Back to the M9... On a budget... Zeiss, Voigtlander or Leica lenses?

[250swb]

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I'm thinking overallI IQ and sharpness to make the most of the M9 sensor.

 

To me this really says stay with Leica and buy a Summarit or Summicron, in that sentence you rule out others that may be better lenses (to fit in with your other criteria of size and price) without being the highest outright resolution lenses.

 

Before I got to that sentence I thought to get you on your way the answer was easy, any of the CV Skopar/Heliar LTM lenses, all very sharp, all small, all fairly affordable (on Ebay), so

 

21mm f/4 Skopar

28mm f/3.5 Skopar

35mm f/2.5 Skopar

50mm f/2.5 Skopar

75mm f/2.5 Heliar

 

The two stars are the 28mm Skopar and the 75mm Heliar, easily as sharp as a 28mm Summicron or 75mm Summarit respectively, and I prefer using a 35mm Skopar more than my 35mm Summicron ASPH, its far smaller and not very far off it's image quality.

 

Steve

[BerndReini]

 

 

 the 28mm Skopar and the 75mm Heliar, easily as sharp as a 28mm Summicron or 75mm Summarit respectively

 

The 28mm Skopar is a good lens, but there is a big difference between f2 and f3.5. When you have a shot at ISO1,000 and f2, this wold push you to ISO 2,500 with the Skopar, not a good situation with the M9.

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The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[jchfriis]

Really?! Today, I had in my bag...

 

Canon 6D

Canon TS-E 17mm

Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS

Canon 40mm

Canon Flash

Tamron 24-70mm f2.8

 

Plus a Tripod :-D

 

Suddenly, the 35 lux is like a feather :-D

 

 

 

You must be very young and fit to carry all that around, or you don't travel very far.  

Edited July 5, 2015 by jchfriis

[250swb]

The 28mm Skopar is a good lens, but there is a big difference between f2 and f3.5. When you have a shot at ISO1,000 and f2, this wold push you to ISO 2,500 with the Skopar, not a good situation with the M9.

 

There does need to be some consideration towards the number of times this would be a problem when working on a budget.

 

The Skopar is sharper edge to edge than the 28mm Summicron at it's widest aperture, and this is more likely to be a representative example of how lenses are used, at medium to small apertures. Of course we can always see a problem somewhere or throw money at any problem, the skill in photography is to look beyond the price of something and see the value in equipment. It is common sense to buy only fast lenses if you are a concert or low light photographer, but the OP hasn't stated this?

 

Steve

[BerndReini]

While not cheap, the 28mm summicron is incredibly sharp wide open, and by 3.5 will certainly match any 28mm out there. I would say that you do not have to be a low-light photographer to appreciate and f2 aperture considering the ISO limitations of the M9/ ME after using a faster sensor.

[sblutter]

Easy fix..go to a camera shop and try both lenses...my personal Zeiss 35 f2 biogon has been a champion so far.

 

Only thing bugging me is that im more a 50mm person so I'm having a 50 cron coming in.it's really how you view your images...one mans meat is anothers poison

50 cron ver. 4 - best lens ever!

[tobey bilek]

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Poor man buys everything twice,  rich man once.     Buy a Leica, used if possible, as it is already depreciated.  Stay off EBay

[gunston]

My 35 Lux FLE just blows me away with it's rendering.

When I first purchased, it never seemed quite right. The aperture ring had too much play and it just seemed a little off

I sent it to Leica under warranty to have it looked at and have it calibrated with my M9.

On it's return it has been simply amazing... it has been almost 4 years now and is a lens I would never part with.

my fle had the same *play issue as yours, how's much did it charge for repair ?