Summilux-M 50mm f1.4 center sharpness

[SudaliuS]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

And this is F2.8

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!

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[lct]

How did you focus for those shots?

[SudaliuS]

11 minutes ago, lct said:

How did you focus for those shots?

May be we do not understand each other))
In LV mode with magnification and focus peaking.
Lens was set in infinity mode

First picture of screen I made when camera had F1.4, than turned apperture ring to 2.8 and made another picture of screen

Edited August 14, 2024 by SudaliuS

[Ecar]

Or just a RF cam adjustment problem. Any chance you could do the test with another lens?

Edit: I noticed you mentioned you used the Biogon 35/2.8, but with a 35mm at f/2.8 a potential RF miscalibration may have gone unnoticed.

Edited August 14, 2024 by Ecar

[Ecar]

3 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

He focused with live view (no RF adjustment issue but rather shimming) and he tried with another lens (in another thread) which is sharp center wide open at infinity.

Yes, you are right, my mistake. I have seen the LV pics now (note to self: read all posts just above and wait for images to load before replying). A lens issue it is then.

[SudaliuS]

Someone say that matrix could be shifted in camera from the manufacturer and it not allows to focus on 1.4...But I didn't find any case in web about shifted matrix in Leica camera

[Ecar]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Not sure I understand what you mean by matrix. Sensor? Bayer matrix? Something else?

Sensor misalignment is indeed occasionally mentioned in forums, but occurrences are likely very rare, irrespective of the manufacturer.

Edited August 14, 2024 by Ecar

[mdarnton]

Looking at your first full photo it appears that the round building down in the right foreground is well focused. If your lens was all the way to infinity when making that shot, something is wrong, because that building is considerably closer than infinity. This isn't a rangefinder calibration issue, then, because the lens itself will simply not go past infinity stop on the right to go where it needs to go. If other lenses are fine wide open at infinity (at least 2 miles) when set to the stop at the end of the focus ring's movement, but not this particular lens, it's your particular lens.

[SudaliuS]

13 hours ago, Ecar said:

Not sure I understand what you mean by matrix. Sensor? Bayer matrix? Something else?

I mean sensor, sure)

[lct]

If one wants to shoot the moon or a remote mountain, the focus ring can be set safely to infinity. But if the subject matter is only at 100m for instance, better nail focus with the RF or preferably focus magnification in LV mode when shooting with a high res camera. This way it is easier to know which of the lens or the camera is the culprit. Just my experience FWIW.

[swatch]

Another possible reason for soft image is separation of cemented glasses ( or called elements in lens construction) over the years, it could be happened. Image quality in terms of sharpness will be degraded if separation of cemented glasses begin to develop.

In LUF under “The 50mm Summilux pre-ASPH image thread” post number 721 on page 37 mentioned “rear-element fog which Leica replied cannot be cleaned out” and I would suspect the fog is caused by ageing of glues holding two elements together.

Suggest to send the lens (Summilux 50mm pre-ASPH) for checking the root cause of unsharpness and hope member SudaliuS would update us about his finding.

Edited August 15, 2024 by swatch

[lct]

34 minutes ago, swatch said:

Suggest to send the lens (Summilux 50mm pre-ASPH)

The OP's lens is a Summilux 50/1.4 asph v1 as i understand it.

[SudaliuS]

40 minutes ago, swatch said:

Another possible reason for soft image is separation of cemented glasses ( or called elements in lens construction) over the years, it could be happened. Image quality in terms of sharpness will be degraded if separation of cemented glasses begin to develop.

It sounds very scary. It's too expensive lens to be so unquality, I think...
 

6 minutes ago, lct said:

The OP's lens is a Summilux 50/1.4 asph v1 as i understand it.

Yes, you're absolutely right

[swatch]

4 minutes ago, SudaliuS said:

It sounds very scary. It's too expensive lens to be so unquality, I think …

It is only a suspicious possibility from me.  I apologise if I had caused you feel uncomfortable.

Suggest take your lens to be checked by a qualified technician.

[lct]

I would not draw any conclusion until you try what i sugested above but i was not clear enough due to my bad english i suspect sorry. Do not take into account the infinity mark of the lens and focus on a detail (a window for instance) in LV mode with focus magnification. I suspect you will get a sharper image then but i would be interested in seeing your result.

[Shac]

Looks like heat haze to me.

[SudaliuS]

 

3 hours ago, lct said:

Do not take into account the infinity mark of the lens and focus on a detail (a window for instance)

Here it is. Not in infinity mode. Center is pretty sharp I think
https://postimg.cc/vg2ppWC2

[lct]

If you focused on the eyes it looks perfect.

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[SudaliuS]

Thanks to everyone, guys

[JTLeica]

On 8/14/2024 at 3:49 PM, Al Brown said:

Your technique is perfectly OK when putting the lens all the way to infinity - if the subject is more than 100m away IT.SHOULD.BE.SHARP. It is very obvious your lens DOES NOT FOCUS TO INFINITY. It could be a shimming problem or an assembly problem.

This is the answer.

If your lens doesn't focus at infinity, for any reason it need returning or adjusting. That being up to you OP.

However, to diagnose better, if in live view is never 'gets ti infinity' as in, it never ever gets totally sharp the lens shims under the mount need adjusting. I have had this a few times, twice I think.

Just make sure your lens is not focussing past infinity, (to infinity before the infinity stop on the lens, and then past as you keep rotating - if that makes sense) sounds like you'd have spotted that though.