Do you SLR when you 85 (or 90)???

[Richard Black]

I have an excellent Jupite 9 in 42mm mount and use it with an adapter on a MD mount, Minolta x-700/370, and am more than pleased with it. Two of my best protraits were taken with this combo. Looking for the CV90, however, don't use the 85 that much. I prefer 28mm.

 

[VinceC]

Something else to bear in mind: The wider the f/stop, the easier it is to focus with a manual SLR. An 85/1.4 will always be easier to focus on an SLR groundglass than an 85/2.
Whereas, with an RF, the faster the lens, the harder it is to focus accurately. I've seen plenty of poorly focused 85/90 shots using for RFs and SLRs. A good autofocus SLR probably has the edge here ... assuming you have it focusing on the right part of the picture.

 

[raid]

I am in the process of doing some testing of ten 85mm~105mm rangefinder lenses. This would not be the right time forme to debate whether using an SLR
tele is better. Both allow easy focusing for me.

Raid

 

[KoNickon]

Vince, I hadn't thought of it that way before. With an SLR, having a fast lens is important for accurate focusing (whether manual or AF). With a rangefinder, having a fast lens can actually make it easier to misfocus (if the camera's rangefinder mechanism is out of adjustment, or if the effective baseline of the rangefinder cannot accurately focus at the aperture selected).

 

[Dougg]

I think it's low viewfinder magnification that inhibits use of the 90 Tele-Elmarit on my M2 and esp the CLE. I thought I might use the 90 Sonnar more on the G2 but it hasn't turned out that way. Somehow I DO prefer an SLR body with my 85mm f/1.8 Pentax-K and f/1.9 Super Takumar lenses. Oddly, it doesn't seem as long a lens in that usage. Fast and easy to focus of course.

First shot 85/1.8 SMC Pentax, second 90/2.8 Sonnar-G

 

[ChrisPlatt]

I too find SLRs better suited to portraiture.

Do you really need all that speed?

The 105/2.5 Nikkor is a wonderful lens,
one every Nikon user should own.

I liked my 85/2 AIS Nikkor, too...

"Excelsior, you fathead!"
-Chris-

 

[ghost]

yes, yes i do slr for 85/90.

 

[telenous]

Thanks, Vince. You always teach me something. I am now vacillating again.

@Chris: I 've tried the 105 f2.5. It's a good lens and it doesn't break the bank. But I think I prefer the 85 length - and the speed. I found f2.5 to be too slow for indoor shooting. I do shoot a lot indoors but also outdoors without much light. For that matter, perhaps even the f2 is slow. But I am considering the Nikkor 85 f1.8. If I let GAS speak, I am also thinking of the Planar 85 ZF. But as this is the most expensive option available, and I demonstrably don't shoot all that much with this focal length, I will probably pass.

 

[Nachkebia]

You guys made me think if I need sonnar 85mm ZM 🙂
But, firstly I need to get Nikon AF 85mm f/1.4 (for my wife) 😉

 

[telenous]

You guys made me think if I need sonnar 85mm ZM 🙂

Of course you do. Like I need the Planar 85 ZF 🙂

 

[Nachkebia]

It is huge though, are you sure you want ZF? 🙂
BTW, you have no problem focusing on FM? for me it is very hard to focus with FM3a

 

[Ducky]

I am a compulsive 50mm user. Been-there-done-that with longer lenses, zooms etc on SLR and diigital but have come full circle back to 50mm. I guess it depends on what you like to shoot.

 

[telenous]

It is huge though, are you sure you want ZF? 🙂
BTW, you have no problem focusing on FM? for me it is very hard to focus with FM3a

Well, that's the seven hundred quid question! I dunno, at less than the price of a new Planar ZF one can get a used Summicron 90 or two used Nikkors AIS.

My FM3a has the standard splitprism. Generally it is easy to use - admittedly, it is not so easy with low light. But that's the time of the rangefinder 😎

 

[petebown]

I would say that 90mm is the borderline for rangefinder cameras... Certainly with my cameras anyway.

My success rate for focusing at 90mm at wide apertures is about the same for both my rangefinder and SLR. At f2.8 or f4, 90mm is a handful, the DOF is around one inch at 4 feet, any subject movement will cause a problem with both types of camera.

If working at close range (less than 6 feet or 2 metres) with apertures of f5.6 or brighter I would automatically pick up the SLR. This is partly due to the fact that I am not confident in the accuracy of rangefinder's focusing system. Whereas, I know if the image is sharp in the SLR's viewfinder, then the photograph will also be sharp.

 

[raid]

I use my Canon 85mm/1.2L for those times when speed and sharpness is needed with a tele lens. No other lens gives me the same satisfaction as this lens does.

Raid

 

[VinceC]

Okay. Now that we've gotten all this SLR talk out of our systems, back to RF.

Having just spent some time looking through a colleague's Hexar, I fully allow that 90mm is borderline for Leica-based users who have to endure low viewfinder magnification. Those with Canon Ps and Nikon RFs have lifesize viewfinders and can very comfortably shoot 85s and 105s the way everyone else is shooting 50s. And regardless of viewfinder magnification, I very much like the positive focus of an RF. With an SLR, I do hunt back and forth trying to make sure I'm in best focus. With a rangefinder, there's no question when you've nailed it.

Cheers.

 

[wlewisiii]

I've been using mostly my collapsible Summicron on my CL, but I use my 90/4 fairly often too - 80/20 mix I'd say. At that speed, it's easy to focus accurately and, being uncoated, it has a very lovely look with Fuji Reala.

What will be interesting to see is how that mix changes as today I got a Serenar 28/3.5 on "extended trial" (IOW, go ahead, I'm not using it. Pay me when you get the money, no hurry. 🙂 He's a former pro who closed his studio several years ago and does other things these days.) I expect that it will eat more into when I'd have used the two foot zoom with the 50 rather than anything I'd shoot with the 90. Either way, it'll be fun to give it a try!

William

 

[back alley]

i need to make some photos with the 90/2.8 hex but on the zi, with it's incredibly bright finder, i find it easy to focus. it just snaps in & out.

 

[raid]

Joe,
I don't need any GAS. It sems that the modern cameras have bright finders and are more useful for those of us who need such finders.

Raid

 

[FrankS]

I've read somewhere that the slr's split image rangefinder patch is very much less accurate than the normal .72 magnification Leica M RF, and definitely inferior in preciseness to higher mag finders like the .85 on my m6 and .91 mag. on my M3. So while a fast mild tele lens is easier to focus than a slower mild tele lens on an slr, it is less precise than focusing a mild tele lens on a normal or higher mag Leica M camera. On RF cameras, the baseline length of the RF system is also relevant in focusing accuracy. The leica M RF base length is longer than the Leica CL and ;the Bessa RF cameras. The early Contax and the Kiev RF cameras have the longest RF base length, but lower mag. viewfinders.