast compared to the others ...... if I hadn't altered this in PP it would have dropped into last.

 

from what I can see the OOF rendering of the SL 50 is similar to the apo 50 ....... 'unobtrusive' would be my description ..... which is exactly what you want most of the time. 

 

as for the Noctilux ...... I used this extensively on the M .... in fact deliberately as a sole lens for several weeks. It is just as good as the M-50/1.4 from about f2.8 up ..... but the situations where 0.95 is appropriate are few and far between ..... and the extreme shallow DOF effect .... although a hallmark of the lens .... can become a bit tiring after a while. I gave up with it on the M because it was so big. On the SL by contrast it handles like a tiddly little lens and is fun to use. 

 

The SL-50/1.4 does knock all the others out of the park though ...... which it should do given the complexity, price and size. If you have no issues using the 24-90 on the SL you won't notice changing it over to the SL 50 ..... similar size, weight and handling. 

 

Sunny and frosty today so possibly a chance of some outdoor photos ....

Edited January 2, 2017 by thighslapper