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Headshots today for a student play. I borrowed one of them for this set.
All SL2-S, natural light, adjusted for brightness, but not noise or clarity etc. Most are cropped to 10x8 because I prefer that for portraits, but still full width. All shot wide open, whatever the lens.

First some more distant shots.

Apo-Summicron-SL 75. ISO 400 1/160s

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Summilux-SL 50, ISO 124, 1/100s

Summilux-M 75, ISO 250, 1/160s

 

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And some close-ups

Apo-Summicron-SL 75, ISO 400, 1/160s

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Summilux-SL 50, ISO 160, 1/100s. I wish I'd got closer, but see the next post.

Summilux-M 75, ISO 320, 1/160

 

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There is not a lot to choose between these lenses at these distances, but my instinct is still to pick the Summilux-SL 50 over the Apo-Summicron-SL 75, and having spent several hours shooting various actors, this is the kind of shot that convinces me. It's the the same person as above, taken in a different location: the location above was selected to show the bokeh, the one below for the plain background.

All the headshots that I took at head and shoulders distance show this stunningly beautiful effect that I described earlier as a face in full sharpness emerging from a soft mist, like breaking the surface of water. The effect will probably pall on me after a while, but at the moment I love it!

ISO 200 1/100s

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Just to show that my judgement is not swayed by a good looking woman, here is another similar example

 

 

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As a side story: I told the woman why I wanted to take a series of similar photos with different lenses. I slowly mansplained to her the difference in focal length and aperture and why I chose that location, to show the bokeh.

It turns out she is a keen photographer herself*. Where's the face-palm emoji when you want one.:o

 

* And amateur model. Well, I could have guessed that myself.

Edited by LocalHero1953
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1 hour ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Headshots today for a student play. I borrowed one of them for this set.
All SL2-S, natural light, adjusted for brightness, but not noise or clarity etc. Most are cropped to 10x8 because I prefer that for portraits, but still full width. All shot wide open, whatever the lens.

First some more distant shots.

Apo-Summicron-SL 75. ISO 400 1/160s

Summilux-SL 50, ISO 124, 1/100s

Summilux-M 75, ISO 250, 1/160s

 

+1. A beautiful set of photos (and models). The SL50-Lux images at close distance are (particularly) superb.  

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1 hour ago, IkarusJohn said:

These are lovely, Paul; and yes, indistinguishable.  I don’t feel so bad selling my SL 75 APO and 50 Summilux-SL, and just keeping my 75 Summilux-M!

Really I don't think you need anything else unless, as in my case, you want autofocus as well.

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12 hours ago, Sohail said:

The compression of the 75 enhances the jawline. The 50 less so, and is also much more intimate.

Thank you, I hadn’t thought of it in those terms, but I think you’re right. I shall try some more comparisons with just the two Summiluxes. 

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While I agree that the 50 1.4 SL renders in the smoothest way, I still believe the focal length and compression are important factors as well, when choosing one of those lenses.

IMO, as soon as you get closer, a 75 or 90 do show a more natural look of the face, while 50 - IMO is better for environmental portraits.

 

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8 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Thank you, I hadn’t thought of it in those terms, but I think you’re right. I shall try some more comparisons with just the two Summiluxes. 

This is purely subjective, but I think the male subject in your last post would work better with a 75, and the female subject a 50 but not so closely.

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The 3/4 length portrait is where it works well too.
50 SL @ 1.4 
 

Edited by Sohail
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A straight comparison of the Summilux-SL 50 and the Summilux-M 75.
SL2-S, ISO 200, natural light from a window, all images uncropped, sharpening, noise reduction, clarity all set to zero, The first was taken with the 50 during a series of headshots of a play cast. The second with the 75 was about 20 mins later, and the light had changed a bit, so I have adjusted brightness and white balance to get a rough equivalence.

I would be happy with either lens for this sort of work. A few practical matters:

  • The Summilux-M 75 vignettes slightly, as can be seen.
  • Getting this framing with the 50 means getting quite close, which can feel a bit intrusive.
  • For someone with long wavy hair like this, shooting at 1.4 is not the best, as the hair goes in and out of focus.
  • I missed focus very slightly with the 75. Not a big problem here, but highlights the benefit of AF.

Summilux-SL 50, 1/100s

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Summilux-M 75, 1/160s

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That bokehlicious 50/1.4 SL

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  • 1 month later...
30 minutes ago, Olaf_ZG said:

@LocalHero1953so, we are some weeks later. Any regrets?

None!

I understand it better, so I know when to use and when not. In practical terms its slow focus is its limitation for fast action, so I don't use it for stage productions. (That is where I am experimenting with the Summilux-M 75, because its manual focus is much faster than the Summilux-SL 50 AF, even if I am not as accurate at the moment).

But for portraiture, headshots, and for early rehearsals (in rehearsal spaces with distracting backgrounds - church halls, private rooms - and the when cast are not moving so fast) it is both practical (blurring the background) and lovely in rendition.

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I am still in doubt what to do. I love the 50mm fl for a general but also enjoyed tighter lenses for portraits. I have the m summilux and bought me a 85mm/1.4 planar (ef mount), just to see what in the end will be my fav for portraits on the SL.

based on that I can than decide on a SL lens: the 50 or 75. With a m lens I would try this with the leica lenses, as m lenses are relatively easy to sell. The SL lenses are much tougher to sell, so I want to be sure before buying.

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Well, that was quick. I looked at my latest sessions which I took with the 24-90. Most of the images where somewhere between 40 & 60mm. No one was near 75mm. It might be caused cause my make-shift studio is tiny, but at the other end, 50mm is really my fav fl.

A great offer came up so I just bought the lens. Joining the club.

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15 hours ago, Olaf_ZG said:

Well, that was quick. I looked at my latest sessions which I took with the 24-90. Most of the images where somewhere between 40 & 60mm. No one was near 75mm. It might be caused cause my make-shift studio is tiny, but at the other end, 50mm is really my fav fl.

A great offer came up so I just bought the lens. Joining the club.

It's a marvel.

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