Recommended Focal Length for Aurora Borealis (but also general Landscape and Street)

[MLG]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi,

I would like to get some opinions on the 24mm Summilux-M f1.4 ASPH.

I do portraits, and when traveling landscapes and street.

Currently I'm using a M9 in combination with the following lenses

• 12mm Voigtlander f5.6   => rarely and only upon special occasions
• 28mm Summicron-M f2.0 ASPH    => sometimes
• 50mm Summilux-M f1.4 ASPH    => mostly
• 90mm Elmarit-M f/2.8    => rarely and only upon special occasions

Some words about my style ...

1. I prefer, with few exceptions, to shoot almost with full open aperture. I do this even for landscapes, as that's my preferred style. I like the soft look of blurred corners, instead of making landscape photos like anyone else. Thus let's rebel: Breaking the rules! 😉 
2. I also try to avoid to lift ISO beyond ISO160 for most situations to preserve quality. Even ISO320 art M9 to me suck in color. For b/w it's still okay, making things look grainy-cool.
3. For non-landscapes I like to convert later to b/w with high contrast (Tri-X style).
4. I love work of Anton Corbin, Alan Schaller and Ragnar Axelsson.

Last year I was in Lapland, having again the opportunity to shot nordic light. At up to -33 degree celsius this was quite a challenge with the M9. But this dinosaur made it pretty well (apart from the Summicron, which was frozen at a certain time 😳).

What I was missing was something which is wider than my 28mm. Don't get me wrong, it's a great lens, but too often I thougth "a little more space left and right" would have been better or the photo. As I needed to expose too often 32s to get adequate quality with full aperture on the 28mm, I found this also somehow limiting. The worst, after about one at moderate minus temperatures like -10 celsius degrees the M9 suffered from a hot sensor. I could see, as ISO320 and less exposure time (e.g. 4 to 8 seconds) resulted in clearly inferior quality than ISO160 and 32s (which is a bid too long actually for contrasty nordic light). I'm no expert. The M9 performs usually well. Thus my only conclusion is, this must have been because I was constantly shooting with long exposure for more than one hours. Anyway... back to lenses. 

Thus, I'm considering getting myself something little wider and faster. I'm considering either the 24mm Summilux-M f1.4 ASPH or or 21mm Summilux-M f1.4 ASPH, and would be interested in your opinion on these lenses.

To clarify, I'm not looking for a specialist (e.g. the perfect lens for just aurora), more for a good generalist (e.g. can do aurora better than 28mm cron but is fun also for other purposes). I prefer less is more. I rather go with just 50mm and 24mm Summilux than with five specialist lenses.

What I dislike about the 12mm Voigtländer (even though it delivered probably the shots of the night) is, that things somehow no longer look that natural. At least it's not what I know from Leica lenses. In particular the rendering and colours, but also distortion etc. is not the same quality, but okay... it also costs only what a Leica lens hood costs in these days. 😉 I love the 50mm Summilux for its rendering (and bought the 28mm Summicron as it was recommended to render similar while still being natural in terms of wideness and converging lines). Before I bought the 28mm Summicron, I did also try the 28mm Elmarit-M, but perceived that as to "clinical". I've read about the 21mm f3.8 ASPH Super-Elmar, but having the fear that this is too slow and too clinical for my purpose.

What makes the 24mm interesting to me is, that majority of users say it's wide but still natural. What's your opinion on that? At least you don't get this extreme converging lines. And how is the 21mm compared to the 24mm focal length? Still okay or already "beyond" what average folks would perceive as natural 

Attached some impressions for the 28mm and 12mm combo, so that readers can understand my practical problem better. First five are done with 28mm Summicron-M f2.0 ASPH. Last three are done with 12mm Voigtländer. I'll have to admit the 12mm had been right in this moment... however, I was desperately looking for better (maximum) quality in that moment, to capture the moment, as the nordic light was  stunning (which doesn't turn out that well on the photos due to the 12mm VL).
L10102895 was done in the middle of another night in front of my house, which was - as usual in Lapland - completely hidden within the trees. So it was difficult to capture the massive nordic light on that night.

Thx

Marius
http://lange-grumfeld.photo

PS: Image quality was reduced as it's about focal length and not pixel peeping.

 

 

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 April 26, 2023 by MLG
Ergänzung

[Rico]

Hi Marius

I think for northern lights the wider the better. Last time I had the opportunity to be in Lapland to photograph northern lights I used a Nikon Z7II with a Z 14-24 f/2.8 entirely at 14mm f/2.8. That worked very very well actually. But I wished for more, e.g. 12mm, 10mm or even a fisheye.

Some examples: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rico-schiekel/albums/72157720165098933

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!

I own the 21mm SEM which should be a good option already as it's quite wide with nice image quality. But I haven't tried it for night skies yet. And I'm not sure how much you need to stop down the summilux lenses to get decent image quality for this kind of application.

I will buy a CV 21mm f/1.4 when it get available with a decent price in Switzerland. I'm curious how it performs.

There is also the new Laowa 15mm f/2 Zero-D LM which I might get once it get available. Also curious how it does.

Btw. very nice pictures. 😄

HTH
Rico

[newtoleica]

I’ve owned the 24 Lux in the past. It’s a lovely lens, but as I mainly use the 24 on the street and it lacks a focus tab I found it a bit too slow to focus and not worth the extra cost over the Elmarit which I now have. It’s sharp wide open though. 
For astrophotography you want sharp in the corners, wide angle  and wide aperture. I’m very interested in the Laowa mentioned as it has great reviews. 
I would get a cheaper non-Leica specialist lens for your purpose and not try and make the 24Lux a jack of all trades….

[fil-m]

Hi Marius

Regarding your question: "What makes the 24mm interesting to me is, that majority of users say it's wide but still natural. What's your opinion on that? "

I really feel it is the case, I've very recently started experimenting with the 24 Lux and it is an amazing lens and a great complement to the 50 focal that I generally use. It remains "natural" knowing that I can still "provoke" the wide angle effect if I want it on purpose - while it is the default with a 21mm or wider focal. That's what's making me like more and more this lens - but it is obviously not easy to master. Oddly, it was tougher for me to adapt to a 35mm perspective (coming from a 50mm background) than it is with the 24mm...

Is it wide enough to shoot Aurora Borealis? I am not sure as I've never tried. But I find it to be a great wide angle lens, more interesting (to me) than 28mm for street shots and even... portraits as it really puts the subject in its environment (you can find my last post in the "24mm focal length - post your shots"). Did not try landscapes yet but hopefully soon. 

[MLG]

 

Hej,

thanks so far for all your helpful answers.

@Rico: Great shots. Noticed we both visited almost at the same places (Pallastunturi vs. Äkäslompolo). Have been to Pallastunturi as well, but during the day.

vor 21 Stunden schrieb Rico:

I own the 21mm SEM which should be a good option already as it's quite wide with nice image quality. But I haven't tried it for night skies yet.

An opinion on that would be very interesting as this lens is also often highly recommended as "almost perfect" (whatever "perfect" is). I haven't yet considered that one mainly as I was a bid afraid of its speed. Because of that I've also dismissed the Tri-Elmar 16-18-21. Last, seems to be a specialist. You also rarely hear and read about it.

Maybe it's better to split my requirements to two lenses. First, the natural looking photos, which receive a totally unique character by the 24mm Summilux, while second using more extreme focal length for the rest. From what I read, @fil-m went somehow through the same experience I will. 😉 As you can see on the photos 24mm will certainly not be sufficient for photos like where the aurora had been red. Not sure how Ricos experience has been, but once you are there with your tripod you, as photographer, want at least three tripods and cam your fire simultaneously. Things are also complex, as you are usually not at the right spot (e.g. surrounded by trees is probably more a job for <24mm, while unobstructed places might be something the 24 Summilux can play out it's advantage. 

Example (imagine the nordic light in your mind):

vor 14 Stunden schrieb fil-m:

(you can find my last post in the "24mm focal length - post your shots"). 

Seen that already. Great one. Btw, Did I already mention may oldest has the same Lego monster truck?

Regarding portraits the following did draw my attention (funnily from user "nothernlights"):

I've also found this interesting article

https://bryanhansel.substack.com/p/24mm-is-the-best-landscape-focal

 

[newtoleica]

I'm a big fan of the 24mm focal length, but IMHO the 24 Elmarit is far more useable than the 24 Lux. I've 'been there, done that' with the Lux twice and ended up selling it as it was a bit too big and slow to get focus with. The Elmarit also renders very nicely. See here.

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!

[fil-m]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

9 hours ago, MLG said:

An opinion on that would be very interesting as this lens is also often highly recommended as "almost perfect" (whatever "perfect" is). I haven't yet considered that one mainly as I was a bid afraid of its speed. Because of that I've also dismissed the Tri-Elmar 16-18-21. Last, seems to be a specialist. You also rarely hear and read about it.

Maybe it's better to split my requirements to two lenses.

 

If you want 2 lenses including the Sx 24mm, I would suggest the 21mm Elmarit Asph which, while technically slightly inferior and larger than the Super Elmar, is actually a very interesting lens that can be found at cheaper prices in case you want to save some money. But the SEM21 remains the most technically perfect (though "slow") 21.

Going wider for a more "dramatic" difference is the SEM 18mm which from what I've read is a quite amazing lens though I've never used it - also used market. So SEM18/Sx24 could be a more interesting combo to experiment, learn and make interesting shots. 

Good luck with your quest  

[MLG]

vor 20 Stunden schrieb fil-m:

If you want 2 lenses including the Sx 24mm, I would suggest the 21mm Elmarit Asph which, while technically slightly inferior and larger than the Super Elmar, is actually a very interesting lens that can be found at cheaper prices in case you want to save some money. But the SEM21 remains the most technically perfect (though "slow") 21.

I did - almost so - earlier this day. 👍

Picked the 24mm Summilux-M ... but the 21 SEM quite spontaneous as well. I was quite impressed about both extraordinary built quality. However, once I saw the image quality of the SEM, I think this lens is a steal. And if those focal length are still not wide enough I can still throw in the WATE one day.

Many thanks to all your opinions.

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!

[fil-m]

4 minutes ago, MLG said:

I did - almost so - earlier this day. 👍

Picked the 24mm Summilux-M ... but the 21 SEM quite spontaneous as well. I was quite impressed about both extraordinary built quality. However, once I saw the image quality of the SEM, I think this lens is a steal. And if those focal length are still not wide enough I can still throw in the WATE one day.

Many thanks to all your opinions.

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!

I am glad for you, hope you enjoy both!! The Sx24mm is a "hidden" gem