Newest Summilux 50mm f1.4 ASPH – some feedback please

Stuart,

I really like the photograph of the man on the bench. The framing with the drain pipe, window, & plant is perfect. The snowy path & church are amazing too due to the atmosphere as others have commented. I've bookmarked your website. 😎
 
Thanks very much Aalok! I appreciate it. I like your images too...the one of calatrava is excellent, and so is the rainy window.
 
It is wonderfull KM-25!!! I love this lens! great portrait! Can I have link for your photo.net gallery? also what kind of film is that? in what did you develope it, and how did you scan it ? 😀 also I think 50 summilux asph is one of the best lenses ever created for photography 😀
 
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Nachkebia said:
It is wonderfull KM-25!!! I love this lens! great portrait! Can I have link for your photo.net gallery? also what kind of film is that? in what did you develope it, and how did you scan it ? 😀 also I think 50 summilux asph is one of the best lenses ever created for photography 😀
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Thanks!

The film is Kodak Techpan, ISO 25. It has not been made in about three years and is quite hard to find and is very, very expensive when you do find it. 150 foot bulk rolls of 35mm go for about $100-$300 depending on age and auction circumstances. I scored 31 rolls of bulk loaded ( one 150 bulk roll's worth ) with 48 packets of Technidol developer for $150, the guy selling it had misspelled the word "Techpan" as "Tecpan".

I just needed to test a roll of it to see if I had wasted my money or not. So now I have about 150 36exp rolls to shoot niche fine art projects with over the next 20 years. I am not even going to touch another roll for at least 3 years as I will be *very* busy with the Kodachrome project. Other films that would be as sharp as it would be Efke 25, Adox CMS20 and bluefire police film. But they will not look the same as Techpan, it is more red sensitive and higher in contrast, much harder to use as well, but that is the fun part. I also have 10 rolls of 120 and 50 sheets of 4x5 of it.

In my work, I shoot lots of digital for all the obvious reasons. But I have to say, it makes me love film even more. There is no greater feeling than knowing I have some 2,000 rolls of film resting comfortably at -5 F in a dedicated freezer waiting for me to use.

PM sent with links to .net.
 
Excellent! I have checked the links, great stuff! I think I have seen it before btw! 🙂 yeah more people love digital more I love film 😀
 
I don't want to rain on the parade, but techpan is not a particularly great film to work with. Sure, it has astonishingly small grain, but even when you get an extended tonal range, it cannot match the tonality of a normal film. Efke 25 or Apx 25 (Rollei 25 too) give a full tonal range and still have vanishingly small grain. Add to that the flaming hula hoops that you need to jump through in order to process it, and I would think that it is best left to the high contrast technical applications that it was designed for.
 
One might try to eliminate grain if one's goal is to faithfully capture an image.

To me, grain in film is like distortion from a tube amplifier -- it can be artistically pleasing, but it's also less accurate.
 
i definitely prefer low watt tube amplification of vinyl generated music signal to anything solid state or digital...and i've moved back to film from digital because of the inaccuracies and the sensory satisfaction of film grain
 
rodneyAB said:
i definitely prefer low watt tube amplification of vinyl generated music signal to anything solid state or digital...and i've moved back to film from digital because of the inaccuracies and the sensory satisfaction of film grain
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Yeh I like grain too. Not too much though. Everything in moderation... 😉
 
I bought the Asph about 2 years ago. I had 5 Leica 50mm's at the time: F3.5(pre-war), F2.8, F2 (current), F2DR and the Asph. I shot the same scene at different apertures and concluded that the Asph is indeed the sharpest and most contrasty. Please do not challenge me but take it simply as one person's honest opinion, and make use of this information in any way you like.

The first time I went out with it (on an M7), it was drizzling and it was dusk. So I was forced to use ISO 800. I also have unsteady hands. So I was forced to use larger apertures in order to get a higher shutter speed. Even so I had at least 2 exhibitable shots on the first roll. Unfortunately because of the grain they were not.

So I painted one of them. I would have painted the other one as well if I could find the film! (Four months after I took the shots I moved home, and lost the film.)

I will be exhibiting the painting around mid '07.

The 2(current version) had since been sold.
 
Disagree, you have to know how and want to exploit it. You can't just expect it to come easily.
I love using it in flat light on subjects rich in detail. And what it this jump through hoops stuff? I had not souped a roll of Techpan since 1990 until a few days ago. I just did the 9 minutes at 68 in Technidol, gradually eased off on the agitation and presto! Great negs.

I have 160 rolls of this film for a reason. I am going for that "Ansel Adams" high contrast look and get it with Techpan. I am not tying to match the tonal range of Efke or the others, I am after something very different and get it with Techpan.

For what it is worth, I have 1,000 feet of Efke 25, 1,000 feet of Ilford 50, 100 rolls of Adox CMS20, 1,000 feet of APX 100, etc, etc.

Sorry to challenge you, but this film is like any other, you use it when you see fit.


StuartR said:
I don't want to rain on the parade, but techpan is not a particularly great film to work with. Sure, it has astonishingly small grain, but even when you get an extended tonal range, it cannot match the tonality of a normal film. Efke 25 or Apx 25 (Rollei 25 too) give a full tonal range and still have vanishingly small grain. Add to that the flaming hula hoops that you need to jump through in order to process it, and I would think that it is best left to the high contrast technical applications that it was designed for.
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Are you serious? The 35mm and the 50mm Summilux Asphericals are the best 35mm lenses ever made IMHO. The question really is about our skill set being up to par w/ the lenses.

Or, put another way, they are about 10x better than what HCB used to photog many of his most famous photos.

The lenses are at their best when tripod mounted in conjunction w/ slow film. Handheld it is another matter, where the lenses are mostly used for speed.
 
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Right now I am keeping the 50 Summilux BP on one camera and a 35 Summilux on the other. They both provide me with results that are reliable and sharpness that when used appropriatly tell a story in one image. Your question as to which would be the better is mute when confronted with images captured by the 2 lenses. Taking into consideration the size of the 2 lenses and the feel in your hands. I find that I like them both for different reasons. My BP 50 Summilux ASPH has the knurled focus ring and a very solid feel to it. Also the smoothness of the focus ring and aperature exude quality and workmanship. Flare simple does not exist for the 50 Summilux ASPH. The 35 Summilux ASPH, as well, gives me reliable results. In the handling of the lens, I find the tabbed focus ring useful (also found on the 50 Summilux ASPH annodized version). 35 is wide enough that I feel I might get a little intrusive with a random subject but indoors I think it is a must have. We really could go over MTF charts ad nauseum and they are indeed useful but at this level of optics your personal preference as to focal length, ergonomics and what the intended use will be the deciding factors.

Off topic: I really do wish that magus and x-ray could get along a bit better. It seems that they are always at odds on matters of opinion. I have seen images from both of them and thoroughly enjoyed those images. I recall specifically an image Magus posted of a man in a doorway. The harmony of tones marked an image that had been nothing less then a labor of love in the darkroom. X-ray is indeed in the professional sphere and when he has an opinion then I feel he simple should be listened to and considered of import. When differing opinions surface then I hope that at least between these two fine artists, respect is maintained and assumptions lost to fact and fine photography.

Merry Christmas to all!:angel:
 
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egpj said:
Off topic: I really do wish that magnus and x-ray could get along a bit better. It seems that they are always at odds on matters of opinion. I have seen images from both of them and thoroughly enjoyed those images. I recall specifically an image Magnus posted of a man in a doorway. The harmony of tones marked an image that had been nothing less then a labor of love in the darkroom. X-ray is indeed in the professional sphere and when he has an opinion then I feel he simple should be listened to and considered of import. When differing opinions surface then I hope that at least between these two fine artists, respect is maintained and assumptions lost to fact and fine photography.

Merry Christmas to all!:angel:
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Do you mean Magus or Magnus ... we have two members by those names.

Merry Christmas to you as well, by the way 🙂
 
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