Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/09/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]In a message dated 9/20/00 6:22:29 PM Eastern Daylight Time, dante@umich.edu writes: << That takes the cake. I bought a Summicron because I liked the 35/2 Hexar lens... maybe demonstrates the depth of my depravity. I always thought they looked about the same - the Hexar maintains a perfect circle aperture to f/4.5, which is the only visible difference - the Summicron making a decagon (?) I understand the optical formulæ to be identical. >> My '69 'cron, of which the Hexanon was supposedly a copy, does not exhibit 2-line bokeh. This is a good example of what can be so frustrating about the process of predicting an empirical result based on theoretical considerations, specifically as relates to the appearance of out of focus areas. That does not negate, however, the validity of the phenomenon known as bokeh. One simply has to accept that it is neither completely controlled nor predicted by such factors as the optical formula or number of blades, nor, for that matter, the shape of a circle formed by light on film. I bought the Hexar based upon a set of reasonable assumptions, as did you. The intended use was to shoot at or near wide open, primarily in concert halls. Under those conditions, the camera was terrific, but the lens was disappointing. Joe Sobel