Handling the 75mm Summilux - Question?

[MikeL]

Seriously, the 75 Lux is a great lens - focus is tough for moving subjects wide open or thereabouts, but not as tough after you use it for a few days. I find it snapping in focus pretty easily, without magnifiers or anything, and IQ is definitely stunning IMHO. Just give yourself a little time to get used to it, and you would immediately give up to the selling idea

What he said.

To my eye, this is the discontinued lens to get.

 

[dcsang]

Well.. I've been doing my best with it.. I've been trying it at f1.4 but it's still taking some getting used to - the "pre-focus/move back and forth" method seems to work pretty well.. here's a shot at f4 though..

Dave

 

[Rafael]

I've been away for a little, while but I was wondering how you were getting along with your new Summilux. Personally, I don't use a magnifier with my 75/1.4. I do use the pre-focus then lean in and out technique and have had quite a bit of success with it. Because it hasn't yet been mentioned in this thread, I will toss out the suggestion of a grip (don't know whether or not you are using one). My hit rate with the 75/1.4 went up dramatically when I added a Rapidgrip.

 

[rickp]

here are my 3 cents worth (for what they're worth)

1. i wear glasses, so i found the megapearls 1.35 gadget plus diopter adjustment verrrrrrrrrrrry useful with the summilux.
2. i also find the leicagoodies STEER focusing ring to be useful.
3. don't sell it! the results IMHO are well worth the effort and practice it takes to get a high percentage of winners

good luck

rick

 

[cam]

Well.. I've been doing my best with it.. I've been trying it at f1.4 but it's still taking some getting used to - the "pre-focus/move back and forth" method seems to work pretty well.. here's a shot at f4 though..

Dave,

even at f/4, it's got that distinctive Mandler look. she just glows!

(i meant that in good way, btw. i think she looks beautiful.)

 

[StuartR]

I agree with Dante -- the 75/1.4 really hits its stride when at greater than 1.5 meters -- closer than that and the softness becomes REALLY pronounced. If you intend to shoot inside 1m and want sharpness, that is why the 75/2 has a floating element.
Personally, I also like the 75/1.4 much better on film than on the M8. Something about the forgiveness and the angle of view just make it work better for me. I don't really like anything longer than 75mm on film, so 75mm on the M8 is a bit too much reach for me....and the framelines are awful on the M8. Currently I have both the 75/1.4 and 75/2 (for reasons I can't begin to justify or explain), but as great as the 75/2 is, I would never give up the 75/1.4...the 75/2 would be out the door long before. The 75/2 is perfect, but the 75/1.4 is blessedly imperfect. If you have every read Hawthorne's "The Birthmark", that's the 75/1.4...you don't mess with good things.

Anyway, here are a few shots that show the softness/nice character
Here is one at closest focus and 1.4...notice the extreme softening:

Again, 1.4 and close:

Notice how glowy it gets from aberrations that close.
Give it a bit of distance, and it will give you more like this:

 

[Rayt]

I couldn't get my 75/1.4 to focus accurately on my M8 until I sent it off to Solms for calibration along with 6-bit coding. Now it focuses perfectly. Also I use the STEER from Leicagoodies on it and all non tabbled lenses and believe me it improves handling by that (arms stretched out) much.

 

[MikeL]

Personally, I also like the 75/1.4 much better on film than on the M8. Something about the forgiveness and the angle of view just make it work better for me. I don't really like anything longer than 75mm on film, so 75mm on the M8 is a bit too much reach for me....and the framelines are awful on the M8.

This has been my worry also. I finally got around to handling an M8 last week at Camerawest, and man did the 50 and 75 framelined area look tiny. I know part of that is going from 0.91x to 0.68x, but still, things looked very tight to me.