Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2013/11/19

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Subject: [Leica] Zeiss Otus 55mm f1.4
From: red735i at verizon.net (Frank Filippone)
Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 09:56:19 -0800
References: <2277838.1384872706115.JavaMail.root@elwamui-lapwing.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

I never said that anything is the universal solution.  I said for us mere
mortals...  BTW, if you were using an M, RF camera ( no Viso stuff),  can
YOU imagine focusing precisely at the distance of that bunny you posted,
same lens, and nailing the iris, on more than low probability?  Which is the
argument at hand.

Today's DSLR's use pretty low contrast VF, no assistance with focusing aids
like split image or microprism, do not have interchangeable screens to
assist with long lenses, wide lenses, any other type of lens.....  All of
which we all had when we were kids....( or a bit older!) shooting with our
Nikon F, Canon F1 or other cameras of the film era.  But not now.  Different
game today.

Add to this the ability of our eyes, at ages of 40, 50,60, or more to
actually focus on anything and you have a mess.... An M is only as good as
the eyes that use it.  AF in good no matter what your eyes are doing.... if
you point it at the right thing.

Clearly, in Doug's situation, he is not among us mortals.  He, and other
really dedicated amateurs, and working pros, the skills CAN be learned to
use MF to nail the focus with a good deal of success.   But AF brings this
skill set down to the level of the amateur with limited time ( or desire) to
spend literally years learning these skills... While images pass us by.....

Doug was not using a M camera, I suspect in the images he showed us.  The M
shows a given magnification of the actual image.... 0.58x 0.72x  0.85x, or
something like 0.91x using a 50mm lens.  Using an SLR ( for simplicity's
sake), you have a 1:1 view of whatever lens you are using... Long like
Doug's choices usually are, or WA.  

Have you looked through the VF spot on an M-whatever with a 135mm lens on
front?  Pretty small.... tiny is more like it... then you want to nail the
focus of the eye at something like 20 feet....   Lucky if ( and I have not
verified this) the eye is the same size as the RF patch.... probably not..
which means focusing is truly a lucky achievement.....  With an SLR, it is
no harder than using a 50mm.

Good AF is the key to focus accuracy in the digital age... that plus the
skills to use it.  Different skills than Doug uses to photograph birdies,
different is not better or worse, just different....

BTW, the longest RF coupled lens I have heard of is the Contax 180 F2.8 (
and I think Leica made a 180 in M mount as well) of 1936 Olympics fame.  I
also have owned, as a collector, the 300MM and 500MM Fern lenses, both of
which were RF focused......  or used with a GG back.

Go ahead and order your Optus lens..... Mr. Photographer, whoever you may
be..... But it is a MF lens... and unless you can really pull off manual
focusing on your D-whatever, you just wasted a lot of money.....

There are a lot of skills required for using lenses of this caliber to get
the maximum out of them... I have only pointed out one of them.....the eyes.
The solution is AF or EVF with enlarged magnification.

This is my point of view as more of a gearhead rather than an Artiste.  But
I throw away any image that is not focused properly. I would like to
increase my technical hit rate.  YMMV.

Yes,, you Pros out there will be having a fit over this discussion.. but
this is for mere mortals.....  Push the delete button if you feel your blood
pressure is rising.

Frank Filippone
Red735i at verizon.net



Frank Filippone wrote:

>Glass is no longer the issue.  It is the eye that is ( and I believe 
>always
>was) the weak link.  AF is the solution....  or MF + enlarged EVF.
>
>Think I am wrong?  Go out there and look for images that are truly
sharp....
>MF or AF?....

MF or AF? (no enlarged EVF)

http://wildlightphoto.com/temp/btha04crop.jpg

uncropped:
http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/leporidae/bthare04.html


http://wildlightphoto.com/temp/wfib01crop1.jpg
http://wildlightphoto.com/temp/wfib01crop2.jpg

the image as shown on my website is about 1/3 of the image area
http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/threskiornithidae/wfib01.html


I have many more that illustrate the point but I don't have cropped images
handy.  For TTL manual focus a sharp lens and a good viewfinder with proper
diopter correction make a big difference.

Doug Herr




In reply to: Message from wildlightphoto at earthlink.net (Doug Herr) ([Leica] Zeiss Otus 55mm f1.4)