Leica Showcase MS-Optical 50/1.1 Sonnetar M mount

A couple more samples wide open.

Gas station on the way home...check out the lights in the top of the frame. Coma adjustment set to a little past 4m.
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One of my colleagues at work
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So far, I'm finding the lens tricky to nail the focus on my M9, but very rewarding when you do. The shallow depth of field wide open, combined with the very short focus throw makes it a real challenge to get the focus just right. I'm still trying to find the coma adjustment setting that will work best for me. My hit-to-miss ratio is skewed way toward the bad side, but I don't mind that for now.

This one worked well, I think.
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This one, not so much...check out the flare. I shot all of these at 1.1 with the hood attached.
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Chris, many claim 1.1 simply impossible on M9 LOL. That little coma adjuster directly effects the RF, I'm sure you know. Love those shots.

I shot these today especially for Brian:
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DSC00472 by unoh7, on Flickr

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DSC00470 by unoh7, on Flickr

I kinda missed this next one, but I still like it:
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DSC00469 by unoh7, on Flickr

Brian shoots an indoor exhibit and posts shots from that fairly often, so I thought I would try too. :)

The first two are at f/1.4ish, where this lens really gets going. Oh I did some landscapes too:

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DSC00485 by unoh7, on Flickr

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DSC00577 by unoh7, on Flickr

You never really get the edges like a modern Leica lens, but the centers can be quite crisp :)

Oh, these all on the A7M, the one with new thin CG.
 
uhoh7 said:
Chris, many claim 1.1 simply impossible on M9 LOL. That little coma adjuster directly effects the RF, I'm sure you know. Love those shots.

I shot these today especially for Brian:

Oh, these all on the A7M, the one with new thin CG.
Click to expand...

So now I want a lens, and I was using a friend's A7 with Canon 50/0.95 this past weekend.

I'm going to write some FORTRAN code to process M8 images. That always settles me down.
 
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Sonne by unoh7, on Flickr

Have you ever seen anything cuter? :)

The front group unscrews, Canon style, and then in the other hand you hold the rear housing, which contains the beautiful aperture, directly exposed, front side, and the rear element. It's obvious the housing must be aluminum, because this side is very very light. All weight seem to be in the large front group.

In this shot you also see the excellent hawks v3 M to E Close Focus adapter which has a locking helicoid, infinity adjustment, and is also very light. :)
 
I guess what I'm aiming for is for the lens to be optimized at f1.1-1.4 close up...and will live with the fact that I know I need to correct for back focus when shooting farther away and stopped down a bit. I did some test shots that aren't worth posting at further distances using the same "just past the red dot" Coma setting that gets my focus where I want it, up close. Focus is still perfect at 1.1, but past 4 meters at f2.0 and smaller I get some back focus. Next, I need to figure out where to put the coma adjustment to optimize focus for farther away at maybe f4.

My hardest challenge so far has been focusing on a wiggling infant...I have around 60 shots where I missed focus slightly (but the shots are still usable) to get just a few really nice ones. It's a lot easier to nail focus on stuff that doesn't move around...like the dog patiently waiting for a treat.
 
uhoh7 - can you tell me where you have your coma adjustment set for your M9 shots? For the landscapes? I think they look wonderful, and the focus seems to be just right.
 
ChrisBail said:
uhoh7 - can you tell me where you have your coma adjustment set for your M9 shots? For the landscapes? I think they look wonderful, and the focus seems to be just right.
Click to expand...

Well the ones on this page were taken with my A7.mod, so I had the coma adjustment past the infinity setting, which is the single dot past the 4m red dot. With M9 I am shooting just past the red dot in the same direction, other wise I have to back away from infinity to get it right. Which is no big deal of course.
 
Thanks for the input. I think we're on the same page. It's certainly nice to be able to fine tune the focus in this way, even if it takes a little practice to get it right. I'm hoping to use this lens a bunch this weekend when I go visit family. I'm only taking the Sonnetar on my M9 and my Summicron-C on the MP as a backup.

I should have some more portraits by Monday. :)
 
Thanks uhoh7. My focus was a little off, but it worked out. I aimed at the middle pineapples, but must've moved a little, or maybe it was because I forgot to put the 1.25 magnifier on the M9 before I went out the door.

I like the skiing pictures. I'm hoping to get some skiing in this year.
 

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