gdi
Mentor
I have been tweaking the focus on this lens and have it pretty close. These were a few shots from the holiday staycation...
Evening in the woods...
w/ND...
color...
in the barn...
Evening in the woods...
w/ND...
color...
in the barn...
Morca007
Matt
Wow, that portrait with the ND on is dreamlike.
Ororaro
Well-known
Very nice...
Rayt
Nonplayer Character
And no weird swirly background blur. I like it.
LeicaTom
Watch that step!
Bravo!
Great stuff...I still need one of these to shoot my PinUps
Tom
Great stuff...I still need one of these to shoot my PinUps
Tom
Mackinaw
Think Different
Love the portrait of the gent with the beard. Sharp face with a beautiful, surreal background. Well done.
Jim B.
Jim B.
januaryman
"Flim? You want flim?"
Yeah, the winner is the bearded man. Excellent portrait.
nzeeman
Well-known
i also have to say that this is one of best portraits in long time.
Gabriel M.A.
My Red Dot Glows For You
I've always wanted this lens, but it's a little hard to find an M-mount converted one.
Charlie Lemay
Well-known
I had mine cleaned and reshimmed by DAG. Since then, a sharp point of focus has not been an issue. The two shots below were taken a few months ago with Fuji Acros. Both wide open.
Charlie Lemay
Well-known
Charlie Lemay
Well-known
The zone of focus is so thin. In an actuall print what's sharp is sharp enough and looks even sharper in contrast to what is not sharp. After being worked on I find the lens to be sharper in the center than the Noctilux I owned and much softer on the edges. I like the look a lot.
gdi
Mentor
Thanks for the comments.
Many times I don't like the boke of this lens that much - but at other times it can be complimentary to the subject matter. It can definitely be swirly!
I find that a very busy background that is close to the subject can give the strongest vertiginous effect. If the background is further away, or if it is at night and more specular in nature, the coma driven boke can grow on you.
As for sharpness, I don't find it the sharpest lens around (though the flowers at f2 are pretyy good!) - maybe a bit better than my old type1 50 Lux. As Charlie pointed out - the DOF is extremely thin and it is very easy to miss focus on near subjects - even imperceptible leaning or swaying on the part of the subject will be a problem in some cases. This is MUCH more of a problem with digital than film, in my experience.
BTW, I did the conversion myself and am still doing some fine tuning of focus, I need to decrease my shimming ever so slightly to reduce front focus. I may at some point send it off for final tweaking, but it is mostly just for fun now.
And Fred - nice shot, but I think your focus is on the near edge of the umbrella, rather than the face, if I see it correctly. So easy to do, especially with a subject that is moving!
Many times I don't like the boke of this lens that much - but at other times it can be complimentary to the subject matter. It can definitely be swirly!
I find that a very busy background that is close to the subject can give the strongest vertiginous effect. If the background is further away, or if it is at night and more specular in nature, the coma driven boke can grow on you.
As for sharpness, I don't find it the sharpest lens around (though the flowers at f2 are pretyy good!) - maybe a bit better than my old type1 50 Lux. As Charlie pointed out - the DOF is extremely thin and it is very easy to miss focus on near subjects - even imperceptible leaning or swaying on the part of the subject will be a problem in some cases. This is MUCH more of a problem with digital than film, in my experience.
BTW, I did the conversion myself and am still doing some fine tuning of focus, I need to decrease my shimming ever so slightly to reduce front focus. I may at some point send it off for final tweaking, but it is mostly just for fun now.
And Fred - nice shot, but I think your focus is on the near edge of the umbrella, rather than the face, if I see it correctly. So easy to do, especially with a subject that is moving!
I have one and a second one coming this week. I had both M-converted.
The lens is sharp wide open, especially with an Epson R-D1, with a cropped frame.
I find that critical focus is important for getting sharp focus, you have to bracket and take the photo over several times. If you're spot-on, you have a very sharp central focus area.
I disagree that the lens is "soft". Maybe not "razor sharp" wide open but not "soft".
The lens is sharp wide open, especially with an Epson R-D1, with a cropped frame.
I find that critical focus is important for getting sharp focus, you have to bracket and take the photo over several times. If you're spot-on, you have a very sharp central focus area.
I disagree that the lens is "soft". Maybe not "razor sharp" wide open but not "soft".
Gid
Well-known
Clearly there is something wrong with my monitor or my eyes. If I had a lens that performed like this I'd throw it away. However, if it floats your boat then that is fine. I've never understood the desire to have such wafer thin focus that getting anything in focus is a lottery.
januaryman
"Flim? You want flim?"
(laughing) Funny. I was thinking the same thing. I have a Kiron Canon FD mount for my canon SLRs that was always touted as "amazing," just like this lens, but I just could NOT get a decent shot using it.
Clearly, others, using the subject lens, CAN get good photos. I still am astounded by the portrait of the bearded guy.
So... whadda I know? (shrug) I agree with the boat floating comment.
Clearly, others, using the subject lens, CAN get good photos. I still am astounded by the portrait of the bearded guy.
So... whadda I know? (shrug) I agree with the boat floating comment.
Ororaro
Well-known
Fred definitely missed the focus. It appears the umbrella is sharp...
Hacker
黑客
That is what I thought too. Mine backfocused and it is on its way to DAG for calibration.
Hacker
黑客
Compensated for some backfocus on the lens:
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gdi
Mentor
I think your eyes are probably fine, but I wouldn't trust the monitor.
This lens definitely has its share of detractors, but you wouldn't throw it away - you'd sell it if you couldn't make it work for you.
Of course these are just fun shots, playing to the extreme OOF craze we see so often, for the most part. The lens is very versatile, 0.95 is there when you need it, and sharpness increases as you stop down. It is very sharp by 2.0 - but it is still massive at any aperture!
And we all know the real reason for superfast lenses is to get very low light shots, in this regard, it really doesn't disappoint.
