I have now shot about ten rolls of what I would call serious project work with my 24 lux asph and I am seriously bowled over by this lens. I initially bought it after struggling with a 21 2.8 ZM and 28 ZM photographing inside dark buildings. I found the 21 a touch too wide for what I wanted and seeing as I love 35mm, I did not want to carry three lenses but two. I was also only able to shoot at f2.8 using Delta 3200 at 1000 for decent shadow detail and often at a push. Now I am using this lens and Neopan 1600 at 500 for contrast control and the IQ is worlds better! A lot of the images have light streaming through windows into a dark interior so some seriously high contrast. Here are my views on the lens in use:
- The size is a non issue. Sure a M with 35 summarit balances better but...
- Focus is very smooth. Like others with floating element you hit a slight bump when the floating element engages but its hardly noticeable and then only rarely. Its no problem regardless.
- Sharpness is fantastic, contrast seems to be perfect all the time as if by magic. I really puzzled over a few frames where I could not believe how the shadow detail was there while strong sunlight lit parts of the frame were not blown.
- The images are very smooth. The detail is there, but they are creamy, the tonality is great and the images just look very balanced.
- Flare resistance is pretty good. I had one frame blown to smithereens by sun just on the edge of the frame (with hood) but the lighting was nasty and I expected trouble. its not as flare resistant as a ZM, thats for sure, but it is still more than good enough.
- Shooting it with a 0.58 body is working really well. I just frame in the knowledge that the capture area is a touch smaller than the entire viewfinder as I look through it. The entire VF on the 0.58 is about 22-23mm.
- Off centre sharpness and contrast is very good at f1.4 and f2 when shooting at medium distances. I have done little to no distance work with it apart from during an initial test when it was delivered to ensure all was well.
I have a good number of frames I could never have gotten on a slower lens, which is why I bought it. Looking through my negs, it has really opened up new possibilities and the frames show a creative variance that was not possible beforehand. Sure, there is no point in this lens for sunny outdoor work, but seeing as I will carry it about for poor lighting, I might sell the 21 2.8 and 28 ZMs as these two combined weigh the same as the 24 lux and I am hardly going to carry all three.
The 24-35 combo has turned out to be everything I had hoped for. With the crappy 28 frame lines in the 0.72 finder I figured there was nothing to lose with the full finder use of the 0.58. If anything it is less tight than using a 28mm on a 0.72 and it becomes instinctive quite quickly.
Now I need to wait for the new 35 lux to go with it. For now I am using a 35 summarit or f2 ZM Biogon, which works, but is lacking in speed of course. The signature of the Summarit and 24 lux are quite close and in terms of look they make a good pairing. I hope the new 35 lux asph II follows the same mould as these two.
This is by far the most expensive bit of kit I have bought, but I can honestly say that the pain is abating now that I am seeing the frames that were always beyond reach before and with such a beautiful signature to boot.
If you need the speed this lens is remarkable in every way. If Rockwell is correct and a 28 cron is sharper in the corners at infinity wide open, then so be it, but the 28 cron is neither as wide nor as fast. The 24 lux is for desperate people, but boy is it good at what its designed for. That extra stop will always be there, as will the wider angle of view.
For M9 users, I would be tempted to shoot this lens with an accessory finder, but also as a 28mm i.e. using the internal VF and expecting to crop a little off the resultant image if the image needs tightening up. Presumably you still get a bigger better file than when used on the M8 and nobody complained about this lens on that camera! When there is time to use the external VF, then it can be used as a full 24mm.
Its a cracking lens and I have managed to pull of a surprising number of new frames for the project because of what the lens made possible. Surely this is what it is about?
