Lens suggestions for M8

[peterjcb]

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I'm toying the idea of getting an M8/M9 some time in the future and just trying to figure out what lens I would get for it. There is no question that I would want a Leica glass and not a substitute. There is just something about Leica glass that I have been very impressed with.

 

I prefer wides as opposed to tele. I'm thinking that a 35mm would be a perfect compromise between maybe a 24/28 and a 50mm...no? So what would I actuallly be looking for in a 35mm length?

Or maybe a 28 would be a better choice?...suggestions....

[rodoleica]

I'm toying the idea of getting an M8/M9 some time in the future and just trying to figure out what lens I would get for it. There is no question that I would want a Leica glass and not a substitute. There is just something about Leica glass that I have been very impressed with.

 

I prefer wides as opposed to tele. I'm thinking that a 35mm would be a perfect compromise between maybe a 24/28 and a 50mm...no? So what would I actuallly be looking for in a 35mm length?

Or maybe a 28 would be a better choice?...suggestions....

The combination M8 + 24/2.8 is in MHO a very good one : nice colors , very sharp , gives you in reality a 32m wide angle. Have great pleasure with the excellent M8.

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[mike_j]

If you have a single lens I recommend about 35mm equivalent, so 28mm for an M8 or 35mm for an M9. It's hard to beat Summicrons as all round well balanced performers. It depends on budget. Personally I use M8 with Zeiss 28 and Summicron 5mm. I have sold all my other 'M' lenses and just keep the M8 for B&W and infra red.

 

Everything else uses a Sony A7 which also uses these lenses to good effect.

[doolittle]

I personally find 28mm the perfect match for the M8. Combination of 'tight' ~35mm equivalent field of view and finding the 28mm frame lines the most pleasing to use. Glasses wearers might find the 35mm frame lines easier to see though.

On film M cameras I usually prefer 50mm, but on the M8 it's usually too tight a crop.

[Nr90]

I'm a new M8 user, so do what you will with my limited experience

 

The 28 mm is very versatile.

I've been using the elmarit 28 v3 lately. A 28 mm elmarit asph is on the way

 

I've also used the 35 (v4), 40 and 50 mm summicron.

Imo the 50 mm summicron is really beautiful, however it is too tight to use all the time.

The 35 and 40 summicron are both very nice and versatile. They are comparable to a 50 mm on a full frame. The 40 mm is cheaper then the 35 and offers comparable performance, however one downside is that it cannot be coded (AFAIK).

 

Imo the 28, 35 and 40 are all solid options, with the 28 being the most versatile.

[lct]

I prefer wides as opposed to tele. I'm thinking that a 35mm would be a perfect compromise [...]

35mm is not that wide on the M8 due to the crop factor (35x1.33 = equiv. 47mm). What you need is a 21mm (equiv. 28mm), a 24mm (equiv. 32mm) or a 28mm (equiv. 37mm) lens. Beware that the M8 has no framelines for 21mm lenses though.

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[peterjcb]

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Thanks....I just checked the specs for M8 vs M9 and just realized that the M8 is not full frame (APS-H (27 x 18 mm). For some reason I was under the impression that it was so I learned something today.

In that case then the 21/24mm probably makes more sense for me since it would be a 28/32mm FOV on the M8 and if I ever upgraded the body someday it would be a decent wide angle on an M9 or M240. ...thinking ahead already...

 

So then which 21 or 24 would you all recommend me looking at? I have a Elmarit on my X1 and it is wonderful. What are the difference between Elmarit / Summicron etc...?

[farnz]

... What are the difference between Elmarit / Summicron etc...?

Generally maximum aperture:

 

Elmar - f/4

Elmarit - f/2.8

Summarit - f/2.5

Summicron - f/2

Summilux - f/1.4

Noctilux - f/1.0 (or f/0.95)

 

There are one or two departures such as the 50mm f/2.8 Elmar and the older 50mm f/1.5 Summarit but it's the general rule.

 

There is also a difference in the way the lenses render/draw pictures too. Obviously shallow depth of focus comes into play with the faster lenses but, for example, an Elmar at f/4 will draw differently to a Summilux at f/4. I won't expand further because it's the subject of numerous threads and highly subjective points of view.

 

Pete.

[Nr90]

So then which 21 or 24 would you all recommend me looking at? I have a Elmarit on my X1 and it is wonderful. What are the difference between Elmarit / Summicron etc...?

 

Mostly the f-stop.

Elmarit is 2.8

Summicron is 2.0

Summilux is 1.4

[jhgnag]

I tried a 28mm Elmarit v3 (I think), a Zeiss ZM 35 f2 and finally settled on a Summarit 35mm 2.5.

 

The Elmarit was great, but in the end it was just too large for me to have on the camera and I felt limited headshot of my 6 year old. The Zeiss was very nice...sharp, and solid, but I seemed to get an orangish cast on my pictures. It was also a little larger and used a unusual filter size (this was a factor because I believed I should use a UV/IR filter with the M8).

 

I tried the Summarit and was immediately impressed. I think they are almost not considered "real" Leica lenses, but it seems great to me. Sharp, great bokeh, small, 6-bit coded, and the colors look great.

 

I don't know enough about this to be be stating "fact", but I wonder if the coding helps the camera figure out the color. Maybe it only adjusts distortion, but the colors seam perfect with the Summarit seem pretty close to perfect to me.

 

I bought these all used from the same camera shop. They let me keep exchanging until I was happy. I paid $1300 for the Summarit which probably isn't a smoking deal, but seemed pretty decent.

 

I'm considering adding a 75mm or 90mm Summarit.

 

I started with an M8 because I can't spend $4000+ for an M9, ME or M. Maybe someday, but not now. The Summarit seems to be a great lens for me at a somewhat reasonable price point.

[lct]

So then which 21 or 24 would you all recommend me looking at? I have a Elmarit on my X1 and it is wonderful. What are the difference between Elmarit / Summicron etc...?

- Summilux-M 21/1.4 & 24/1.4: Sharp, bulky, very expensive (i have no experience with them);

- Elmarit-M 21/2.8 asph & 24/2.8 asph: Sharp, smaller but still bulky with their hood, expensive;

- Super Elmar-M 21/3.4 & Elmar-M 24/3.8: Sharp, smaller, expensive.

For a one lens kit with the M8, i would prefer a 28 personally. Both Summicron-M 28/2 and Elmarit-M 28/2.8 asph are excellent, the latter being the smallest and the least expensive among current Leica wides aside from the Summarit-M 35/2.5.

[peterjcb]

- Summilux-M 21/1.4 & 24/1.4: Sharp, bulky, very expensive (i have no experience with them);

- Elmarit-M 21/2.8 asph & 24/2.8 asph: Sharp, smaller but still bulky with their hood, expensive;

- Super Elmar-M 21/3.4 & Elmar-M 24/3.8: Sharp, smaller, expensive.

For a one lens kit with the M8, i would prefer a 28 personally. Both Summicron-M 28/2 and Elmarit-M 28/2.8 asph are excellent, the latter being the smallest and the least expensive among current Leica wides aside from the Summarit-M 35/2.5.

 

thanks all! the Elmarit 28/2.8 seems like what I'd be looking for. I would also compliment either the M8 or the M9 with a Summicron 50mm f 2.0 at some point. I'm not ready to purchase anything now but it's good to have the knowledge just in case an opportunity comes up that I just can't pass on.

It's been quite a while since I last shot a rangefinder and I'm looking forward to the experience again in the near future. ( I had a very old Konica that worked well for me when I was a teenager many eons ago)

[peterjcb]

I might add that I'll most likely be looking for an M9 as opposed to the M8. The M8 sensor size is very similar to my X1 ( 27X18mm vs 23.6 X 15.8mm ). They are both CCD and since I'm very happy with the X1 right now ,which has incredible IQ, I won't be gaining enough to justify buying an M8.

I'll wait to find a deal on an M9 which will also eliminate the crop factor aspect when buying lenses which will allow me to get less expensive and lighter lenses. I'm not in any hurry and the longer I wait the prices will eventually drop on the M9 when newer models come out. In the meantime I love my X1 but now I understand a lot more than I did a few days ago thanks to this discussion....

[Ernstk]

If you're going for an M9 then I can highly recommend the Summaron 35/2.8.

 

It's an excellent lens; small and light with great image quality. The only minor downside is the maximum aperture of 2.8. However, it's quite a bit cheaper than any of the 35mm Summicrons.

[peterm1_Leica]

I have found that one of the nicest 50mm Leica lenses is an original Summarit 50mm f1.5 from the 1950s, if you can get one in good condition. The early Summarit is essentially a low contrast lens and this perfectly complements the M8 in many situations in my view. The M8 sensor is antiquated by current standards and does not handle high contrast situations well. By popping a low contrast lens on the front of the thing, this is a definite help in turning in nice images with a soft pastel effect. Admittedly it needs to be stopped down a bit for best results as shot wide open there is some veiling flare which can detract. If you only have one lens this might be a bit over the top for many people though given its specific performance characteristics. Still talking about early lenses, if you wnat something more modern in rendering but still from that early era, and do not mind a non Leica lens (I know you preference is for Leica) the one to go for could be a Canon 50mm f1.8 in black and chrome also from the 1950s. It is screw mount so you will need a screw to M adapter to mount it on the M8 but they are cheap on ebay. This lens is pretty close to the 1950s era Summicron in performance but costs a hell of a lot less.

 

Here is a thread about the Summarit I started on this at rangefinder forum a while back, with samples shot both wide open and stopped down. All exhibit low contrast.

 

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=136530

Edited September 24, 2014 by peterm1_Leica

[peterjcb]

I returned the X1 and purchased an M8 in beautiful condition. I also purchased a 28mm Elmarit 2.8 ASPH lens for it and I love the results. Eventually if I'm convinced that the rangefinder is the right choice I'll pick up a 50mm which will give me 2 lenses for a future upgrade with the Monochrom or M240 in my sights at some point....we'll see.

[lct]

Well done. Very sharp combo so beware of moiré in some circumstances and don't forget a 39mm UV/IR filter if you shoot in colour.

[peterjcb]

a photo of my M8 with the black logo dot conversion that I performed and B&W IR/UV cut filter addition...I like the black dot because it draws less attention as opposed to the red and personally I think it looks better. I will most likely put some black tape over the M8 when I'm out shooting.

She's in excellent+ shape for an 8 year old camera and the LCD on the back is almost flaswless except for a hardly noticeable blemish not even worth mentioning.

I'm amazed that someone owned this for 8 years and it only has 9000 actuations. If I had this camera 8 years ago it would have a least twice that amount by now.

I will most likely get a leather half case for protection as I like to keep all my cameras in mint condition.

 

M8 by peterjcb, on Flickr

Edited September 25, 2014 by peterjcb

[Jeff S]

Enjoy the camera. Take pics and don't worry about the rest.

 

Nobody will care about your M8 letters except you…your actions are much more relevant to the subject. If camera looks mattered, the pink/red filter reflection would be the first thing noticed…but that, too, is irrelevant IMO.

 

I use my cameras regularly, without case, and they still look and work fine. I sold a 5 year old, well used, M8.2 to a dealer as mint. To each his own.

 

Jeff

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[bocaburger]

When I had an M8 my 2 most-used lenses were 15 (CV), 28 (Elmarit v.4) and 75 (the CV f/2.5). I had those lenses along with others since long before the M8, so it was simply a matter of picking from my stash. Since upgrading back to full-frame I'm back to 21, 35 and 90 as it was in the film days.