james_cooke

"You'll get a multitude of opinions. How will you even make a decision?"

 

Ah but the truth of the matter is that no matter what your decision they are all good lenses. Not a dud amongst them. So you cant go wrong really.

I havent been absent like you for 3 years and certainly havent seen the bagging of the new 50mm 1,4 summilux. The only complaint I see about the lens is its price not its quality.

 

Does this mean we are going to see Emmy stories again?

"Surely the quality is either professional or it isn't."

 

It starts our amateur and when you actually sell it maybe then it become porfessional? LOL

"Hiring someone based on the brand of camera they use strikes me as monstrously stupid"

 

When I was younger I worked for a camera store part time and the girl I worked with was getting married and for weeks she repeated the fact that the photographer she had hired used Leicas. When the photos came back they were the worst wedding photos I had ever seen. He insisted on using the flash on full and adjusting the aperture accordingly. Everything had to be done manually. The exposures were just way off, faces washed out, it was a real disaster! Why it lingers on in my mind is the fact that it was my first contact with anyone using Leicas and it put me off ever trying them for over a decade. Of course it was the photographer that was poor but that doubt always lingered in the back of your mind and the Leica mystique took a bit of a pounding.

 

Someone mentioned only a HiMatic above, well I can assure you a Minolta 7SII in the hands of an reasonable amature could have achieved better results that this particular Leica photographer. But to be honest I havent ever heard of someone specifically even asking what brand of cameras people use. THey just look at a portfolio and maybe ask if the is a reasonable proportion of larger formats, thats about it. I would probably be too embarressed to ask a photographer such a question as generally they work with the tools that work best for them.

"Who cares? I'm not being dismissive (I hope), just realistic, on the basis of 30+ years using Leicas"

 

Im quite surprised at this statement Roger in that given you do lens comparisons all the time and write for shutterbug I find it quite hypocritical. You obviously care or you wouldnt be writing.

 

Given the two choices I would go with the current elmar. As someone ese mentioned above, shop around a bit more you will save a third on the price you have quoted.

Does anyone have the ME 90 and the compact TE? I would love to see a pic of them side by side collapsed and extended.

You spent all that money in one week and wont spring for even a 125 dollar Voigtlander fnder to try the lens out? Seems a bit odd to me. Surely you knew it didnt have built in framelines and would have to buy a seperate finder? No 35mm rangefinder has one built in so I though it would be obvious.

"Come on face it. You are going to kick yourself one day if you don't get the Leica."

 

You may well be right there. I do find myself swaying that way but I dont want the red dot to blind me totally to something better value either, hence this thread.

 

"I think you would find that the 28/1.9 would fit more in line with the contrast and color of your older Leica lenses than you would with the 28 biogon"

 

Yes this lens has been recomended as well but im concerned about its size, its a very big lens for a 28mm. I was hoping to use it on a CLE sometimes, they seem to dwarf a CLE body a bit.

 

"Do you use filters? What are your other lenses' filter sizes?"

 

Actually most of my lenses are 39mm. The Version 3 Elmarit is 49mm and the Biogon 46mm of which none of my other lenses have. This is a disadvantage as I do use filters from time to time but its an equal disadvantage as both lenses have filters I dont already have.

 

"To me, the signatures on my 28mm Elmarit and 35mm Summicron IV are very different"

 

Really, what differences do you find between them?.I would also be curious to know about the weird ghosting and flare you mentioned?

 

Many thanks for the responses so far.

 

Wayne for a older lens it handles sun in the frame quite well. Most of the other older Leica lenses I have would flare far worse directly pointed at the sun.

"Are you saying the Skopar doesn't have a "continuity" problem?"

 

In a way it does too thats why I mention it as a concern with the others. Its a nice lens to be sure but when you compare photos you can tell it does have a different look to my other lenses. Its certainly closer in contrast and colour saturation than the Voigtlander 15mm I have also. I just dont want the lens to vary too greatly in contrast and look to my older Leica lenses. Thats what I meant by continuity, maybe that is the wrong term to use?

 

Sorry that I have asked this question before but I couldnt decide back then but I put it on hold as there werent many users of the Biogon around at that time. I thought perhaps there were more people who had tried it this time around.

For quite some time now I have been considering getting a faster 28mm

lens and will be selling off my black 28mm f3.5 Skopar. The choices

are a secondhand Version 3 Elmarit 28mm f2.8 or a New Biogon ZM 28mm

f2.8.

 

It such a tough choice one week I decide on one then the next week

the other. I like the more compact size of the Biogon and its brand

new but am worried about some continuity with contrast and colour

with my other lenses which are mainly Leicas from the 70's and 80's.

 

Ultimately I have to decide myself but others may have some thoughts

to help tip the scales one way or the other. Thanks in advance for a

friendly discussion.

Conni, I think that the paper setting is the problem. The printasia paper I have learnt is like HP's own paper that absorbs the ink deep and according to a PDF file I found on the printasia website they recomend the same setting as HP premium plus paper. I have printed out some test samples but I need to let them dry for a few days to be sure. This setting does seem to flood the paper with ink, more than it can absorb. This results in the image having indents and grooves where the ink couldnt be fuly absorbed ad since the ink isnt as shiney as the paper surface so it doesnt look as natural as a regular glossy photograph.

 

Does the film setting you mentioned put too much ink on the paper like the HP Premium Plus setting? You also mentioned a reduction using the saturation setting does this help reduce the amount of ink so it doesnt have the problem mentioned above?

Constance, no this problem is occuring well after the prints have dried. Once out of the printer and for the first couple of days they look fine but as they dry further thats when you get this fogging look to the blacks if you dont look at them perfectly straight on.

I have been quite happy with results with this paper for colour

pronts and my HP7960 but I tried a batch of B&W and once dry the

blacks seem to look like its fogged if you dont look at them photo

straight on. Is this just a paper issue or is that just the way B&W

prints are with inkjet printers? I used the "Other Paper type"

setting. Any Ideas?

Hi, Im writing to see if there is any alternate sofware that can

replace HP's own software that came with the printer in a similar

fashion viewscan works with a variety of scanners? I find the HP

software overrides me at every turn. It wont let me print at full

2400dpi with alternate papers and also it seems to go from 700dpi

printing to full 2400dpi with no setting in the middle even if I set

it use their own paper. It gives you a high ink usuage warning at

2400dpi it just seems logical to use the printer somewhere around

1200dpi but there seesm to be no provision for it. My old Epson photo

700 let you set the dpi regardless of what paper you put in it. So

looking for some other software to run this printer. Any advice

greatly welcomed!

Steven, Whats the difference bettwen the Pro 160C/S and NPS 160?

"For example if I invent a new ceramic tile for the space shuttle heat shield the patent would go on and on about the materials and process to make the tile but ultimately what it is going to look like is not important."

Yes but you miss my point, if someone came along and invented a new heat tile possibly even better than any previous in patents and did not use the design or process of manufacture like the original you would not be prevented from doing so, You have effectively created an item that has an identical purpose to others held in patents. The current patent holders of space shuttle tiles cannot prevent others from creating similar quality or better using their own processes and design. If that was the case technology in general would stagnate.

I would have thought it would only violate a patent if it were identical to the Leica magnifier. Some above said its an obvious copy but it looks completely different to me. Just because it magnifies like the Leica one does, it doesnt mean it violates any patent. Really there is no laws against anyone making their own magnifying glasses. Patents protect design, they dont prevent anyone else making products of the same puprose of their own designs.

I havent been able to log onto Paypal for the past couple of days. I

get their homepage but as soon as I try to log in I get the generic

cant find webpage screen come up. I know Paypal was starting up a new

branch for Australia at this time so are there any other Aussies that

cant log on at the moment? Anyone from other countries having

problems as well? Thanks

"To my eyes the ZI 50mm Planar lens is no match for the current Leica 'cron 50mm - again nor should it be "

 

You may want to get those eyes checked then, every review of these two lenses has stated they are equal in sharpness and resolution. Even Erwin states this and he is often accused of being biased towards Leica. The 50mm Summicron hasnt really been updated in over a decade so its not hard to believe a ZM lens will match it. Im also betting it flares less that the Summicron as well as it is a bit flare prone in certain conditions. That would make the ZM 50 the "better" lens and much less expensive. Compare it to the new Leica 50 f1.4 ASPH then I would probably agree with your statement.

Thanks Ronald, What the difference between the 2 and the 2a?

Has anyone used a Visoflex on the CLE? If so which model would work

best? Is there a double cable release system offered with them?

"It's easy to discern if a person has given much thought to any piece of advice. You know he hasn't when he's saying the same thing everyone else is with more or less the same words. It's all just lemming-like regurgitation of conventional wisdom. Good thinking is always new thinking. Or at least it comes across as fresh and new because it has been infused with that person's particular...eh...particularness."

 

Thats good advice.

Most likely it will be used to spy on people since that seems to be the order of the day.

Thanks Craig for you post and photo. Is your Mini3 a small camera?

I have been offered a Mini 3 for a song and it just sparked my

interest in the quality of pictures these little cameras are capable

of. I know you cant see everything on the web but anyone that can

post some pics from their minis. Would be great to see what you get

out of these little P&S. Feel free to add your impressions on the

camera in general. The Mini 3 has a different lens from the first 2

and only has 3 elements if I remember correctly. Is the lens in the

first 2 better?