It’s been an amazing past few weeks with the wonderful weather. Hopefully it continues. Here’s a picture I took with my Sony NEX-7 and Leica 90mm macro elmar using the Novoflex adapter. Leica glass on this already great camera, makes even more remarkable pictures. Oh, and the “pixel peaking” feature on the NEX-7 for manual focusing is wonderful and probably will be used by others because of how well it works.
ISO 100 1/60 f/4 Leica 90mm macro elmar
About 10 weeks ago, I got an email from Dale Photo telling me that a Leica 90mm macro-elmar with the adapter was available and I was next on the list to have the opportunity to purchase it. I had the 90mm summarit which I think is very nice and under appreciated. I opted in buying the macro-elmar because I wanted a telephoto (for a Leica it’s considered telephoto) lens that could be used for portrait and also close-up (even though it’s called “macro” I don’t consider it one) photography. It’s also collapsable, making it easier to fit in your bag.
I don’t consider my self an expert and I’m definitely not a “specs” guy. If you do a google search, you will probably only find 1 or 2 reviews of this lens. It’s hard to find any real world pictures though (flickr has a few).
In the few weeks having the lens I’m extremely impressed. I don’t consider it a true “macro” because you can’t get any closer than 0.5 meters (0.7 meters without the adapter). The amount of detail and sharpness at such close proximity to your subject is simply amazing. My only wish is that it had a lower aperture (lowest f-stop is 4) so that I could shoot at higher shutter speeds and not need a flash or tripod.
P.S. All images are un-cropped. If you are interested in seeing the full-size image let me know. Also, eventually I’ll shoot a few with it attached to my Sony NEX-7. I’m pretty sure these images will also be amazing (the 35mm equivalent will be 144mm).
ISO 2000 1/90 90mm without adapter
This will probably be my last post in regards to showing the capabilities of the NEX-7 & Zeiss 24mm. I typically leave these types of post to other bloggers but since there are not too many of us that have this camera, I felt that I should post some initial pictures and thoughts.
The Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 can focus within 6 inches of it’s subject. I’ve had other lenses in the past that had this capability but since using my Leica lenses I’ve grown accustomed to having to be about 3 feet from my subjects.
These shots were all taken within 6-12 inches from my subject. I’m truly amazed on the quality, detail, and sharpness when looking at these pictures at full resolution. I definitely think Sony has a winner, my only hope is the next one will be a full frame sensor.
I’ve posted the original picture and a 100% crop of my subject.
ISO 160 1/60 f/1.8 24mm
ISO 100 f/1.8 1/60 24mm
ISO 320 f/1.8 1/60 24mm
Recently, I purchased Leica’s 90mm elmar-macro. It’s called a macro but in comparison to other macro lenses you can only get 0.5m to your subject (19 inches). I bought it for taking close-ups and for portraits. It’s razor sharp and it’s collapsable, therefore it fits in my bag perfectly.
Here is a picture taken of my niece’s dog’s paw. I love the sharpness and clarity. This is an un-cropped image.
