New SL Ultra-Wide-Angle Lenses: 14-24mm Zoom and 21 mm Super-APO-Summicron

[beewee]

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I recall @robb had posted some pre-released MTF charts for the 21 APO a while back. Can’t seem to find that post anymore but I’m curious how it differs from the official MTF released today.

[beewee]

My biggest complaint about the Sigma 14-24 DG DN is that it can flare/ghost in bright sunny environments which is hard to avoid when it has such a wide field of view.

I’m wondering if:

• The 14-24 SL has different internal lens mount than the Sigma DG DN version which could potentially help with improved flare/ghosting
• The 14-24 SLversion with Leica’s coating has better flare/ghosting resistance compared to Sigma’s DG DN version

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[FlashGordonPhotography]

Picked up both lenses this morning. No opinions yet except that the 21mm focuses down to about 10cm........

Gordon

[sarkleshark]

Where are the reviews from the usual suspects??

[helged]

1 hour ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

Picked up both lenses this morning. No opinions yet except that the 21mm focuses down to about 10cm........

Gordon

Please report back... 

[robb]

2 hours ago, beewee said:

I recall @robb had posted some pre-released MTF charts for the 21 APO a while back. Can’t seem to find that post anymore but I’m curious how it differs from the official MTF released today.

Same.  I think it looks like the best fast ultra wide I’ve seen.  Waiting on mine to get delivered.

ill plan on shooting with it every week.  So I should have some nice examples of its capabilities soon.  

Robb

[adan]

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1 hour ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

Picked up both lenses this morning. No opinions yet except that the 21mm focuses down to about 10cm........

Gordon

Don't forget that focus distance is traditionally measured from the IMAGE PLANE, not the front element. A hold-over from doing macro-image magnification/exposure calculations, even with lenses of different physical lengths.

But your estimate conforms roughly to the spec sheet's value for close-focus-limit (21cm from the image plane - i.e. sensor).

....................

To all - as an M-user, congratulations on getting these new Super-Wides. 👍 21 Elmarit was my first M lens in my modern Leica era (2001).

[Stuart Richardson]

3 hours ago, beewee said:

I recall @robb had posted some pre-released MTF charts for the 21 APO a while back. Can’t seem to find that post anymore but I’m curious how it differs from the official MTF released today.

From my memory, they seem very similar, if not identical. I remember being slightly underwhelmed by them, which I feel again. I hope that my basic understanding of MTF was is somehow wrong here, but in my past experience having a substantially divergent tangential and saggital measurement is not great. My hope is that the fall off in the field/corner is more representative of a bit of purposefully added field curvature, wherein the sharpest detail is a bit closer to the camera in the field. While bad for a normal lens or tele, it can be quite useful in a wide angle. Hopefully the real world pictures will come out shortly. 

[FlashGordonPhotography]

1 hour ago, helged said:

Please report back... 

So far...

1. The zoom first. Seems ever so *slightly* sharper than my already excellent Sigma version. Much heavier. My copy of the 16-35 is *slightly* sharper in the middle at equivalent focal lengths and the 14-24 seems *slightly* better in the extreme corners, both wide open. Stop down and any differences seem to vanish. Differences could all be down to sample variation as they're small. Like really small. Could also be user error for now. 

2. 21mm APO. Sweeet! Sharp to the corners. The centre is somewhat better wide open but it does the SL2 sensor justice all the way to the corner. It's more contrast than rsolution that drops off a bit, I feel. Centre 80% is absolutely fabulous at close distances (no infinity shooting done yet). Would shoot this wide open without hesitation. A step up from either of the zooms at 21mm even at 5.6. Can't find any CA at all yet, which I'm sensitive to. Little to no vignetting. Just using LR's standard import settings. Colour same as the other APO's which is useful. SUPER close focusing. AF is a bit snappier than my 50 and 90 APO. Haven't compared to my 28 APO yet.

Will need to test the 21mm against my HB 28mm (22 equiv). Think the Leica will have a good showing despite the resolution differences. Might also compare against the HB21mm cropped to 60MP (24x36) just for laughs.

Wouldn't mind a 180mm f2.8 and then my set would be complete.....

Gordon

[MediaFotografie]

vor 3 Stunden schrieb sarkleshark:

Where are the reviews from the usual suspects??

last summer (means June/July 2022) I was allowed to test the APO-SL 21mm for 6 weeks, a very impressive optic!

I also wrote a report for the LUF, the administrators must have been surprised yesterday that it was suddenly there.

Here are sample images with APO-SL21mm and SL2:

https://adobe.ly/3Qh9HsP

Edited October 20, 2023 by MediaFotografie

[helged]

1 hour ago, FlashGordonPhotography said:

So far...

1. The zoom first. Seems ever so *slightly* sharper than my already excellent Sigma version. Much heavier. My copy of the 16-35 is *slightly* sharper in the middle at equivalent focal lengths and the 14-24 seems *slightly* better in the extreme corners, both wide open. Stop down and any differences seem to vanish. Differences could all be down to sample variation as they're small. Like really small. Could also be user error for now. 

2. 21mm APO. Sweeet! Sharp to the corners. The centre is somewhat better wide open but it does the SL2 sensor justice all the way to the corner. It's more contrast than rsolution that drops off a bit, I feel. Centre 80% is absolutely fabulous at close distances (no infinity shooting done yet). Would shoot this wide open without hesitation. A step up from either of the zooms at 21mm even at 5.6. Can't find any CA at all yet, which I'm sensitive to. Little to no vignetting. Just using LR's standard import settings. Colour same as the other APO's which is useful. SUPER close focusing. AF is a bit snappier than my 50 and 90 APO. Haven't compared to my 28 APO yet.

Will need to test the 21mm against my HB 28mm (22 equiv). Think the Leica will have a good showing despite the resolution differences. Might also compare against the HB21mm cropped to 60MP (24x36) just for laughs.

Wouldn't mind a 180mm f2.8 and then my set would be complete.....

Gordon

You likely have it, but the S180mm is outstanding. But yes, a SL180mm would be something... 

[panoreserve]

vor 5 Stunden schrieb FlashGordonPhotography:

So far...

1. The zoom first. Seems ever so *slightly* sharper than my already excellent Sigma version. Much heavier. My copy of the 16-35 is *slightly* sharper in the middle at equivalent focal lengths and the 14-24 seems *slightly* better in the extreme corners, both wide open. Stop down and any differences seem to vanish. Differences could all be down to sample variation as they're small. Like really small. Could also be user error for now. 

2. 21mm APO. Sweeet! Sharp to the corners. The centre is somewhat better wide open but it does the SL2 sensor justice all the way to the corner. It's more contrast than rsolution that drops off a bit, I feel. Centre 80% is absolutely fabulous at close distances (no infinity shooting done yet). Would shoot this wide open without hesitation. A step up from either of the zooms at 21mm even at 5.6. Can't find any CA at all yet, which I'm sensitive to. Little to no vignetting. Just using LR's standard import settings. Colour same as the other APO's which is useful. SUPER close focusing. AF is a bit snappier than my 50 and 90 APO. Haven't compared to my 28 APO yet.

Will need to test the 21mm against my HB 28mm (22 equiv). Think the Leica will have a good showing despite the resolution differences. Might also compare against the HB21mm cropped to 60MP (24x36) just for laughs.

Wouldn't mind a 180mm f2.8 and then my set would be complete.....

Gordon

"Haven't compared to my 28 APO yet."

THAT would be very interesting...

[Geoff C. Bassett]

1 hour ago, panoreserve said:

"Haven't compared to my 28 APO yet."

THAT would be very interesting...

From looking at the samples so far I think I prefer the out of focus rendering of the 28mm. 

[cheekz4dayz]

7 hours ago, MediaFotografie said:

last summer (means June/July 2022) I was allowed to test the APO-SL 21mm for 6 weeks, a very impressive optic!

I also wrote a report for the LUF, the administrators must have been surprised yesterday that it was suddenly there.

Here are sample images with APO-SL21mm and SL2:

https://adobe.ly/3Qh9HsP

Thank you for this! I really loved the pictures. I've been itching for a wide angle lens and this might be just the one for me. I still need to save up for a while but it'll be interesting to see if the 24mm ends up being out by the time I have the funds ready 😅

 

Thanks again!

[helged]

1 hour ago, cheekz4dayz said:

Thank you for this! I really loved the pictures. I've been itching for a wide angle lens and this might be just the one for me. I still need to save up for a while but it'll be interesting to see if the 24mm ends up being out by the time I have the funds ready 😅

 

Thanks again!

Whereas the SL21 has been seen now and then over the last some years, I cannot recall anything about the existence of a SL24. I can be wrong (happens more often than not... 😉), but it could also indicate that SL24 may not materialise. Time will tell.

[Eclectic Man]

20 hours ago, TL3 said:

I thinks super just refers to ultra wide, 21 mm or wider.  There's probably some more meaning/nuance I'm missing, but I think all their super lenses have been wide.

My 21mm f/4 R lens is a 'Super-Angulon', so I suspect you are right that it is the focal length that gets the 'Super' appellation.

[TL3]

7 hours ago, Eclectic Man said:

My 21mm f/4 R lens is a 'Super-Angulon', so I suspect you are right that it is the focal length that gets the 'Super' appellation.

The lens that does confound me is the PC-Super-Angulon-R 28mm f/2.8, it doesn't fit very neatly into the naming scheme, which is why I suspect there is some nuance I'm missing.  If I recall correctly the "tele" prefix was used in reference the lens being shorter than its focal length, perhaps there is something the "super" prefix denotes.  Or maybe just Leica being inconsistent with their naming schemes.

[frankchn]

33 minutes ago, TL3 said:

The lens that does confound me is the PC-Super-Angulon-R 28mm f/2.8, it doesn't fit very neatly into the naming scheme, which is why I suspect there is some nuance I'm missing.  If I recall correctly the "tele" prefix was used in reference the lens being shorter than its focal length, perhaps there is something the "super" prefix denotes.  Or maybe just Leica being inconsistent with their naming schemes.

The PC 28mm is a shift lens, so the totality of the enlarged image circle represents the same field of view as a 21mm lens (93.4 degrees for the PC 28mm if you do maximum shifts in both directions, vs 92 degrees with a standard 21mm lens), and thus Leica gives it the "Super" appellation.

Edited October 20, 2023 by frankchn

[TL3]

Great to hear that they follow their naming conventions, and there is reasoning behind it.  Now I just wonder why the Elmarit-R 19 mm f/2.8 doesn't get the "super" prefix.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica L-Mount

[Bear]

22 hours ago, adan said:

Don't forget that focus distance is traditionally measured from the IMAGE PLANE, not the front element. A hold-over from doing macro-image magnification/exposure calculations, even with lenses of different physical lengths.

But your estimate conforms roughly to the spec sheet's value for close-focus-limit (21cm from the image plane - i.e. sensor).

....................

To all - as an M-user, congratulations on getting these new Super-Wides. 👍 21 Elmarit was my first M lens in my modern Leica era (2001).

I hope this means the coming of a new 21 Lux for the M mount with close focusing 😁