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Why buy other than Leica lens for a Leica M system???!!


leicahg

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With all do respect to other brands........I thought the essence of enjoying a Leica M system is when you use Leica lenses AND NOT other brands....thinking that Leica M lenses are specifically calibrated to match the best result for the system, BUT my QUESTION is Can we get BETTER result and Image Quality with non Leica  / other brand lenses?? Please share your best experience by indicating lens(es)

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This one cannot be answered specifically. I cannot say that there is any "best" lens out there.

 

In general, there is not one manufacturer of M-mount lenses that does not produced interesting, often excellent, products. But each single lens has unique characteristics, and it is up to the photographer to determine which one fits his needs/wants best. If you are interested in such comparisons, Sean Reid has several highly informative comparisons on his site.

 

Searching through the forum will help you along as well.

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BUT my QUESTION is Can we get BETTER result and Image Quality with non Leica  / other brand lenses??

 

You will have to define what you mean by 'better' and 'quality' - both are notoriously difficult to define as they cannot be quantified simply. Most recent designs tend to be higher resolution, or faster, or feature aspheric surfaces or floating laments and whilst these can provide specific benefits in one area of image characteristic, they may change others which may (subjectively even) be viewed as worse than previous designs. Current Leica lenses are state-of-the-art designs and are very, very good lenses, but then some older designs have characteristics which endear them to some users even though their technical specification may not be as high numerically as current ones. Its really not as simple as may be anticipated to quantify the parameters which produce a 'good' lens as might be hoped.

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With all do respect to other brands........I thought the essence of enjoying a Leica M system is when you use Leica lenses AND NOT other brands....thinking that Leica M lenses are specifically calibrated to match the best result for the system, BUT my QUESTION is Can we get BETTER result and Image Quality with non Leica  / other brand lenses?? Please share your best experience by indicating lens(es)

Leica body (M, SL) is optimized for Leica M lenses, not other way around....

 

It means if you start with Leica M lens then it makes sense to use Leica M or SL body. If you start with Leica body first, then you can find good value outside Leica on a case by case basis.

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With all do respect to other brands........I thought the essence of enjoying a Leica M system is when you use Leica lenses AND NOT other brands....thinking that Leica M lenses are specifically calibrated to match the best result for the system, BUT my QUESTION is Can we get BETTER result and Image Quality with non Leica  / other brand lenses?? Please share your best experience by indicating lens(es)

 

There will always be exceptions to the rule, just as there will always be photographers with the best/optimal kit who couldn't photograph the broad side of a barn.  :)

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There will always be exceptions to the rule, just as there will always be photographers with the best/optimal kit who couldn't photograph the broad side of a barn.  :)

You've lost me completely here... :rolleyes: What rule?

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The older M lenses don't always play well with the M9 and M240 sensor.  Some Italian flag, some magenta edges, some corner softening, UV/IR filters for M240's in the tropics. Luckily the computers can fix it.

 

all best..

 

 

Leica body (M, SL) is optimized for Leica M lenses, not other way around....

 

It means if you start with Leica M lens then it makes sense to use Leica M or SL body. If you start with Leica body first, then you can find good value outside Leica on a case by case basis.

Edited by david strachan
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The older M lenses don't always play well with he M9 and M240 sensor.  Some Italian flag, some magenta edges, some corner softening, UV/IR filters for M240's in the tropics. Luckily the computers can fix it.

 

all best..

Well, instead of making absolute statement, I should have said that digital Leica bodies are better optimized for Leica M lenses than bodies from other brands.

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Well, instead of making absolute statement, I should have said that digital Leica bodies are better optimized for Leica M lenses than bodies from other brands.

Leica M bodies really are about the only good option, especially for the wider lenses. The filters in front of the sensors on other brand digital cameras are the problem, as in they are too thick to deal with the thin distance between the rear lens elements and the sensor, leading to not-so-good image quality in the corners.

 

The Leica lenses that are not very good on M bodies, are not very good for most any other brand body as well for a lot of the same reasons.

Edited by Gregm61
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With all do respect to other brands........I thought the essence of enjoying a Leica M system is when you use Leica lenses AND NOT other brands....thinking that Leica M lenses are specifically calibrated to match the best result for the system, BUT my QUESTION is Can we get BETTER result and Image Quality with non Leica  / other brand lenses?? Please share your best experience by indicating lens(es)

 

This question crops up on the forum fairly regularly in one form or another. Jaap has given a great answer to you already but I would just add that as the M is the only digital rangefinder camera currently available I would say that is the essence of the M system. 

 

The fact is you can fit any LTM or M mount lens whether made by Leica or not. In some cases the 'better' lens will not be the Leica lens. But my 'better' may be different from yours. 

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Well, instead of making absolute statement, I should have said that digital Leica bodies are better optimized for Leica M lenses than bodies from other brands.

I was in Wetzlar yesterday and heard an excellent presentation from Peter Karbe called 'Innovation v Tradition?'

 

He said (and I quote) "We needed to fit digital technology to the M System (including the lenses), not the other way around"

 

Ernst

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I like consistency, even if only in name, so Leica lenses go on Leica bodies for me. It just feels right.

I don't doubt that others get preferable results from combining Leica with other brands in a system, but I'm not that practical ;)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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From the good old times on there were lenses of other manufacturers distributed by Leitz:

Super Angulons by Schneider, Hologon by Zeiss, Zooms by Angenieux, Minolta & others...

So a discussion about "the one and only doctrine" seems obsolete to me.

I use 12mm, in near future 10mm Voigtländer, is there an alternative?

1,2/35 by Leica made?

Why not give them a try, they are worth it!

Financial aspect is one more reason, not everyone saving money for fulfilling his dream of a 2.hand M9 vor even M8 might be able to afford a 8.000$ lens (me e.g.!)

Thomas

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If you are talking about new designs, some will argue that selected lenses from other manufacturers (eg, Zeiss) are optically *better* than Leica's. For most folks, however, it's not about MTF charts but rather about price, size/ergonomics and rendering.

 

If you include older designs, there are numerous instances where Nikkor/Canon/etc. RF lenses outperformed (from an optical standpoint) their Leica/Leitz equivalents.

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With all do respect to other brands........I thought the essence of enjoying a Leica M system is when you use Leica lenses AND NOT other brands....thinking that Leica M lenses are specifically calibrated to match the best result for the system, BUT my QUESTION is Can we get BETTER result and Image Quality with non Leica  / other brand lenses?? Please share your best experience by indicating lens(es)

I consistently get better results with my Voigtländer VIII 15mm than with no lens, which would be my Leica equivalent.

I am saddened that that when I use it, this makes me miss "the essence of enjoying the M system", whatever the hell that is. My consolation is that sometimes, when I am lucky, I get great images.

 

Don't confuse technical benchmarks with enjoyment, or results.

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I was in Wetzlar yesterday and heard an excellent presentation from Peter Karbe called 'Innovation v Tradition?'

 

He said (and I quote) "We needed to fit digital technology to the M System (including the lenses), not the other way around"

 

Ernst

 

 

Gesendet von iPhone mit Tapatalk

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I like consistency, even if only in name, so Leica lenses go on Leica bodies for me. It just feels right.

I don't doubt that others get preferable results from combining Leica with other brands in a system, but I'm not that practical ;)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

<Looking at my camera right now>  Leica body, Olympus EVF, Novoflex adapter, Olympus lens, B+W filter... :(

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... my QUESTION is Can we get BETTER result and Image Quality with non Leica  / other brand lenses??

Sure... being a vacation day, i quickly got an example just this morning... my Sonnar 250 (Contarex) performs better on M240 than my Telyt 280... B) but it's such an odd setup that is outside of the typical "M way"... ;)... anyway, I saw in the forum many (well taken) pictures which evidenced the character of some lenses (old Canons, Zeiss WAs, modern CV...) that I think that anyway answer is yes.  

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