Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/04/27

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Subject: Re: [Leica] summicron question -- go creative
From: Guy Bennett <guybnt@idt.net>
Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 17:45:00 -0700

>on 27/4/00 11:15 PM, Andre Jean Quintal at megamax@abacom.com wrote:
>
>> In other words: sharpness is NOT everything
>> in photography. What about "residual" tonal gradation,
>> shadow detail, highlights' subtlety, color accuracy when its acutance /
>> edge resolution goes down somewhat at f/2.8 or f/2 ?
>
>Right on. When will people realise this? Most modern lenses are 'sharp'
>enough. The occasional massive step forward in resolution (35 lux -> 35 lux
>asph) excepted. The character resides in the rest of their qualities. Add
>bokeh to the above list, for a start. Judging a lens by its sharpness is
>like judging a car by the size of its engine.
>--
>Johnny Deadman


for this reason, i've decided to opt for the elmarit 90 instead of the
summicron 90 asph. perhaps it's a stupid analogy, but i imagine the
differences in image character of these two lenses might not be unlike that
i currently see between my current summicron 50 on the one hand, and my
summicron 35 asph and elmarit 24 asph on the other. the latter two lenses
are without a doubt formidable image capturers, but there are times -
especially with the 35 - when the image seems TOO sharp; it almost hurts
the eye!

if i ever find the pre asph summicron 35 at a local dealer, i'm going to
ask him to let me borrow it (no, i'm not crazy) just to try it out. i'm not
sure i would trade the asph version for the pre-asph, but i'd sure love to
compare. (might have to have both!)

yo!

guy