Anyone still using the 50mm “1966” somewhat regularly?
Been looking to pull the trigger as I’m a fan of the look — and certainly a better deal than the Noct (and seems more faithful to the original than the remake)
plasticmoz wrote:
Anyone still using the 50mm “1966” somewhat regularly?
Been looking to pull the trigger as I’m a fan of the look — and certainly a better deal than the Noct (and seems more faithful to the original than the remake)
I am still learning to use my 1966, the more I use it the more I like it, might take me long time before I feel proficient with the 1966. I am on the fence about the Z21 having both Cooke SP, and the 1966 LLL, I think I'll wait a little and see how all the rest of you do with it, and watch a few YouTubes and then I am sure I will decide to buy one before the limited run disappears. Among my summer plans I am going to try to the use the 1966 quite a bit and see what I can really do with it, maybe the Z21 will be a 2026 project, but will still need to squeeze in learning more about the Cooke SP and all my other projects like working with a 35 mm Nikkor F1.4 Thorium I just acquired.
Slalom wrote:
or 836 gbp.
I have an Elcan on the way, so will see if it attracts border charges, before I venture again.
Yeah, I'm kind of wondering how that works these days for me in the US. I haven't bought anything expensive since, the, uh, changes. And I don't see the Z21 listed on Popflash, yet.
It works, but you have pay and give SS# for the moment I am keeping my purchases below 800$ so I dont pay and I dont have to give SS# , but other than that you should have no problems ordering things from outside US. Great time for $799.99 sale camera gear if the companies in China and Japan price what they can at that.
It will be interesting if Tony Rose renews his stock on Popflash, and at what tariff markup, at the moment most things out of stock due to tariffs
A little patience needed, this will all pass soon I think, trade will rebalance as it has to for everyone's good and we can all indulge again. If Z21 is like the other LLL lenses they will not sell out for while maybe a year or so, so things will get better.
Ted Forbes just posted his youtube review on Art of Photography, I expect the other youtube testers will be up soon as well. Since I am undecided, still not using my other LLL lenses enough to be proficient about the potential I am not rushing and the tariff is a good excuse not to get the CC out yet.
mgscheu wrote:
Yeah, I'm kind of wondering how that works these days for me in the US. I haven't bought anything expensive since, the, uh, changes. And I don't see the Z21 listed on Popflash, yet.
I thought there would only be high gloss black version, but they announced matte black version too. I think the glossy one looks better than the matte-black with glossy-chrome parts. I think I will go with the glossy version.
I'm thinking of holding out of this, too, hoping things shake out in the not too distant future. Plus I've got the SP II and wondering if I really need this. Well, obviously not, but in the sense that we "need" these things. I'm definitely going to check out the reviews.
EMH2025 wrote:
It works, but you have pay and give SS# for the moment I am keeping my purchases below 800$ so I dont pay and I dont have to give SS# , but other than that you should have no problems ordering things from outside US. Great time for $799.99 sale camera gear if the companies in China and Japan price what they can at that.
It will be interesting if Tony Rose renews his stock on Popflash, and at what tariff markup, at the moment most things out of stock due to tariffs
A little patience needed, this will all pass soon I think, trade will rebalance as it has to for everyone's good and we can all indulge again. If Z21 is like the other LLL lenses they will not sell out for while maybe a year or so, so things will get better.
Ted Forbes just posted his youtube review on Art of Photography, I expect the other youtube testers will be up soon as well. Since I am undecided, still not using my other LLL lenses enough to be proficient about the potential I am not rushing and the tariff is a good excuse not to get the CC out yet.
I'm not a fan of the aesthetics of the the new LLL 50mm f/1.5 Z21 body. The alternating silver/black rings seem busy to me. Am I the only one thinking this way?
brick33308 wrote:
I'm not a fan of the aesthetics of the the new LLL 50mm f/1.5 Z21 body. The alternating silver/black rings seem busy to me. Am I the only one thinking this way?
Not a huge fan of glossy finishes, but my eyes are starting to get used to it. Hard to say how it looks in hand, the product pictures might exaggerate the look.
For me this produces quite different pictures in comparison to Speed Panchro. As an SP owner I'll guess I have to test and confirm it myself and place an order
brick33308 wrote:
I'm not a fan of the aesthetics of the the new LLL 50mm f/1.5 Z21 body. The alternating silver/black rings seem busy to me. Am I the only one thinking this way?
I find it, umm, not pleasing to my eye...
But that's not the point. This is a replica of the original lens which did look like this.
Which is also why I was not interested in the original lens... yes aesthetics matter to me.
Heads up for anyone buying direct from China. De minimis ($800 or less) is duty free for most countries but not China/HK. The duty owed from Chinese goods was recently reduced 34%. The current cap of $100 will rise to $200 for goods delivered after June 1st.
Popflash will likely have to raise prices to cover this, like mentioned. It would be the safe bet if you don’t want to wait it out.
EMH2025 wrote:
It works, but you have pay and give SS# for the moment I am keeping my purchases below 800$ so I dont pay and I dont have to give SS# , but other than that you should have no problems ordering things from outside US. Great time for $799.99 sale camera gear if the companies in China and Japan price what they can at that.
It will be interesting if Tony Rose renews his stock on Popflash, and at what tariff markup, at the moment most things out of stock due to tariffs
A little patience needed, this will all pass soon I think, trade will rebalance as it has to for everyone's good and we can all indulge again. If Z21 is like the other LLL lenses they will not sell out for while maybe a year or so, so things will get better.
Ted Forbes just posted his youtube review on Art of Photography, I expect the other youtube testers will be up soon as well. Since I am undecided, still not using my other LLL lenses enough to be proficient about the potential I am not rushing and the tariff is a good excuse not to get the CC out yet.
I would have liked to see an all black version but I find the design not that bad.
Here’s a review, he’s annoyed by the field curvature. The rendering seems close to the CV Heliar but with more swirl. There maybe not enough photos to judge that exactly though.
Sonnar-7 wrote:
I would have liked to see an all black version but I find the design not that bad.
Here’s a review, he’s annoyed by the field curvature. The rendering seems close to the CV Heliar but with more swirl. There maybe not enough photos to judge that exactly though.
I'm wondering if what he's describing as field curvature might actually be gradual fall-off, as suggested by the MTF graph. Since the center seems to have higher resolution than the original, the drop-off from center to mid-frame and corners could just feel more noticeable. It would be great if he could show the field curvature shape at different distances from both lenses, especially since he still has the original Angenieux for comparison.
That said, I really appreciate the images, thoughtful testing, and balanced observations he's shared.
mgscheu wrote:
Yeah, I'm kind of wondering how that works these days for me in the US. I haven't bought anything expensive since, the, uh, changes. And I don't see the Z21 listed on Popflash, yet.
It looks like Popflash updated their page and the lens is now showing on the site. Tony mentioned that shipping will start on June 1st. The price seems to be the same as Light Lens Lab's.
Fred Miranda wrote:
I'm wondering if what he's describing as field curvature might actually be gradual fall-off, as suggested by the MTF graph. Since the center seems to have higher resolution than the original, the drop-off from center to mid-frame and corners could just feel more noticeable. It would be great if he could show the field curvature shape at different distances from both lenses, especially since he still has the original Angenieux for comparison.
That said, I really appreciate the images, thoughtful testing, and balanced observations he's shared.
Yeah, I think that’s really what he means, the same axis quick gradual fall-off that produces some sort of smears already mid-frame. That could be an annoyance indeed if too strong or quick even if you love character in a lens. He shows a comparison just with one photo with the OG Angenieux.
That said, the photos he took are gorgeous but he said he had a tough time getting those few shots. He still likes them quite a bit. It’s also nice to see how he did put some effort into his review with as you said balanced observations and photos. It’s refreshing.
I’ve been busy so I haven’t been able to take many photos with the z21, but I have a few thoughts about its build quality.
Wanting to use the z21 wide open I had to use a ND filter since the maximum shutter speed on my camera is 1/1000. I’ve noticed the front half or the barrel of the lens(where the aperture numbers are labeled but not the aperture ring) can rotate if I tighten the filter too tightly as well as removing the filter could also rotate it. It’s doesn’t seem to be a problem as I just rotate it back to its normal position (with a little force), but it is a little annoying.
The other thing I noticed was, mine is a glossy black paint and it is already starting to come off. This could totally be my fault as I noticed my Velcro inserts weren’t properly installed and could have rubbed against it. It does seem a little delicate though.
I’ll have a little time this weekend so I’ll try and take a few more photos.
