Just bought my dream lens. 28mm Summilux

[kshapero]

Great shots Michael, You got a lens that fits your eye. A window to the soul, indeed.

 

[Leica All Day]

Congratulations not only on owning the 28 Summilux, but on your ability to use it so effectively as well! These are great documentary shots of life in Thailand.

Where in Florida are you? I grew up in Miami. Northeast section.

Hello Rob I grew up in Fort Lauderdale but I haven't lived here in 25 years. I moved back to the area a year ago and it's OK.

Thanks a lot everybody, I am happy I got it. Here are some photos from the 28mm Summilux that I took in Myanmar a couple of years ago.

Aung San Suu Kyi on the front page of the paper.

[/url]Yangon by

Yangon
Yangon by

Yangon
Yangon by

cheers, michael

 

[silkyfeet]

really nice shots.

 

[Henry]

I would never have though about the 28mm as something I'd like until I spent years using an iPhone camera as my main travel device. It really changed my mind about how it can be used with composition. As always, I KNEW it was going to be one of Michael's posts. His images are so identifiable and thoughtfully composed. It's really a masterclass in what you can do with the 28. Can't wait to see what you produce with it.

 

[Pál_K]

Yangon, Myanmar

Beautiful photo, Michael.

 

[jjcha]

I also really like the one of the child on a train in particular. From the photos, seems obvious the 28mm lux is a well earned and will be well used purchase for you. Enjoy!

 

[Leica All Day]

I also really like the one of the child on a train in particular. From the photos, seems obvious the 28mm lux is a well earned and will be well used purchase for you. Enjoy!

Thanks Pál_K and jjcha, the train station in Yangon is one of my favorite places to photograph, it just feels right to me.

I am not sure how these two photos will look side by side, but they are of the same scene, just from different angles.
Yangon Central Railway Station

[/url]Yangon by

Yangon by

This is one of my favorite restaurants in Yangon, I have been eating here for years. The owner allows the workers to live/sleep there so they can send more money home each month and save on rent.
Yangon by

cheers, michael

 

[Leica All Day]

It's going to be a minute until I am able to post recent photos from this lens, I am currently sending my film to Precision Camera for developing and scanning, they are great and all, but I really need to find a lab in my area.

Yangon Central Railway Station

[/url]Yangon by

Female nun
Yangon by
Shwedagon Pagoda with young female novices
Yangon by

cheers, michael

 

[trisberg]

Would love to see some of your recent shots. In the meantime your older photos from Myanmar keeps us here. They are all wonderful. I'm really enjoying our work here. Thanks for posting these.

-Thomas

 

[Out to Lunch]

Before buying the rather large and expensive Summilux, have you compared its performance with the smaller and cheaper Summicron f/2 ASPH?

 

[Leica All Day]

Thanks Thomas, I'd like to get some recent photos from my lens too, it's just going to be a little longer than usual for me.

Before buying the rather large and expensive Summilux, have you compared its performance with the smaller and cheaper Summicron f/2 ASPH?

Hello Out to Lunch, no I didn't. I wasn't really interested in the 28mm Summicron, I wanted the 28mm Summilux.

cheers, michael

 

[fbf]

congrats. great pictures.

 

[Timmyjoe]

It's going to be a minute until I am able to post recent photos from this lens, I am currently sending my film to Precision Camera for developing and scanning, they are great and all, but I really need to find a lab in my area.
Female nun

[/url]Yangon by
Shwedagon Pagoda with young female novices
Yangon by

cheers, michael

Really love these two shots Michael. Are there any restrictions for taking pictures of the religious order?

Best,
-Tim

 

[Leica All Day]

Really love these two shots Michael. Are there any restrictions for taking pictures of the religious order?

Best,
-Tim

Thanks a lot Tim. After 12 years and around 25 visits to Myanmar I have never experienced any restrictions when it comes to taking those types of photos. Taking photos of the army and police is frowned upon and can lead to some unpleasant situations, which I have experienced first hand.

cheers, michael

 

[hendriphile]

Good shots, nicely exposed. I know these are not recent images, but do you recall whether you used reflective, incidental, in-camera, or manual metering?

 

[Leica All Day]

Good shots, nicely exposed. I know these are not recent images, but do you recall whether you used reflective, incidental, in-camera, or manual metering?

Thanks hendriphile, I use the in-camera meter 99% of the time. I do carry a sekonic meter with me when I am traveling, but I hardly ever use it. On this particular trip, I actually left my light meter in my room, along with the rest of my lenses and just carried my Leica m6ttl and the 28m Summilux everyday. It was the only lens I used on that trip.
cheers, michael

 

[Vince Lupo]

Your work is really super, Michael. Likely among the best on RFF (if not the best!).

I do have a 'business' question for you, if you don't mind -- what happens to your photos? Do you work for wire services? NGO's? Where does your work ultimately end up (to pay the bills I mean, if that's not being too intrusive)?

 

[rscheffler]

Fabulous photos Michael!

Congratulations on your 28mm f/1.4.

For my Leica M6, the 35mm f/1.4 Distagon is my dream lens.
I often pair my 35mm f/1.4 with a 21mm f/1.4 Leitz.
I have never considered a 28mm for my M6 because for my tastes, the 28 is too close in focal length to my 21 and 35.

I look forward to learning how your 28mm f/1.4 affects your shooting style.

21 & 35 spacing certainly makes sense. From my own experience with the 21/1.4, which was a mainstay lens for me on the wide end for many years, after getting the 28/1.4, my use of the 21 dropped precipitously, to the point where I probably should have sold it some time ago. I find 28 is usually wide enough for me in low light situations and pairs better with 50mm, which I also like a lot. I can't speak for Michael but yes, the 28/1.4 affected my shooting style. When I use a 21 now, it's usually in daylight and its the SEM instead of the Lux.

From a technical perspective, the 28/1.4 benefits from being a more recent design than the 21/1.4 and is generally sharper wide open and has considerably less wavy field curvature and the corresponding drop in sharpness in the mid-zone region. My experience with the 21/1.4 taught me to generally avoid subject placement in the rule of thirds zones if sharpness was important and the lens was not stopped down much. This hasn't been an issue with the 28. I also prefer the focus tab included with the 28 compared to its exclusion from the 21, where the focus ring and aperture ring are too similar in feel and too close together. But that's not to say the 21/1.4 is bad. If you know its sweet spots, the rendering is great and sharpness is sufficient. IMO the 28 is just that much better (from a technical perspective).

There was a question about the 28 Cron. I had the v1 for about 5-6 years before the 28 Lux and it was one of my primary use lenses. Definitely smaller and less vf blockage than the Lux. The Cron was sharp and I loved its subject separation and background rendering at nearer shooting distances, but the v1 had a fair amount of field curvature (though not wavy like many Luxes), which meant sharpness didn't hold across planar subjects shot at or near wide open (for some this might not be important). The v2 improved on this somewhat, but I personally had two bad copies of the v2 with very strong field curvature, that others apparently haven't observed with their copies. That bad experience led me to the Lux. Yes, the Lux is a relatively large lens (for a Leica M) but I found its multifaceted capabilities an acceptable tradeoff. I use it in any situation in which I use my Leica that calls for 28mm... low light through to stopped down full sun shooting. IMO it handles it all well and I don't feel I've lost any optical performance compared to the Cron v1 (though each have great but somewhat different rendering). Other than the larger size and odd-for-Leica 49mm filter size (but thankfully not an obsolete "Series" type filter used by the 24 and 21 Luxes) the only catches with the 28 Lux (IMO) are a tendency to flare in certain backlit situations and fairly strong purple fringing at or near wide open with high contrast transitions (probably more a digital than film problem).

 

[MikeL]

It's going to be a minute until I am able to post recent photos from this lens, I am currently sending my film to Precision Camera for developing and scanning, they are great and all, but I really need to find a lab in my area.

Plenty of labs in SF Bay Area, when are you coming back?
😉