My gear:

I downsized from a massive pile of Canon 5D Mark II lenses and Zeiss lenses to a comparatively tiny Leica M11 50APO, 90APO, and Voigtlander 28mm f/2.8 COLOR-SKOPAR. This meets most of my needs.

 

I am a huge fan of APO Lenses.

 

The prefix ‘APO’ in the name denotes Leica lenses with the best imaging performance.

 

Longitudinal chromatic aberrations occur when different colours focus at different distances from a lens, causing colour fringing around high-contrast edges.

 

An achromatic lens is one that is corrected to ensure that two wavelengths of light focus in the same plane of focus. An apochromatic lens is where three wavelengths of light focus on the same plane.

 

The lack of aberrations results in much more contrast at the point of focus than in an ordinary lens; contrast falls off very quickly in front and behind the point of focus. This means that an f/2 lens can appear to have the same depth of field as an f/1.4 lens.

 

This rapid fall-off of contrast confers a special look on the Leica APO lenses, which are very detailed when in focus, but with a quick roll-off into gentle bokeh: Indeed, I think the whole look is ‘gentle’, the in-focus area, although showing a lot of detail, doesn’t have that ‘crunchy’ look that many older lenses have when stopped down.

 

Leica’s definition of an APO lens seems to be, quite simply, one which utilises low dispersion glass in construction with the intention of reducing chromatic aberrations, both in focus and out of focus.

 

Reducing the aberrations noticeably increases contrast when in focus, which has the visual effect of simulating a narrower depth of field, as the contrast drops sharply when focus is lost.

 

This has enabled them to produce a range of f/2 lenses that exhibit the apparent depth of field characteristic of faster lenses. This, in turn, allows the lenses to be smaller and lighter, making it possible to produce them of very high quality. They are, however, extremely difficult to manufacture, which explains their high cost.

 

The drawing of the lens doesn’t change when you stop down.

 

Let’s face it, in this digital age with very acceptable high ISO, fast lenses are not needed for their light-gathering properties. And while it might be fun to shoot at f/1.4, the tiny depth of field makes it a risky undertaking if you’re shooting something that matters. Designing and manufacturing extremely fast lenses inevitably requires some compromises; they generally need to be stopped down before reaching their peak performance.

 

Even though the Leica APO lenses have a greater depth of field than faster lenses, the rapid contrast fall-off as the lens goes out of focus makes the lens look faster than it is, with better bokeh. By forgoing the bragging rights of very fast lenses, Leica APO lenses perform perfectly from the widest aperture.

 

www.macfilos.com/2021/08/23/the-story-of-leicas-apo-m-mou...

  

For the occasional times when I need autofocus, big zoom, macro, etc., I use Micro Four Thirds systems.

The MFT system, with its huge array of lenses, is extraordinary. A GX9 with a Leica 15mm is brilliant for a small holiday camera.

 

I use both the Panasonic GX9, it is so small, so light, so capable. I also use the mirror-less masterpiece Panasonic G9.

 

I prefer to use primes.

 

Leica lenses:

LEICA APO-SUMMICRON-M 50MM F2 ASPH

 

LEICA APO-SUMMICRON-M 90mm f/2 ASPH

 

LEICA SUPER-ELMAR-M 21MM F/3.4 ASPH LENS

 

Micro four thirds lenses

LEICA DG SUMMILUX 15/F1.7

 

LEICA DG NOCTICRON 42.5/F1.2

 

Olympus 60mm f/2.8 M-Zuiko Macro

 

Voigtlander Nokton 17.5mm f/0.95 Lens for Micro Four Thirds Cameras

 

LEICA DG 50-200/F2.8-4.0

 

I use mainly Lightroom and occasionally Photoshop. I only shoot in RAW.