EPSON R-D1: Affordable lens recommendations

[philipotto]

I ordered a Epson R-D1, and am looking at lens options.


I already have a 35mm summicron IV, which I may sell at a later date, to buy more M lenses of course!


I would prefer not resort to auxilary finders, at least initally, (why didn't epson use pairs of brightlines?) so I would like to stick with 28, 35, or 50.
I think a 50 would be good choice at the moment. It would give me a FOV of 75, good for intamicy.

Faster leses are definately a +.

If I wasn't on a budget I would surely get the Summilux ASPH 50 F1.4.



Being a Leica fan, it would be swell to get a leica 50, (plus it would hurt to not be able to post my photos in the photo forum) so I was looking at the Summarit 50 F1.5.

But after looking over Sean's article on LL, hav't had the opportunity to read it yet, look forward to it, (Luminous landscape), I wonder if a Nokton 50 F1.5 wouldn't be a wiser choice.



I know many of you will shed light on this matter, and I eagerly await your suggestions.

P.S Is there any dissadvantage to using a screw-mount lens with adapter vs an M mount lens?


Thanks again!
Sincerely,
Philip

[j. borger]

Why not a 2nd hand 50 lux pre-asph or 50 summicron?

[martinb]

I know this is a Leica forum but I would get the CV 28/1.9 Ultron and the 50/1.5 Nokton.

[lct]

Don't sell your 35 IV it's one of the best or the very best 35 if you like lenses of this vintage. More than reasonable sharpness and contrast, smooth bokeh and great Leica colours. Don't remove the shade though as it is a bit prone to flare.
As a 50mm lens, the pre-asph Summilux has the same kind of fingerprint as the 35 IV. No flare at all. Marvelous lens indeed.
Otherwise you cannot go wrong with a Summicron 50. To match the 35 IV i would suggest the # 11817, 11818 or 11819.
Also the pre-asph Elmarit 28/2.8 of same vintage or even later are very good indeed but a bit bulky.
Now if you prefer higher contrast and sharpness (with a slightly harsher bokeh for the 28), the only affordable choice to complement your 35/2 would be the Elmarit 28/2.8 asph and the current Elmar 50/2.8. Excellent results on the R-D1 as well if you shoot raw and reduce contrast by playing with white and black points in the Epson raw converter.

[philipotto]

Borger,
I'm afraid both of those are out of reach at the moment if I hold on to my "King of Bokeh" summicron.

Martin,
I have heard very good things about the CV's, and while they are in consideration, I really want a leica!

LCT,
I knew you would reply =).
You and Sean's affection for the R-D1, is one of the things that made me consider it.


Unless something brilliant comes my way I will probably have fun with my 35 for the time being. I can always move closer.

I just got the 35 along with the M6 I bought. First time shooting film, hav't gotten any developed yet.

[butter71]

Originally Posted by philipotto

I ordered a Epson R-D1, and am looking at lens options.

i don't own one yet, but the 40mm nokton looks to be a good cost-effective lens. nice and small too.

given the usual play in framelines, using it with the 35mm lines on the r-d1 might be pretty close.

like i said, i don't own one.. so make sure you read the reviews. just wanted to point out that it exists.

[sean_reid]

The Nokton 50 is an excelllent choice given what you've said so far. It's a superb lens at a very reasonable price. No, there is no disadvantage to using LTM lenses on the R-D1.

Cheers,

Sean

[scott kirkpatrick]

Originally Posted by philipotto

P.S Is there any dissadvantage to using a screw-mount lens with adapter vs an M mount lens?

None whatsoever. I used two Canon LTM lenses on an M2 for many years before I even discovered that an adapter was involved. Just make sure that your adapter engages the correct framelines. (Cameraquest will do this for you.) And if you ever move up to the M8, you need to pad out the Cameraquest adapter a bit with a piece of tape in order to mark the bar code black lines to get your lenses recognized in the EXIF and vignette-compensated.

scott