james_earley

<p>Thanks Arthur. <br>

I have the 1st version which I think is a great lens. Some time ago I read an interview with a photographer whose name I can't remember, but he said he used Leica R for some time then switched to Canon or Nikon when he went digital, but he missed the old 35 Summicron so much he bought another, and an R body to use with it. <br>

I've also read comments elsewhere about how great the Mandler lenses are. <br>

I'd like to compare both at some point. </p>

<p>As per title - does anyone know if the original 35 Summicron R is a Mandler design?<br>

What about the v2 with the built in hood?<br>

Cheers</p>

<p>I bought a used 17-55 but had to return it as the AF became very jumpy, and the images were VERY soft, no doubt due to the lens being faulty.<br>

I was put off by the Canon. I looked at other alternatives and decided to go for the Sigma 17-50 instead, also f2.8 (I wanted a fast, constant aperture lens). I'm very happy with the Sigma which performs just as well (better in some respects, worse in others) than the Canon. Overall I preferred the results, and it is usefully more compact.<br>

Probably, at f5.6/f8 you won't see any difference in practical use, but you have the benefit of f2.8 and probably some other advantages over your other lenses, i.e. less distortion I'd expect.<br>

I would stick with your lens - a good one should be very good - and get more used to using it. </p>

<p> </p>

Lots of food for thought, I appreciate

the responses.

I used to shoot weddings fairly

regularly with a Bronica so any digital

option is easier, no magazine changes

every 15 shots!

I'm leaning towards a 2.8 Sigma 17-50

now. It's well reviewed, basically the

same IQ as the Canon but half the

price new, and accept that I'll have to

buy another lens when I add a FF body

to my kit.

I used to manage with one lens with

the Bronny, MF and film changes too,

but I guess I've adopted a less formal

approach and caught a lot of nice

candids which you can only really do if

you can act quick and have a zoom.

Outside I prefer to take an incident light

reading so constant aperture is a must.

I'm after something wide/standard to

short tele at least, but IQ is important

and so is a constant widest aperture.

The 17/50 range is fine but if there's a

gem of a lens within that range I should

consider I'm happy to hear about it!

<p>Hi,<br>

<br />I have a 20D and 30D and an assortment of Leica R and EOS lenses. I recently shot a wedding (the two Canon's were fine, file quality was excellent and 8mp is more than enough for 8x6" album prints) and have interest from others but the next time I'd really like the convenience of a very good mid range zoom.<br>

<br />I did just buy a s/h Canon 17-50 f2.8 but had to return it as the electronics were up the spout! I also compared a test shot with the Canon kit lens and the cheapo kit lens was far sharper! Clearly the lens was very much out of alignment.<br>

<br />So, putting the 17-50 f2.8 aside (that episode put me off a little) what do people consider as a high quality, ideally fixed aperture mid range zoom? I have also considered the Canon 17-40 L or 24-105L as the next DSLR I buy will be FF, most likely a 5D (but I'd keep the 20/30 as back up bodies). <br>

<br />I have also heard good things about the Sigma 17-50 f2.8. One person said it would be as good or better than the Canon. <br>

<br />All advice/opinions welcome! <br>

<br />p.s. I have also just seen a nice s/h 5D body - the money for a lens could buy that instead and I can make better use of my manual focus Leica lenses on it. Hmmmm.</p>

<p>I use a 20D and 30D (same sensor) and they're excellent cameras. I just used them for a wedding shoot.<br>

<br />Seems you have a problem with the camera or it's something you're doing in PP. Maybe post some examples for us?</p>

Tony,

Thanks for the quick response. I was thinking that maybe the shutter 'module' could be switched over to my old lens. Its probably not that simple but then again maybe it is!

What is the mainspring and what problem did that cause? The shutter on my original lens fires fine for a number of exposures and then will randomly fire at a much slower speed. This happens on 500th as well as the electronic speeds.

Cheers

Hi,

The shutter on my 75mm EII lens was playing up. I bought a cheap PE lens off e

bay, which was described as being damaged but working order - I thought it was

also a simple way of determining if it was a shutter problem.

The shutter appears to be fine, the optics are clear, but the lens was dropped

at some point which has made the aperture ring very stiff and the plastic lens

surround is cracked.

Now, I'm thinking either I can put up with this for the time being, but a mint

lens and keep it as a back up OR could I swap the shutter from the damaged PE

lens with the faulty shutter in my otherwise mint EII lens?

If I unscrew the back plate what will I see? I'm thinking/hoping that maybe

the shutter is a single unit that would be relatively simple to switch over?

The differences between the two lens designs appear to be cosmetic in that

every thing is in the same place etc.

Any advice gratefully received.

Thanks

Hi,

I have an ETRS which I've not used for about two years (!)

I've been asked to shoot a wedding at the weekend, all last minute, and I put a

new battery in the ETRS and checked it over. The shutter was operating

erratically, at 1/500 it was sometimes OK then would run at something more like

1/2 sec and next OK then slower and so on.

I assumed that a fault - probably electric - had ocurred. I was thinking maybe

a new lens would solve the problem or just have it all CLA'd.

Later on I picked the camera up again, fired it at 1/500 a few times and it

seemed to be OK. I've tried it again quite a few times and it seems to shoot at

the correct speed each time!

Could it just have been 'sticky' due to lack of use and now the mechanism has

been exercised its OK again? The big question is do I, can I, trust if for the

wedding on Saturday?

Thanks

James