Non-formal Testing of 85mm~105mm Lenses

VinceC said:
Separate finders really aren't too practical for telephotos. Close to 20 years ago I shot a Kiev and a Nikon S2 (just 50mm framelines) with telephoto lenses for awhile. I found that if you used a separate finder, it worked far better to frame first, then switch back to the RF patch and keep follow-focusing until the moment was right for taking the photo. This is the opposite of how to best handle wide-angles, where the focus isn't as critical.

I found that once I got used to the coverage of telephotos, I was pretty good at estimating framing using just the central RF patch and visualizing how the lens coverage differs from a 50mm lens. With an RF camera and parallax, telephoto shots (mine anyway) tend to be a little more loosely composed. I hardly ever crop my wide-angle or 50mm shots, but I do tend to crop the telephoto shots a bit to optimize their composition.
Click to expand...


Vince,
Your technique still would not work fully if you had a moving object, as I had with Dana. By the time I focus, she may be outside the frame. She kept on changing her sitting position on the chair.

Raid
 
She's generally centered in your tests, so I think you could use the external finder to get a very general sense of the lens coverage, then just worry about focus.

With my daughters, I try to keep one or both of their eyes in the rangefinder patch, or their face if they're further away. Precise composition isn't as important as getting and keeping them in focus. My Nikon S3 doesn't have parallax correction, just an etched frame for the 105. So composition is really a matter of just making sure you're not too framing too loose.
 
ferider said:
Raid,

the photos you just posted in the RFF gallery are really nice as well.
Like they say in France: in a few years you will have to keep a machine gun at home 🙂

Roland.
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Roland,
Thanks. They were taken with the Nikkor 85mm lens wide open [I think].
I always love that one scene in a movie on a Mafia father where he advises his daughter's date that he he needs her back before 10pm and that he happens to own a gun and a shovel ;-)

Raid
 
I just took another look at B&W (flare) photos taken with the black Elmar; they are also fuzzy like the colorphotos. This tells me that there is a defect in the lens.

Raid
 
The Canon 85/1.9 looks to be equally sharp as the Nikon 105/2.5 and the Summicron 90/2. It maybe is even sharper but hard to tell because they are close. I could be biased because I have one but I am looking really hard here. Great test so far Raid with more to look forward to. 😀 😀
 
John,
Yes, "our" Canon 85mm/1.9 came out shining.

I posted the same thread on PN to see if some of the bitter and closed minded idiots still show up there in the Leica Forum. Of course, the rest are great people there in that Forum. It has little to do with how they perceived my thread. It is their attitude. Some people seem to have nothing else on their minds except to whine and grumble and complain.
Thanks for having the RFF.


Raid
 
Raid, still have the itch for a Nikkor 85/2, now that you have compared it to your Canon 85/1.9? I honestly did not see a whole lot of difference between any of the lenses in the tests. It may be focusing difficulties or subject movement, but I personally would give the edge to your Canon over the Nikkor. I not not attempting to start a flame war- I have a couple of Nikkors in Contax RF mount, and they are great lenses.

I was especially interested in the Steinheil, only because I had never used one, or seen pictures taken with one. Great performance from a relatively unappreciated lens (at least as judged by eBay sale prices).

Looking forward to the B & W test shots.
 
>>I posted the same thread on PN to see if some of the bitter and closed minded idiots still show up there in the Leica Forum.<<

Looks like they did. Last time I checked, they were in a food fight over the Soviet/Zeiss 85.
 
The black Elmar needs some shimming to make it focus properly.
Maybe Brian Sweeney can help?


I have now added a roll of Ilford XP2 Super for the same set-up as with the color film. Things got more difficult here; Dana was getting bored; it started to rain and the sky turned dark, making an exposure at F 8.0 require shutter speed 1/2.

I was stretching things out too much in the test. I had only one shot per case,and it had to be done quickly. At speeds like 1/2 second,with Dana getting more and more bored, it was very hard to get a sharp photo consistently. I view the B&W shots as replicated for the color shots.


The black Elmar cameout consistently focused incorrectly, indicating a need for some shimming and not a need for cleaning. I used a light to shine through the lens and I could not seeany fogging or haze.

I hope that my simple way of testing the lenses has provided some of you with some useful indicators.


Raid
 
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FrankS said:
Well done Raid! That was a lot of work, thank you.
Bonus: you ended up with many lovely shots!
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Frank: Thanks. Yes, I got a few nice photos of my daughter.
The B@W shots may reveal the same patterns.

Raid
 
NIKON KIU said:
Double bonus: You got to use some lenses you didn't have!
My bonus: I got you infected with NAS which is a far more serious version of GAS😎 🙂
Kiu
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Kiu,

It depends on how serious the NAS is ...maybe you can help out making it less "damaging" :angel:

raid
 
VinceC said:
>>I posted the same thread on PN to see if some of the bitter and closed minded idiots still show up there in the Leica Forum.<<

Looks like they did. Last time I checked, they were in a food fight over the Soviet/Zeiss 85.
Click to expand...


Vinc,
Isn't it amazing that some of the guys simply enjoy talking about stupid unimportant things there.

Raid
 
dexdog said:
Raid, still have the itch for a Nikkor 85/2, now that you have compared it to your Canon 85/1.9? I honestly did not see a whole lot of difference between any of the lenses in the tests. It may be focusing difficulties or subject movement, but I personally would give the edge to your Canon over the Nikkor. I not not attempting to start a flame war- I have a couple of Nikkors in Contax RF mount, and they are great lenses.

I was especially interested in the Steinheil, only because I had never used one, or seen pictures taken with one. Great performance from a relatively unappreciated lens (at least as judged by eBay sale prices).

Looking forward to the B & W test shots.
Click to expand...


Mark,

I will not comment on any "itches"for the time being, but the Canon came out looking like a star. The Steinheil is a light and sharp lens. It is cheap and underappreciated.

I have posted B&W results.

Raid
 
raid amin said:
Mark,

I will not comment on any "itches"for the time being, but the Canon came out looking like a star. The Steinheil is a light and sharp lens. It is cheap and underappreciated.

I have posted B&W results.

Raid
Click to expand...

They are nice, Raid.

I could only see a difference between the Nikkor 85/2 and the Canon 85/2 (supposedly similar to the 1.9) in extreme conditions. Here are shots against "bad background" for the Canon. Left is a full picture, right a center crop ...

Roland.
 
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Raid ... Congrats on getting your daughter to stay in one place long enough to test all these lenses!!

The Nikkor 105 didn't seem all that sharp, however I liked the portrait feel of that lens over everything but the summicron ...
 
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