Which 35mm lens for M9

[novice9]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I realize the 35 lux was not among the choices, but in general I think the present is a unique time to pick one up, here's why. The lense is likely being replaced for a new 35 lux, one probably far more expensive due to incorporation of floating elements (and other changes?) to eliminate focus shift that to greater or lesser degrees affects samples of this lense. I am lucky, my 35 1.4 exhibits no focus shift whatsoever on my m9 (observation confirmed by DAG who just 6 bit coded it for me) and the lense sings at all apertures. In other words, I wouldn't imagine that the new 35 lux will perform any better than a non-affected sample of the current 35 lux, albeit it will almost certainly perform slightly differently.

 

The current opportunity resides in the fact that the 35 lux is one of the only lenses sitting on dealer shelves in multiples, and so it shouldn't be too difficult to find a dealer (at least if you live in a major city with multiple distributors, i happen to live in nyc) willing to let you try and find one with no material focus shift (apparently the silver ones are less susceptible, though my aforementioned sample is black). Moreover, prices are going up in less than 2 weeks.

 

Just how one guy sees the world. Good Luck.

[pgk]

The current opportunity resides in the fact that the 35 lux is one of the only lenses sitting on dealer shelves in multiples

Not so in the UK where they appear to be in short supply new or used.

[Arif]

Not so in the UK where they appear to be in short supply new or used.

 

I am seeing more and more on the Tokyo auction websites and the pre-asph Titanium version just sold yesterday for around $1500 (the 75 lux for around $2k). The ASPH are fewer and range around $2000-$2500.

[neli]

hiya

 

that's exactly what i did.

i was hoping to get a 50 lux because i only wanted one lens to begin with. when my M9 arrived yesterday he happened to have gotten a 35 lux in the same package (the dealer hadn't ordered one) so i took it and so far it's a very likeable lens indeed. My main lenses were the 28/1.4 and 85/1.4 on my D700 and so i'm thinking about the 75 lux or cron to complement the 35 lux.

no focus shift here either, in fact, it's remarkably easy to get focus spot on, very intuitive to work with a range finder after 20+ years of autofocus. maybe the lens and I have the same focus shift :-)

At the risk of hijacking this thread, does anyone have an image of an M9 and a 75 lux attached to get a feel of the size of the thing?

best

 

nicodemus

[jplomley]

As a Mamiya 7 and M9 user, I can only agree as far as total weight, convenience and handling, and high ISO application are concerned. As for resolution, tonality and dynamic range, the M9 is great... but the Mamiya 7 is better still, nostalgic or not.

 

Makes a bit more sense than the first comment. I've been working with a Mamiya 7/43/65 kit for many years now, and I find the drum scanned chromes are very close in detail to images made with my 4x5 Arca Swiss with Rodenstock APO Sironar-S glass. The Mamiya lenses are simply optical perfection. I've done some work with the M9 and ripped a few prints in support of a local "Leica Days" event. The camera and resultant prints were very impressive, but unfortunately in the time that I had the M9, I never did a direct comparison against the Mamiya 7. I've made 50x60 inch prints from the Mamiya of subject material containing high frequency data with incredible results. Again, they give prints from 4x5 a good run for the money.

 

My feeling is that with the pixel resolution of the M9 (6.25 μm), images with high frequency data (think pine needles) could be a challenge compared to drum scanned 6x7 film where the aperture of the drum scanner can be adjusted close to the the film grain (2-3 μm), but of course there is very little noise because the film is oil mounted. If I can ever get my hands on an M9 again, this would be a very worthwhile experiment and would certainly save on the mental gymnastics one goes through when deciding what to take when traveling! I for one would love to distill my travel kit to an M9, M7, 21, 35, 75 arsenal.