[LRflex] Re: Unscientific comparison Zeiss Vario Sonnar- Leica Vario-Elmar (was: Olympus ans Leica, article)
- From: Juan Gea-Banacloche <banacloj@xxxxxxx>
- To: leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 4 May 2006 00:54:25 -0400
Lately I use gear comparisons as an excuse to take camera(s) with me
and take pictures. (If you see a guy in Washington DC handling a
couple of Leicaflexes, or a Leica and a Contax, taking the same
picture twice, that's me).
In fact, this is less moronic than it sounds. I get to take pictures,
and one does get better by clicking more. Plus, it has the added
benefit that I become more and more opinionated on my own equipment.
I wanted to compare the Zeiss 35-70 f/3.4 for Contax with the Leica
Vario-Elmar 35-70 f/4. I had a pre-conceived opinion: I was not going
to notice any difference. My comparisons are not with heavy-duty
tripod and a chart on the wall. They are,literally, taking the "same"
picture twice, as I would have taken it if I had carried one of the
two cameras only. Except, of course, I take it once with each (for
the comparison, the stop and speed must, of course, be the same--
which was the case in the majority -but not all- of pictures taken
with the R8 and the Contax Aria, both on matrix metering. Obviously,
the programs behind each matrix system are different). Film, Reala
100, developed and scanned at Costco.
Of course, the reason I find this testing valuable for me is that it
really reflects "what I would get" in actual practice. (When I shoot
color negatives, this is what I do: I take them to Costco and they
scan it for me). So it is more meaningful than tripod and chart, or
even brick wall.
All in all, there were almost no discernible differences. The
differences were almost always caused by something else: camera
shake, small differences in focus or exposure. When the exposures
where different (which was only sometimes), the R8 exposed 2/3 of
stop over the Aria. This resulted (not surprisingly) in higher detail
in the shadows). When the pictures can be compared, AND there is a
visible difference, it is always in favor of the Leica lens. It's
close, mind you (it can be seen in Photoshop at 300%-- sometimes...
but the truth is my 75 year-old mother, who is visiting and has been
rather amused by my camera-swapping identified the Leica stack of 4x6
as "crisper, with more contrast").
Flare is also better controlled by the Vario-Elmar...
I have uploaded he biggest difference (and a good example of how this
may be irrelevant most of the time), which someone may say it's
caused by exposure difference (2/3 more the Leica picture than the
Contax). I think that, even if both I focused on the traffic cone and
used f:5.6 on both, the focus is slightly different, and this is the
reason the Leica crop seems so much better...):
http://gallery.leica-users.org/Leica-lens-comparisons/VE01560031
http://gallery.leica-users.org/Leica-lens-comparisons/VS01560031
The crops with the difference can be seen after the full frames
So: controlling camera shake, focus and exposure are typically going
to influence more than Leica vs Zeiss-- but Leica seems to flare
less. Not only that, the image I lliked best from both rolls was an
accident with Leica (which shows the outstanding flare control of the
V-E
http://gallery.leica-users.org/Leica-lens-comparisons/01560007_G
plus I got 38 images (37 with the Contax). So there it is your cash
at work. ;-)
I have also uploaded the 3 pictures I like best from this roll, to re-
initiate my "PAW" never completed project. Comments are welcome.
Juan
On Apr 27, 2006, at 11:38 PM, Bill Lawlor wrote:
> Juan, it is better to compare results on transparency films. 100
> ISO E-6
> films have superior fine grain characteristics to Reala 100. Reala
> 100 is my
> favorite negative color film, but usually in medium format 120 or
> 220. As a
> long time advocate of film I understand your scepticism about digital
> cameras. Recently I "processed" RAW images made with a 6.1 MP DSLR and
> discovered the quality at large enlargements (16X24 inches) sometimes
> exceeded 35mm. I'll probably go digital within the next year.
>
> Regards, Bill Lawlor
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