had to disable for a while.
taffer
void
Impressive set of tests. Thanks Sean and Jorge for hosting them, will take advantadge of the connection at work tomorrow during the (long) coffee time.
Meleica
Well-known
I have a T-1 connection, and these files are loading VERY SLOW........a modem will never get them.....
Also, Sean - thank you for your efforts !
Can you summarize your thoughts from these tests on each lens ( or perhaps you have already ? )
Also, Sean - thank you for your efforts !
Can you summarize your thoughts from these tests on each lens ( or perhaps you have already ? )
I will reset the router now. hang tight. Please let m eknow if its any netter. This is a 1 meg line and should load fast.
mac_wt
Cameras are like bunnies
This looks very interesting, but the pics load to slow for me to view them. Maybe you could add some medium size versions?
Wim
Wim
einolu
Well-known
poor child! 
Jim Watts
Still trying to See.
They seem to be downloading fairly quickly for me at this time. Brief look so far shows no real losers here as far as I'm concerned.
Hope your daughter got a good modeling fee for this Sean.
Hope your daughter got a good modeling fee for this Sean.
S
Sean Reid
Guest
These tests form an appendix, of sorts, to the review I'm writing for Luminous-Landscape. They'll make more sense, likely, in the context of the review. It's a very long piece and I'm still revising it.
Huck Finn
Well-known
Still very slow, Jorge.
S
Sean Reid
Guest
Hi Jim,
My daughter was a real trooper. She's posed many times before for tests (tests only, because my own photography doesn't involve posing) and she knew this one was going to take a long time. She held her chin in her hands to keep a constant distance from the lens and knew that she didn't need to hold some kind of fake smile for these pictures. Instead, she was free to look the way she felt..a little tired, a little bored. She's a young photographer herself though and she understands what the tests are for. The two of us together chose the objects for the foreground and background so as to give the lenses interesting things to draw. Of her own choice, she sometimes comes with me on architectural shoots and helps with lighting and prop arrangement choices. Nine years old and quite a kid...
Cheers,
Sean
My daughter was a real trooper. She's posed many times before for tests (tests only, because my own photography doesn't involve posing) and she knew this one was going to take a long time. She held her chin in her hands to keep a constant distance from the lens and knew that she didn't need to hold some kind of fake smile for these pictures. Instead, she was free to look the way she felt..a little tired, a little bored. She's a young photographer herself though and she understands what the tests are for. The two of us together chose the objects for the foreground and background so as to give the lenses interesting things to draw. Of her own choice, she sometimes comes with me on architectural shoots and helps with lighting and prop arrangement choices. Nine years old and quite a kid...
Cheers,
Sean
Huck Finn
Well-known
Sweet! :angel:
S
Sean Reid
Guest
BTW, these are level ten JPEGs (set intentionally to that level in order to preserve quality). Maybe we should also post the zip file that contains all the pictures?
Sean
Sean
S
Sean Reid
Guest
Jorge,
If you want to make the zip file available for download, let's just add the following to the text on the index page:
"You may also download a zip file containing all of these pictures by clicking here".
The word "here" would of course link to the zip file.
Sean
If you want to make the zip file available for download, let's just add the following to the text on the index page:
"You may also download a zip file containing all of these pictures by clicking here".
The word "here" would of course link to the zip file.
Sean
S
Sean Reid
Guest
Lens tests on this page include:
Voigtlander 35/1.2 Nokton
Voigtlander 40/1.4 Nokton
Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton
Canon 35/1.5
Canon 35/2.0
Canon 50/1.2
Canon 50/1.4
Canon 50/1.8
Leica 35/1.4 Summilux Aspherical
Leica 50/2.0
Zeiss 35/2.0 Biogon
Voigtlander 35/1.2 Nokton
Voigtlander 40/1.4 Nokton
Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton
Canon 35/1.5
Canon 35/2.0
Canon 50/1.2
Canon 50/1.4
Canon 50/1.8
Leica 35/1.4 Summilux Aspherical
Leica 50/2.0
Zeiss 35/2.0 Biogon
jlw
Rangefinder camera pedant
I downloaded all the files last night (so apologies to anyone who found the site running a bit slow during that time -- probably my fault for hogging all the bandwidth!)
My immediate observations:
-- Sean's got a VERY patient 9-year-old there! You didn't let her sample some of that wine, did you?
-- I wish I could shoot in b&w all the time.
-- This was a great test scene -- it really gives me a good idea of the kinds of results I might expect from the kinds of subjects I like to photograph. You can evaluate eyelash sharpness (which I admit is what I always look for, non-definitive though it is); appearance of OOF areas; highlight "blooming" (white napkin), etc.
-- I wish the 35/1.7 Ultron (from Sean's previous review) could have been included in this test set, so we could compare it directly to the ones in this group, but I realize you have to draw the line somewhere.
-- Maybe I'm a pleb, but at f/8 almost all the lenses seem very close in performance, and even at full aperture I can't see any advantage for the 50 Summicron over the 50 Nokton, for example.
-- Some of the worst-performing lenses (e.g. Canon 35/1.5) produced the prettiest-looking results.
-- The big question I was hoping this test would answer was whether I'd see any improvement in fine detail and "microcontrast" if I were to spring for a 50/1.5 Nokton as a replacement for my current Canon 50/1.4. It looks as if the answer is yes, but it took a pretty darn close study to see the differences.
Overall, well worth the download if you're interested in any of these lenses, or just in the "look" of oldies vs. current lenses on the R-D 1.
My immediate observations:
-- Sean's got a VERY patient 9-year-old there! You didn't let her sample some of that wine, did you?
-- I wish I could shoot in b&w all the time.
-- This was a great test scene -- it really gives me a good idea of the kinds of results I might expect from the kinds of subjects I like to photograph. You can evaluate eyelash sharpness (which I admit is what I always look for, non-definitive though it is); appearance of OOF areas; highlight "blooming" (white napkin), etc.
-- I wish the 35/1.7 Ultron (from Sean's previous review) could have been included in this test set, so we could compare it directly to the ones in this group, but I realize you have to draw the line somewhere.
-- Maybe I'm a pleb, but at f/8 almost all the lenses seem very close in performance, and even at full aperture I can't see any advantage for the 50 Summicron over the 50 Nokton, for example.
-- Some of the worst-performing lenses (e.g. Canon 35/1.5) produced the prettiest-looking results.
-- The big question I was hoping this test would answer was whether I'd see any improvement in fine detail and "microcontrast" if I were to spring for a 50/1.5 Nokton as a replacement for my current Canon 50/1.4. It looks as if the answer is yes, but it took a pretty darn close study to see the differences.
Overall, well worth the download if you're interested in any of these lenses, or just in the "look" of oldies vs. current lenses on the R-D 1.
Jim Watts
Still trying to See.
Much slower now. So I guess it depends on the demands on the server and slows when all you people in the U.S. start to come online. I think I'll wait to dowload the zip file (if /when available) at about 9.00am BST U.K. time.
Last edited:
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Sean Reid
Guest
"-- Sean's got a VERY patient 9-year-old there! You didn't let her sample some of that wine, did you?"
No, this isn't France <G> She just understood what I was doing and was willing to help. She acted in a movie last year and that took even more patience than this.
"-- I wish I could shoot in b&w all the time."
I pretty much do unless shooting for a client.
"-- This was a great test scene -- it really gives me a good idea of the kinds of results I might expect from the kinds of subjects I like to photograph. You can evaluate eyelash sharpness (which I admit is what I always look for, non-definitive though it is); appearance of OOF areas; highlight "blooming" (white napkin), etc."
Good. We created the test scene and I thought it was a good match for lenses designed to work in existing low light.
"-- I wish the 35/1.7 Ultron (from Sean's previous review) could have been included in this test set, so we could compare it directly to the ones in this group, but I realize you have to draw the line somewhere."
I added it to the test part way through so it wasn't part of the Fullerton Inn pictures. It will be in the other set, though.
"-- Maybe I'm a pleb, but at f/8 almost all the lenses seem very close in performance, and even at full aperture I can't see any advantage for the 50 Summicron over the 50 Nokton, for example."
Wait till you read the final review. In terms of sharpness across the frame, micro-contrast, etc., the Nokton tops everything except the Leica 50/1.4 Asph. It even betters that lens in the outer zones.
"-- Some of the worst-performing lenses (e.g. Canon 35/1.5) produced the prettiest-looking results."
Well, of course, some of these are your very own lenses so this info. is especially helpful to you perhaps. I talk a lot about this sort of issue (the drawing) in the review.
"-- The big question I was hoping this test would answer was whether I'd see any improvement in fine detail and "microcontrast" if I were to spring for a 50/1.5 Nokton as a replacement for my current Canon 50/1.4. It looks as if the answer is yes, but it took a pretty darn close study to see the differences."
You'll see them more readily once you compare pictures in various settings/lighting. That said, the 50/1.4 really does well for an oldie.
Cheers,
Sean
P.S. Some day I'll actually finish this article.
No, this isn't France <G> She just understood what I was doing and was willing to help. She acted in a movie last year and that took even more patience than this.
"-- I wish I could shoot in b&w all the time."
I pretty much do unless shooting for a client.
"-- This was a great test scene -- it really gives me a good idea of the kinds of results I might expect from the kinds of subjects I like to photograph. You can evaluate eyelash sharpness (which I admit is what I always look for, non-definitive though it is); appearance of OOF areas; highlight "blooming" (white napkin), etc."
Good. We created the test scene and I thought it was a good match for lenses designed to work in existing low light.
"-- I wish the 35/1.7 Ultron (from Sean's previous review) could have been included in this test set, so we could compare it directly to the ones in this group, but I realize you have to draw the line somewhere."
I added it to the test part way through so it wasn't part of the Fullerton Inn pictures. It will be in the other set, though.
"-- Maybe I'm a pleb, but at f/8 almost all the lenses seem very close in performance, and even at full aperture I can't see any advantage for the 50 Summicron over the 50 Nokton, for example."
Wait till you read the final review. In terms of sharpness across the frame, micro-contrast, etc., the Nokton tops everything except the Leica 50/1.4 Asph. It even betters that lens in the outer zones.
"-- Some of the worst-performing lenses (e.g. Canon 35/1.5) produced the prettiest-looking results."
Well, of course, some of these are your very own lenses so this info. is especially helpful to you perhaps. I talk a lot about this sort of issue (the drawing) in the review.
"-- The big question I was hoping this test would answer was whether I'd see any improvement in fine detail and "microcontrast" if I were to spring for a 50/1.5 Nokton as a replacement for my current Canon 50/1.4. It looks as if the answer is yes, but it took a pretty darn close study to see the differences."
You'll see them more readily once you compare pictures in various settings/lighting. That said, the 50/1.4 really does well for an oldie.
Cheers,
Sean
P.S. Some day I'll actually finish this article.
Had to remove the link. It was taking up quite a bit of bandwidth. Will lookinto relinking later.
S
Sean Reid
Guest
I was afraid of that. I had some other offers for hosting, should we try another server?
Cheers,
Sean
Cheers,
Sean
driggett
Established
I can still offer up Apple's .mac service.