Upgrading from 50 hex to 50 cron ???

[awilder]

On my screen at home the differences were just noticable but all were relatively close. The slightly higher contrast and darker exposure of the 'cron probably gave it the small edge, at least to my eye. Focus of all three looked spot on.

 

[jja]

Thanks all for your comments, interesting to see the various takes on the images. Alan, I agree w/ your final comments re: contrast and exposure. Is it possible that the different lenses deliver slightly different exposure at F2? I couldn't figure out if the greater contrast of the Summicron was due to inherently greater contrast or darker exposure. The samples are large enough in the original to make comparisons; if I get a chance, I'll post 100%+ crops.

 

[awilder]

Thanks, I strongly agree that a cropped image would clear up any confusion if we were just comparing central sharpness. This is what I do when posting my test images of various lenses. Even if the results are more definitive, the test says nothing about performance outside the central zone where curvature of field and other aberration differences really kick in. If we were to take this into consideration, the ranking would differ from above depending on which aberrations bother the viewer most.

 

[jja]

I'll work on those central crops. In the meantime, here are the M-Hexanon, Summicron, Summilux, and now the Elmar-M at F2.8:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10229578@N00/sets/72157606180939320/

 

[jja]

I've added some fairly large central image point of focus crops to this set:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10229578@N00/sets/72157606175749801/

Best viewed as slideshow.

 

[35mmdelux]

While the Hex is a great and wonderful lens, the 50 Summicron is Leica's flagship. It is Leica's most researched and worked lens. Micro-fine detail corner-to-corner, compact, and highly functional sliding hood places this lens at the top of the food chain.

 

[WoolenMammoth]

I wouldnt view going from a hex to a cron as an upgrade at all. Both lenses are on an identical playing field. The hex is *such* a good lens, its kinda silly what it costs compared to a cron... I use mine for fashion work when I want something that is sharper than the rest of the stable.

 

[ferider]

You can count on Leica releasing a 50 Summicron ASPH soon. They are overdue. As said above the current 50/2 is a rather old design.

Roland.

 

[kevin m]

The only thing "wrong" with the Hexanon is that it doesn't take 39mm filters. 😛

 

[awilder]

Thanks for the crops JJA! They certainly confirm my original conclusion on just the central sharpness issue that some members seemed to take issue. The texture of the spiral design is a bit better defined on the 'cron owing to it's better microcontrast. This is what gives the image that extra "sparkle" as Erwin Puts mentioned in his lens evaluations from the Leica pocketbook. One suggestion I'd make would be to darken the exposure of both the Hexanon and 'cron to match the 'lux which seemed spot on. If you did this, the differences would become even more striking.

 

[drewbarb]

Go out and shoot a few rolls, and stop reading online. It'll pass.

 

[amateriat]

Interesting comparison, the conclusion for me being that the differences aren't really worth losing sleep over...unless losing sleep is a sporting thing for you. 😉

One of the things that I've always strived for when putting together a multi-lens camera system is a degree of of optical continuity. I've never much been into the idea of needing that 50mm lens for its unique wide-open bokeh rendering (not that bokeh is totally unimportant to me), or this 28mm lens because it possesses an MTF chart that's the dog's private parts. I want all my lenses to be good, of course, but I want them to be on the same page in terms of color rendition and contrast, and that mostly happens when the lenses in question are from the same "litter" for lack of a better term. (It also helps a little in terms of lens handling and "feel" when switching from one optic to another, but that's a bit trickier.)

When I decided the Hexar RF was going to be my Main Axe, I also decided that I would have just three lenses, all of them M-Hex: 28, 50 and 90. The 28 was my first lens, which I got together with my first HRF body, and it truly knocked me out in terms of quality...possibly the best 28 I've ever had, and I would say I've had a few damned good ones. The 50 came next, and didn't disappoint...nothing "stands out" to me about the 50, or, for that matter, the 28 or 90. They simply do what I expect a high-caliber lens to do, under all sorts of lighting conditions, and without surprises.

Microcontrast is good, but gestalt, for me, is gooder.


- Barrett

 

[EtoileFinder]

Thanks for all your comments. Finally I cure myself from the Leica haunting with a little bit of thinking and rationalization. I can always add more contrast in the printing. So my decision was to seek a 50mm lens which have a totally different signature. As I can't find a canon 1.2 for a decent price and the hex 50 1.2 is over my budget, I just purchased the sonnar zm.

 

[Andrew Sowerby]

Thanks for all your comments. Finally I cure myself from the Leica haunting with a little bit of thinking and rationalization. I can always add more contrast in the printing.

That makes a lot of sense. It's easier to add contrast than reduce it. Good call on the Sonnar. From what I've seen, it covers very different ground than the modern Hexanon and Summicron lenses.