mark1958 wrote:
I am really surprised by the differences using second shutter... So to clarify -- is there a difference at lower shutter speeds?
I also have to say --- a substantial tradeoff in Bokeh for a little more center sharpness.
The second shutter on/off with the 55mm while a little difference-- not sure one is necessarily nicer or better than the other.. Not true with the 50mm wide open. I am not home but i would like to try the 85mm at 1.4 shutter on and off to see what happens
Yes, I believe the wider the aperture the stronger the side-effect.
Wow; thanks Jannik, Fred and Snapsy! How good are these forums? Issue diagnosed and retested all while I was asleep!
For my uses probably still not going to shell out for the 1.4; but it's that bit more compelling than we thought and is going to make a lot of people happy!
One remaining issue is whether the theoretical resolution advantage that the manufacturer MTFs show for the 55 at f8 over the 50 is visible in the real world.
I just tested this using a variable ND filter and the shutter-speed cut-off seems to be around 1/1000s for EFCS set to "on". So, whenever shooting at slower shutter speeds 1/1000s, this is a non-issue. The biggest difference in smoothness was when shooting above 1/2000s though.
Shutter speeds faster than 1/1000s will benefit from switching EFCS to 'off' for smoother rendering at f/1.4.
DavidBM wrote:
Wow; thanks Jannick, Fred and Snapsy! How good are these forums? Issue diagnosed and retested all while I was asleep!
For my uses probably still not going to shell out for the 1.4; but it's that bit more compelling than we thought and is going to make a lot of people happy!
One remaining issue is whether the theoretical resolution advantage that the manufacturer MTFs show for the 55 at f8 over the 50 is visible in the real world.
Some preliminary conclusions from this high contrast lighting test:
1) Both wide-open, the 55/1.8 out-of-focus rendition is smoother even when compared to the 50/1.4 ZA when the background is close to the subject. Whenever the background is further away, the advantage goes to the faster lens.
2) The 50/1.4's OOF rendition at f/1.7 is less harsh when compared to wide open.
Update: The 50/1.4's OOF rendition at f/1.7 is less harsh when compared to wide open. This is only the case with shutter speeds faster than 1/1000s and EFCS set to "On".
3) The 50/1.4 is much better corrected for CA and LoCA. Actually amazing performance. The 55/1.8 and Loxia 50/2 are pretty similar when it comes to LoCA control.
4) The 50/1.4 ZA and FE 50/1.8 ZA are very comparable wide-open in terms of sharpness but the 50/1.4 has higher micro-contrast. (Loxia comes in second)
5) The 50/1.4 at f/1.7 is noticeably sharper than at f/1.4. I'd say it's the sweet spot for smooth bokeh rendering and sharpness. f/5.6 is the sweet spot for sharpness across the field at infinity.
Fred Miranda wrote:
Wow, EFCS was indeed the issue with the 50/1.4 ZA rendering weirdness when shot wide-open!
The combination of high shutter speeds (I made sure to have it above 1/2000s) and "EFCS" set to "On" should not be used with this lens at f/1.4. The effects are not an issue at f/1.7 or smaller apertures.
Look at these 1:1 crops showing EFCS "On" (LEFT) and EFCS "Off" (RIGHT) at f/1.4
Wow, now that's more like it! More what I would have expected. Fascinating discovery re. the electronic shutter...
Okay Im on the road and Fred emailed me to turn the EFSC off. So I pulled over and shot some junkyard cars. Look at the EXIF data but I did run apertures on these and Ill post them later tonight. Gotta get some dinner , long day driving. Now these are handheld i do not have my tripod with me and I was in the Panhandle of Texas which I felt like a fly in the wind. Really gusty but i nailed them and yes 1.7 is brilliant like the 85 GM but 1.4 is the best 1.4 I have seen on center. Check these out Ill post more in a bit
Great samples Guy. I'm glad you turned off EFCS for these shutter speeds.
I agree that at f/1.7, this lens is unbeatable. The 55/1.8 can't touch it at f/1.8 even adding more contrast in post.
Fred Miranda wrote:
Great samples Guy. I'm glad you turned off EFCS for these shutter speeds.
I agree that at f/1.7, this lens is unbeatable. The 55/1.8 can't touch it at f/1.8 even adding more contrast in post.
Oh and thanks for that email. That was timely by about 10 minutes till i got to that spot.
AGeoJO wrote:
As far as the bokeh at wide open concerned, I prefer the "mini" Otus aka the f/1.8 lens . I could have sworn it would be the other way around. It is weird though the bokeh becomes smoother as you stop down the aperture of the f/1.4 lens a bit. Who knows why!
Kudos to Fred for figuring out what he did about EFCS - better bokeh stopped down a bit (0.3-1 stops) is pretty common. In my experience, it's the default. There are exceptions, but I'm not sure I own a lens like that.
Okay I have a series to post. Im handheld on all of these so I had to be real careful as the wind was really bad. I did my basic sharpening and basically that is all. Fred did a lot of bokeh testing, here I'm going to show sharpness between some apertures. Watch the EXIF
I really like what I see very much and glad that the EFCS issue is sorted out. I preordered the lens but got a bit worry after seeing the bokeh issue Now the only problem it that locally, it won't be available here until the middle of the month, unfortunately not in time for my trip starting tomorrow (not that there will be much use for 50mm on this trip but still... ).
Wish somebody has 55/1.4 Otus to compare wide open or Leica 50/2 apo comparison at f2.
. I could have sworn it would be the other way around. It is weird though the bokeh becomes smoother as you stop down the aperture of the f/1.4 lens a bit. Who knows why!
