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User comments btil June 2003

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There are some who would say, Derek, that if you want that real classic Leica look in your images you ought to buy a real classic Leica lens.

I have noticed that since I started using my up-to-date Summicron in place of my early 60s one that there is something strangely less beautiful in the out of focus blur.
However I have compared prints from the current 50 Summicron with those from a current 50 'lux and I think that the faster lens DOES go somewhere towards what you are looking for.
I think your comparison with the COntax 45 is a fair one. I put it down to the lenses being, frankly, too bloody perfect.
I haven't seen actual prints from a 35 'lux ASPH, just scans and compressed JPEGS, so I can't make a proper comparison with my old 35 'lux non-ASPH. But there's something about the way that lens works that gives me no desire whatsoever to change it for the more modern variety.
The clash between old and new has left me favouring the old. That's why I carry on with a 40-odd year old Canon 85 1.9. It has soul and not razor blades.

As for finder frames: The "external eye" you would get used to very quickly.
 
To all:
Please excuse me for asking some questions, as I’m new here, and am not a professional photographer. First, what’s a “bokeh� and, second, after shooting two rolls with my brand new M7 and the 24mm Elmarit, I got 5 photos with a distinctive vertical band of underexposed area (always at the left edge of the negative), about 1/2" wide in a 4 x 6 print. Why? Was it because I was not using the lens hood (I don‘t think so)? Thanks.
 
Hi Vincent,

Good Morning (at least it's still morning here in Atlanta, Georgia in the US. From where are you writing? This is Cathy. I am new to Leica (it's still on order) after working as a pro wedding photographer for years. Your English is fine and your comments are very helpful to me in my quest for the first lens. Thanks Vincent.
 
Hi Eduardo, there are no stupid questions. I am new here as well and I don't have the answers to your question. I look forward to seeing the answer from someone. Cathy in Atlanta, US
 
Hi Andy, Thanks for your comments on the "external eye". I'm in the process of deciding which lens should be my first and comments I have read elsewhere indicate only the difficulty in using the "eye". I am getting an M6 TTL .72, knowing that eventually I will put the 90mm on it but will mostly use it between 21 and 50. What makes the external eye so "difficult"/ different to use?

Thanks, Cathy
 
Thanks for the support Cathy. I have owned (and own) many cameras before, including the sometimes much not-too-well-talked-about-in-Leica-circles G2 (I like it very much), and have never stumbled onto the answer to these two questions. So… I’m also looking forward to these answers.
 
Cathy,
Once upon a time almost every photographer with lenses wider than 35mm, and often longer than 50mm was using accessory viewfinders, and there was a vast range of them available from all the big makers and lots of smaller ones. And nobody complained about them then. Of course along came reflex cameras and people got lazy.....
It's simply a question of getting used to the things. I've used them for 135s, 90s, 28s, 15s. In fact I've used them for 50s on the old screw mount Leicas with their poky finders. I use my 15 very regularly and never find it a pain. The viewfinder lives permanently on one of my cameras.
All you need to do is accept that the lens in question has a finder like that and that if you're using a Leica, that's the way it's done.
The hassle you're going to come across is if you want to use 21 AND 24mm because you end up having to change finders. That's where Leica's accessory zoom finder comes into the picture. But of course it costs more money. Otherwise, if youre going to jump from 28 to 21, stick the 21mm finder in the slot and just leave it there.
Hope that helps.

Andy
 
> Posted by Eduardo Bermudez on Sunday, January 12, 2003 - 4:47 pm: > > To all: > Please excuse me for asking some questions, as I'm new here, and am > not a professional photographer. First, what's a "bokeh"?

It is easier to show an ex&le of pleasant "bokeh" than to explain it. This shot, with an older summicron 35mm exhibits pleasant bokeh.

http://www.sonc.com/paw/kcbc_fireworks.htm

A couple years ago, I had never heard of the term bokeh, then it was everywhere. It is a Japanese term that refers to the character of the out of focus portion (background or foreground) of a picture taken with a wide aperture lens. The phenomena was predicted by Carl Freidrich Gauss, but popularized by endless threads on the subject on the Leica lists, and I suppose others. If you want a real Bokeh demonstration using an excellent renderer, go to Wexler's page: http://www.flarg.com/bokeh.html

For a discussion of Bokeh, see this excellent article by Harold Merklinger from Photo Techniques Magazine. http://www.darkroom.com/MiscDocs/bokeh.pdf You will need Adobe Acrobat to view this article.

>>and, second, > after shooting two rolls with my brand new M7 and the 24mm Elmarit, I > got 5 photos with a distinctive vertical band of underexposed area > (always at the left edge of the negative), about 1/2" wide in a 4 x 6 > print. Why? Was it because I was not using the lens hood (I don't > think so)? Thanks.

If you are shooting flash, you may have the shutter speed too high. If not, there is probably a shutter problem involved.

Regards, Sonny http://www.sonc.com
 
Thanks a lot Sonny. I’m really concerned about the possible shutter problem now, since the camera is brand new. Unless the problem is caused by my inexperience with the M7 shutter button. And I’ll look at the Bokeh info. Thanks again,

Eduardo
 
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