Leica 80mm Summilux-R f/1.4 (ROM) 35mm Primes
Leica 80mm Summilux-R f/1.4 (ROM) 35mm Primes
USER REVIEWS
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[Mar 09, 2008]
klong
Intermediate
Strength:
Great bokeh, very sharp from f/4. Great and contrast
Weakness:
Price, soft at f/1.4. Vignetting at f/1.4 Great lens. Produces outstanding bokeh af f/1.4 and f/2, but is a bit soft until you stop it down to f/2.8, better yet f/4. Colors are very saturated and rich. The lens vignettes quite heavily at f/1.4. Also some CA but not too bad. Check the following for some reviews and samples http://slrlensreview.com/content/view/419/133/ , http://www.overgaard.dk/leica_80_summilux-R_14.html , Similar Products Used: Leica Summicron 90/2, Zeiss Planar 85/1.4 |
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[Apr 05, 2005]
leicabuff
Professional
Strength:
Well Made : Tight Focus : Precise in all functions. Impressive all the way both in feel and performance.
Weakness:
NONE This is a lens with some UNIQUE features. It is nice to hold, balances well with the camera and the pictures it delivers are totally STUNNING. I have tried it at night and it is superlative, even wide open. I have tried it in daylight, it is impressive. I compared it with my 50 Summicron R + 2X. 80 Summilux is much much superior. I sold the 50 & the 2X. I just keep two Leica R lenses, the 80 Summilux R and the 250/4. They both create wonders for me. I recommend this lens thoroughly. I tried it against the 75/1.4M lens. The M lens is not quite as good as this one and it is always hard to focus long lenses on Leica M bodies. I wish I knew what the secret is to get the focus right. My advice to anyone with a Leica R body is to have the 80 Summilux R lens, pay the price and be happy for ever. Customer Service None Needed. Similar Products Used: 85/1.4 Nikkor AF : 85/1.4 Contax for RTSIII. Nikkor is pretty good, but the plastic body of the AF/D does not enthuse me at all. Also tried the Summilux M 75/1.4. Not as good as the 80 R. |
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[Jun 04, 2003]
rodgerchee
Intermediate
Strength:
Mechanical,optics
Weakness:
heavy,tight focus ring and expensive To me, the working aperture of this lens starts from F2.5, which gives me portraits with sufficient sharpness and nice bokeh. Wide open is good for those soft images,which is not my taste. (Other people say you obtain too characters in one lens.) Apart from this, I am totally satisfied with its optical performance, especially when set at infinity. It gives me detailed description of objects that I never learn before. Customer Service None Similar Products Used: Minolta 85/1.4GD |
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[May 14, 2003]
anglelake
Intermediate
Strength:
RRRAZZZOR sharp images
Weakness:
NONE PAY THE PRICE AND BE HAPPY. Having a friend that owns a camera store in our city, I have tried every camera and lens in the last few years and my goal was to find the perfect image. Let me tell you this lens is better then 20 20 vision wow" wow" wow" Similar Products Used: NONE |
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[Sep 21, 2001]
DesignEdge
Intermediate
Strength:
Resolution, contrast but most of all, its bokeh
Weakness:
None except price (which is a complaint, not a weakness per se!) If you were to rely on lens test reviews, particularly the one by Chasseur d''''''''''''''''Image, you wouldn''''''''''''''''t even dream of buying this lens. Many may even put this in the same category as the Leica-M 50mm f/1.0 Noctilux and the Leica-M 75mm f/1.4: wildly extravagant and a "specialist" lens only for those who crave that "bokeh" effect. Some would even say you don''''''''''''''''t need a lens of this speed and that a 90mm f/2 would do, or that a 90mm Elmarit-R is lighter and cheaper and just as good. If they were all right, there would be no demand for this lens and Leica would have stopped producing it. I took a deep breath and decided to take the plunge when I saw this lens in mint condition in a second hand shop. The photos from the first roll of film filled me with awe (I shot with the lens wide open). The photos were sharp and contrasty but it really came into its own with close-ups in low light conditions. Centre sharpness was beyond reproach. The background had a liquid smooth bokeh and the characteristic colour gradation one associates with wide aperture fast lenses at f/1.4 Photos I took of a cat napping on a street corner captured every hair and whisker, and the fabulous striation of colour of its coat. It was sharp without being "sharply etched" - like how a good portrait should be. The lens is also easy to use for street photography - it focuses very quickly, unlike the Leica-M 75mm and the 100mm APO Elmarit-R which has a longer focusing turn. Customer Service None needed. Similar Products Used: Leica-M 90mm Elmarit, 75mm f/1.4, Leica 100mm APO Elmarit-R, Nikon AF-D 105mm Macro, Hasselblad CFi 120mm f/4 |
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[Jun 05, 2001]
Chiu Chan
Expert
Strength:
Very sharp and very good Colour reproduction
Weakness:
The Price is high I bought a used Leica 80mm Summilux-R f/1.4 (without ROM) 2 years ago. In order to compare it with other lens, I have done a lot of testing. After taking a huge rolls of films, I found its performance is over all other ones. It provides me more detials in shodow and very, very good colour reproduction. Customer Service Never Used Similar Products Used: Plannar 85f1.4, Nikkor AIS 85f1.4, Nikkor AI 105f2.5, Leica R90 f2 |
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[Aug 21, 2001]
Lim Joe
Intermediate
Strength:
Fast lens. Sharp and contrasty. Solid build with smooth operation.
Weakness:
Expensive. This lens killed my Japanese made lenses with similar focal lenght and speed when uses wide open. Customer Service Never uses before. Similar Products Used: Nikon, Minolta, Pentax, Minox, Contax. |