55 1.8

[glenerrolrd]

I've used the 50 Summilux ASPH on my A7r and have been sorely disappointed with the edges at wide apertures---with a $4000 lens!

I am seriously contemplating selling the Leica gear. It used to be "you couldn't go wrong owning Leica M lenses." The A7r has shown me that Leica has done some fine engineering with the digital M's covering the ray angle issue but they are losing the size and weight issue that has been their advantage.

The problem with the edges is a result incompatibility between the Leica design and A7R sensor ..not a function of a problem with the Leica lens . Try the same lens on a M240 and I am sure you would be pleased as almost every Leica user has been . The new Sony/Zeiss 55/1.8 was designed for the A7R sensor and should not have the smeared edge issue of some of the Leica and Zeiss M mount lenses .

 

[kuujinbo]

Received my review copy today. It's smaller than I expected it to be:

Thank you for this - the system is much smaller than I imagined.

 

[Vivek]

Thank you for this - the system is much smaller than I imagined.

Keith, You should check out the camera+lthe lens +the hood. This picture is very misleading.

 

[wuffstuff]

A7r and 551.8FE. This combo is staggeringly good.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

That looks nice.

 

[jlm]

been fiddling Around with some lens tests: printed the AF-test pattern on five 8-1/2"x11" laser jet pages, one at center and near each corner on studio wall. lighted with strobes. pattern about 9' wide and tried some shots with the FE55 at 1.8 and 5.6. object was to see of there was significant difference in the corners. viewed each pattern at 100% in C1. no problems.

did find this:

there is a difference in the apparent resolution between viewing the same image at 100%in C1 and the processed Tiff file at 100% in Photoshop, PS being better.

i have noticed this before, but had never done an empirical side by side comparison

 

[Annna T]

Keith, You should check out the camera+lthe lens +the hood. This picture is very misleading.

Agree on showing the hoods in the picture as well. But note that the 25mm Panasonic comes with an impressive rectangular hood too. Plus one you can't even reverse it to store the camera.

 

[kuujinbo]

Keith, You should check out the camera+lthe lens +the hood. This picture is very misleading.

Thanks Vivek. Still looking, and if the system is in my future will probably use it similarly to you, since I love MF so much. I have a 40mm M-Rokkor too, which is one of the lenses you've shown works very nicely on the camera.

 

[iiiNelson]

Keith, You should check out the camera+lthe lens +the hood. This picture is very misleading.

I wouldn't say misleading. I would say it's very telling for those who proclaimed how large the 55/1.8 was. That's not even the 50 Summilux ASPH adapted to the other A7. The sizes are very close although the 55 is still slightly larger than the 50 Lux.

 

[fotografz]

Yes - Please send regards Marc.
. . . . . is he using an A7?

Will do Jono.

Due to business commitments he's all over the map lately ... literally.

Irakly's coming here today (Monday/30th) to try his M mount lenses on my A7R ... some Zeiss M mount and a f/1.0 Noctilux if I recall correctly ... but like many people shooters, mostly uses 50mm.

He got interested after he saw some of my initial shots on the 30" screens and we discussed how M9 like the feel seemed to be albeit with the added ISO and DR performance ... then we shot a few more.

In this case, I don't think using a tripod interests him in the least, but if we have time, we'll do some studio stuff with lighting anyway because we both do that sort of work on occasion and this camera is super easy to work with in studio.

- Marc

 

[Don Libby]

Out all day and found the brown truck had delivered the 55mm. Too late to do anything tonight but mount it on the camera and try a couple test shots inside the apartment. First the size reminds me of Leica only slightly larger. Overall the total package (lens & body) are very light weight.

We'll take it out tomorrow morning to a small herd of buffalo that's been grazing in the snow on the way to Teton Park. It's hit or miss with the buffalo however the trees we've been shooting in the early morning haven't moved yet so we should at least have something to look at tomorrow.

Don

 

[ohnri]

I now believe the A7 is superior to the M9 with the Noct f/1.

Better files, better focus, better IQ.

Furthermore, after shooting all day at Legoland with family and friends, I am tempted to sell off all my micro 4/3's kit.

I exclusively used the A7 and the much maligned kit lens. It was very capable for my needs.

Of course, I can go wide and long with small micro 4/3's lenses, so it is probably premature to sell it off.

-Bill

 

[philber]

Has there ever been a camera or lens that was delivered to Mr. Chambers that didn't arrive severely out of alignment, frozen, in need of multiple trips back to the manufacturer for adjustment, replacement or simply in need of a complete redesign for issues that, for some reason, they never contact him to hire his services so he can tell them what idiots they are?
SigmaDPMerill-tulips-print

I have now done quite a bit of testing regarding the shutter issue Chambers went on about, where he called dissenters MORONS in writing. It seems to me he works to a business model where he has to convince people that he is the world's most (only?) demanding photographer, and that, unless you subscribe to all his blogs, you are like a babe in the woods, incapable of getting good equipment and sharp shots.

 

[ptomsu]

I have now done quite a bit of testing regarding the shutter issue Chambers went on about, where he called dissenters MORONS in writing. It seems to me he works to a business model where he has to convince people that he is the world's most (only?) demanding photographer, and that, unless you subscribe to all his blogs, you are like a babe in the woods, incapable of getting good equipment and sharp shots.

I could not agree MORE !!!!

 

[Viramati]

I am finding the images that I am getting from this lens and the A7 to be more than good, so much so that I would consider selling the leica summilux 50 asph. It now spends 90% of the time on the A7 and my 28 summicron asph spends 905% of the time on the M(240) so I am happy as I once again have a 2 camera, 2 lens kit that I can use on assignments

 

[Deleted member 7792]

We'll take it out tomorrow morning to a small herd of buffalo that's been grazing in the snow on the way to Teton Park. It's hit or miss with the buffalo however the trees we've been shooting in the early morning haven't moved yet so we should at least have something to look at tomorrow.

Don

Looking forward to the images, Don.

Joe

 

[Don Libby]

Went out this morning with the 7r and 55mm and came back with these

f/11 1/160 ISO 100 100% crop

f/8 1/160 ISO 100 100% crop

f/8 1/160 ISO 100

Not bad for a first attempt.

Don

 

[hcubell]

I have now done quite a bit of testing regarding the shutter issue Chambers went on about, where he called dissenters MORONS in writing. It seems to me he works to a business model where he has to convince people that he is the world's most (only?) demanding photographer, and that, unless you subscribe to all his blogs, you are like a babe in the woods, incapable of getting good equipment and sharp shots.

I don't recall ever seeing Mr. Chambers articulate such a view. Perhaps you could point me to the source.
Whatever one may think about the legitimacy of his reviews, the images that he uses in his reviews possess an amazing level of detail for images displayed on the web. I can actually tell if a lens offers an exceptional level of detail or there is a defect, say, in the way it handles the corners. I always find it funny when I look at images posted on the web by others that are supposed to show how good a lens is and you can't tell anything from the image. They all look to me like they may have been taken with an iPhone. This includes images taken with technical cameras and 80mp digital backs.

 

[iiiNelson]

I don't recall ever seeing Mr. Chambers articulate such a view. Perhaps you could point me to the source.
Whatever one may think about the legitimacy of his reviews, the images that he uses in his reviews possess an amazing level of detail for images displayed on the web. I can actually tell if a lens offers an exceptional level of detail or there is a defect, say, in the way it handles the corners. I always find it funny when I look at images posted on the web by others that are supposed to show how good a lens is and you can't tell anything from the image. They all look to me like they may have been taken with an iPhone. This includes images taken with technical cameras and 80mp digital backs.

He went into a rant on Twitter and while it wasn't quite Ken Rockwell bat**** crazy it did give me some pause to ever consider a subscription on his site.

 

[Ron Pfister]

He went into a rant on Twitter and while it wasn't quite Ken Rockwell batshit crazy it did give me some pause to ever consider a subscription on his site.

I agree that this was an entirely inappropriate reaction on his part, but I am with hcubell on this one: short of having a particular lens or camera available for testing yourself, Lloyd Chambers' test reports are the next best thing, IMO. That, and he does reply to questions sent by email in a very timely fashion...