50mm Summicron Sharpest and best Rendering lens for Digital/Film?

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eleskin

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I am still using my very reliable and trusty M8 and I noticed something which I consider quite interesting. I am well aware of the 50mm Summicrons reputation (I used to have the Dual range Summicron, and I now own a late model -current- 50mm Summicron), and recently I had a chance to run a file through Alien Skin Blowup 2 to see what would happen. I chose a portrait, and increased the file size to 500MB. I was shocked at the outcome! The tonal range and detail of this lens is OUTSTANDING! I had a chance to compare this result to a friend (he used Alien Skin Blowup 2 as well) who shoots Canon with a similar focal length and the Summicron blew his away, even though he had the latest Canon pro gear. His upsized photo showed signs of being manipulated (a smeared look, detail not rendered as clearly as well as less of a tonal range). What this says to me is that even if the M8 has less megapixels than current cameras, the Lens is still the most crucial thing of all, and Alien Skin was able to do more with the M8 file due to the superior optics and a sensor that is very very good, despite all of the criticism and faults since the M8 came out. I suspect the M9 will go even further, but I cant help but to be very impressed.
i am even more blown away when I realize this Summicron was designed by Walter Mandler years ago, and it blows away ANYTHING new coming out of Japan. I am breathless at this. What a treat and plesant surprise (
should I be surprised, naa, Leica is what it is!) . I bought my Summicron on Ebay for $700, and boy, what a value that was! A keeper for life!
 
Eleskin, what you see with your M8 and the Cron is to a very big amount accounted to the missing AA filter as Double Negative pointed out.

I was at awe, when I saw the first images from an R-D1 after being used to Nikon DSLR files - the sharpening in PP, that I usually do with my Nikons was around 45 − 70 % - the R-D1 required only 25 to 45 at the very most for similar or better detail output.

The R-D1 has an AA filter albeit a weaker one as the D300 or D3.

When I used the M8.2 first a week ago, I was again blown away by the way better file quality regarding sharpness and detail (at lower ISO only unfortunately).
It tops the R-D1 even more and is so much better looking than my D3 files, when it comes to detail.

Add another point in the difference in lens design between RF and SLR.
I don't have a 50 Cron, but when I saw the first images from a 50 Lux ASPH on film against my experience with the best Nikon SLR 50mm there is today I could not get my mouth shut.

All the optical issues, there are with the SLR lenses are corrected to an minimum amount with the RF glass.
Anyone coming from the finest SLR glass there is today to shooting an RF should really start with the cheapest RF glass available and will be amazed!

Todays Nikon 50 f1.4 AF-S does some strong vignetting, is unsharp in the outer frame and rather soft all frame @ f1.4, does show coma and has a good portion of color aberrations in out of focus areas. Don't get me wrong - it is a very, very fine SLR lens on the D3 - my favorite in fact.

Any M mount lens, I tried so far (CV 15 to 50 Lux ASPH) are much more corrected for these issues. The 50 Lux being the most unbelievable piece of glass, I have touched so far.

I do love RF lenses!

People say too, that the R-D1 6MP are outdated or that the old M8 has only 10MP compared to todays DSLRs.
As you found - the files form these old cameras can be blown up very well as thy are of a better quality to start with (if you have your focus and exposure spot on and use lower ISO speeds).

As Symeon, I am very interested in AS Blow up too - it could make printing bigger a higher quality option.
 
Eleskin,

I'm curious as to artifacts in the files created with Alienskin Blowup. I use the first version because clients are always bringing in crappy small files and wanting giant blowups... like 24x36 inches from files that are less than a MB. While they are happy with the results, I'm not. But it is the best tool for that job.

For my own work, I've stopped using AlienSkin Blowup on my M8 files. I usually print 13x19, 20x30 and 24x36 by either lowering resolution (240, 200, 180 ppi) and/or uprezing in steps in PS4. I found that AlienSkin introduced strange squiggly lines around details. These lines looked like bad USM when even the smallest amount of sharpening was applies within ASBU. Turning the sharpening off helps but files start looking odd at 200 MB and up.

Perhaps the latest version has fixed this.

Tom
 
Oh yeah, the 50 Summicron is an outstanding lens. But let's not advertise that. I've had two of them (still have a 50 DR) and need to find a replacement when I go for a M9. I really don't want to see the price go up to $1,500 - $1,750 for a good used copy because suddenly its fashionable again.

Tom
 
It is possible with the popularity of the M9, if it ever really makes it out of the gate, will help to drive the prices of used lenses back up. I just bought a nice near new 50 Summicron and a nice new version of the 35 Summicron and while not a steal of a price decent compared to new prices. I have noticed recently that prices seem to be going up, which could be in part to a recovery of the economy, though slow, and more eyes on the RF making a strong showing. Hard to say for sure though since 7000 dollars isn't everyone's cup O tea but it will suit me fine.
 
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