stevem7 Posted August 21, 2009 Share #1 Posted August 21, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Just posted my real world use report of the 24 Lux on the M8. I really, really, really love this lens. It's pretty amazing. THE LEICA 24 SUMMILUX 1.4 LENS REVIEW On a FF M9 it will be even more amazing But for those with an M8, I would say this is probably the nicest lens I have used with it. I want one pretty bad but my money needs to go to something even better Hope some of you find this useful and or worth the read. Thanks! Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 21, 2009 Posted August 21, 2009 Hi stevem7, Take a look here The 24 Summilux on the M8..my review. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Rolo Posted August 21, 2009 Share #2 Posted August 21, 2009 I'll look for it straight away Steve. I appreciate the work you've put in on your reviews and I enjoy your style. Certainly building up to the best set of Leica kit reviews on the web. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoMammabot Posted August 21, 2009 Share #3 Posted August 21, 2009 Great review! I have no idea how I'm going to fund an M9 an this 24mm speed demon... I'm thinking it makes sense to get the Summilux first since I could see the price going up for this baby. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
noah_addis Posted August 21, 2009 Share #4 Posted August 21, 2009 It's a great lens, no question about it. I've been shooting with it for a bit now and it seems like a perfect lens on the M8. It is now permanently mounted to one of my M8 bodies. It'll be a bit too wide for me on full-frame though, so if an M9 is introduced soon that's full-frame, I'll probably sell mine. Anyway, your review is right on... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff S Posted August 21, 2009 Share #5 Posted August 21, 2009 On a FF M9 it will be even more amazing Only if you don't mind lack of built-in framelines and/or use of an external finder. And, obviously, the wider FOV. Different strokes... Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilfredo Posted August 21, 2009 Share #6 Posted August 21, 2009 Steve: Great pictures. I attribute these mostly to your talent as a photographer. $6000.00 for someone like me is a lot to stomach. $270.00 for the lens hood alone (B&H price) is simply highway robbery and makes me wonder why these Leica products have to be so way over-priced? There is a market out there for this obviously, people with deep pockets and then those who pull out the plastic and get in over their heads, but quite frankly I just don't get it. My M8 is an extravagance but where do you draw the line? No doubt this is an excellent lens, something most of us would like to own, but at what price????? WHY?? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevem7 Posted August 22, 2009 Author Share #7 Posted August 22, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Steve: Great pictures. I attribute these mostly to your talent as a photographer. $6000.00 for someone like me is a lot to stomach. $270.00 for the lens hood alone (B&H price) is simply highway robbery and makes me wonder why these Leica products have to be so way over-priced? There is a market out there for this obviously, people with deep pockets and then those who pull out the plastic and get in over their heads, but quite frankly I just don't get it. My M8 is an extravagance but where do you draw the line? No doubt this is an excellent lens, something most of us would like to own, but at what price????? WHY?? Wilfredo, I hear you man! $6,000 is pretty extreme for a lens. Back a few years ago I could of afforded it but not today. With the cost of a FF Digital M coming in at almost $8k US, its going to be tough for me to find a way to buy one. For sure, I am not one who can keep the M8 and buy an M9. I would love the 24 Lux but the only way I could buy one would be to sell 3 of my other lenses. Something I am not willing to do, even though I love this 24 Lux as much as the 50 Lux ASPH. Maybe one day... Thanks for looking! Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted August 22, 2009 Share #8 Posted August 22, 2009 I have now seen quite a number of pictures taken both with the 24 and with the 21 Summilux. And the question I can no longer escape is: All right, but what is the point? None of these pictures look very remarkable. (OK, some remarkable vignetting in some of them.) The only thing remarkable with them is the accompanying statement: "This INCREDIBLE image was made with the FANTASTIC Superlux 1:.01/2mm EXTRATERRESTRIAL!!!" But the looks of the pictures were pretty ho-hum. Maybe these lenses will open up some creative opportunities that somebody will learn to exploit in some striking way sometime in the future. And then what will strike us will be the pictures themselves, and nobody will ask much what lens it was taken through. We will celebrate the photographer and his/her eye, not the gear. What was so remarkable about Robert Frank's Leica? Nothing. It was Frank who was remarkable. It is perfectly in order for us to be interested in gear. But it is not for the gear itself, but for what we can do with it. So, to paraphrase Harry S. Truman: I'm from Sweden, show me. The old man from the Age of Henri Cartier-Bresson's Leica Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
markowich Posted August 22, 2009 Share #9 Posted August 22, 2009 steve, great review, thanks! any evidence of focus shift? peter Just posted my real world use report of the 24 Lux on the M8. I really, really, really love this lens. It's pretty amazing. THE LEICA 24 SUMMILUX 1.4 LENS REVIEW On a FF M9 it will be even more amazing But for those with an M8, I would say this is probably the nicest lens I have used with it. I want one pretty bad but my money needs to go to something even better Hope some of you find this useful and or worth the read. Thanks! Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolu Posted August 22, 2009 Share #10 Posted August 22, 2009 Some great pictures and great review! Thanks a lot! - cannot wait for your 21 Lux review. I wonder how the 21 and 24 Luxes perform versus the Elmarits at f 4 or 8, where the 24 Elmarit is so extremely sharp and contrasty. ...I want one pretty bad but my money needs to go to something even better ... What could that be ? - Regards Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WPalank Posted August 22, 2009 Share #11 Posted August 22, 2009 {snipped} $6000.00 for someone like me is a lot to stomach. $270.00 for the lens hood alone (B&H price) is simply highway robbery and makes me wonder why these Leica products have to be so way over-priced? {snipped} Wilfredo, Just so we're clear, I agree, $6000 is a lot of money, but the lens hood and cap are included. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Olof Posted August 22, 2009 Share #12 Posted August 22, 2009 Would be interesting to know how often you used the 1.4 for you pictures. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevem7 Posted August 23, 2009 Author Share #13 Posted August 23, 2009 I have now seen quite a number of pictures taken both with the 24 and with the 21 Summilux. And the question I can no longer escape is: All right, but what is the point? None of these pictures look very remarkable. (OK, some remarkable vignetting in some of them.) The only thing remarkable with them is the accompanying statement: "This INCREDIBLE image was made with the FANTASTIC Superlux 1:.01/2mm EXTRATERRESTRIAL!!!" But the looks of the pictures were pretty ho-hum. Maybe these lenses will open up some creative opportunities that somebody will learn to exploit in some striking way sometime in the future. And then what will strike us will be the pictures themselves, and nobody will ask much what lens it was taken through. We will celebrate the photographer and his/her eye, not the gear. What was so remarkable about Robert Frank's Leica? Nothing. It was Frank who was remarkable. It is perfectly in order for us to be interested in gear. But it is not for the gear itself, but for what we can do with it. So, to paraphrase Harry S. Truman: I'm from Sweden, show me. The old man from the Age of Henri Cartier-Bresson's Leica As stated about 6 times in the review, any vignetting you see in the images was ADDED by me. There are also those untouched and in those you will see ZERO vignetting. The lens does not vignette on the M8. The 24 Lux IS indeed a remarkable lens. I only shot with it for one day but what I have seen in that short time is that it is sharp corner to corner, has ZERO vignetting, has amazing sharpness and micro-contrast as well as superb color - not cold, not warm. Just right. It is indeed the best 24 I have ever shot, with any system. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevem7 Posted August 23, 2009 Author Share #14 Posted August 23, 2009 Would be interesting to know how often you used the 1.4 for you pictures. About 98% of the time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevem7 Posted August 23, 2009 Author Share #15 Posted August 23, 2009 steve,great review, thanks! any evidence of focus shift? peter This lens does not know the definition of focus shift. I experienced ZERO focus shift with this 24. It performed flawlessly during my short time with it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevem7 Posted August 23, 2009 Author Share #16 Posted August 23, 2009 Some great pictures and great review! Thanks a lot! - cannot wait for your 21 Lux review. I wonder how the 21 and 24 Luxes perform versus the Elmarits at f 4 or 8, where the 24 Elmarit is so extremely sharp and contrasty. What could that be ? - Regards The 24 Lux at F4 can not really get any better. It is sharp as a razor, contrasty and has superb color. I was in love with the Elmarit but preferred the lux in a big way. But then again, I LOVE fast glass and shooting at 1.4. Thanks! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NB23 Posted August 23, 2009 Share #17 Posted August 23, 2009 I must ask: What kind of honest, accurate and subjective review can it be when you ADD vignetting, when you post-process the pictures to death and when you only praise the lenses? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted August 23, 2009 Share #18 Posted August 23, 2009 I do not dispute that it is a remarkable lens. The specs are remarkable. Making remarkable pictures with it is another matter, which was all I said. As for 'knife sharp', 'no vignetting' etc., I will judge that from full frame results without post processing, and for vignertting, preferably on film (the M8 removes lots of vignetting). The MTF data look acceptable, no more. The old man from the Age Before Net Hype Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pascal_meheut Posted August 23, 2009 Share #19 Posted August 23, 2009 Maybe these lenses will open up some creative opportunities that somebody will learn to exploit in some striking way sometime in the future. And then what will strike us will be the pictures themselves, and nobody will ask much what lens it was taken through. We will celebrate the photographer and his/her eye, not the gear. What was so remarkable about Robert Frank's Leica? Nothing. It was Frank who was remarkable. Whoah, you are really an old man who does nothing but whining and rambling. We all know that the artistic value of a picture has nothing to do with the equipment. Known that for ages, known that since the beginning of photography probably. Yes, this is just a tool. And like many people (but not all of them), we are interested in the tools we use, we like our tools and we like to talk about our tools. And just in case you did not notice, this is the Leica M8 forum, i.e. a place dedicated to talking about one specific tool. So maybe you thing that you are saying something new and interesting and up to the point by saying that Robert Frank had the talent and not his Leica and that you are the only one aware of that. You're not. Just an old man whining and rambling. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wattsy Posted August 23, 2009 Share #20 Posted August 23, 2009 You're not. Just an old man whining and rambling. No need to get your knickers in such a twist. Lars can speak for himself but I suspect his "ramble" was just a roundabout way of saying that he thought the photographs were crap. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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