75mm f/1.4 Summilux Photos

[kdemas]

I actually have an old Nikkor 135mm LTM that makes the 'Lux feel like a lightweight. I'm so used to lugging around my SLR racing gear, which is a load, that the M with my Noct still feels very light.

The 'Lux is the one Leica lens that I have wanted but haven't bought yet. I'm a sucker for the Mandler bokeh and love the signatures of both the Noct and the Lux. One of these days...

 

[helen.HH]

Well sorry I'm not full of praise like everyone else. Yes I can see you're a forum favorite here but it doesn't mean I need to agree like everyone else and need conform for the sake of it. I didn't challenge your position here on the RFF, nor did I intend to upset you. But I am not responsible for you feeling that way. I made a comment openly, challenging the content and presentation of your images. I do this all the time and expect it from my peers. If no one commented on how great they were, I get the impression that you'd also be upset.

Your shots didn't offend me so don't make this worse for yourself. I say this because you're being overly sensitive about my comments. My comments weren't accusations but obviously that doesn't matter to you because you'll see things the way you prefer to. You're obviously used to receiving praise all the time you've forgotten to stop and look at what makes a great picture. If they were great images I would've agreed, but feel they weren't and couldn't understand what people were seeing in them, but I know now. It's because people like you and the work you usually do.

Now if the OOF style is your thing I can respect that, but they were not good pictures. I understand that you were practicing with it for the first time and respect that, but I am entitled to my opinion without such accusations on your part. No doubt your friends here will come to your defense but I expected a more professional, dignified response from you regarding your images, especially considering how popular you are here on this forum. We all take bad pictures at times, and I certainly don't 'expect' praise every time I show people my images, and neither do I become rude about it if the response is not to my liking. Instead, one can learn from such feedback and make it positive, as aposed to the opposite.

May I say that I am NOT Offended nor was my Response RUDE to YOU...I can't understand where You are coming from with those TWO remarks.
You certainly have a Right to your Opinion and I am not a Person who expects Praise All the Time as you suggest.

What I find Interesting is your PERSISTENT INTENT to be Angry & Rude with me for 3 pictures I posted when I did AGREE with You

I did not Suggest these shots were Stellar but am showing my use of a newly acquired Lens.
I learn quite alot here @RFF and will Continue to do so....

I shall put no more Time into this as I do Not see this as a Debate.
I did 'PEEK' at your Site...Quite IMPRESSIVE Indeed !!!!
Beautiful PURRfect Portraits...sharp from EDGE to EDGE but it dd not Move Me in Terms of 'Atmosphere' & 'Soul'
however VERY PROFESSIONAL and Pedestrian....Works in your World and hopefully Pays You well and gives You Satisfaction.


Cheers and there is no Hard Feelings on my Side, I ASSURE YOU. i'm a Big Girl, i don't Break Easily nor Take Myself so Seriously 😉
If you met me People always comment on how Much I Enjoy & Laugh at most things ....even MYSELF.
Life is too Short, Be Drunk on Love & Light.
Best- H
🙂

 

[cam]

Sometimes I wish I was an amateur again and could enjoy imagery the way I used to. I am trying guys ;-)

maybe it's time to take a step back if you aren't enjoying the imagery any more???

the 75 Lux is, perhaps, my favourite lens (i go back and forth with my E58 Nocti). i love it wide open, i love it stopped down. i just love love love it!

the problem, sometimes, is i love the look of the lens so much that i will sometimes adore a picture even if it isn't the strongest in composition or content or camera shake got in the way... silly me!

but you know what? that's okay, though, if it evokes a feeling i was trying to convey. maybe not to everyone, but to me... it is all part of the magic of photography.

and if you aren't seeing the magic anymore, well, i feel sad for you... if i wasn't, i would stop -- but maybe that's not an option for you.

i also think if you're expecting perfection, you're probably in the wrong thread. the 75 Lux is a beast of a lens that many give up on... i find it perfection personified -- the problem is, it may take me a lifetime to live up to what it can really do. again, i don't mind. that is all part of the enjoyment i get from photography.

living up to the glass, living up to my vision...

 

[ederek]

Beautiful quality, very nice tonality and smooth grain. Is this shot wide open with the 75 Summilux?

JSU, thank you. I believe it was wide open, or one click between 1.4 and 2.0. 1/90 sec and ISO 1250 w/ an M9.

This was a B&W JPEG straight out of camera, no adjustment or sharpening, just sized for web. I was a bit loath to post w/ out any processing, but that has been a self-imposed constraint lately. 😱

I found the recent comments above interesting. I posted here on 6/8 after the thread had lay dormant for a couple of months. The "One Man Band" shot was ok, but no eye contact - though I believe it accurately captured his personality and energy. Later that day, filmfan posted the following comment:

Some great shots on here. Wow!
However, there are also some exceptionally boring ones....

While the comment was not directed at me or the image posted, I took it personally, as it was as likely as not that my image was being referenced. It came at a moment when I was being critical of my own work, especially in contrast to the method and results of a couple friends who I think produce some spectacular work.

After a few weeks of reflection, diving into books, pouring through galleries and doing very little shooting, I emerged perhaps a small step forward on my journey as a photographer. Of course, in that time the horizon of expectation and personal goals had risen, so even with progress the road now appears longer in front of me...

Ok, back to the 75 lux shots - a lens that excites us to shoot and share and reflect 🙄

ps - I'm very glad to have decided to keep this lens!

 

[leicashot]

May I say that I am NOT Offended nor was my Response RUDE to YOU...I can't understand where You are coming from with those TWO remarks.
You certainly have a Right to your Opinion and I am not a Person who expects Praise All the Time as you suggest.

What I find Interesting is your PERSISTENT INTENT to be Angry & Rude with me for 3 pictures I posted when I did AGREE with You

I did not Suggest these shots were Stellar but am showing my use of a newly acquired Lens.
I learn quite alot here @RFF and will Continue to do so....

I shall put no more Time into this as I do Not see this as a Debate.
I did 'PEEK' at your Site...Quite IMPRESSIVE Indeed !!!!
Beautiful PURRfect Portraits...sharp from EDGE to EDGE but it dd not Move Me in Terms of 'Atmosphere' & 'Soul'
however VERY PROFESSIONAL and Pedestrian....Works in your World and hopefully Pays You well and gives You Satisfaction.


Cheers and there is no Hard Feelings on my Side, I ASSURE YOU. i'm a Big Girl, i don't Break Easily nor Take Myself so Seriously 😉
If you met me People always comment on how Much I Enjoy & Laugh at most things ....even MYSELF.
Life is too Short, Be Drunk on Love & Light.
Best- H
🙂

Helen, this is what you said in reply

"Sorry if my shots Offended YOU
I just got the Lens...my First day in Fact in shooting this Roll
You are Absolutely Right in all your accusations....
I Hope to get Better,,,Thank You"

By saying I was making accusations seems somewhat rude to me, and it implies you 'were' offended. - Or am I totally reading it wrong?

Above you mention also that I had "PERSISTENT INTENT to be Angry & Rude with me for 3 pictures I posted"

- That is certainly not the case but yes I did find your reply quite sarcastically bold and it did appear that you weren't happy to say the least. I think we all need to be ore careful with our choice of words.

Referring to your words above "Beautiful PURRfect Portraits...sharp from EDGE to EDGE but it dd not Move Me in Terms of 'Atmosphere' & 'Soul'
however VERY PROFESSIONAL and Pedestrian....Works in your World and hopefully Pays You well and gives You Satisfaction."


I totally see where you're coming from and I can assure you that those images are not representative of the type of pictures and photography I am interested in shooting (for myself) - it's a job to which I must comply to my clients' needs. I totally get the whole out of focus blurry artistic approach as compared to the sharp approach you see on my website for my professional work, but I am not exactly convinced that that is your goal, or is it?

Regardless of whats on my website, I understand the artistic approach to photography, especially with rangefinder photography, very very well. I can appreciate vision when I see it, but what I also look for and understand relatively well is the difference between intent and mistakes....and if we're now exchanging feedback, I did not see intent from a technical standpoint in your images, even from an artistic POV. Thats the honest truth.

Really there is no point comparing our work, because mine is 'work' and yours is 'pleasure' so lets leave it there. None are better, only different, and like I said, I would rather be in your shoes where I have the time to shoot what makes me most happy, and you're lucky to be in that position. It's something I hope to do myself in the future.

 

[leicashot]

maybe it's time to take a step back if you aren't enjoying the imagery any more???

the 75 Lux is, perhaps, my favourite lens (i go back and forth with my E58 Nocti). i love it wide open, i love it stopped down. i just love love love it!

the problem, sometimes, is i love the look of the lens so much that i will sometimes adore a picture even if it isn't the strongest in composition or content or camera shake got in the way... silly me!

but you know what? that's okay, though, if it evokes a feeling i was trying to convey. maybe not to everyone, but to me... it is all part of the magic of photography.

and if you aren't seeing the magic anymore, well, i feel sad for you... if i wasn't, i would stop -- but maybe that's not an option for you.

i also think if you're expecting perfection, you're probably in the wrong thread. the 75 Lux is a beast of a lens that many give up on... i find it perfection personified -- the problem is, it may take me a lifetime to live up to what it can really do. again, i don't mind. that is all part of the enjoyment i get from photography.

living up to the glass, living up to my vision...

This sounds like you're talking about yourself here more than me.

 

[cam]

This sounds like you're talking about yourself here more than me.

i don' know you, now do i?

have a good day 😀

 

[ferider]

Everyone Raves about the Bokeh but the lens does so much more then that.

Agreed. I couldn't believe my eyes when I did some first tests a couple of years back. Even wide open, its corner to corner performance at far distances is impressive on a well adjusted M. Like the 50/1.4 pre-asph, I'm convinced it was designed for general purpose, journalism type applications (besides being a great bokeh machine 🙂 ).

And then, (except for the 9/4 macro-elmar) its also the best RF frame-filler at closest distance.

Roland.

 

[raid]

The lens is so good that I have decided to take it with me to Cairo next time even though I will risk losing it there.

 

[ederek]

leicashot, even if focus isn't perfect, sometimes I still like an image, such as with "Gumballs" below. ps - the links to your images in " M9 does action on the streets of Bangkok Thailand...very easily" are broken. Do you have anything other than your commercial work to share?

Here are some more SHOTS...

After a nod of permission from the mother, I squatted down and focused on the edge of the gumball machine and recomposed, thinking it was the same distance as the girls' eyes - oops. 🙁

Gumballs (M9, 75lux, 1/90, f1.4 to 2, ISO 1250)

Proud Mother (B&W) (M9, 75lux, 1/90, f1.4 to 2, ISO 1250)

^^ that is straight from the M9, in-camera B&W. Here's a color export (M9, 75lux, 1/90, f1.4 to 2, ISO 1250):

I shot this 2 minutes later, next door to the restaurant with the girl and gumball machine:

Too Ugly (M9, 75lux, 1/45, f1.4 to 2, ISO 1600)

and this next one 5 minutes after that..

Evan on Sax (M9, 75lux, 1/45, f1.4 to 2, ISO 1600)

Note the MASSIVE clump of dust above Evan, it's also in the previous image of the girl with her mother (last time I travel without the arctic butterfly and magnifier!!!! :bang🙂. I only know his name was Evan, as we bumped into him on the street the next day and thanked him for playing for us. Hope he gets to see this image some day..

Carl - I really like your portraits and the post-processing.

 

[cam]

The lens is so good that I have decided to take it with me to Cairo next time even though I will risk losing it there.

Raid,

i look forward to seeing those! the lens is so gorgeous, i regret that i really haven't gotten to shoot it enough places to do it justice... Cairo will be perfect!

when are you going?

 

[leicashot]

leicashot, even if focus isn't perfect, sometimes I still like an image, such as with "Gumballs" below. ps - the links to your images in " M9 does action on the streets of Bangkok Thailand...very easily" are broken. Do you have anything other than your commercial work to share?

Here are some more SHOTS...

After a nod of permission from the mother, I squatted down and focused on the edge of the gumball machine and recomposed, thinking it was the same distance as the girls' eyes - oops. 🙁

Gumballs (M9, 75lux, 1/90, f1.4 to 2, ISO 1250)

Proud Mother (B&W) (M9, 75lux, 1/90, f1.4 to 2, ISO 1250)

^^ that is straight from the M9, in-camera B&W. Here's a color export (M9, 75lux, 1/90, f1.4 to 2, ISO 1250):

I shot this 2 minutes later, next door to the restaurant with the girl and gumball machine:

Too Ugly (M9, 75lux, 1/45, f1.4 to 2, ISO 1600)

and this next one 5 minutes after that..

Evan on Sax (M9, 75lux, 1/45, f1.4 to 2, ISO 1600)

Note the MASSIVE clump of dust above Evan, it's also in the previous image of the girl with her mother (last time I travel without the arctic butterfly and magnifier!!!! :bang🙂. I only know his name was Evan, as we bumped into him on the street the next day and thanked him for playing for us. Hope he gets to see this image some day..

Carl - I really like your portraits and the post-processing.

In regards to my Bangkok images - I just reinserted them.

There's no need to assume I only know commercial work and if you look at my website there is more than just commercial work - in fact I am an editorial photographer primarily. Unfortunately I left most of my old personal street work back on slides in Australia. Either way, my background in editorial and commercial photography shouldn't make my points any less valid or creditable.

if people can't see any artistic nature in my photographs thats fine, I have nothing to prove and all to learn by being here on this forum.

 

[helen.HH]

In a Heatwave this Poor Soul was Covered from Head to Toe Reading the Scriptures

 

[back alley]

this thread has gotten a little too personal for some personalities...

let's add a little crassness...so, how much do these magic lenses cost?

 

[helen.HH]

the 75 lux ranges in price from 2000.00 to 2800.00 / used
from what I have seen / version 1, 2.& 3

its my most Expensive lens ....ouch !!
but the sharpness coupled with the Fall off and the Way Miss lux
Drinks Light is Truly Magical

I have yet to realise its Potential but have SEEN IT in others work ...😎

 

[ampguy]

That's what I've been wondering Joe

That's what I've been wondering Joe

I've got a minty German one that focuses perfectly that I've been trying to get an idea of it's value, with box, case, papers, and all, and Leica UV/IR filter and original caps, so I can place in the classifieds soon.

this thread has gotten a little too personal for some personalities...

let's add a little crassness...so, how much do these magic lenses cost?

 

[back alley]

well, i doubt that i will ever afford myself such luxuries...however, as long as i use the rd1, my 50s will be 75s!
a 75 elmar m, a 75/2.5 skopar, a 75 nokton 1.1...tough but i can take it 🙂

 

[ampguy]

Works great with the RD1

Works great with the RD1

Just use the 50 framelines, and leave some space around the edges.

well, i doubt that i will ever afford myself such luxuries...however, as long as i use the rd1, my 50s will be 75s!
a 75 elmar m, a 75/2.5 skopar, a 75 nokton 1.1...tough but i can take it 🙂

 

[back alley]

yes, but a 75 becomes a 114 on the rd1...

 

[Keith]

I don't think I could ever get my head around paying two to three grand for a lens ... my most expensive piece of glass would probably be my 50mm C Sonnar and the thought of the 75mm Summilx or a Noctilux in my kit is totally alien to me!

Nice to look at the pics from the 75mm though! 🙂

edit ... not to mention for what you pay for one of these 35mm wonders you can get a complete MF kit that could make their output look ordinary ... but not the speed I guess!