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

[Vogelweide]

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Thank you so much Lord Lucan :-)

[otto.f]

Exactly; how the sharpness fades away on the bow tie... just that little detail that makes the photo very special

 

You should be in love This image can not be improved.It has reached its limits.

[ImmerDraussen]

Second use of Leica assessories:

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Summilux SL @1.4

[steve_lee]

I had a look at this thread for inspiration and to advise on potential purchase of the SL50.

 

It's clear that not many people are using this lens and even less are taking great images and putting them on here where we can see them.

 

There's a lot of talk but very little action for an image thread.

[thighslapper]

I had a look at this thread for inspiration and to advise on potential purchase of the SL50.

 

It's clear that not many people are using this lens and even less are taking great images and putting them on here where we can see them.

 

There's a lot of talk but very little action for an image thread.

 

The problem is that the 24-90 is so good you have to have very specific reasons to swap over to the 50 SL...... and it is quite hard to justify carting about both. 

 

OIS cancels out the aperture advantage ..... so you are just left with situations where you want very shallow DOF ...... such as portraiture to isolate the subject..... or class leading image quality

 

Once the 75 & 90 appear and supplant it for portrait use  - if they are as good as their M counterparts ....  I can see usage dropping further. 

 

It is a very fine lens..... and I would not sell mine ..... but it is never going to be on the SL for anything other than specific projects needing it's special qualities. 

 

Like the Noctilux, on the M it's too big and heavy to use as an everyday lens and f0.95 is an acquired taste that needs using sparingly. Once you get up to f2.8 you could stick any one of half a dozen Leica 50mm lenses on and you would not notice the difference. 

Edited May 20, 2017 by thighslapper

[steppenw0lf]

I had a look at this thread for inspiration and to advise on potential purchase of the SL50.

 

It's clear that not many people are using this lens and even less are taking great images and putting them on here where we can see them.

 

There's a lot of talk but very little action for an image thread.

 

 

If you have this heavy lens and want to show pics made with it, the responsibility bears even heavier. BECAUSE people expect to see great pics here. I made hundreds of pics (and in my opinion they are better than what I did before with Summicron-R 50) but I do not show them because I am sure that they are not good enough for this extravagant audience.   

 

If you need a simple push, imagine a Otus lens with AF. That's it. Cool clean images, very precise, with great colors. (No glamour like the Nocti). But lots of details like a medium range camera.

In the web I actually also found very few images I liked (and hardly any that would motivate me to buy the lens). I always hoped that Jono Slack would get the lens and publish a few pics. He has a hand/eye for doing this very well. (not yet)

 

This is one of the best (that I liked most).   https://www.flickr.com/photos/gulinosax/33259562445/in/pool-3058496@N24/

And this is maybe my number one:   (from Norbert Windecker)    (the pic in part 4)  http://www.cetus-a.de/blog/2017/2/10-fragen-an-norbert-windecker

The dim light of bars and stages is ideal for this lens (strong colors, but not artificial) see the examples of DanCook.

 

This is just my personal choice. Not looking for great art. Not representative.

Unfortunately I could show you dozens or even hundreds that I found terrible. But don't you think this is the case for every lens ?

 

If you order the lens you will also find out why there are not many using it - it is scarce. Production seems to be slow. (I had to wait 4 months for it).

 

 

And yes, read the Reid Reviews report about this lens. It has many details (but is not for free, but the fee is small).

Edited May 20, 2017 by steppenw0lf

[steppenw0lf]

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If I needed to point to a commercial for this lens, the only one that comes to my mind is the report David Farkas put on reddot forum: http://www.reddotforum.com/content/2017/03/leica-summilux-sl-50mm-f1-4-asph-review-a-new-standard/

I hope this is what steve_lee is expecting and it helps him to make a decision (pro or con).

 

It would be nice if this would take away the pressure from this forum and the normal life could go on. Because I would also like to see more pics, and maybe I would even like to add a picture, but certainly with the "limited warranty" not to be taken as reference (in a bad sense most likely) for this lens.

 

Usually millions are spent on convincing marketing events and publications. This forum is free, so it is obvious that this cannot be a valid substitute for an all-around professional campaign - ask Sony how much they regard as a decent budget for introduction of a camera and a lens. Lately following the Northrups via web gave me a tiny insight in the effort put into the A9 and 100-400 announcement (with dozens of combos prepared for the "testers" and several sports-stars hopping around as formidable targets). And I assume the time and travel of the tester teams was also "honoured" in some way.

If a shopper thinks he cannot make a decision without this, then he probably has to stick with the main stream and the big players.

 

In my experience if a decision is difficult, then renting a combo (for a day or two) is an efficient way to get a deep insight into the performance. Usually more useful than a mega-event. But typically one is reluctant to spend this money, as we expect test rides to be free. (for cars at least)

Edited May 20, 2017 by steppenw0lf

[Guest VVJ]

If you order the lens you will also find out why there are not many using it - it is scarce. Production seems to be slow. (I had to wait 4 months for it).

 

I actually just removed myself from the waiting list (which I had been on since August of last year...).   At this pace I might as well wait till the 75mm is available (should be shortly) and make the call then...

[steppenw0lf]

I saw 3 on ebay - no idea why there are so many, when they are not available in all other places. Looks like some companies/persons ordered too many.

[dancook]

50mm 1.4 iso performance cannot be matched by image stabilisingon moving subjects. Image stabilising will have lower shutter speeds which can cause motion blur, so 1.4 has iso advantage there

Edited May 21, 2017 by dancook

[dancook]

I have to shoot live music at 1/200th to avoid subject movement. Image stabilising won't help, but it's then 1.4 vs 3.3? At 50mm. Iso cleaner with 50mm

[steppenw0lf]

The magic of this lens seems to lie in the details. In David Farkas' report the 100% crops are great and totally convincing (at least for me, and seen on a big 27 inch screen, but I must confess I did not check them before getting the lens), while the complete images are not so special (composition is not exciting).

 

So I went to the Flickr page for the Otus 55 for comparison and came to a very similar conclusion. Very interesting to study the details, but difficult to get a meaningful and attractive total image, after all it's only a "normal" lens - with the 90 or 85 it is much easier to show the special highlights and get an interesting composition (for me).

Edited May 21, 2017 by steppenw0lf

[Vogelweide]

Leica SL ⎢ Summilux-SL 50/1.4 ⎢f/1.4 ⎢ ISO 50 ⎢1/750 sec

 

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[Vogelweide]

Leica SL ⎢ Summilux-SL 50/1.4 ⎢f/5.6 ⎢ ISO 50 ⎢1/125 sec

 

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[steve_lee]

Thanks for your replies. I visited Flickr and found only 16 photos in total. It is clear there are not many users of this massive lens. That suggests it's not so good or not very user friendly. I'm going to pass on it and save £4K.

[dancook]

Thanks for your replies. I visited Flickr and found only 16 photos in total. It is clear there are not many users of this massive lens. That suggests it's not so good or not very user friendly. I'm going to pass on it and save £4K.

 

i) there are still people queuing for the lens, I would gather there are as many in circulation as they've produced.

ii) You have only found 16 photos taken with the 50mm on flickr? I have uploaded a hundred or so, I just suppose flickr isn't very good for searching by a specific lens, unless people tag it as such.

iii) Your conclusion seems pretty shit - you found few photos on flickr, so not many people are using it, so the lens must be poor?

 

Whilst the demand outstrips supply, spending £4000 for a 50mm 1.4 is not going to appeal to everyone.

Edited May 21, 2017 by dancook

[dancook]

king_110517 (32 of 62) by dancook1982, on Flickr

 

king_110517 (23 of 62) by dancook1982, on Flickr

 

king_110517 (2 of 62) by dancook1982, on Flickr

 

king_200417 (1 of 30) by dancook1982, on Flickr

 

king_200417 (4 of 30) by dancook1982, on Flickr

[dancook]

king_200417 (17 of 30) by dancook1982, on Flickr

 

brit_190417 (51 of 60) by dancook1982, on Flickr

 

brit_190417 (15 of 60) by dancook1982, on Flickr

 

brit_120417 (1 of 33) by dancook1982, on Flickr

 

brit_120417 (20 of 33) by dancook1982, on Flickr

[dancook]

brit_120417 (26 of 33) by dancook1982, on Flickr

 

kingshead_230217-1 by dancook1982, on Flickr

Edited May 21, 2017 by dancook

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[steppenw0lf]

Thanks for your replies. I visited Flickr and found only 16 photos in total. It is clear there are not many users of this massive lens. That suggests it's not so good or not very user friendly. I'm going to pass on it and save £4K.

 

Saving money is always a clever idea.

 

Nevertheless your reasoning seems rather lame to me. (Or maybe you wanted to give us a good laugh ?)

Only in dedicated Flickr threads I find 36 pics for SL 50 and let's say about 1400 for Otus 55. This obviously means that the Otus is about 40 times better and more "user-friendly" than the SL 50. (1440 divided by 36 equals about 40)

Whatever the numbers are - the reasoning is terribly lame. I wonder a how much "better" choice a really popular lens is - probably several tenthousand times.   

 

In reality there are many more examples to be found, but it is not so obvious to find them. It takes maybe more than 2-3 seconds. Just add the pics that Dan Cook published under his account in Flickr. Not to think of the possibility of using other web resources....

I think for an investment of several thousand dollars you could expect a little more effort/enthusiasm (to find good or bad examples). While a decision based on price alone would have taken me only about 0.3 seconds.

 

 

Btw:

Just imagine you had been on the Bentley or RollsRoyce webpage instead. You could have saved several tenthousand pounds in a breeze. Maybe even more. 

I have to keep this in my mind for a rainy day in the holiday season. I could look at some holiday homes in the South - and then get away with REALLY big savings.  

Edited May 21, 2017 by steppenw0lf