NEW YORK NEW YORK – I spent the morning in Central Park shooting with my Leica Monochrom and 50mm Summicron Asp. lens.
Arriving back home I found a FedEx box with a new lens: Leica has reissued a compact 28mm lens that began life in 1955. The new version is mechanically identical to the original – fit and finish are lovely and it’s remarkably compact. Optically it’s almost identical to the original: a symmetrical double gaussian design with slight adjustments to account for the fact that some of the 1955 glass formulas are no longer available. And of course modern coatings.
I shot out my window with it – my usual optical torture test which I won’t bore you with. There is some slight softness in the corners at maximum aperture (f5.6) but it’s smooth with no funkiness so corners actually look sharp given the lens’s high contrast. It has lovely rendering. I’ll be shooting with it extensively over the next few weeks. I’ve included a mundane image that illustrates its rendering.
This little lens has rekindled by interest in the 28mm focal length – I used to shoot extensively at 28mm but the focal length has fallen out of favor with me because the iPhone has the equivalent point of view which means that it has become too common. More to follow.
By the way I’ve finally updated my copyright notice from 2015 to 2017!
Day 2,702 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
On this day four years ago (day 1,241): Warren Congregational Meeting House. Shot in infrared.
