the new 25mm P lens from Cameraquest

dostacos

dostacos

Dan
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Mar 26, 2005
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Well they are in and I just sent Stephen the balance for the 25. Depending on shipping I should get it Monday or Tuesday [at least to the Post Office then have to sign for it the next day:( they have a habit of not checking to see if anybody is home to sign for it]

anyway looking forward to playing with the lens and R4M
 
Didn't see it listeed on his website. I'd be interested in seeing what it looks likes in addition to images taken with it. What's the widest aperture on it?
 
it is highlighted on the site in yellow
quote 25/4 P Leica M mount Rangefinder coupled! new rangefinder coupled version of screw mount lens in Leica Mount mount and new lens barrel much like the 35/2.5 PII. black only, sold without viewfinder for Bessa R4. end quote
 
Carzee said:
no pix of it yet.
size of the 35mm pancake?
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don't have it yet, probably will be here on Saturday [IF he actually rings the doorbell, most likely will leave the signature card in the box saying sorry we missed you:bang: ]

When I get it I will do some shots of it and the regular 25 and the small 35 mm
 
According to Chris Weeks website since you live in L.A. you should of gone down to Starbucks and picked up the lens from the head bartender himself. I hear they frequent the place quite often.:D
 
I hate to ask the obvious question and spoil this fine celebration, but here it is: What is the point of putting rangefinder coupling on a slow 25mm lens?

The laws of physics will tell you this is not necessary.
 
I have the uncoupled 25 and I thought the new lens was to be optically the same.

In use, it is possible to miss focus because you forget to move the scale focus on the lens; if it were coupled, this mistake would show in the viewfinder, I presume. This would be an advantage for me, as I've missed focus this way a "couple" of times.
 
gb hill said:
According to Chris Weeks website since you live in L.A. you should of gone down to Starbucks and picked up the lens from the head bartender himself. I hear they frequent the place quite often.:D
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yeah there are only about 1200 starbucks in the LA area :D
 
dostacos said:
don't have it yet, probably will be here on Saturday [IF he actually rings the doorbell, most likely will leave the signature card in the box saying sorry we missed you:bang: ]....
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Well there's your problem! Every one knows the postman always KNOCKS twice! ;)
 
sepiareverb said:
You should just go to the P.O. and ask for it!
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The lens will leave the Head bartender today and be in my post office probably after hours and on the truck for a Saturday delivery, if I was going to actually be home [having Mother's Day lunch with my oldest son & DinL or I would be at the box at 1:30 he IS a creature of habit:rolleyes: I also have a universal viewfinder for my T that is at the post office that will be picked up Monday unless I talk my wife into grabbing it for me tomorrow:eek:
 
David Murphy said:
I hate to ask the obvious question and spoil this fine celebration, but here it is: What is the point of putting rangefinder coupling on a slow 25mm lens?

The laws of physics will tell you this is not necessary.
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I don't know about the laws of physics, but the DOF calculator at www.dofmaster.com tells me that a 25mm lens at f/4 on my R-D 1 has a total DOF, when focused at a range of 1.5 m, of 0.24m in front and 0.35m in back.

That means that if I mis-guessed and the subject is actually 2m away instead of 1.5m, it will not be in focus.

Sure, maybe I could learn to be a better guesser -- but why guess when you've got a camera with a rangefinder built into it?
 
Yes, but....

Yes, but....

David Murphy said:
I hate to ask the obvious question and spoil this fine celebration, but here it is: What is the point of putting rangefinder coupling on a slow 25mm lens?

The laws of physics will tell you this is not necessary.
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IMHO.....The laws of parallax corrected viewfinder usage for close up shots trumps pure physics in this case. I have a feeling that for close-ups, this will come in very handy from time to time.

B2 (;->
 
Well, yes granted that *if* you shoot a lot at the near limit of the lens and *if* the lens is used wide open (or nearly so) most of the time and *if* you don't mind the horrific distortion of a wide angle on most subjects when used up close and *if* you've got a camera with a whooping bright and contrasty rangefinder patch that is very accurately calibrated and *if* you can't estimate a near distance at arms length within +/- 1.2 feet (or so), RF coupling may be handy!! Seems like a lot of "bucks" for a lot of "ifs".

(If you go and calculate more realistic shooting scenarios with a DOF calculator you will see that the 25/4 has remarkable DOF under most common conditions.)

On the other hand, no one is in the rangefinder lens/camera game for purely rational reasons (certainly not me) and we can always use more lenses, so actually I welcome it to the fold. I do think CV had a great idea though when they came up with the the original 25/4 which I own and adore. Its good quality and moderate price cracked what was previously an insanely overpriced market of lenses catering mostly to the photographic elite.
 
David Murphy said:
I hate to ask the obvious question and spoil this fine celebration, but here it is: What is the point of putting rangefinder coupling on a slow 25mm lens?

The laws of physics will tell you this is not necessary.
Click to expand...

I probably should have read the rest of the thread as to not repeat another member's answer, but because they R4 has an internal finder with framelines for a 25mm lens.

Yes, you can get along fine without the coupling, but with a big bright Bessa finder to light the way, now there is a compelling reason to redesign the prior 25mm lens.
 
I found the 25mm Snapshot Skopar excellent for "tourist" shooting, interior and exterior. But when I began a project of environmental portraits mostly in office interiors, it was not the best tool. I was generally at acceptable "portrait distance" from my subject, 4 feet or so, and the wide angle brought in the environment. Wide open, close up, had to work quickly... good focus and parallax were the issues that led me to choose other lenses instead. I got the 28mm Skopar to directly address this problem.

I'll still happily use the SS Skopar for other kinds of shooting, but I hesitate to get yet another 25mm f/4 just for the RF/parallax coupling. Might be sensible (for me) to look at the faster 25mm Biogon instead.
 
Doug said:
I found the 25mm Snapshot Skopar excellent for "tourist" shooting, interior and exterior. But when I began a project of environmental portraits mostly in office interiors, it was not the best tool.

I'll still happily use the SS Skopar for other kinds of shooting, but I hesitate to get yet another 25mm f/4 just for the RF/parallax coupling. Might be sensible (for me) to look at the faster 25mm Biogon instead.
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I have the old non-rangefinder Skopar and it is a great lens for tourist shooting as it is so compact. The new lens, I see as a replacement for the old one, not a replacement for a faster 25mm like the Biogon.

Rex
 
David Murphy said:
Well, yes granted that *if* you shoot a lot at the near limit of the lens and *if* the lens is used wide open (or nearly so) most of the time and *if* you don't mind the horrific distortion of a wide angle on most subjects when used up close and *if* you've got a camera with a whooping bright and contrasty rangefinder patch that is very accurately calibrated and *if* you can't estimate a near distance at arms length within +/- 1.2 feet (or so), RF coupling may be handy!! Seems like a lot of "bucks" for a lot of "ifs".
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A lot of us do use a wide-angle lens for dramatic foreground-vs-background perspective, "distortion" or no. And if you do a lot of indoor shooting, you're necessarily going to be at full aperture a lot -- especially since f/4 is not exactly blisteringly fast.

Besides, on a digital RF, 25mm isn't all that drastically wide, so in that context a 25 is more of a general-purpose focal length. It's particularly this factor that makes me think it was worth Cosina's while to redesign the lens to include RF coupling.
 
25P frameline on M8

25P frameline on M8

the 25P brings up the 35/135 frames on Leica M film cameras

or the 35/24 frameline on the M8

Stephen
 
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