Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/05/15

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: Re: [Leica] Which One: 90 mm f/2 Summicron or 90 mm f/2.8 Elmarit?
From: Mark Rabiner <mark@rabiner.cncoffice.com>
Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 12:25:48 -0700
References: <102.329255a.28327a42@aol.com>

><Snip> 
> Marvelous full aperture performance accounts for the willingness, recently
> reported, of some LUGGERS to lug around all that extra 35/1.4 Summilux-ASPH,
> 50/1.0 Noctilux, 75/1.4 Summilux and 90/2 Apo-Summicron weight. If you don't
> need ultimate speed, the compactness and weight benefit of one-stop slower
> lenses makes sense without penalizing image quality.
> 
> Seth Rosner      LaK 9

I don't feel like I'm wasting my money on Leica glass stopped down to a meaty f11!

To me lens "speed" a term which always turned my head around great thing to have
on an SLR where you get a brighter snappier image to focus with and then a
faster shutter speed to counteract all the mirror bounce. (it's the shutter that
moves faster the glass doesn't go anywhere!)
But as a guy who feels quite at home with tripods and flash even I've easily
gone without f1.4.

When you're shooting with a groundglass wide open you are seeing what you are
getting and not forcing your lens to do it's automatic stop down thing. All very
nice but I'm a stopper downer. 
I HATE it when i miss my focus. I'm not all bothered buy other things in focus
than the subject. I often don't like it when foregrounds are soft, the bottom of
the picture next to where i sign my name.

So i started out the a 50 Summicron instead of Summilux.
All the nice brochures i had showed the Summilux looking great on the camera. A
gorgeous piece of glass!
But Summicron had a nice ring for me. And awesome ring actually.
My other lenses which came later were not in their fastest versions.
I love compactness and saving that odd thousand dollars here and there.
A little less glass to air surface will never hurt me i always thought. Not fond
of flair.
Some day I'll go off into the moonset with a Noctilux.
What would be more useful than a 35 Summilux Asph i don't know. I'd think to be
able to get into those dark areas just as well with that, strobeless and
tripodless. 

The added weight of the  90/2 Apo-Summicron is well apreatated.
The 90 Elmarit itself is way too heavy already. If i go out its with a 50 and a
35. I leave the 90's at home if I'm doing any serious walking.
But i reach for the  90/2 Apo-Summicron first when ever i need a 90.
It is such an awesome piece of glass.
I'm just now realizing that it is faster than what I'm used to. A 2.5 or 2.8 105 Nikkor!
So that is fast glass isn't it?
VERY well balanced. But a grip is good.

Mark Rabiner

Portland, Oregon
USA

http://www.rabiner.cncoffice.com/

In reply to: Message from SthRosner@aol.com (Re: [Leica] Which One: 90 mm f/2 Summicron or 90 mm f/2.8 Elmarit?)