If you could only keep 3 S lens with you to use with the upcoming S4, what are your 3 lens ?

[Jeff S]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

2 hours ago, Stuart Richardson said:

Leica for the SL and S have chosen to make the lenses quite large, but optically stunning. 

And for the SL Summicrons, same barrel size, and sharing of various internal parts, to facilitate production and to keep costs/prices in check. 

It will be interesting to see the design direction and pricing strategy for the S4 system, especially given the pricing challenges that Fuji and Hasselblad (and Pentax early on) presented after the first S release, along with the current S system depreciation.

Jeff

[Einst_Stein]

I have excellent lenses for film that work poorly or significantly inferior on digital sensor, examples are HB SWC 38mm and all Fujifilm GX (6x8). Digital sensors actually put a bigger challenge on lens design, not limit to but particularly on wide angle.

The high MP digital sensor demands more. 

[ZHNL]

Favorite is 100. But 35/70/120 is the set to get. 

[tom0511]

I expect a mirrorless should allow a much smaller 45mm lens, and I always found the 45 too big even though optics are great.

I would keep the 100 (relatively small and beautiful rendering, and on a mirrorless it might finally focus reliable and a very special lens.

Then probably the 24. And maybe the 180 or the 120.

Now for the DSLR S007 my favorites are 70....35 and 120.

 

 

[Einst_Stein]

1 hour ago, tom0511 said:

I expect a mirrorless should allow a much smaller 45mm lens, and I always found the 45 too big even though optics are great.

I would keep the 100 (relatively small and beautiful rendering, and on a mirrorless it might finally focus reliable and a very special lens.

Then probably the 24. And maybe the 180 or the 120.

Now for the DSLR S007 my favorites are 70....35 and 120.

 

 

Mirrorless may reduce lens size, but higher MP makes it larger, though personally I don’t see higher MP makes much sense. 

[davidmknoble]

I would probably keep the 24 & 45 (which is my most used lens).  After that, probably the 100.  However, since I like to break the rules, I would keep a 4th and it would be the 180.  Many like the 120 more, but I like the 180 and use it a lot for landscape.  I also think that lens (and the 120) would last well into a 100mp range.

In terms of what’s coming, mirrorless gives us a lot of use / choices.  I am going to Antartica in less than a month, and with weight restrictions on the last flight, I have to be very intentional.  I picked up a Hasselblad X2D with the 38v and 55v.  I have adapter for Leica R lenses and will take the R APO 90 2.8 and R APO 180 2.8 which have no vignetting and can handle 100mp well. This means it pairs nicely with the SL2-S (24mp) and I’ll take the 90-280 and 16-35 for that.

The benefit of the X2D is that I can crop 100mp down to 50mp easily, so it isn’t that I need extra MP in the image, it’s the flexibility.  It also has 7-stop (ish) IBIS and is smaller and lighter, not to mention real 16bit color.  The lenses are as small as my SL lenses and have f/stops of 2.5 (very similar to the S). I hope to have the 90v (f/2.5) but that is harder to get, so the R lens is my backup.

The only problem I have with mirrorless anything compared to the OVF is using graduated ND filters.  The EVF corrects for it too quickly and it iis hard to tell where the line is. I haven’t figured that one out yet, so I have to guess, which I don’t like to do.  The OVF on the S makes using filters incredibly easy.

For those that might ask, I used the SL2 for awhile and did not like the what it cut the highlights and shadows and high dynamic range shots at the coast.  I could never post process images with biight sunlight and get what I wanted, but the S was easy for me to get it.  The Halsey fits that bill as well, but is a little harder to use than the Leica system, not as simple.

Looking forward to eventually using an S4, but getting lenses will take me long enough I may be at my own funeral! 

[bilbrown]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

70 CS, 45 CS and 100

This gives me a normal focal length, a wide and the very very Noctilux-like rendering of the 100.

 

I hope the handling remains similar to the S DSLR as we know it, granted smaller and more SL like. I think Hassy stole the body type from the SL, and its time for Leica to take it back.

[Einst_Stein]

In my mind, it would be Contax 645 35mm, 80mm, 120mm, but actually more often I use 45-90mm instead of 80mm. If without 45-90mm, I might replace 35mm with 45mm.

Edited December 28, 2023 by Einst_Stein

[ynp]

38 minutes ago, Einst_Stein said:

In my mind, it would be Contax 645 35mm, 80mm, 120mm, but actually more often I use 45-90mm instead of 80mm. If without 45-90mm, I might replace 35mm with 45mm.

I doubt that the forthcoming S4 will support the Contax 645 lenses. The Contax and HC adapters were introduced alongside the S2, when there were very few S lenses ready.
And it’s a pity that the SL line does not support adapter stacking, the Contax 645 lenses are still very good. 

[Einst_Stein]

1 hour ago, ynp said:

I doubt that the forthcoming S4 will support the Contax 645 lenses. The Contax and HC adapters were introduced alongside the S2, when there were very few S lenses ready.
And it’s a pity that the SL line does not support adapter stacking, the Contax 645 lenses are still very good. 

I am afraid you might be right.

However, I am not really interested in S4 yet. Not unless it comes and shows compelling attraction. The current Sx leave nothing more to be desired. 

 

[ynp]

3 hours ago, Einst_Stein said:

r, I am not really interested in S4 yet.

Neither am I. 

[davidmknoble]

I will be interesting to see if Leica takes the approach to sell and S4 body for less (say $10k) and puts a higher price tag on super great lenses, while developing a smaller set that is also less expensive.  

So, get you in the system, some less expensive lenses and then upgrade the lens. Maybe even an S4 ans S4-s with a smaller pixel sensor, so less expensive.

Sort of like the SL system.  

[tom0511]

I can not imagine a set of less expensive lenses. All less expensive lenses in the SL system are designs from Sigma or Panasonic. So no such option for medium format.

I would assume Leica to make new lenses in a way that they are focused on optical excellence and not on cost.

But all just speculation from my side.

[davidmknoble]

On 1/2/2024 at 8:04 AM, tom0511 said:

I can not imagine a set of less expensive lenses. All less expensive lenses in the SL system are designs from Sigma or Panasonic. So no such option for medium format.

I would assume Leica to make new lenses in a way that they are focused on optical excellence and not on cost.

But all just speculation from my side.

Almost but not quite.  The 35 and 50 summicrons for the SL that are not APO, are Leica designs and less expensive… Just a thought, have no clue whether or not they would do it.

[dritz]

On 11/16/2023 at 3:44 AM, irenedp said:

The 70, the 35 and the 120 t/s

The tiltshift?  I have yet to figure mine out! Perhaps it's just me... Advice on setups where I could experience its value?  These lenses have such low resale value that I keep the ones I don't use.... just because!

[irenedp]

3 hours ago, dritz said:

The tiltshift?  I have yet to figure mine out! Perhaps it's just me... Advice on setups where I could experience its value?  These lenses have such low resale value that I keep the ones I don't use.... just because!

It is a complex lens to use, granted, and takes some quiet time to learn and get used to it. Lenses at the extremes seldom get a lot of use but I find this more useful than the 24 (can do what I need with the 35). There is a full thread about it here, in the S section.  

[Stuart Richardson]

11 hours ago, dritz said:

The tiltshift?  I have yet to figure mine out! Perhaps it's just me... Advice on setups where I could experience its value?  These lenses have such low resale value that I keep the ones I don't use.... just because!

The 120mm tilt shift is a lens that is largely aimed at studio photographers. They make it easier to photograph products in a studio setup. For example, say you are photographing a product next to its packaging, you are able to tilt and shift the lens such that the vertical lines in the box are correct, while also tilting the lens to carry the plane of focus through the optimal areas you need to keep everything within the depth of field. It would also make it easier to do artwork reproduction, as you would not need to perfectly square the camera to the artwork, but rather just get it more or less roughly in place and then use the lens to square it up in camera. In the field, it could be useful for architecture from a distance at least, or in doing the typical things you might do with a viewcamera, such as use rise and fall to keep the perspective natural, while including more of the sky or more of the foreground. The tilt can allow you to carry focus from a near point to infinity which otherwise might not be possible with a 120mm lens, even stopped way down. Still, the lens was not as popular because it is less of a general use lens and the 120mm APO Macro Summarit S is significantly better optically two and a half stops faster and was released before it. It is also AF and auto aperture, while the 120 TS is fully manual. That said, it is still a good lens and can do things that nothing else in the S system can do.

[irenedp]

Besides product (and artwork), it can be used also for landscapes and architecture, like 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!

[tom0511]

Am 7.1.2024 um 21:57 schrieb davidmknoble:

Almost but not quite.  The 35 and 50 summicrons for the SL that are not APO, are Leica designs and less expensive… Just a thought, have no clue whether or not they would do it.

I thought they were Panasonic designs?

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[Stuart Richardson]

16 hours ago, tom0511 said:

I thought they were Panasonic designs?

As far as I am aware, it is not really clear, but probably also not very important. Leica and Panasonic have an alliance and share a lot of technology. It is clear that Leica has input on some of Panasonic's designs, and it also seems clear that Panasonic has technology and input on Leica's cameras, but also on their lenses. It was widely reported that the 90-280mm had a lot of panasonic patents on it. Given that they seem to be all over each other's tech, it probably makes the most sense to just evaluate the lenses holistically on whether the performance and design fits your needs. Keep in mind too that Panasonic has been one of the leading companies in broadcast cameras and equipment, and they have been making cine lenses for ages too.

This might be an interesting read, even though it was written before L mount: https://www.fdtimes.com/2016/01/09/panasonic-lens-factory-tour/

It said they had around 500 employees at that factory, and I believe Leica had around 700 when they opened the new factory at Wetzlar, so the scale is probably not that different, considering all of Leica's marketing/executive and service people are there too, etc, while Panasonic has 233,000 employees. Presumably they have the ability to put together a team that is also extremely talented.

Edited January 14, 2024 by Stuart Richardson