Leica Glow?

[emwalker]

Oh, and judging by dave's 'glow' it looks like the leica alternative for the rest of the market is being produced by lensbabies :o)

[paul_neuthaler]

maybe. . .<div></div>

[randy_santos]

The glow does exist boys- Steve's is a good example.

You're not going to get it from your Walmart prints/scans.

You have to believe in the glow- Get some natural backlighting,

no harsh flashes- shallow depth of field- learn how to use it.

The glow only comes to those who understand the glow. Here's one in a bar, natural light from one window, 35 1.4 (?) and some Heifweizen,

[nee_sung]

I have never heard of the Leica glow until I read this forum. But I know what it is the first time I saw it. Or at least I think I know.

 

To me, the only lens that I have used, that has the Leica glow is the 50/2 Summicron, and not the current model, but the '70's model, which is the first Summicron I had. I think it is caused by the extremely high contrast of the lens that renders the highlights appearing very bright to the human eye. But definitely the highlights are not blown, because I could still see a lot of details in the highlights.

 

Some of the lenses I have used: Leitz 50/1, 50/1.5, 50/1.4 Asp, 35/1.4, 35/2, 75/2 Asp, R80/1.4, many Canon, Nikon, Minolta, Pentax lenses, Rodenstock Imagon, many Sigma lenses, Mamiya, Bronica, Schneider and Zeiss lenses for Hasselblad, Rolleiflex, Linhof and Sinar, Rodenstock Symmar, Fujinon lenses for 6X9, etc.

 

Many of these lenses are excellent, but no glow.

 

One final point, despite the glow, I did not like the lens because its distortion was just too high for my taste. It seems that Leica decided to sacrifice distortion for the glow, and they might have changed their minds later, which may be why later models of 50/2's don't have the glow.

[icuneko]

'Tis flare indeed. Or veiling glare, or grossly diffused backlighting, or abberations, or the tooth fairy's hairy flarey. But to call it "a defect" is way out of line, pushing the dueling envelope. Besides, I kind of like the effect in this particular photo...

[peter]

Damn there are some arrogant self opinionated prats who inhabit this forum. I think I know why I am shooting with a Nikon more - at least the people on the Nikon sites tend to be civil to each other even when they disagree.

[alessandro locatelli]

I haven't understood yet what glow is... It seems to be something mystical ("you have to believe in glow"!). And I've seen many different photos with a supposed glow...

 

The most beatufil one seemed to me the one taken with the takumar!

[jkelly04]

You want glow? Use an uncoated Summar on a sunny day...yeah, yeah flare, I know. But I like it. <br> <br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/4348038-md.jpg">

<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/4752686-md.jpg">

[robert goldstein]

Many of the examples of so-called Leica glow look like washed out or blurred highlights to me.

[brambor]

glow is in the eye of the beholder

<p>

<img src=http://static.flickr.com/84/235247228_815c16402e_o.jpg>

[stephen_w.]

IMHO, Steve Huff's 9/4/06, 08:02 post shows the elusive glow, soft light in the shadows.

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00HuT2&tag=200609050809

[robert_m_johnson]

<div></div>

[stephen_w.]

That ain't it, IMHO. One has to see it to believe it. Sorry, if I can't explain it better, but, I've seen it, and I believe in my own mind, so to say. The best I can describe it is it looks like artificial light in the shadows when only natural light was part of the compsition combined with a 3D look.

[e_b7]

Trevor,

 

I think your church picture has Leica glow, because of the gentle handling of contrast. This shot might be very much the same had you used a more modern design than an old Summicron, and then maybe not. I think your point is correct in that it's lighting and not lenses that produce glow, but lenses do make a difference with regards to contrast and colors.

[bljkasfdljkasfdljskfa]

Lens dirt. Halation-like effect. Can be better with it than without it. Glowing highlights. BUT IT'S NOT SPECIFIC TO LEICA.

[bljkasfdljkasfdljskfa]

Anyway, instead of Leica drooling try photography once in a while. It's much more rewarding.