Review: Light Lens Lab 50mm 2.0 Elcan

December 24, 2023 BastianK 18 Comments

Introduction

light lens lab elcan review leica m10 m11 m9 42mp 24mp cinematic contrast sharpness rendering bokeh 50mm 2.0 film analogue — Light Lens Lab 50mm 2.0 Elcan on Leica M10

The original Leica 50mm 2.0 Elcan has been produced for the American army together with the KE-7A camera. According to the information I found, only 500 have been made, therefore a set of lens and camera will set you back around $30,000 these days.
Obviously this is purely a collector’s price, that has nothing to do with this lens’ value for actual photography.
Now if you want to use this lens without spending 30k, Light Lens Lab has you covered, as they offer a replica for $800. This is what we will have a look at in this review.
This lens will be reviewed on the 42mp Sony A7rII and the 24mp Leica M10.

Sample Images

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Meta, Opinion, photography, The creative process, The Team's favorites

2023 in Pictures

December 20, 2023 The Team 10 Comments

Introduction

laowa 35mm 0.95 worlds fastest lens review bokeh 42mp 61mp laowa venus optics venuslens fullframe contrast resolution bokeh optical vignetting fall off — Sony A7III | Laowa 35mm 0.95 | f/8.0

We always tell you about new gear here, but at the end of the day lenses are just tools needed to take nice pictures. Martin and I went through all the pictures we took in 2023 to choose our 10 favorites. You can find those pictures here with a bit of additional information, for which there is not always a place in the gear reviews.

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Nikon Z, Review, TTArtisan

Review: TTArtisan 10mm f/2 (APS-C)

December 18, 2023 Martin 26 Comments

Introduction

TTArtisan 10mm f/2 APS-C nikon z6 Z6ii z50 z30 zfc z7 z7ii Z8 Z9 Zf nikon z f fc Sony FE Fuji X canon rf m43 review nikon z z-fc z30 z50 test sharpness bokeh coma vignetting Flare 24mp nikon z6 z6ii 46mp nikon z7 z7ii Z8 Z9 Zf nikon z f

It has generally been difficult to find ultra wide-angle prime lenses for any system until a few years ago. It has become much better for full-frame cameras, but still a scarce market in the APS-C world. If available, most of the ultra-wide angle lenses are zoom lenses, with variable apertures and usually not that fast. Here we have a new lens that breaks that trend, a 10mm (15mm equivalent on FF) at the impressive f/2. Let’s see how this lens is!
UPDATE: 2023.12.19 , Flare Resistance.

Sample Images

TTArtisan 10mm f/2 APS-C nikon z6 Z6ii z50 z30 zfc z7 z7ii Z8 Z9 Zf nikon z f fc Sony FE Fuji X canon rf m43 review nikon z z-fc z30 z50 test sharpness bokeh coma vignetting Flare 24mp nikon z6 z6ii 46mp nikon z7 z7ii Z8 Z9 Zf nikon z f — Nikon Z fc | TTArtisan AF 10mm f/2 | f/8

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Analogue, Leica M, The creative process, Voigtlander

Analogue Adventures – Part 27: Kodak Portra 800 Push +1 ECN-2

December 14, 2023 BastianK 6 Comments

kodak portra 800 analogue leica m6 contax canon fd olympus om — Kodak Portra 800

Here we will look how the Portra 800 holds up when pushed by one stop in combination with the ECN-2 processing.
Exposed as ISO800. Processing (ECN-2, Push +1) and scanning was done at Silbersalz35 in Germany.

Continue reading Analogue Adventures – Part 27: Kodak Portra 800 Push +1 ECN-2 →

Laowa, Macro, Nikon Z, Review

Review: Laowa FFII 58mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X APO

December 10, 2023 Martin 15 Comments

Introduction

While most popular macro lenses have been in the range of 90-105mm and Laowa themselves having all, an 85mm, a 90mm, and a 100mm macro 2X lens, they opted for making a 58mm lens too, as some macro photographers prefer a wider angle of view or use the lens both as macro and allround lens. Also the perspective might make a difference for some people as you can include more surroundings with a wider lens for the composition. Laowa has shown that they can produce very nice macro lenses during the past few years, let’s see if this one can match them!