[Leica] 19mm Elmarit-R current vs. Vario-Elmar 35-70/ f/3.5. Is the 19 so much better, as it would appear?

[telyt at earthlink.net (Doug Herr)]

on 8/11/05 8:34 PM, Martin Krieger at krieger@usc.edu wrote:

> This morning I went out and photographed people at bus-stops using the
> Vario-Elmar (35-70, f/3.5,German), mostly set at 70mm. Then later in the 
> day
> I photographed some street scenes using the 19mmElmarit-R, current,  f/2.8.
> Looking at my transparencies, I find that the quality of the faces (all
> quite small, due to distance) is much better in the Elmarit images than in
> the Vario-Elmar's.  Maybe I did not focus well in the latter case, or
> perhaps the f stop was a bit wider (less light in morning). But the
> difference is noticeable. I realize this is not at all scientific or
> objective, but have people similar experiences, or is this just too messy a
> comparison to learn anything from it?
> Martin
> krieger@usc.edu
>

You've thrown a lot of variables into the mix but then the 19 is a
certifiably awesome ultra-wide and the zoom is a mechanical re-work of a
merely good japanese (minolta) zoom.  Still too many variables.

Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com