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Posts tagged ‘Camera lens’

May 19

36 Comments

My view of the Leica M9-P ‘Edition Hermès’

On May 10, Leica announced new products. Two of them were the Leica M9-P ‘Edition Hermès’ and Leica M9-P ‘Edition Hermès’ – Série Limitée Jean-Louis Dumas. Homage to pure luxury.

Here’s Leica’s description of the two sets:

The Leica M9-P ‘Edition Hermès’ – Set 1

“This first of the two Leica M9-P ‘Edition Hermès’ set is available in a worldwide limited edition of 300. In addition to the camera, the set includes a silver anodised Leica Summilux-M 50 mm f/1.4 ASPH. lens.”

The Leica M9-P ‘Edition Hermès’ – Set 2

“The Leica M9-P ‘Edition Hermès’ – Série Limitée Jean-Louis Dumas, in a strictly limited edition of only 100 sets worldwide, is a memorial to the friendship between the former president of Hermès, Jean-Louis Dumas, and Leica. The camera in this set is accompanied by three lenses: a Leica Summicron-M 28 mm f/2 ASPH., a Leica Noctilux-M 50 mm f/0.95 ASPH. and a Leica APO-Summicron-M 90 mm f/2 ASPH., all featuring a stunning silver-anodised finish. This unique collection of photgraphic equipment finds a fitting home in a hand-crafted Hermès camera bag that is available exclusively as part of this second set. As an homage to Jean-Louis Dumas, the second set also includes a book with a selection of his pictures. This photographic work in two volumes shows an entertainingly diverse portfolio of 200 black-and-white images captured by Jean-Louis Dumas with his Leica M-camera.”

They look like beautiful objets d’art. You realize they are when you watch the two videos showing how every piece is lovingly made by hand, including the packaging.

The changes in the top and bottom plates are elegant. It’s the first time Leica has taken on a less machine-like look on the top plate, where everything appears “tooled” with a lathe or pressed with intricate metal dyes. Don’t get me wrong. I love Walter De’Silva’s design of the Titanium M-9. That one has a very “machined” look, especially coming from an automobile designer. But this time, with the designers at Hermès, Leica moved into a softer, stylized direction.


1930’s French teapot (Photo from ArtDecoCollection.com)

The curves and lines recall Art Deco tea sets, cigarette cases and buildings. Even Mendelsohn’s German Expressionist Einstein tower in Berlin comes to mind. Whatever the inspiration was, the result is a very modern take on the camera, whose design has hardly changed since the 1950’s when the M-3 was first designed. Finally, the design is starting to push into the future.


1924 Einstein’s Tower in Berlin (photo from Wikipedia)

As for the price tag? US$25,000 for Set 1 and US$50,000 for Set 2. Well, there are people who can afford it, or Leica would not have made it. So why not? It’s the difference between buying a utility car like a Ford Sedan versus a Bentley; or clothes made by Levis versus Dolce & Gabbana. Maybe the M10 or the M11 might be inspired to go in this direction. Who knows? But cameras are made to be used as well as to be looked at.

I can imagine it as something to take with you when you need to jet to Monaco in your G5 Lear Jet, to play stud poker with the Prince and his buddies. But before you do, you can take a few snap shots with your ‘Edition Hermès’ Leica M9-P, of the ultra soave sun bathers at your hotel the Monte Carlo Beach, wearing Prada, sipping Russo-Baltique vodka chilled just right.

Then a quick visit to Cercle d’Or district around Place du Casino to do some shopping for something to wear because you don’t have anything decent to play poker in. Oh, while you’re there, you can grab a few street photos of the poor buying Gucci. You can post them on Facebook and get tons of ‘likes’ from hundreds of your closest photography friends.

Back to the hotel where the Prince’s chauffeur picks you up in his Rolls Royce. You should snap a few off to prove to your friends that the Prince’s car is old and ratty compared to yours.

The Prince is happy to see you but zeroes in on your Leica. He takes it off your hands and shoots a couple of shots of his dog ‘Mila’. He chides you for getting it before he does, even though he’s the Prince and you’re the plebe that became rich over night. Just because you had an idea of adding different colored flakes into soap bars. He’s been dying to get his hands on it. But he’s got to give it to your street smarts for beating him to it. His eye never leaves your Leica for the rest of the evening.

Over the course of the evening you get drunk on Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon. And you’ve lost almost every hand at poker to the Prince. No matter what you do, you can’t seem to turn the tables. You keep writing him I.O.U.’s and the sums get more and more outrageous.

Dawn is about to greet everyone at the table. Time to leave. The Prince turns to you, he’s been carrying your credit all night. He tells you he would call it even, if he could have your new Leica.

You take one look at your camera that’s hanging on your neck. You owe way more than what the ‘Edition Hermès’ cost. You smile at it and tell the Prince, ‘Thanks for the generous offer. You don’t want to take advantage of him.’ Besides, you love the camera and wouldn’t sell it under any circumstances. When you get back to the hotel, you will range for a wire transfer of the amount owed to him.

The chauffeur drives you back to the hotel. You fall in bed caressing your hand-made Leica. And best of all, you have pictures of the experience. Memories to return to in your old age.

So if you plan to own one of these sets, take the camera out for a spin. Don’t let it sit in the box. Because that would be a sacrilege to a Leica camera.

Mar 27

15 Comments

My First Impressions – MS Optical Perar Super Triplet 28mm F4

Welcome to the inaugural launch of this website!

DISCLAIMER!!!: My reviews are only based on the images I take and how user friendly it is. Some images will be post processed with slight crops and pushing or pulling on the contrast or darks. That is about the only post work I do. I am not knowledgeable about equipment from any technical point of view. So if any one expects to read detailed specifications or any tech reviews, there are other sites that have the expertise. And, my bias is based on if the lens helps me capture the image I envisioned.

I had the pleasure of meeting Bellamy Hunt of Japan Camera Hunter. He was here in Los Angeles to head the Los Angeles Street Photography Workshop with Rinzi Ruiz, where I was a guest presenter and an attendee. Bellamy brought with him a few toys for us to play with. One of which is the world’s tiniest 28mm lens for the M-mount I have ever seen: the MS Optical Perar Super Triplet 28mm F4 (‘Triplet’ is spelled incorrectly on the lens I used – might make it a rarity).

I was able to shoot with it for about one hour. I used my M9 with Aperture priority at F8 and the occasional F6 or F9. My ISO was set at 400 and  I zone focussed.

This lens is a 3 element tessar type, 28mm F4. Visually it is the most fascinating lens I have ever seen. The aperture blades are on the outside!  It is hand made by a Mr. Miyazaki in the basement of his house in Chiba, Japan. You can read about him in Japan Camera Hunter’s website here. The lens is part of the first run of 180 in the batch.

The Perar Super Triplet is meant for the photographer who loves to play with and own specialty lenses. The colors are rich and gorgeous. It tends on the blueish side. And it also shoots a tad  (like a hair) underexposed.  I think it’s around a half a stop. I like things a little contrasty myself.

The sharpness is not comparable to other 28mm lenses. In fact, if you enlarge the shot, you can see that it’s fuzzy. But the lens is tiny so you can’t compare it to a large 28mm lens. However, the details that this lens captures is amazing. It is like a little ‘superman’ – its vision is quite exquisite.

In the photo below, you’ll also notice cyan drift in the corners.  It’s something that’s easy to fix in post. But I did not do it here to show you what I’m talking about.

Below, I corrected the cyan drift in Light Room 3 using the Lens Vignetting correction slider. I had to push it to + 100% to get it all out.

BTW, this is the Disney Hall downtown Los Angeles by Frank Gehry.

I didn’t notice any obvious edge distortion on the sides. I chose architecture to demonstrate this point.  Okay, it’s not fair with a building that already has curves. However, there is general distortion that’s noticeable on wide shots. For instance,  when you look at the officer walking towards the stainless steel signage in the middle of the picture, the sign leans toward him. But when you look at the concrete floor joint lines, they look pretty straight.

Here’s a shot with straight lined buildings, but I shot it vertically which took out some of the distortion. I also took out the cyan drift in this shot.

I never had to worry about the aperture blades being on the outside. Although, I did pay attention to it while I was cleaning the lens. It’s definitely not a ‘desert’ lens.

You’ll notice dust particles in some of my shots. I didn’t have a duster or air can with me. I only had a lens cloth. So I may not have done a good job of cleaning. But the lens does take a 19mm filter that can be screwed into the hood. This is the same filter that is used on the Leica Elmar lens. I would highly recommend a UV filter to keep the dust out.

Street photos with people and objects appears to be the lens’ favorite subjects.

I also noticed the brights blow out a touch. But I can understand considering the tiny size of the lens.

But as first impressions go, I love this little lens.  If I had a few more days with it,  I think my shots would have been geared to its obvious strengths of color, slight under exposure and ease of use. It’s definitely easier to get closer because the camera doesn’t have an obtrusive lens sticking out.

Like I said, it is a specialty lens. It’s actually quite a good ‘street photography’ lens. And the weight- pffsh, what weight? I would buy it when I stock up on lenses the next time the cash flows. You can read more about specifications at Japan Camera Hunter’s site here.

I really appreciate Bellamy letting me play with this little lens. He tells me there are still a few left from the first batch. They run for about 55,000 Yen (approx. US $663.00 with today’s exchange rate). There is also talk of doing a second run. If you’re interested, Bellamy is the man. You can contact him at  http://www.japancamerahunter.com

Thanks again Bellamy!

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