which 35mm lens?

[ejd]

I have been using a IIIc with great pleasure recently. But I have only a few lenses to use on it: a 35mm f2.8 jupiter; a 50mm f2 jupiter; a 50mm f2.8 elmar; a 90mm f4 elmar; and two 135s, an f4 jupiter and an f3.5 canon. Well OK, that sounds like a few, but only 2 of them are leica lenses, I'm not convinced of the picture quality produced by the 35 jupiter, and the 135s don't get a lot of use. I'm very tempted by the idea of a CV 35mm F1.7 and a 25mm f4 'snapshot skopar'. Also the CV 50mm f1.5 is tempting. Basically 50mm and less are going to be used most, and that's the range I've thinking about. I've ordered an adapter to enable use of Nikon w/a lenses on the IIIc, and look forward to trying it out with a 20, 24, and 28. But I wonder if any here have any thought or suggestions on what might be a sensible choice of lenses -- if any -- to add to the ones I have already.

Regards, John

[L39UK]

Hello John,
If its "Leitz glass" you require DO NOT even consider the 35mm 3.5 Elmar,its performance is well under par (Tessar 4 element formula stretched too far).The alternative is the 35 mm F3.5 Summaron ( preferably with E39 filter thread) or the F2.8 version but the f2.8 can be a bit pricey.
The 35mm F2 Summicron (the "Best"Leitz 35mm) is usually not obtainable at a reasonable price and condition due to low production numbers and "collector" interest creaming off the best examples.

If you want "Summicron" performance at a more reasonable price you will have to become a "Heretic" like myself and obtain a Canon 35mm F2 which is a superb lens and regarded by many as equal to the Summicron in performance at a more affordable price.
Canon also make a superb ultra wide angle, in the form of the 25mm F3.5 Canon,but do purchase the lens with the finder as finders on their own are not easy to source.
I hope this might be of help to you,
Kindest Regards,
William

[luigi bertolotti]

Summaron 35 3,5 ! Is a very good lens, and not so costly expecially the A36... on IIIc can go well, original filters are easy to find if you need... but if you plan for a M8.. the UVIR can be a problem.. better an E39.

[earleygallery]

John,

Definately, the 25mm Snapshot Skopar. Its great to use of the LTM as its not rangefinder coupled (dof is sufficient to acheive sharp results with the click stop zone focussing). The results are excellent.

Also the 35mm 2.5 - I bought one recently but use it on the M2. My lllf is for the 25mm and 50mm.

The older Leica lenses can give superb results too, but you need to find nice clean glass. I've see 3.5cm Elmar and Summaron images that look great. Less contrast that a VC lens of course and better suited to B&W work. In fact they had a very nice 3.5 in Aperture last time I looked.........(who also now stock Voigtlander).

[ejd]

William, Luigi, James -- many thanks for all these suggestions. Much to ponder here. I have seen a few 35mm f3.5 Summarons for sale. Quite tempting. And I like the thought of the 35mm f2 Canon. I'll keep all this in mind. Thanks again. John

[stnami]

Canon 35 or a canon 28mm if you can find one less flare
see
http://photo-utopia.blogspot.com/

http://www.dantestella.com/technical/canoleic.html

[liesevolvo]

My favorite combination:

III f, Voigtlaender 3.5/28 (in my opinion the most 'Leica-like' V/C-lens at all), add the wonderful 'mini-finder' 28/35. Great!

I have the Summaron 3.5/35 (M-mount). Okay for BW, not for colour. V/C 'pancake II' is MUCH better, but only available in M-mount (don't know the other V/C-35s).

V/C 1.5/50 ? Very good on the M, not really good on a screwmount, because the barrel optically intrudes the finder-window, so you need an additional viewfinder.

Leonard Liese, Cologne/Germany

Excuse my English

[leitz_not_leica]

I had a 35/3.5 'ron, found it delivered low contrast. I'm much happier with my 35/2.8 LTM 'ron from leicatime.com (Luigi) for $400. I had a 35/2 LTM 'cron, but sold it to a person in Japan for a very high price.

[earleygallery]

Originally Posted by liesevolvo

V/C 'pancake II' is MUCH better, but only available in M-mount (don't know the other V/C-35s).

Leonard, all versions of this lens are the same optically. I have the 'classic' LTM version which I use on an M2, and I've been very impressed with the quality.

[liesevolvo]

Hi James, my 'pancake' was great. I gave it away (and shouldn't have done), because it felt a bit lost between the Nokton 40 (great lens for available-light-snapshots, whatever people say-bla-bla about 'weakness' and and...., fine shooter!) and the beloved 3.5/28, a wonderful lens: extremely compact, heavy for size, perfectly manufactured, a real 'gem of a lens'. The 25 is good, too, but the 28 is better --- and there is this wonderful 'Mini-Finder'.

For the V/C 25 I use a Zeiss-viewfinder. Best 25-finder ever - but really bulky!

I 'devided' my equipment: M6 (or IIIf, or Bessa-T - very good-) with 15, 21, 25, 28, 35, 40, 50, 75, 90, 135, and SL/SL2 with 90, 135, 180, 100-Makro with bellows. It works!

Leonard Liese

[leitz_not_leica]

Why buy Voit' lenses when it's the Leitz lenses are what we use Leica cameras for, anyway.

[earleygallery]

Originally Posted by leitz_not_leica

Why buy Voit' lenses when it's the Leitz lenses are what we use Leica cameras for, anyway.

That's a very blinkered view to take - some of the VC lenses are very good indeed. The Snapshot Skopar gave my lllf a new lease of life - remember, Leica don't make LTM mount lenses any more.

If money was no object I'd have bought a 35 Summicron for my M2, but the Skopar is a fine lens. I have a mix of Leica and VC lenses for my lllf and M, and Leica and Tamron lenses for my R.

[liesevolvo]

Why not buy Leitz-lenses? Depends on your wishes. If I want to have a pic with that special Leica-flair of the fifties, I use my 3.5/50 Elmar (coated post-war).

But those lenses have been developed 50+ years ago with the glass they had then.

If I just want to use the most compact camera-body I own, but expect the pics to 'match' somehow my other pics, the V/C-lenses are best choice in my opinion, especially the slower lenses from the V/C-range, which are so compact and Leica-like outerly, but very modern and sophisticated in their optical construction.

By the way, most Leica-users, who call using V/C-lenses a sacrilege, own and use a V/C 15 or 12.......

Have a nice weekend!

Leonard Liese

[leitz_not_leica]

Hey, I'm quite happy to own and use a CV 12, but my most used lens is an 8-element 35 'cron from '68. The urban myth about the latest is always the greatest is just that, a myth. Wavelengths of the visible spectrum of light has been known for centuries. It's not rocket science building good lenses, they're just not built to the Leitz (and others) standards of he 50's and 60's.

I suggest looking for and getting a 35/2.8 LTM Summaron.

[earleygallery]

Non goggled 2.8 Summarons seem to be hard to find. Plenty of 3.5's available but they're not so good I'm told?

Then it's a case of finding one which is optically perfect, many suffer from haze etc.

However, images I've seen from this lens show some vingetting in the corners, which I don't get from the Skopar. I think the Skopar is also sharper overall.

I love the old lenses too, and have several, but for a 35mm lens with 'up to date' performance the Skopar can't be beaten at the price.

[liesevolvo]

I wouldn't think about a V/C-35, if I had a Summicron 35 (I had one, 30 years ago). But I thought we are talking about screwmount-lenses at a reasonable price....

I compared my Summaron 3.5/35 (perfect glass, coated, non-goggled, M-mount, one of the early lenses made for the M2) with the V/C 35 'pancake II'. Same camera (M6), position, film, tripod (original lens-shade for the Summaron, I had none for the V/C). No chance for the Summaron. Yes, I've heard, the 2.8-Summaron, you recommend, should be a lot better.

I'm sure, the Summaron has been one of the best lenses during the fifties (as Morris Minor and the Volkswagen have been good cars), but...... I agree, that 'the latest is not always the greatest'. Why else should I be so stubborn to still use my Volvo 965 from 1995? Because everything after that from this manufacturer has been worse. But lately I had to use a 1958 Volvo 122 for a day - another world!

Concerning development: On the SL and SL2 I use Leitz-lenses from the eighties, because they are sooooo cheap at the moment, and I don't expect the actual lenses with their moon-prices to be SUCH better.

Regards! Leonard Liese

[earleygallery]

As chance would have it I popped into one of the London dealers this afternoon and there in the case was a 2.8 Summaron in screw fit. I didn't buy it, at £490 its Summicron money! Nice example tho.

[luxikon]

hei leonard,
welches objektiv ist mit V/C pancake II gemeint?

[liesevolvo]

Das aktuelle 35er in flacher Bauweise.

hier: http://cameraquest.com/voigtlen

Feines Teil. Lieben Gruß,

Leonard Liese

[luxikon]

hallo leonard,

thanx, besonders für den link

herzlichen gruß
luxikon