[LRflex] Re: R9 question
- From: Richard Ward <ilovaussiesheps@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:17:41 -0700 (PDT)
Hello Scott,
congrats on getting to play with the R9 and a Summicron Fifty. I can't
comment with any insight on the viewfinder updating slowness you spoke of, but
I can speak directly about your observation of the Summicron you were using
feeling 'industrial'. I recently acquired my first Leica R lenses which are 20+
years old and include a Summi Fifty and an Elmarit 90 f2.8. They both operate
with what I would call textbook definitions of Jewel Like Precision and Buttery
Smoothness. If the 50 summi your boss picked up feels rough in it's operation
and the images it produced weren't spectacular, I'd take a long long hard look
at whether that lens is out of whack. Maybe a lens element is misaligned or it
was poorly repaired by someone and the bits inside aren't where they ought to
be.
I will say that from the very first image I shot with my Summicron my jaw
dropped with how it handled the out of focus areas, the colors, the contrast,
and the transitional area between in and out of focus. It was just a quick snap
of a muffin and the colorful direct tv remote sitting on a side table, but the
uber goodness of the lens shone like a beacon in that picture. It was handheld,
high iso, blah blah blah, but it's greatness with stuff other than resolution
and sharpness were on display. I've got other shots which prove those
qualities, too, but my point is that my experience with the lens says if the
pictures aren't in some way jumping up in your lap barking I'm a good lens,
take a hard look at the particular example of a Summicron 50 at hand.
Richard
________________________________
What Would Scooby Doo?
~•~
It's okay to be stupid just don't be gung-ho about it.
________________________________
________________________________
From: Scott McLeod <scott.s.mcleod@xxxxxxxxx>
To: LeicaReflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, September 27, 2009 4:48:58 PM
Subject: [LRflex] R9 question
Hello all,
This is my first post to this forum so I hope I get it right!
I recently had the opportunity to put a roll of film through a
brand-new R9 (it had literally never been shot before). It belongs to
my boss who bought it months ago without a lens (long story). He
finally decided to get a used 50/2 Summicron (Canada) for it and
instructed me to "go test it". Needless to say I didn't have to be
asked twice!
Anyway, the scans came out very nice indeed and I could find no
optical problems with the lens, but my boss is *extremely* picky and
he "didn't like the look of it" so he returned it and the R9 once
again rests in its milled-foam packaging in the bottom drawer of his
desk. What I did notice was something rather strange - I shot the
camera in A mode, and when changing aperture on the lens there was a
very noticeable delay in the VF display updating - it never actually
stuck, but it seemed sluggish in a way that I have never seen before
with any camera (including very old Minolta, Nikon and Canon SLRs; the
metering display in my M6 TTL resonds instantaneously to changes in
aperture). This particular lens, while optically fine, did have an
unexpectedly "industrial" feel to it (I can't think of a better way to
express it). It certainly did not have the silky, jewel-like precision
I was expecting from a Leica lens (or a Zeiss ZM for that matter). I
was wondering, is this normal behavior for the R9 in A mode, or is
this an anomaly? Everything else on the camera seemed to have a superb
precision feel. Maybe this lens had led a hard life and was not
behaving as it should, I dunno.
Sorry for the long post - any advice on this topic would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Scott McLeod
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