Elmarit 28 V3 soft at 2.8?

[Landberg]

Hi!
I Have just bought an elmarit 28/2.8 version 3. I thing it's a bit soft at f2.8. Are all elmarit 28 v3 soft at 2.8 or do I own a bad lens? It's a lot better at 5.6 an up.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I used to have this kind of lens. Like any 2.8 lens it not supposed to be soft wide open.
Someone might take it apart and not checking it for alignment after it. Like I did. So, I took it apart twice...

 

[Brooklynguy]

My copy (hood pins, 49mm filter) is sharp wide, but older lenses aren't always so because they were set up for film and/or less demanding quality control. If you can, use an M240 (or an M with LV) and focus first with RF and then check with LV; if the lens is properly calibrated, it should be accurate without any focus adjustment. If you have to tweak/adjust focus between RF and LV, most likely the lens is off. I had several Leica lenses that were not sharp wide open, including both the 35 FLE and 50 Lux Asph, an older 90 Elmarit-M, etc. Sent them to DAG to adjust; he did a great job and now they are spot on.

 

[raid]

Did you use the lens with a film camera or a digital camera?

 

[Landberg]

I used film camera. It should be calibrated, i just had it and my M5 CLAd and calibrated. It looks in focus but soft.

 

[raid]

The other possibility is hand instability. Did you try testing the lens with the camera on a solid tripod and with a cable release?

 

[Michiel Fokkema]

Doesn't look to bad to me. What was the shutterspeed?
Try with a tripod and see what comes out then.

I used film camera. It should be calibrated, i just had it and my M5 CLAd and calibrated. It looks in focus but soft.

 

[Landberg]

Ok, this is at 1/30 sec, hand held. Shot through 2 thick windows. I don´t think it looks bad but i used to have modern Zeiss lenses and they looked almost to sharp.

 

[DwF]

From what I see happening, (my two cents🙂 and just enlarging on flickr, it looks to me like you focused on the door and window. The reflections and edge of door look sharper than the subject....if I were shooting this pic, I'd probably have focused as you did here and let the subject be soft.

David

 

[raid]

I would use the lens on my cheap Olympus M 4/3 camera with its 10X focus assist. Every image comes out very sharp with the internal stabilization system. Our hands shake and our eyes can make errors.

 

[Landberg]

I took new test photos today with better light and faster shutter speeds. It's like night and day. The leans is still "creamy" but it is sharp! 🙂