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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Leica R's on the Scarlet...

Jeffrey Loewe

Jeffrey Loewe

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I've been blundered at what to do with lenses on the Scarlet for the longest time. Some of my Canon's weren't giving me the results I wanted, I really liked what I read about Leica R's and really liked the look they gave in the few examples I had seen. I started with the 50 2.0 and 24 2.8. I'll be picking up the 28 2.8, 35 2.0 and 80 1.4 all here shortly as well from an old Leica employee who is hooking me up here in Colorado. Anyways, here are some of the results I got. I'm shooting a bunch of shots for a pitch to a short film that a friend of mine and I want to do.

I'll have some video to supplement this shortly once I return from NY on the 11th. That will involve flares, m4's, and gas masks....

This is with the 50 2.0 at 2.8 and 800 ISO. I know they're not perfect but it was pretty quick and dirty to get out and get the shot! Just though i'd share. I love the lenses though.

Tina_4.jpg

Tina_3.jpg

Tina_2.jpg

Tina_1.jpg


Update:

So been in NY for two days doing some more tests and shoots with these lenses. I'll post more later once I've shot a bit more. Here is a still frame from an HDR timelapse I shot:

HDR.jpg


These are blended. This is with the 24 2.8. The sky was to bright to shoot it normally so I used HDR to blend the shot and make it work. Finally got some results I liked. Needs more treatment, was just putting something together for the guy I am doing the shoot for here.

Here are a couple of still grabs from motion while shooting the 50 2.0 during the OAR concert:

LeadSinger.jpg


Sax.jpg


and last for now a still of the bass player with the 24 2.8.

Bass.jpg


I also played with the 80 1.4 a bit and really liked it but haven't gotten to grab anything from it yet. Very happy with these lenses still.
 
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How were you able to mount the Leica's to your Canon Mount? Is it just because it was shot at night that the images don't seem as sharp as you would expect from Leica?
 
ryanpostas said:
How were you able to mount the Leica's to your Canon Mount? Is it just because it was shot at night that the images don't seem as sharp as you would expect from Leica?
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I'm assuming he was shooting wide open, as it was at night, and generally most lenses are soft wide open. Especially 50mm still lenses. My Contax 50 1.4 is noticeably soft wide open. Its quite a beautiful look, really. Can be quite dreamy.

And if you look at the SALT tests that were just done, you'll see that not all Leica's are "sharp". Even Mathew Duclos posted recently that there's more to the Leica lenses than sharpness, as many of them don't do great on standard MTF charts. But Leica's nonetheless have their own very beautiful look that goes beyond the MTF's and sharpness, and needs to be appreciated for what it is. Unique, and awesome.

That being said, I'm more of a zeiss man myself.

haha.
 
Nick Morrison said:
I'm assuming he was shooting wide open, as it was at night, and generally most lenses are soft wide open. Especially 50mm still lenses. My Contax 50 1.4 is noticeably soft wide open. Its quite a beautiful look, really. Can be quite dreamy.

And if you look at the SALT tests that were just done, you'll see that not all Leica's are "sharp". Even Mathew Duclos posted recently that there's more to the Leica lenses than sharpness, as many of them don't do great on standard MTF charts. But Leica's nonetheless have their own very beautiful look that goes beyond the MTF's and sharpness, and needs to be appreciated for what it is. Unique, and awesome.

That being said, I'm more of a zeiss man myself.

haha.
Click to expand...

I was shooting at 2.8. They're not the sharpest images I've ever gotten but there is a sharp part of the image. I'm much happier with these results than I have been with any Canon lenses. This like I said was pretty quick and dirty. They look alot sharper for me on my full sized ones for some reason.

How were you able to mount the Leica's to your Canon Mount? Is it just because it was shot at night that the images don't seem as sharp as you would expect from Leica?
Click to expand...

I used a cheap adapter for the time being and it works fine. I can't afford to use the Letiax adapter on each lens.

Like Nick said they won't be the sharpest, but the image seems smoother to me overall. The areas that are soft and out of focus aren't as obviously out of focus like on a Canon lens IMO. All of the images have a point that is sharp. Sometimes with Canon's that would never happen in my experiences.

Looking very good! I especially like the third picture.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jesper.
 
Grabs posted here never look sharp to me at all and I'm never sure why. I think I'm not interpreting them right.
 
DOF is a bit shallow for me... but I love the look of the R's
 
Hey Jeffrey!

Fantastic, and congratulations! You just have to love that dreamy, creamy, cinematic, Leica look huh! I certainly do. Don't vintage lenses look particularly gorgeous with RED?

On the discussion point, unlike some image that have been posted, these images are not soft, beyond what Nick said that they are pretty wide open, Jeffreys shooting tight, and it's low light.
It's just very shallow depth of field being used. And I would hazard there's no sharpening done here either? Also as the focus doesn't always line up with where the eye is naturally drawn to in the frame, they may tend to emphasise the areas outside the focal plane a bit more.
Such as the first shot where you can see the hair is sharp, but as soon as you start to come off that first edge of the cheek it starts to fall off. But as your eyes are most drawn to her face and the negative space where she's looking up, and not the jacket and hair,
it looks soft or our of focus. You could certain say her face is soft or out of focus, but thats just where Jeffrey's focus has fallen while he was working quick and dirty. Pretty fantastic for quick and dirty. You see worse images on theatre screens all the time.

I think they look gorgeous. Flavour, mood and beauty... In short character. And you really know it when it's missing from shots and I can see why your so much happier Jeffrey.

Best Wishes

Lliam
 
Anthony Vu said:
Very cool test Jeff.

Not sure if you have the time, but I'd love to see a chart test (color and sharpness) with a Canon and a Leica lens. Just for my own curiosity. :)
Click to expand...

I can at some point. I'm pretty short on Canon lenses at this point in time though. When I get with another guy that has Canon lenses I'll do some tests. Thanks for the compliments though. I do think these have a different color though. I can't describe what they do but I'm much happier with them. I'm not super knowledgeable as most on lenses. I'm learning, I just know I like them and I don't find myself using my focus assist nearly as much even though I should. I can usually nail a shot without using it. Canon's it was always a mystery with.

Tell that young lady not to smoke.
Click to expand...

She actually quit after we started dating 3 years ago. She only did it for this test.

Looks good Jeffrey!! I love the milky look of Leica lenses
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Thanks Wade! When are you on the front range again. I'll let you give them a go!

Hey Jeffrey!

Fantastic, and congratulations! You just have to love that dreamy, creamy, cinematic, Leica look huh! I certainly do. Don't vintage lenses look particularly gorgeous with RED?

On the discussion point, unlike some image that have been posted, these images are not soft, beyond what Nick said that they are pretty wide open, Jeffreys shooting tight, and it's low light.
It's just very shallow depth of field being used. And I would hazard there's no sharpening done here either? Also as the focus doesn't always line up with where the eye is naturally drawn to in the frame, they may tend to emphasise the areas outside the focal plane a bit more.
Such as the first shot where you can see the hair is sharp, but as soon as you start to come off that first edge of the cheek it starts to fall off. But as your eyes are most drawn to her face and the negative space where she's looking up, and not the jacket and hair,
it looks soft or our of focus. You could certain say her face is soft or out of focus, but thats just where Jeffrey's focus has fallen while he was working quick and dirty. Pretty fantastic for quick and dirty. You see worse images on theatre screens all the time.

I think they look gorgeous. Flavour, mood and beauty... In short character. And you really know it when it's missing from shots and I can see why your so much happier Jeffrey.

Best Wishes

Lliam
Click to expand...

Thanks Lliam. I think you nailed it. I have a hard time describing what I liked about them. I really want to build up a collection between Zeiss and Leica and really see which I like. I found an unbelievable deals that pretty much forced me into the Leica's. I think they both can be cool and really good for different projects. I guess for me I've been looking for lenses that gave me the look I really wanted Leica nailed it.

I should come down to Australia so we can compare them :)

best,
Jeffrey
 
Joseph Coleman said:
would love to see some motion from these lens's, I'm still in between the contax ziess and leica. I may just have to build 2 sets....
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It looks good. I'll have some in a few days involving Sky Scrapers and Gas Masks/M4's/Chainsaws/Flares.... separate of course.
 
Hi Jeffrey

Last time we communicated we were both awaiting Scarlets.

Anyway Leicas "R"'s are great lenses & they are comparitively affordable ...at least for now. I wouldn't get to hung up on Canon L glass but would encourage you to maybe consider Samyang/Rokinon alternates if your watching dollars, they are fast & well made. Duclos lenses did a review between the Zeiss 35mm & the Samyang 35 makes for very interesting reading. They also have a good write up on Leica's.
 
Mike Garrick said:
Hi Jeffrey

Last time we communicated we were both awaiting Scarlets.

Anyway Leicas "R"'s are great lenses & they are comparitively affordable ...at least for now. I wouldn't get to hung up on Canon L glass but would encourage you to maybe consider Samyang/Rokinon alternates if your watching dollars, they are fast & well made. Duclos lenses did a review between the Zeiss 35mm & the Samyang 35 makes for very interesting reading. They also have a good write up on Leica's.
Click to expand...

Mike I did read that awhile ago. Like stated originally, I got a heck of a deal on the 5 lenses i'll have in my kit. 24 2.8, 28 2.8, 35 2.0, 50 2.0, and 80 1.4 (all for under 2 grand). It was hard to pass this deal up. I'm going to be patient to fill out the rest of it with other lenses such as the 60 2.8, and probably the 90 2.0, 100 2.8 and 135 2.8 as time goes along.
 
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