Lens Test with RD-1 by a Newbie

[kkdanamatt]

I've been shooting pictures for more than 50 years, but I just got my first digital camera, an Epson RD-1 from a fellow RFF'r across the pond. Oh, I've taken thousands of digital pictures before this RD-1, but this is the first real digital camera that I can truly call my own. So I'm only a newbie to the RD-1. OK, got that out of the way.

I wanted to test some lenses for vignetting on the RD-1 as a comparison with shooting full frame film, because the frame edges are important to me, since I mainly shoot Tri-X with a 28mm lens (a Zeiss Biogon, BTW) on a Contax G-1.

I'm not Sean Reid or Erwin Puts, so please be kind to my primitive methodology. This is how I did it. I found a evenly illuminated off-white wall and shot from a distance of four feet with the 15 Heliar, the 21 Color-Skopar, the 40 Summicron-C, and the 50 Summicron-M. I shot all four lenses wide open, then at f/8, and then at the smallest aperture. Each photo is labeled with focal length and aperture.

Here is the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32030324@N06/

As you can see, the Leica 40 and 50 Summicrons show almost zero vignetting, while the C/V lenses vignette quite a bit. When I get some Zeiss and Leica extreme wide-angle lenses to try, I will repeat the same test. I also tested the C/V with Tri-X and they seem to be less prone to vignetting with film. I can't show the results from these tests because the negative scans are not visually accurate.

I would appreciate comments from those of you who have shot the C/V wides both on film and on the RD-1. Thanks.

 

[gliderbee]

I think your testprocedure is ok, but IMHO, it makes no sense comparing vignetting on wide-angle lenses (15-28mm) with near "normal" lenses (40mm and above). Wide-angles will almost always show more vignetting.

I think your conclusion up till now should be "wide-angles vignette more then normal lenses"; as you phrased it now, it sounds like there's a difference between brands. Maybe there indeed is, but your test doesn't show this, while your conclusion more or less implies it (or I'm too sensitive 😎).

Stefan.

I've been shooting pictures for more than 50 years, but I just got my first digital camera, an Epson RD-1 from a fellow RFF'r across the pond. Oh, I've taken thousands of digital pictures before this RD-1, but this is the first real digital camera that I can truly call my own. So I'm only a newbie to the RD-1. OK, got that out of the way.

I wanted to test some lenses for vignetting on the RD-1 as a comparison with shooting full frame film, because the frame edges are important to me, since I mainly shoot Tri-X with a 28mm lens (a Zeiss Biogon, BTW) on a Contax G-1.

I'm not Sean Reid or Erwin Puts, so please be kind to my primitive methodology. This is how I did it. I found a evenly illuminated off-white wall and shot from a distance of four feet with the 15 Heliar, the 21 Color-Skopar, the 40 Summicron-C, and the 50 Summicron-M. I shot all four lenses wide open, then at f/8, and then at the smallest aperture. Each photo is labeled with focal length and aperture.

Here is the link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32030324@N06/

As you can see, the Leica 40 and 50 Summicrons show almost zero vignetting, while the C/V lenses vignette quite a bit. When I get some Zeiss and Leica extreme wide-angle lenses to try, I will repeat the same test. I also tested the C/V with Tri-X and they seem to be less prone to vignetting with film. I can't show the results from these tests because the negative scans are not visually accurate.

I would appreciate comments from those of you who have shot the C/V wides both on film and on the RD-1. Thanks.

 

[LCT]

CV 15 and 21 vignette a lot on the R-D1.

 

[kkdanamatt]

I think your testprocedure is ok, but IMHO, it makes no sense comparing vignetting on wide-angle lenses (15-28mm) with near "normal" lenses (40mm and above). Wide-angles will almost always show more vignetting.

I think your conclusion up till now should be "wide-angles vignette more then normal lenses"; as you phrased it now, it sounds like there's a difference between brands. Maybe there indeed is, but your test doesn't show this, while your conclusion more or less implies it (or I'm too sensitive 😎).

Stefan.

Yes, Stefan. That's why I stated in my OP that I will repeat the test when I get some Zeiss and Leitz wide angles. What concerns and bothers me is that the C/V lenses vignette more on the reduced-sized sensor of the RD-1 than they do with 35mm full frame film.