Home

Please support mflenses.com if you need any graphic related work order it from us, click on above banner to order!

SearchSearch MemberlistMemberlist RegisterRegister ProfileProfile Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages Log inLog in

Leica APO Summicron 90 f2 ASPHERICAL review
View previous topic :: View next topic  


PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:49 pm    Post subject: Leica APO Summicron 90 f2 ASPHERICAL review Reply with quote

Hi all!

Haven't seen any threads on this lens and the images it delivers so time we start one

I searched online while waiting for delivery of my new lens but all i found was a lot of internet chatter and complaints of focus shift

I seem to be very lucky as my copy doesn't have any focus shift issues at any distance, on my M9

Initially i didn't like Karbe's designs and i kept going back to the Mandler magic ... then i bought the summilux 35 asph and i loved the images

Though i have the 75/1.4 and the pre-asph 90 cron E55, i just had to try Karbe's interpretation of the 75/2 and 90/2 with APO ASPH enhancements

Result? Love it.

However, the 50/1.4 ASPH still doesn't appeal to me as much as my Zeiss ZM Sonnar 50/1.5

Anyway, enough chatter. time for pictures.



PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

some boring shots from around the house follow ->











PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 11:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I managed to get out for a few hours inspite of the incredibly crappy weather



















PostPosted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 11:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Harri.

this is definitely superb lens on superb camera - I'd wish to try your magic combo Wink

please, do try to keep all pics in one post Wink or as many as possible

thanks

tf


PostPosted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 8:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

trifox wrote:
Hi Harri.

this is definitely superb lens on superb camera - I'd wish to try your magic combo Wink

please, do try to keep all pics in one post Wink or as many as possible

thanks

tf


Do give me a shout if you happen to find yourself in the Frankfurt region, coffee and cameras go quite well together!


PostPosted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 8:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

some technical information ->

http://en.leica-camera.com/assets/file/download.php?filename=file_1761.pdf


PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 11:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

These images have been sexed up to enhance the visual appeal ->













PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 12:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh man! Astonishing shots, as always, Hari. Last one for me. Wondering why didn't you try some panoramas in that magic place with your magic combo? Wink


PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 4:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yep, great Heidleberg shots, I already want to visit it.


PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 5:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hari wrote:


I love this picture, Hari.
Here's how you are ... legendary Leica. That amount of CA any lens can do, but not every one can do that fabulous depth - a real 3d.


PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, the lens is a beauty but I don't see much CA at all, izvar, just the out of focus fringing.

From my experience APO-Summicron 90mm is really apochromatic - I've shot sunlit raindrops on flowers and got no CA with it, something I could not do with other lenses.


PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 3:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fabulous results, very nice rendering and awesome colors.
Hari, might I ask are these pictures out of camera Jpegs? or you process them, I don't usually pixel-peep but I was tempted to do so with these. Maybe it's just me, but maximized these seem rather soft.


PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 4:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Arctures wrote:
Oh man! Astonishing shots, as always, Hari. Last one for me. Wondering why didn't you try some panoramas in that magic place with your magic combo? Wink


Thanks mate! I didnt think of making a pano, will try the next time!


PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 4:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

fermy wrote:
Yep, great Heidleberg shots, I already want to visit it.


Thanks mate! Do let me know if you're planning a trip, we can catch up over coffee Smile


PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 4:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

izvar wrote:
Hari wrote:


I love this picture, Hari.
Here's how you are ... legendary Leica. That amount of CA any lens can do, but not every one can do that fabulous depth - a real 3d.


Thanks mate!
I guess the CA is due to the moving birds ... will take some pictures of static objects against bright sun to see how much of CA we can squeeze out of the lens


PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 4:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DanielT74 wrote:
Yes, the lens is a beauty but I don't see much CA at all, izvar, just the out of focus fringing.

From my experience APO-Summicron 90mm is really apochromatic - I've shot sunlit raindrops on flowers and got no CA with it, something I could not do with other lenses.


I've had very limited camera time with this lens as i've been holed up in my office and the odd day when the sun does shine i'm in a different country :/

Will do a stress test the next time i manage to get out while the sun shines


PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 5:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

RTI wrote:
Fabulous results, very nice rendering and awesome colors.
Hari, might I ask are these pictures out of camera Jpegs? or you process them, I don't usually pixel-peep but I was tempted to do so with these. Maybe it's just me, but maximized these seem rather soft.


Hi mate! thank you for the kind words

these have been processed in Lightroom.

The shot of the birds got a "Low Key" preset treatment which makes the image kinda glowy

I'm not big into sharpness but since this lens is acclaimed to be one of the sharpest ever made, i will do proper tripod shoot of static subjects


PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2013 8:23 am    Post subject: Leica glasses! Reply with quote

Sorry, but any of the images showing me, at least on my computer display, not the qualities of this Leica glass! Its looks similar, like with any other lens in the same focal length and category!

I guess, the real optical quality of any lens, cannot be proven on an simple computer display! Even the enlargement on the screen up to 400% does'nt prove the overall optical quality of a lens!


PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2013 9:38 am    Post subject: Re: Leica glasses! Reply with quote

OPAL wrote:
Sorry, but any of the images showing me, at least on my computer display, not the qualities of this Leica glass! Its looks similar, like with any other lens in the same focal length and category!

I guess, the real optical quality of any lens, cannot be proven on an simple computer display! Even the enlargement on the screen up to 400% does'nt prove the overall optical quality of a lens!


+10


PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2013 10:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, folks, if the quality can not be seen on computer display, why do we need quality at all? What % of the pictures are we printing these days especially at sizes that require quality?

In my experience computer display is more unforgiving to technical flaws anyway. For example this shot is ISO 2500 on a noisy camera, wide open with decent but not absolutely sharpest lens (Fujinon 55/1.8 ). You can see technical issues on screen, but it printed fabulously at 11x15.



PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2013 10:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hari wrote:


Thanks mate! Do let me know if you're planning a trip, we can catch up over coffee Smile


Sadly, with a small kid it's quite unlikely that we will travel anywhere close any time soon, my only hope is to be invited for some presentation/event Sad .


PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2013 12:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Calling this lens "APO" must be a joke. In the gulls shot I see the same amount of CA that I get from my normal Planar teles, if not even worse!
Having that said, when shooting digital today the CA is a very minor problem, because the latest RAW quality software
(Lightroom 4, Capture Pro 7) can handle it perfectly in 99% of the cases.


PostPosted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 8:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Orio wrote:
Calling this lens "APO" must be a joke. In the gulls shot I see the same amount of CA that I get from my normal Planar teles, if not even worse!
Having that said, when shooting digital today the CA is a very minor problem, because the latest RAW quality software
(Lightroom 4, Capture Pro 7) can handle it perfectly in 99% of the cases.


I'm sure a lot of companies would like to use APO / ASPH and whatever other jargon they can to sell their products BUT there are regulations in place inside the companies and the industry as well as trolls who will sue the ass of Leica and Zeiss and whoever else they can to make some money. Until and unless the company is sure their product meets the specifications for whatever designation they want, they will play it safe and avoid any litigation

that said, here is an unprocessed shot with the sun shining from the right side of the picture, no clouds and a UV filter on the lens

such a shot is begging for tons of CA (out of camera jpeg)



and this one shot against the sun (out of camera jpeg)



PostPosted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 3:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Leica loses a lot of points with me with this lens. Not for the overall image quality, which I'm sure it's excellent. Simply because you can not call APO a lens that produces such amount of lateral CA.
You should not do that in general, but especially if you call yourself Leica and have a huge reputation to defend. Big bummer.


PostPosted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 5:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Orio wrote:
Leica loses a lot of points with me with this lens. Not for the overall image quality, which I'm sure it's excellent. Simply because you can not call APO a lens that produces such amount of lateral CA.
You should not do that in general, but especially if you call yourself Leica and have a huge reputation to defend. Big bummer.


+1

I've seen this on a few shots and initially I thought its the filter

Then I shot without the filter and still saw it - then I thought maybe I didn't focus accurately

But with the shots I posted above, where the focus is precise, I still see the lateral CA and that IS disappointing