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Leica Elmarit-M f2.8/21mm ASPH or Leica Super-Elmar-M 21mm f/3.4 ASPH


seu

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Can I just throw another lens into the mix? The Zeiss 21/2.8 Biogon is a superb lens for far less cost than either of the Leica options. I'm sure they are also fine lenses, but the Biogon ranks alongside the sharpest of the Leica ASPH glass.

 

Agree.

 

Peter.

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As usual with leica lens discussions it comes down to: what you are going to use it for?

For architecture at full aperture, then I would get the S-E.

For all other uses i'd get the elmarit.

There is not much weight difference, and if you are buying used not much price difference either. (being as SE is much rarer on the marker because its so new)

 

Also, my guess is that the Elmarits 24 and 21 will soon command very high prices in the used market as they sell out from stores and people start to miss them. I doubt leica will make new versions, and then have three versions of each focal length. Elmarits of all kinds remain the best mix between speed, size and price. Both elmarit 90 and summilux 75 were comparatively cheap right after their discontinuation. Try get one now!

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I have shot a handful of shots with the SE and own the Elmarit asph. A qucik look suggested the SE is super sharp, but perhaps more clinical. The Elmarit has a wonderful way of painting perspective, that seemed perhaps a little more 'draw you in' than the SE, but only a quick observation.

 

As I shoot at least as much indoors as out, the 2.8 is notably more useful to me.

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Before I bought the 21mm Super Elmar, I had the same questions. I decided on the SE due to the edge to edge sharpness wide open, smaller lens size, and better hood design, although I would of been happy with either lens.

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I recently bought the Super-Elmar - a fabulous lens. Its extremely sharp right into the corners, pretty flare resistant so far, takes E46 filters and so is a nice small lens. I am thoroughly satisfied that this lens is the best 20/21mm I've ever used.

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Before I bought the 21mm Super Elmar, I had the same questions. I decided on the SE due to the edge to edge sharpness wide open, smaller lens size, and better hood design, although I would of been happy with either lens.

 

I've owned the 21mm E and have tested the 21mm S-E since December 2010. So I would add to the above (edge to edge sharpness, smaller lens size, better hood design) virtually no distortion and just about as resistant to flare as resistant gets.

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Can I just throw another lens into the mix? The Zeiss 21/2.8 Biogon is a superb lens for far less cost than either of the Leica options. I'm sure they are also fine lenses, but the Biogon ranks alongside the sharpest of the Leica ASPH glass.

 

I would agree with the quality of the Zeiss 21mm lenses. I had the 4.5/21 Biogon which I thought was extraordinary but sold it due to the red edge on digital being too annoying to fix all of the time.

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On Feb 9, 2012 Sean Reid published a wonderfully thorough comparison of 5 21mm rangefinder lenses:

 

Leica 21/2.8 Elmarit

Leica 21/3.4 Super-Elmar

Zeiss 21/2.8 Biogon

Zeiss 21/4.5 C-Biogon

Cosina Voightlander 21/4.0 Color Skopar P

 

You need to subscribe to his site to read the reviews, but the reviews are well worth the fee. His site is at www.reidreviews.com.

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What about the CV 21/4.0 Color Skopar? If I am not going to use 21mm all the time, it seems to offer the most value for money lens out there and its size is super compact.

 

I hear it's got a lot of red edge on the M9, if you are shooting that. If you want to save some dough, the Zeiss 21/2.8 is reported to be great. I use the 21/4.5, but I'm on film, so red edge doesn't bother me.

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I hear it's got a lot of red edge on the M9, if you are shooting that. If you want to save some dough, the Zeiss 21/2.8 is reported to be great. I use the 21/4.5, but I'm on film, so red edge doesn't bother me.

 

That's what I thought too. But, one needs to try it with the latest firmware on the M9 which addresses a lot of color issues, and with the right lens selection (coding will help). Use of Corner Fix is not needed.

 

The comparison on Reid Reviews is very enlightening.

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Re the CV 21/4. I used it for a while while waiting for an 21 SE to become available and I still have it. It's good very compact lens and I do not get any noticeable red edges when manually coded as a 21 preASPH elmarit. In comparing the CV with the Leica SE, the CV is effectively about a stop slower (instead of the expected 1/2 stop) due to heavy vignetting using the metering on the M9. The edges are also softer wide open but still very good in my opinion and if price was in the equation the CV is a very good value (at least the CV lens example that I have).

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Just re read the Reid Reviews 21mm lenses on the M9, difficult to summarise as it depends on your budget and what is important.

 

All of the lenses tested have merit, only the Voigtlander 4.5 being particularly tricky with corner colour shift correction.

 

The Zeiss and the Elmarit are almost equal in performance if you need speed. Looking at images and reading the text I am very happy with my Elmarit F2.8 apsh and would not swap for a SEM. the SEM is more modern in its rendition.

 

Looking at pictures on screen, I would pick Elmarit, Zeiss, SEM, then the CV's. Other may differ and hardly scientific :o

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