laurentvuillard

<p>I would take the 4x5 and a Leica and I do not own a D700! Joke aside a fotoman can be carried even in mountains as it's not too heavy , i would not advise a mono rail 4x5 , I used one for trips and the gain of a few more tilts and swings was largely obscured by the cumbersome us in the field./ Use a folding of a rigid particularly for landscape.</p>

<p>You were right ! The 105 f2.5 was one of Nikkor's best , probably the best portrait lens ever, I used all leica M90s (except the latest aspheric) and always felt the nikkor better for portrait</p>

V. good , I use this one on my F2, sharp and contrasty at most apertures, You'll like it. One reservation it is a very "neutral" lens no great bokhe or feel with it like the old 50 f1.4.

<p>The F2 was THE nikon, easy to use rugged and top quality. Diode lightmeters are fun to use and accurate. The F2 still operates w/o battery and for anyone with a feel for wel built things i'ts a treat. Now pricewise be careful really mint are v expensive but v good users can be cheap. I use it with the MD noisy and heavy but it really feels great at 4 frames/sec. The viewfinder is great as well. Take it from a Leica Man (me) it's e superb tool perfectly usable and SH lenses MF are v cheap. Buy one! </p>

<p>ERkmarit V3 is excellent I had one; I then bought the V4 (46mm) slightly better "feel" and sharpness wide open . At 5.6 no difference, buy the V3 elmarit but check for separation within blkcks that may occur!</p>

<p>Come on John "radioactive glass" . This is ridiculous, there are traces of thorium in one sor some central element(s). Thorium is very very weakly radioactive an almost negligible activity (period 14 bilion years). Anyway, what is emitted are alpha parrticles , their energy is too weak to allow any radiation to escape, NO radioactivity escapes a summicron.<br>

In terms of quality I owned the first version and the last at 5.6 the differences are very very small, at full aperture the contrast is a birt lower. Remember that the last summicron 50 is rated by many as the best 50 ever (at least before summilix asph...) as a conclusion the old summicrons are super lenses, a screw type however is a fortune!</p>

<p>I had been thinking of a 75mm for my M6 for a long time. I bought a summarit 2.5 75 last yar. I foud the focal length very attractive (landscapes more compact framing than my usual 50) BUT the quality was not there ! I sold it after trying hard. So for me M75= summicron or summilux, the summarit is not in the same league as my other past or present leica lenses (summicron 35V4; summilux 50 pre asph, summicron 50)! I am saving for summicron 75</p>

<p>THe price of 100 2nd hand m6; ridiculous !</p>

<p>I am always in "M" mode: Leica M. Actually not true I use a F2 with great pleasure with the 105 f2.5 (C not NIC, lower contrast better shades!) and IF ED 300mm which is super and costs nothing nowadays + motor drive. The F and F2 were really like Leicas in term of workmanship, so well build . I love the MD as well. It's old fashioned to diginikonites maybe but the slides are pretty good anyway!</p>

<p>Fred C: Your Puts parody is superb,looks more true than the original. Having said this, Puts' review of the new noctilux sugggests that it's a terrific lens, it seems on the same level than the summilux asph. I tested the lux and it's amazing. A pity I am a biochemist and not a banker , by the time I'll have saved enough for buying it there will not be any film for sale anymore!</p>

<p>Hello,<br>

I had the 3rd elmarit until I bought the 4th version (the later being the one with flat front element introduced in the early 90s). The V3 is very very good and comes out cheap you'll find an example in my gallery (paris by night) . Tested the V4 and then bough it as it was marginally but nevertheless better. The V4 has higher contrast and definition fully open (actually quality is unchanged between 2.8 and 5.6 with the V4. But frankly the V3 is a super lens and is much cheaper, you may buy it without risking to regret the move! (it will sell well if you change your mind anyway) . Mine also missed the spring within the shade not much of an issue.</p>

<p>I had a love /boredom relation with m 90s and bough then sold a few since 10 years. I used the last non asph summicron the monster summicron with scallope focus ring and F stops written on barrel not on ring that came before this one. The first one was slightly better at f2 and I never noticed any difference hand held from 5.6 onwards. So the old monsters are cheap but really heavy. Both these pre asph 90 f2 are excellent. I would nevertheless reccomend the last elmarit F2;8 that is really a super lens very sharp and light. Anyway focussing a 90mm at F2 with a rangefinder is a bit of a gamble. The new summarit I did not test but if it is anything like the 75mm do not buy it, the 75mm , ON FILM, was not to leica standard and I eventually sold it. So cheap = old summicron, best = last elmarit. All the best , LV </p>

<p>First point this is a good question ! My view is that 35 and 50 do complement well 35 is useful for city type work with much deeper depth of field and abiliy to frame indoors etc. However 50 is much better in landscape and for people in general. OK it's not a portrait lens but it can do fine images of people with a better close up impresison than the 35 where the background tends to be a bit too intrusive. Surprisingly I often find 50 a better lens for landscape exactly for the same reason. I recently went on a trip to Japan without my 50 (having lent it to my daughter) and missed it every day. I now feel that I need cropping many images!<br>

In terms of which Leica 50:</p>

<ol>

<li> If money is no object the new summilux asph is really sharp (but with nit so nice out of focus rendition) , </li>

<li>I was very happy with the pre asph summilux (warning lenses before sn 1 854 000 are the first version which is not so good) wich was sharp in center when open and sharp all the field from 5.6 (I stupidly sold it). </li>

<li>Summicrons are all good the most recents are more constrasty at full aperture.</li>

<li>Noctilux, hum well , lets say it's a bit heavy (the tag is also heavy..).</li>

<li>Zeiss the 1.5 ZM is supposed to bebased on the old 1.5 for contax, I used the latter and loved it (as someone mentionned above as well). Not as sharp as the summilux but super super out of focus rendition and gradation: Try it !. The Zeiis ZM @ F2 has a some devoted fanatics (see above) so I take that it's pretty good. </li>

</ol>

<p>Conclusion: buy a not too well looking summicron on ebay and you will be able to sell it if you realise you do not like 50's.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I tried once (Ten years ago) to setup a 4X5 on tripod just in front of the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, it took less than a minute for a museum guard to come and tell me I could not use a tripod (he must have spotted me with a surveillance camera as there was no one in view). I was told that I needed a permit from the "Caisse centrale des monuments historiques" . Being French I could not pretend not to understand, anyway trying to discuss the order fell flat. Using a tripod was equivalent in their mind to commercial photography and our good state did not want to miss an opportunity of making money (or at least pretending to). Usually the regulations are pretty old and enforcement is officer dependent.Surprisingly if you could not even use a tripod outside the Louvre you could use one inside the "Musée d'Orsay" , the absence of logic would beat me if it was not our good French administration which, as I know has a logic of its own! </p>

<p>Musée de Cluny (middle age ); and Musée d'orsay (photo friendly I even used a 4x5 once upon a time there with a tripod, I do not know ifit's still OK though). Louvre is naturally a must but smaller museums are often more pleasant.<br>

For buidings "le Marais" 3rd (Place des Vosges + V Hugo's house) +4th district = Ile ST Louis for 17th century buildings; a few passages as proposed above. Sorry to be disapointing to middle age fans but there are almost no houses left that were build before 1600.<br>

Beyond teh general picture, history creeps with minor details so buy a good guide ! (and one for restaurants as for a given price, quality may vary from good to appaling) .<br>

Have fun! </p>

<p>It's tough to get off the beaten track there, Arles is worth visiting and quite pleasant, the real out of track is places like haute Ubaye (mountains back of Nice) which are said to be out of track. If you realy want out of track France, try another region, sorry.....</p>

<p>Frankly both of you: Way Leong Lee and Michel Galileo are boring with your endless argument which brought NO useful contribution to this forum!</p>

<p>As a leica user there is another difference an M8 digital costs a fortune for a sensor that is not even 24X36mm, so scanner is the option for digital images to me</p>

<p>I owned the V2 summicron collapsible, it was by all means a very good lens , the current is better (much more constrast and sharpness below and including F4) but at 5.6 and over hand held, you'll see no difference. These old collapsible crons are very good lenses, providing , as stated above, that their condition is good. Why a collapsible ? You really need fold the lens ??</p>

<p>Had rain on a 35mm summicron, a few days after there was one fungus spot on a lens , had to send it to Leica for cleanup. It's fine now but I certainly avoid getting these lenses wet now ! If you really mean rain , why not use an old Nikon F2 which are almost at disposable camera prices on ebay!</p>

<p>Going myself to Chamonix for hiking ,yes the place, I use a Fotoman 45, no movements but lightweight and rigid, so no risk of misaligning and quick to setup. For me landscape= fotoman!</p>

<p>Many Many thanks to all of you,<br>

It seems I'll have to go for the Asph as one thing I need is flare proof (like on Elmarit 28 pre asph) which is perfect but slow! Bad news for my bank account, and to me when my wife finds out!<br>

Thanks again and bravo fror the super illustrations.</p>

 

<p>Maybe I should add another question: is the 35 lux pre asph like the 50 lux pre asph sharp in the center even at 1.4 ? Or not. I want a lens that is sharp in the center !!</p>

<p>I'll offend the tild and swing people but I am delighted by a RIGID fotoman 45 + 90mm Nikkor. It's brillant as a travel camera , you can use it handheld or on a small tripod, take it high up on a glacier or to town . I feel that a non adjustable camera is a must if you want to work fast (street life) or whe you are not up to it (i.e. more focused your breath than on the focusing screen). It's a light camera !</p>

<p>Vlad,<br>

Its a good idea to prepare this dev yourself, this cut costs. My experience with ID11 is that it does not keep well; Since I use it for delta 100 processing (8,5min at 20°C "à sec ontinuous agitation then inversions every 30 sec) and want to keep proper quality, I bought the chemicals and prepare it myself a single use dev, I felt it more consistant. If you buy it it's a rip off !<br>

If you are not chemist (but maybe you are working in a lab like me!) remember to dissolve chemicals in the order from the receipe, the chemicals for ID11 ere not too toxic but be careful particularly with the metol and hyroquinone .</p>