jonasy Posted December 22, 2011 Share #1 Posted December 22, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi everybody! Recently I sold my D700 + lenses and bought a M8 instead. Yes I'm a bit crazy, but I love my M8 so far! I'm using it with a M-Rokkor 40/2 but I really would like a tele to complete my lens setup. As I'm a student I'm restricted to the less costly lenses, I've found two candidates, Voigtlander 75/2.5 and Leica Elmar-C 90/4 which sell for the same price. So it's rather a question about which lens is the better one. My guess is something like this: Voigtlander + Faster + FL easier to handle on M8 But does it pop like a Leica lens, and are there any focus issues as with other Voigtlander lenses? Leica + Probably sharper + Leica-look (matches my other lens, I suppose) Too slow and too long to be useful on a M8? What would you recommend? To my surprise it was very difficult to find pictures online with M8/Elmar-C combo. Thanks in advance for any input. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 22, 2011 Posted December 22, 2011 Hi jonasy, Take a look here Voigtlander 75/2.5 vs. Elmar-C 90/4. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Erik Gunst Lund Posted December 22, 2011 Share #2 Posted December 22, 2011 Voigtlander APO Lanthar 90/3.5 is fantastic on the M8. sharp wide open even into the corners, no CA soft smooth Bokeh Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestMichigan Posted December 22, 2011 Share #3 Posted December 22, 2011 I vote for the 75 f2.5... I haven't noticed any focus 'shift' issues with it, but don't forget that there is a difference between difficulty getting accurate focus with a particular lens and a lens with an 'optical design' where the point of focus 'shifts' between maximum aperture and when it is stoppen down. RLW Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightwrangler Posted December 22, 2011 Share #4 Posted December 22, 2011 The Color Heliar 2.5/75 is a wonderful lens, it spends a lot of time on my M9. Supersharp, unique style, very small and compact. I really recommend the lens. Review: Voigtlander 75mm F/2.5 Color Heliar Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobey bilek Posted December 23, 2011 Share #5 Posted December 23, 2011 I think a 75 is more useful on M8 than 90. Quality wise,sharpness, they are about equal. Build quality is better on Leica. A point to remember is Leica never guaranteed the 40 and 90 lenses from the CL would focus properly an M camera. The Focus cam is totally different and not as accurate. Add to the mix, focus is more critical on digital than film. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougg Posted December 23, 2011 Share #6 Posted December 23, 2011 I may be a bit off-track about this, but I think both 75 and 90 are "too long" for most purposes on the M8. I do have the 75 Heliars (f/2.5 and 1.8) that I like a lot on the M9 and on film. My old 2.8/90 Tele-Elmarit sits and sits... On the M8 I have found the 50mm surprisingly useful. Maybe you would too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonasy Posted December 23, 2011 Author Share #7 Posted December 23, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Thanks everyone, seems like the 75/2.5 is preferred here. Hopefully the store will have both when I return from the holidays, so I can try them for myself. The 75/2.5 is tempting if it focuses correctly. tobey, But isn't that mostly a rumor Leica spread to avoid their customers buying cheaper CL-lenses for their M-cameras? My 40/2 has no focus issues on my M8. But of course I will try the lens before buying it anyway Dougg, you are right of course, it will only be used as a tele for portraits, flowers, landscapes, cityscapes etc when I want the compressed tele look/background blur. Otherwise I will stick to my 40/2 50 mm doesn't really fit that well in my lens setup, I'd like a 50 mm eqv and something 85-100 eqv. A 35/75 (ish) setup suits me well on a M8 I think, and my experience from the D700 was that more lenses = more hassle. I think I have to wait until I upgrade to a M9 before I buy a 50 mm lens. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobey bilek Posted December 23, 2011 Share #8 Posted December 23, 2011 Was not a rumor. It was officially published. People did not seem to complain when film was king so perhaps the problem was exaggerated or people were not critical enough. Maybe they satisfied lowish customer standards, but not Leica exacting standards. I can not prove a thing as I have none of these lenses. The issue now is digital and focus errors have come to light that were never noticed before, focus shift for one. Leica certainly know of this. I have books discussing the focus shift in the 50 1.0. If you compensated, it was as sharp as any other fifty. Try before you buy on your camera. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jippiejee Posted December 23, 2011 Share #9 Posted December 23, 2011 I actually tried my Elmar 90mm/f4 lens on the M8 today for the first time, and the focus seems a bit off indeed. Not really a good combo it seems. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jippiejee Posted December 23, 2011 Share #10 Posted December 23, 2011 And now that I took a closer look at my test shots of this afternoon, the Elmar-c 90mm f/4 images seem really low in contrast, and there's a unhealthy amount of purple fringing in it. But then, I never thought I'd use the lens, it just came as part of the Leica CL package. The CL's summicron-c 40mm f/2 is a lot better than this one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.