Film Still Photography
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Vintage Cameras
    • Argus 75
    • Brownie Flash II
    • Contax G2
    • Ensign Selfix 820
    • FED-1 (PE0320)
    • Graflex Crown Graphic
    • Ihagee Exa
    • Leica M6
    • Nikon S2
    • Nikon F
    • Nikon F2
    • Nikon F3
    • Nikon FA
    • Olympus OM-1
    • Olympus OM-2 SPOT
    • Olympus Stylus
    • Pentacon Six
    • Pentax Spotmatic IIa
    • Rollei 35
    • Voigtlander 15mm ver III
    • Yashica C
    • Zeiss Ikon Nettar 515/2
  • Learning Composition
    • The Monochrome Diaries
    • Single & Multi Elements
    • Symmetry
    • Keep the Right Strong
    • Framing
    • Color in Composition
    • Deep Dive Bubble Man
    • Photo Assignments
  • Darkroom Lessons
    • Building a Sink
    • Air Ventilation
    • Analyser Pro
    • Development Hints
    • Primer for Film Photography
    • Bulk Loading Film
    • Pushing & Pulling Film
    • Color Development
    • Digital Contact Sheets
    • Stick to One Film Stock?
    • HP5+ Shot at 200 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 1600 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 3200 ISO
    • Medium Format
    • Washing Film
    • Split Grade Printing
    • Using Distilled Water in Film Development
    • Darkroom Paper
    • Foma100 EI 400
  • Photography Books & Films
    • Colin O'Brien
    • Lartigue Life in Color
    • Magnum Contact Sheets
    • Top Photography Movies
    • William Eggleston's Guide
    • Helen Levitt
    • Sally Mann Immediate Family
    • Saul Leiter Early B&W
    • Leica 100 yrs
    • Calendar Days of Asaya Hamaya
    • The Decisive Moment
    • Regarding Women
    • Robert Capa in Love and War
  • Single Image Deep Dive
    • Sergio Larrain "A Man After Dark"
    • Colin O'Brien 'Comings & Goings"
    • Erwitt Mother & Child
    • Man Running
    • Samuel Becket
    • Koudelka Wristwatch
    • Dovima with Elephants
Salzburg, Austria

"No place is boring if you've had a good night's sleep and a pocket full of film." - Robert Adams
​
"Tea first, then photography..." - Philip Lee Harvey

From an Article written by Philip Lee Harvey

Leica Summaron M28mm f/5.6

10/29/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Let me begin by saying that I like Leica.  The truth is that I love things built to exacting standards, high quality workmanship with high grade materials. Naturally Leica is one of my favorite photography brands. That is not to say that I love everything they do.

I own a Leica M6 and a Leica ME (simplified M9), both of which I purchased used and decent pricing. I have a single Leica Lens (90mm) and two Zeiss lenses (35mm and 50mm). The next lens I am planning on getting for this kit is a Voigtlander 15mm lens. Notice how I claim very little "Leica" brand things. The reason is simply the price.

So when Leica announced a new lens I was interested but due to previous sticker shock, I viewed it only as academic. Imagine my surprise when I found out that they lens is a 28mm f/5.6! I have long said that the ISO performance of sensors is improving so quickly that the "fast glass" becomes less important in the digital world (not so for film). Is Leica agreeing to this philosophy? 

No. Simply put Leica is tipping their hat to a classic lens and are trying to capture its character...this begs for a deeper look.

First question...what is the "character" of a lens? There are some lenses, that through their imperfections, create a pleasing rendition of a scene. This gives it a certain balance between sharpness, contrast and blur that is pleasing. This "lens effect" is indeed difficult to reproduce which is why we all have our favorite lenses. A perfect lens has no "character" because it renders the scene perfectly.

Second question...So every old, imperfect lens has character? Yes but this is not necessarily a good thing. I own a lens (which I will talk about some other time) which is absolute crap. Sure it is predictably crap but I would never say it has a pleasing character.

Third question...What does Leica say? 

"Frequently, photographers use lenses with a “vintage” signature to achieve particular effects that are difficult to reproduce, even with the most modern digital post-processing software. The Summaron wide-angle, now more than 50 years old, is a particularly popular and compact lens that has been recreated with an M-bayonet mount, 6-bit coding, and a slightly revised design."

This lens has obvious vignetting, something most lens makers try to avoid and the contrast is soft. A bit of lens flare of light and you have something that many will find pleasing.

Leica is possibly realizing that with all the digital photography quality and the software corrections that can be applied our photographic sensibilities are crying out for something different. The resurgence in film, retro design cameras and the "simplified" design 
ascetic is all evidence of this. Perhaps Leica realizes that photographers do not need perfection we need something that lets us shoot beautiful pictures. Sort of the search for the "perfect beauty found in its imperfections". 

I am not sure what was behind this lens release. I have not tried it so I cannot give a fair opinion about it. In fact the only thing I am sure of is that it will be priced beyond my budget so my study of these lenses will continue to be "just academic".
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Patrick...confirmed film & digital photography addict.

    Archives

    March 2023
    January 2023
    March 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from left-hand, Ant Jackson, Skley, mikecogh, Helen.Yang, TheeErin, Dean Hochman, CJS*64, DaveR1988, FootMassagez, Loco Steve, dmytrok, Christiaan Colen
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Vintage Cameras
    • Argus 75
    • Brownie Flash II
    • Contax G2
    • Ensign Selfix 820
    • FED-1 (PE0320)
    • Graflex Crown Graphic
    • Ihagee Exa
    • Leica M6
    • Nikon S2
    • Nikon F
    • Nikon F2
    • Nikon F3
    • Nikon FA
    • Olympus OM-1
    • Olympus OM-2 SPOT
    • Olympus Stylus
    • Pentacon Six
    • Pentax Spotmatic IIa
    • Rollei 35
    • Voigtlander 15mm ver III
    • Yashica C
    • Zeiss Ikon Nettar 515/2
  • Learning Composition
    • The Monochrome Diaries
    • Single & Multi Elements
    • Symmetry
    • Keep the Right Strong
    • Framing
    • Color in Composition
    • Deep Dive Bubble Man
    • Photo Assignments
  • Darkroom Lessons
    • Building a Sink
    • Air Ventilation
    • Analyser Pro
    • Development Hints
    • Primer for Film Photography
    • Bulk Loading Film
    • Pushing & Pulling Film
    • Color Development
    • Digital Contact Sheets
    • Stick to One Film Stock?
    • HP5+ Shot at 200 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 1600 ISO
    • HP5 Shot at 3200 ISO
    • Medium Format
    • Washing Film
    • Split Grade Printing
    • Using Distilled Water in Film Development
    • Darkroom Paper
    • Foma100 EI 400
  • Photography Books & Films
    • Colin O'Brien
    • Lartigue Life in Color
    • Magnum Contact Sheets
    • Top Photography Movies
    • William Eggleston's Guide
    • Helen Levitt
    • Sally Mann Immediate Family
    • Saul Leiter Early B&W
    • Leica 100 yrs
    • Calendar Days of Asaya Hamaya
    • The Decisive Moment
    • Regarding Women
    • Robert Capa in Love and War
  • Single Image Deep Dive
    • Sergio Larrain "A Man After Dark"
    • Colin O'Brien 'Comings & Goings"
    • Erwitt Mother & Child
    • Man Running
    • Samuel Becket
    • Koudelka Wristwatch
    • Dovima with Elephants