M8 and Old Glass

[Maggie_O]

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I was shooting film a bunch this Summer and Fall, but the M8 and the 50 Summilux came out when I got a new kitten. Here's some shots from the 1st version Summilux and the M8:

 

Sleeping Jackson, November 20, 2010 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

 

Michael And Jackson, November 19, 2010 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

 

Back Off Kid, November 18, 2010 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

 

Birdwatching Jackson, November 18, 2010 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

[Maggie_O]

Jackson Upsidedown, November 12, 2010 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

 

Jackson Has A Flavor, November 13, 2010 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

 

Jackson Watches Bunn, November 13, 2010 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

 

Jackson Is Comfy, November 13, 2010 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

[WestMichigan]

Maggie!

I was literally laughing out loud as I scrolled through your pictures of Jackson. Especially great for me are those where he's sleeping on his back! I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping to alleviating the stresses of a particularly trying day. :-)

Sincerely

Richard in Michigan

[Maggie_O]

Glad I could brighten up your day, Richard! Jackson works wonders like that. Even moreso in person!

[zombii]

Adorable kitten, Maggie, and excellent shots of him. They're so cute when they're that age.

[!Nomad64]

Lovely shots and lovely kitten. You made me want one too!

 

Bruno

[Aviator]

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M8 with 1951 vintage Canon 85mm 1,9 wide open.

 

Nice, big and heavy silver lens.

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[Patman]

Mostly all of my glass goes back to the 50's and have been so satisfied with the results have never bothered replacing any of my existing mm's. My only current lens is the Zeiss 21mm. I haven't coded or used filters on any of these shots.

The Barn is with a 35mm Summaron, the Cattails a 135mm Hector, Hay Bales 50mm Col. Summicron, Begonias and Tombstone 135 2.8 Elmar, and Lil Barnes 35 Summaron.

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Edited November 26, 2010 by Patman

[WestMichigan]

PatMan, Thanks For Sharing!

Lovely images, truly lovely. The 'Hay Bales' have a wonderful Glow about them. I've recently had doubts about my aspirations to own an M8 and whether it is 'strong' enough to deliver beautiful landscapes, but images like that make me regain my confidence in the M8 as a camera.

Sincerely

Richard in Michigan

[!Nomad64]

Richard,

 

you probably forgot that the M8 never ceased to be a good camera. It's the M9 that is one further generation. :-)

BTW I have and enjoy my M8.

 

Bruno

[wda]

I was shooting film a bunch this Summer and Fall, but the M8 and the 50 Summilux came out when I got a new kitten. Here's some shots from the 1st version Summilux and the M8:

 

Birdwatching Jackson, November 18, 2010 by Maggie Osterberg, on Flickr

 

Maggie, I think 'Birdwatching' is brilliant! A moment well caught and composed. A crop from both sides would make it perfect.

[Clive Murray-White]

Hi all - I'm a newbie to M8 + Summicron 50 v4, only 2 or 3 weeks, and have just stumbled on this fantastic thread, great to see what these old lenses can do.

 

My questions are a bit more basic as I find some of the issues with old lenses, mounts, adapters, shims and modifications all a bit confusing.

 

Say I was to go out and get an old 50's Summaron 35/3.5, LTM, it would need an LTM to bayonet adapter wouldn't it? once the lens is attached to M8 all the focusing mechanisms should work just like my much newer Cron?

 

Virtually all Leica LTMs would work except collapsibles? what else should you watch out for?

 

Thanks in advance - Clive

[darvin2138]

I'm loving the combination of M8 and 35mm Summaron courtesy of Maggie _O...You're keeping me awake late night these days to monitor the status of bidding through E(vil)bay.....Hoping to win in one of the bids of 35mm Sumarron...

 

I like your images..thanks for sharing..

[CharlesL]

...Say I was to go out and get an old 50's Summaron 35/3.5, LTM, it would need an LTM to bayonet adapter wouldn't it? once the lens is attached to M8 all the focusing mechanisms should work just like my much newer Cron?

 

Yes, you would need that adapter. All lenses on the M8 work by manually setting the aperture and the focus ring.

 

The LTM-to-M-mount adapter introduces a couple of issues. One, the adapter should be labeled, sold, and operative to bring up specific framelines. Taking your Summaron example, the adapter would typically be labled 35 and 135 mm. Subsidiary to this point, you will learn by trial and error how to screw the adapter in so that those framelines are activated (watch the lever position).

 

Two, adapters sometimes have problems with infinity focus. I bought a cheap adapter from China for just this Summaron situation, and it works fine. Adapters for my Olympus E-P1 have presented problems on this point.

[Clive Murray-White]

Thanks CharlesL,

 

So once equipped with the 35-135 adapter in theory you could use any Leica 35 or 135, 39mm screw mount lenses and focusing would be coupled to the M8 rangefinder.

 

Does it follow that all 39mm, Canon, Jupiter, Zeiss and Voigtlander (and others) behave properly as well?

 

Clive

[menos I M6]

I'm loving the combination of M8 and 35mm Summaron courtesy of Maggie _O...You're keeping me awake late night these days to monitor the status of bidding through E(vil)bay.....Hoping to win in one of the bids of 35mm Sumarron...

 

I like your images..thanks for sharing..

 

Actually Maggie got my attention with her M8 + 35mm combo as well, which made it stuck.

The next chance, I stumbled over a nice second hand sample in Shanghai, I just bought it.

 

It turned out, to be a very nice lens, that really surprised me. It is only little used due to the fact, that the 35 Cron Lux, I also have are just more practical (closer focus, more light, easier to handle with focus tab, much easier to use aperture ring, …).

 

I basically pull out the old Summaron to slow down and enjoy ;-)

 

@ Clive: normally, you treat the adaptors as part of the LTM lens and just buy one adaptor ring for each LTM lens, you plan, to use regularly on a M-mount camera.

 

As each lens has always slightly different collimation, it makes sense, to find and pair the best fitting adaptor to each specific lens and keep them together.

Just make sure, to buy an adaptor, that states the proper frame line pairing to fit to your lens.

 

If you go all out, you could even pay attention, that the adaptor can be 6-bit coded, to give you this modern technology as well ;-) (some adaptors cannot, as they give too little space for coding).

[WestMichigan]

Hi Clive,

judging by multiple threads, comments, and posts, I've read here and at the RangeFinderForum, there are many shades of grey when it comes to the question of whether 'screwmount' lenses behave 'properly' just by using the appropriate adapter!

ie: Yes, a properly fitting 35/135 LTM adapter will 'properly' engage the appropriate frame lines for the two given focal lengths of lenses and will 'properly' link the focusing mechanisms of the lens and the camera.

BUT:

No, there is no guarantee that a given lens will achieve accurate focusing results, nor a guarantee that the lens is optically functional or mechanically functional, and no guarantee that a vintage lens (no matter the pedigree) is appropriate for a modern digital camera. Adjustments, Cleanings, Repairs, Fiddling, and Futzing, to achieve success with any given lens might be required. It might not. It's a bit of a luck o' the draw type thing.

Would I personally advise 'mucking around' with Old Glass?

Dang Right I would. I intend to do so myself as soon as the option is available to me.

Richard in Michigan

Does it follow that all 39mm, Canon, Jupiter, Zeiss and Voigtlander (and others) behave properly as well?

 

Clive

[Clive Murray-White]

Thanks Richard - Prior to getting an M8 I had a Digilux 3 and used all sorts of 35mm SLR legacy lenses on it eventually settling on a nice litte set of Leica R and Zeiss C/Y lenses.

 

I think I'll feel my way gently - although I'm sure the temptation to buy a bit of everything will be hard to resist.

 

thanks again Clive

[wlaidlaw]

Clive,

 

You my find that the biggest problem is lens deterioration. I have quite a few older LTM and LM lenses. Most of them, with the exception of my French Optars, look OK (the Optars, for which I only paid pennies, are riddled with fungus). However, when you put some of them on a camera or start delving into them, it is a different story. Remember that many of these will have been used on enlargers in their day, which is death on lenses. I have a 1940's Elmar 50 that my father used for this purpose and it is a paperweight. Also, age, scratching, rust on aperture blades, near invisible fungus and separation will have taken their toll.

 

I now ensure that I buy any old lens on a sale or return basis and if this is not on offer, I walk away. There will always be another lens on offer in due course. When I get home, having bought a old lens, I then examine it very carefully by shining a halogen light through in both directions and then a low intensity UV light, as fungus often fluoresces. You have to peer into the edges looking for separation. Then take test shots of a scene you know well and of focus charts.

 

Finally you need to build up a pool of knowledge. In the 1970's Leica experimented with replacements for the organic Canada Balsam, which up to that point, they had used for cementing lens elements together. Canada Balsam is susceptible to yellowing, fungus attack and age hardening but is pretty easy to remove and rebuild the lens, dissolving in turpentine. One of the replacements was a synthetic epoxy, which was hardened by shining high intensity UV light on it. So far so good but when it does deteriorate, it is close to impossible to separate the elements to rebuild the lens, without damaging them. I don't think there is a reference book which tells you which lens is built in which way. A good lens repairer will know but it is unreasonable to use them as a knowledge base without giving them some business in return.

 

Wilson

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[menos I M6]

Wilson, why is using lenses in enlarging is death (heat, chemicals, …) ?