Shutterbug Strasse

Posted by wizardol on May 10, 2005 at 00:24:13

In Reply to: I don't shoot with Leicas however...... posted by Joe M on February 21, 2005 at 11:00:38:

To those not familiar with Leica lenses, suffice it to say that most modern Leica lenses (built within the last 10 years or even earlier) are remarkable optics and the common folklore about lenses hardly applies to them. A 50 year old Summicron 50mm f/2.0 (designed by hand with trig tables, before computers) will, even today, take just about any competitors' 50mm lens to the cleaners! I know this sounds like a die hard talking, but it's true. I have seen the following first hand and confirmed by other serious photographers, much to their amazement: In a slide tray of 50 or so slides, with 10 non Leica slides mixed in, it was relatively easy to pick out the Lecia slides from the rest - similar subjects and film and lighting. The Leica images are just that much crisper.

Most importantly, Leica lenses are incredibly well corrected for optical problems which affect lesser lenses. They are particularly good at delivering incredibly high contrast even at full aperture, no matter what the wide open f/stop is. Thus, there is no need to stop down a Leica f/1.4 lens to get good image quality. In fact, a hand held photograph will likely be sharper with a Leica at full aperture in combination with the higher shutter speed to reduce "shake". Most Leica lenses are so well designed that the improvement in optical performance by stopping down is typically minimal, and peak performance is achieved at only a couple of stops down from full aperture.

The contrast (and improved image quality) obtained with most any Leica lens wide open will totally blow away almost every competitive optic - and you don't need a microscope to tell the difference.

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