50 elmar m on the rd1 - got pics?

[back alley]

show 'em if you have 'em.

 

[Disaster_Area]

can't wait till your newest acquisition arrives 😉 I have to say I'm curious about the Elmars... I've tried out the Summitars, Summars and Sumicrons but have never given any of the Elmars a go.

What's the big draw with them... the Summicrons are sharp... the Summars/Summitars/Summarits are dreamy and old fashioned and the Summilux's got speed... what's the Elmars got? It's not speed 🙂

 

[back alley]

i have fast lenses for when they might be needed...

over the years i have been looking at images from the 50 elmar m and they can be lovely, sharp but not clinical or soft, hard to describe. anyway, i always promised myself i would try one and now it's just a matter of time.

 

[coelacanth]

back alley, Congrats!!

Elmars got?

Size is definitely one of them. 🙂

I've owned LTM Elmar 50/3.5 (coated), M Elmar 50/2.8 and Elmar-M 50/2.8

I'm new to LTM 50/3.5 so I can't really comment on that.


Older 50/2.8 is a bit lower contrast compared to new one, soft wide open, but very decent after F4. I actually liked soft wide open shots as well.

Newer 50/2.8 has got highest contrast in Elmar family, but still preserves details in B/W. This is the only Elmar that has practical aperture ring. Front part won't rotate with focusing, you can change the aperture without holding the barrel.

Both new and old 50/2.8 gave me nice "3D" feel, not because of the shallow DOF, but you can see the pic in 3D.

Well, all above is my experience with B/W film so that might not be the case with R-D1, though.

 

[Bingley]

Can't speak to the Elmars on an RD-1, but w/ film the older versions (both 3.5 and 2.8) have more contrast than the Summar/Summitar, while also being quite sharp. They also tend to flare less than other Leitz lenses of the same era. If you like a Tessar, an Elmar is quite similar. Those features, and compactness, make them a nice daylight shooting lens for street or landscapes. The v.1 50/2.8 makes a nice all-'round 50 if you like lower contrast than a modern 50. The little 3.5, while ergonimically lousy, produces nice images in bw that have an older look to them. So, for someone like me who shoots in the bright sunlight of California, an Elmar works well as a compact 50. There are a couple of flickr groups devoted to the Elmar, so you can see for yourself.

The modern Elmar-M is often described as super contrasty and sharper than a Summicron. There are some members on the forum here who have taken some memorable photos w/ it.

 

[Bingley]

Ha! Just saw the classifieds.... Congrats joe -- That looks like a sweet lens.

 

[coelacanth]

I know back alley wanna shoot color with it, but here are sample shots with old and new 50/2.8

Old 50/2.8

New 50/2.8

They are both candid hipshots so focus isn't perfect, but you get the idea. 😉

 

[Papercut]

nice shots, Sug! really like the little details of both main subjects (the crocs on the guy and the sunglasses + earphone cord on the gal). well done (regardless of the lens used)!

 

[Trius]

Anyone who does not like Elmar or Tessar does not have a pulse.

 

[Bingley]

Great shots, Sug! I have some color ones, alas only w/ the older version of the 50/2.8:

Elmar + Ektar = Sweet!

 

[back alley]

i plan on using it for both colour and b&w.
thanks for the congrats steve.
and earl, thank goodness that i still have a pulse.

sug, that second shot with the new elmar is what i think about when i think of elmar shots, sharp but not painfully so and there is some depth to the image.

 

[Rob-F]

The Elmar does have a look of its own. whether it's a Summicron, Elmar, Summilux, Summarit--and I've done direct comparisons among all those--the differences are subtle. You usually have to study the slide or print for a bit to see it. I seem to get colors that are a bit more pastel with the Elmar, compared to the Summicron or Summilux. I feel the Summicron is the color queen. Black & white is another matter!

 

[Bingley]

I hope Visiondr will forgive me, but this shot, for me, is the best example I've seen of what an Elmar-M can do in the hands of an skilled photographer. Extraordinary.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=59008&ppuser=4967&sl=v

 

[Papercut]

i've been looking to use the 50 focal length more, but hate lugging my canon 50/1.4 around -- i'm waiting on delivery of an Elmar-M which should arrive in the next few days I hope. In the process of searching for a lighter lens the photos from several people on here and flickr were really influential in my choosing the Elmar: visiondr, sug, sepiareverb, and a young guy on flickr eizat ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/eizat/ ) -- really nice work from all of them and the lens does seem to have something special about it at times.

I hope Visiondr will forgive me, but this shot, for me, is the best example I've seen of what an Elmar-M can do in the hands of an skilled photographer. Extraordinary.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=59008&ppuser=4967&sl=v

 

[Ronchnam]

Epson R-D1 + Elmar 50/2.8

Epson R-D1 + Elmar 50/2.8

The front element of this lens has been polished.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

I think I've tried a few shots with one of my 50mm f/3.5 Elmars on my R-D1, but haven't got them stored at hand at the moment.

Did shoot some with a 35mm Elmar as a focus test on the R-D1 for someone last year

 

[LCT]

Epson R-D1, late Elmar-M 50/2.8, Capture One v4:

 

[back alley]

thanks for the shots and comments guys.
mine is now in the mail.

 

[kermaier]

Epson R-D1, late Elmar-M 50/2.8, Capture One v4:

These are just beautiful! I'm not getting such pure bright colors from my R-D1.... Are you using an IR cut filter?

Ari

 

[LCT]

...Are you using an IR cut filter?...

Just with tungsten from time to time.
The main culprits are the lens, Capture One and iCorrect i believe.
Capture One shows less noise and richer colours than the Epson raw converter and iCorrect helps to adjust white balance, contrast and brightness in a couple of clicks if need be.