Search the Community

Hi All SL-users! I have had my SL for some months and used mostly M-R lenses with the adapers and the 24-90 Zoom which covers most situations. The system is heavy, but once you get used to it, -you start wondering why not use lenses of your 645 cameras:)? I have the Contax 645 lenses and wonder if anyone has found suitable adapter to use these on the SL - even if the AF and some other functions might be lost? Some time back there were still companies which made tailor-made adapters, but I have learned that we are maybe past those times?;) However, there are individuals who are keen to solve problems and I remember someone making an AF-unit of Nikon's 16A-teleconverter, which was not that difficult after all... Even the Photokina exhibition might have revealed something on this front? So, -please, share any of your experience and of this topic? if there are any:)? br Hans

Did Leica do à la carte programme for lenses as well? I have seen several M10 cameras with matchy matchy lenses (lettering color etc.), I guess Wetzlar did many things if persuaded (although they do not want to sell me silver parts from Safari for my black parts Reporter)...

I currently have an SL2-S with a 24-90 Vario-Elmarit, a 16-28 Sigma, a 100-300 Lumix and a 105mm macro from Sigma. I am pretty pleased with this collection, which is reasonably comprehensive. I do, however, find myself hankering for a simpler setup, and I wonder if the Q3 may have at last provided that solution. The dilemma is, I cannot buy a Q3 without divesting myself of the SL2-S and all its lenses. I would be interested in the opinions of the group on this, and in particular one issue: With the much larger sensor -- current body has 24 Mpx, Q3 has 60 -- is it reasonable to hope to get away with cropping full-frame images to emulate longer lens coverage? And how far do you think one could go with that? An alternative, of course, would be to get a lesser mirrorless body and a long lens -- a Sony alpha of some kind perhaps. But in recent years I have become content with the IQ of my Leicas (serially, an M10, an SL and the current body) and am not eager to compromise. On the other hand, long-lens photography is a minor -- but significant -- part of my shooting regime. Undoubtedly others have thought about this, and with any luck will be willing to share their insight. If I were wealthy enough I'd simply buy a Q3 and break out my photography into two genres; alas, that is not an option. Thank you!

Hello, has anyone tried the summilux-r 35mm on either the fujifilm gfx system or hasselblad x1d? And if anyone hasn't, could someone tell me if there's a difference in image circle between the summilux-r and summilux-m versions of the 35mm? I know the summilux-m covers the 44x33 sensors of these cameras.

Die kursierenden Roadmaps sind ja mittlerweile in die Jahre gekommen und noch immer sind nicht alle Objektive auf dem Markt wie das 24er und 21er SL Objektiv. Gibt es ansonsten neue Gerüchte zu SL Objektiven? Eine neue SL wird ja wohl 2023 auf den Markt kommen, Panasonic bringt ja auch was Neues raus. Eine SL-3?

Cleaning my archives & found the legendary FoMag Second Hand Guide (distributed by the popular German magazine Foto Magazin) from exactly 20 years ago (August 2002). Adding the facsimile of the relevant pages 😉 that will surely be of interest in comparison to 2022. All prices are in euros.

Friends - I have recently received a lens, which appears to have a small amount of fungus on the front element. I wanted to ask if there is any update on Leica servicing lenses which would have this problem, or third party service providers in London who can on the task and not damage the lens in the process? If it is a very small amount and doesn’t appear to impact optical performance, does the fungus issue matter? Would you recommend not using the lens on a camera to prevent the spread to other lenses or the viewfinder? Is there a way to prevent the growth of the fungus? Sorry, lots of questions, but would truly appreciate your guidance!

Following the illuminating thread on M lenses, let's do it for S. In order to see the range at a glance, record just the focal length. If you have several lenses with the same focal length, e.g. 3 different50mm ones, you can write it down as 50*3. Record the zoom as 30-90, sorted after 30. My list is simply all of the original S lenses: 24, 30, 30-90, 35, 45, 70, 100, 120*2, 180

If you are having trouble deciding what focal length of lens to get for your M camera, prehaps this will help - https://form.typeform.com/to/ap2wHGgf?utm_campaign=Which focal length are you%3F (2022-01-30)&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Leica Store Miami Mailing List&_kx=FltklInLQBO73TB-6twiEUJ9V9joMvmnvR--Yi0XxyA%3D.TLtVgC

I've been in love with my Q for over a year now, and am ready to make the leap to the M10. I shoot mostly street and some candid/portrait but no in studio work. I love the lens on the Q....so my initial thoughts were a 28mm and a 50mm.... Like many, I came from a Canon 5D system, went to the Fuji system (owned pretty much every lens fuji made), then discovered the Q....now I'm drinking the cool-aid like it's the last drink I'll ever consume! For those of you Leica lens veterans, do you have any advice for me? lux or cron? anything to look out for? I'm not opposed to buying used. My plan is to sell or trade my Q for at least one of the lenses. any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone, I’ve recently acquired a Leica III and I’ve been enjoying this camera so much that I have not touched my M3 at all for over a month now. I was wondering if there are any Barnack Leica users here who could recommend me their favorite lenses for the system. I currently own: - Nickel Elmar 5cm f3.5 (elmar, uncoated from 1933) - Chrome Elmar 5cm f3.5 Red scale (coated from 1954) I’m thinking of getting rid of one of the Elmars (still have to decide which one) and get another 50mm that is compact / light but a bit brighter and a 28/35mm as well.

I haven't used my Noctilux in quite some time. I'm wondering if this is a normal issue wide open with point light sources or if there is something wrong with my lens. I've seen it from other light sources like neon signs wide open at night.

Does anyone know when the infrared marks on Leitz/Leica lenses were not used anymore? I am checking my own lenses: Hektor 13,5 cm (1956): yes; Elmar 135 mm (1962): no Elmar 9 cm (1937): yes; Elmar 9 cm (1952): yes; Elmar 9 cm collapsible (1954): yes; Elmar 90mm (1962, new version or II): no Summicron 50mm II (1960): no; Summicron 50mm III (1968): no Summitar 50mm (1948): yes Summar 5 cm (1937): yes Elmar 5 cm (1939): yes None of my 3,5cm/35mm lenses has the R-mark Best, Lex

The new firmware for L lenses is available, but won't install on my SL2... 🤪 https://en.leica-camera.com/Photography/Leica-SL/Leica-SL2-S/Firmware Direct link here https://en.leica-camera.com/content/download/196932/5259036/version/1/file/SLLens02.plf

What is the Curved lever attached to the lens for?

I'm currently wrestling with which lenses to keep / sell / add - and wonder if others are dealing with similar issues. At the moment I'm using two systems. L mount and M mount. The L mount system is one SL2 body and the following lenses: VE 24-90 VE 90-280 Sigma 45 f2.8 DG DN The M system is two M10 bodies and: 15 Voigtlander Super-wide Heliar III f4.5 28 Summicron Asph 35 Summicron Asph 50 Summilux Asph 50 Summarit f2.4 75 Summarit f2.4 90 Macro-Elmar + macro adapter 135 M Apo-Telyt f3.4 In the current circumstances, my daily carry everywhere is the SL2 + 24-90. I never thought it would be so easy to manage - but it is. Because of how life is at the moment, I'm hardly using the VE 90-280. This means there is a large lump of money sitting in a lens that is little used. However, I got it for a good price used and I'll hold on to it for a year or two and then review. I don't use the Sigma 45 so much since I got the VE 24-90 (which is SUCH a good, well behaved lense), but I still like the images I make and I am happy to retain it for now. I'm also not using the M's much at present. This isn't a reason for getting rid of them - but the retained lenses are another issue. If I look back through thousands of images in my Lightroom archive, the three M lenses that dominate are 28 / 35 / 50. The others account for only about 5% of images. I loved the 90 Macro when I first got it - but I was mainly using it as a compact medium telephoto on the M10, and not really using it for macro! AND The Sigma 45 (with its near macro capability) on the SL2 was so much easier to work with! Likewise, I've had the 135 A-T for a long time, and it's a flawless lens (which works great on the SL2), but how much do I use it? Very little at the moment. I use the Voigtlander 15 Super-wide Heliar very little too - but I know that it's essential for certain kinds of interior and landscape Now that I have the SL2, the lenses that are really redundant are the 50 & 75 Summarits + the 90 Macro-Elmar. Off to Ffordes they will go. But then what. What am I lacking. My current feeling is that it's a really good portrait lens and (possibly) a dedicated medium telephoto / macro lens. Which leads me to Sigma. It seems that the new 85 1.4 DG DN is a candidate as is the 105 Macro DG DN. I'm also tempted by the 35 f2 DG DN - though this overlaps with the 35 Summicron (which works beautifully on either M or SL). SO - does anyone have experience with the two Sigma lenses mentioned above (85 / 105). Does anyone have other thoughts? I'm toying with the Sigma 14-35, but I'm not sure if I'd use it that much. Heigh ho - I suppose this is all to do with too much time on my hands during the pandemic - though I did get out this morning in beautiful sunshine and snow (with the SL2 and 24-90!). Examples here: Thanks for any thoughts...

Hi to all Leica lovers, I'm new to the forum, at least as registered user, and I want to thank you all for all your invisible support you gave me when searching for precious info about Leica. Probably the best resource online on this specific and lovable world. I'm interested to test some 35mm prime lenses (no Leica) for my digital M. I've heard about great results with: Voigtlander 35mm f2.5 Color Skopar Zeiss Biogon C 35mm f2.8 Zeiss Biogon C 35mm f2.0 (someone online affirming it is not sharp as the Zeiss 2.8) I know this is probably an old challenge but I just wanted to follow up it on 2020 , and I'm interested to a new lens. Anyone here who want to share its opinion both on digital or analogical is very very welcome. Furthermore....is it worth the Zeiss price gap (currently double the price for new)? Thanks a lot WanLevia

Have searched for a while for the ultimate pouch (neoprene, not leather) for my Leica M lenses. Finally found one for the "average" Leica/Zeiss/Hexanon lens. This bag can also be hooked to the belt via the sewn loop, having enough room for a finger to reach for the lens. I cut off the adjacent carabiner as it was useless. Now I can stack two lenses on top of each other (I have 4) in my ONA bag. I am not naming any brands, I am not associated with anyone, just informing anyone that was after such product that this company is in Munich, Germany and on amazon.de. They have even smaller (XXS) bags but they are too tiny for Leica lenses. The proper size they offer for the pouch IMHO was XS (7cm x 8cm). The bags are not the icons of design, nor very beautiful, but they do get the job done. PLEASE SHARE YOUR LEICA LENS POUCH EXPERIENCE(S).

I was listening to an interview between Dr Andreas Kaufmann and Ralph Gibson, and I was intrigued by this statement by Ralph Gibson: I am curious if any of you have found that to be the case - that 75mm is "normal" for digital photography. See 3:55 in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yaf8l1quJQ

Hopefully nobody minds me asking an ignorant question... I have an LTM Elmar 50mm f/2.8 and, reading the Ken Rockwell review, he recommends a Yellow #022 39mm filter for b&w photography with that lens. However, what I am really unsure about is how the filters fit to my lens and, if I am not to buy an authentic Leitz/Leica filter, what I need to look for on eBay, etc. I don't see any thread inside the collapsible lens so I am guessing that the filters either fit over the lens like the lens cap or somehow grip onto the inside of the lens. Grateful for any insights plus suggestions re where I can get them!

Today I bought a used Summicron 28 ASPH and immediately noticed that the red dot on the lens - the one used to align when mounting - is of a different color than the Summicron 50 that I have. It is more of an orange color on the 28, and red on the 50. My speculation is that the red color has changed (bleached out) due to exposure to the environment. This sounds quite stupid but it's Leica so anything is possible. Anyone has similar issues? Any advices will be helpful!

I bought my SL with a Leica S and Novoflex Canon EF adapters to complement the lenses otherwise used on my S2 and RED cameras. I am looking to put together a range of the best M and R lenses, from wide angle such as the Super-Elmarit-R 15mm f/2.8 ASPH, to medium telephoto such as the APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/4. I am looking for recommendations based on first hand experience.

I have bought my first Leica T. It is nu first endeavour in the Leica system. It was a demo model in mint condition with alle accessoires and box. Just not a lens. I am wondering how to best the Leica experience for the least amount of money. So I have found a few options from cheap to more expensive: 1. Adapt my existing Nikon D glass with a lens adapter 2. Buy a 50mm Summicron F2 lens and an adapter. 3. Buy a new Sigma 45mm f2.8 4. Buy a new Leica 18mm f/2.8 If money was no object I'd would have liked the 23mm f/2. Alas that is not the case. So any advice would be much apreciated, about the above options and getting the best Leica colour and pop experience.

Hi all, Often read discussions about which is the best 35mm M mount lens with debates comparing the Zeiss distagon 35/1.4 against the 35 Summilux FLE Asph. Comparing the lenses to each other is fine but I don’t read much about whether the combination of Leica glass and Leica camera/sensor is an optimal pairing yielding special results. I am shooting the distagon on an SL and wonder, for example, if I would get greater micro contrast with an Lux FLE. Any thoughts? Thanks.