Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH f/1.4

Homework.

2015, Favourite, Inspiration, Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH f/1.4, Portrait, Q&A, Sony (Alpha) a7S, Teaching point, Voigtländer VM-E Close Focus Adapter

This image was taken with the Sony (Alpha) a7S.

I wish to thank my good friend Ashwin Rao who was absolutely correct about three things with respect to this camera:

  1.  The a7S digital files are the most CCD-like CMOS files I’ve encountered (not quite like the magic of CCD, but very close — even in their behaviour during post-processing).
  2.  I need to re-acquaint myself with the “tunnel vision” viewfinder the a7S shares with most other cameras.  This is a significant limitation, since unless the camera is a rangefinder, it’s not (yet) possible to see “the world outside the window frame” to better anticipate photographic opportunities.
  3. The a7S sensor and Leica lenses play well together.

Additional notes:

  • The focus-peaking is quite accurate and very user-friendly.
  • The auto-ISO function, in combination with the exposure compensation dial, actually improves upon my set-up with the Leica M8/M9/M-E.
  • The silent shutter option makes me weep tears of joy — bravo Sony.
  • The advertised high ISO capabilities are not just marketing hyperbole.  This sensor was tailor made for dark Canadian winters.
  • This latest Sony still feels like a computer to me vs. a “real” camera.  But it’s undeniably a “real” camera and a formidable photographic tool.

 

—Peter.

 

Homework

A night on the town, Part 2.

2014, Favourite, Inspiration, Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH f/1.4, Leica M9(P)/M-E (CCD Lives!), Portrait, Street, Teaching point

The reddish skin rendering may make you believe this was shot with a Leica M240, but she was in fact sitting in front of a large illuminated red sign.

So now I know how to achieve the M240 look, with respect to skin tones anyway.

However, I don’t know how to produce the muddy rendering of the CMOS-crippled Leica M240, as all I can get out of my Leica M9/M-E are those lovely CCD crisp files with superior tonality and colour reproduction, at base ISO.

For those of you who haven’t already done so, perhaps you may be interested in signing My Open Letter to Leica.

(over 280 signatures so far…)

—Peter.

A night on the town, Part 2

12 50 3.

Inspiration, Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH f/1.4, Q&A, Teaching point

I’ve owned twelve Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH lenses in my lifetime, and three of them have been perfect in build quality and astoundingly sharp at f/1.4.  The rest have been just short of exceptional.  Most people wouldn’t notice… because they’ve never been crazy enough to buy, use, and sell multiple examples of them.

And don’t even ask me how many new Leica lenses will arrive with loose aperture rings, or wobbly built-in hoods, or back-focusing, or front-focusing, or… etc.

The moral of the story: in the case of Leica lenses, it can be advantageous to buy used vs. new in a sealed box.  You not only save on price, you also have the opportunity to examine and photograph with the lens you’re interested in before purchasing.

—Peter.