Gianfranco Irlanda wrote: > In my opinion, the 85 is not really bad for landscapes/scenery > (made recently a side by side test, comparing it to a Summicron > M 90/2: almost the same performance at infinity, and quite good > even wide open...),
Is the Summicron so bad? I tested three different samples of the 85/1.4 FA*, and they all worked well under average at infinity (and very, veeeeery goooood! within portrait range) > it just is not a very friendly lens to carry > around for general purposes. It is unbeatable when it comes to > portraits, though. I second that completely, the only serious challenger probably being the A* 85/1.4. > I prefer to have the faster lens possible (I > do a lot of "available darkness" shots), so I guess the 77mm > would not be fast enough for me. I do like the handling of the > 85 when mounted on the Z-1 or on the MZ-3 with grip, but it > matches also the LX + winder + grip quite well. I took some concert pictures (night pictures, on the beach) with the MZ-S (2003) and the *ist D (2004), and they are fascinating and hard to get (at least those taken on film) with a slower lens. > A little tale. Once I was in my former faculty for a meeting > that attracted all the chiefs of the local administration (Mayor > of the City of Naples, President of the Province and President > of the Region, along with the Chancellor of the University and > the Dean of the Faculty). I took the necessary shots, almost all > with the FA* 85 - with hood - and before the end of the meeting > I was going away but, as soon as I reached the exit, a couple of > plain-clothes cops stopped me and aked me who I was and why I > was taking all those pictures. I spent half an hour explaining > them who, why, etc. before I could head away. Luckily, the Dean > of the Faculty knows me since I was a freshman, so I added that > to the explanation; that seemed to relax them. > The day after I brought the shots to the Dean, who told me that > the policemen asked him too about my presence, and added that > one of the reasons of their perplexity was that HUGE lens I had > on the camera... Go figure... :-) Dario
