Looking for small WA lens that delivers great quality

[tom in mpls]

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I find the compact nature of the Leica M to be one of it's most compelling feature. I love the 35mm cron for it's excellence and small size.

 

For my M9 I am thinking about a wide angle lens, 16 to 21mm. What lenses have you used that deliver great images yet are small and light? Although I like fast glass, I find this less important on a wide angle and would consider slower lenses. I am not interested in a lens that is small but significantly compromised.

[filaum]

I have a zeiss zm 21 4.5 C-Biogon ; it has a very good performance (except issue reported later), it is nice, and is very compact ;

For color, as most non leica wide angles, it has a color shading issue with the M9 that is commented on the web and people say they can correct easilly with some free software that can be downloaded. I prefer to simplify my life and shoot in Black 1 White.

[Jerry_R]

Hi Tom!

You ask, like there would be tens of lenses :-)

Let'e see at least current offer.

 

VOIGTLANDER

L&VM Super Wide- Lens

-> Color Skopar 21mm F4 P

 

ZEISS

Welcome to Carl Zeiss Camera Lenses

-> Distagon T* 4/18

-> Biogon T* 2.8/21

-> C Biogon T* 4.5/21

 

LEICA

Leica Camera AG - Photography - Lenses

-> LEICA 16-18-21 f/4.0 TRI-ELMAR-M ASPH.

-> LEICA 18 f/3.8 SUPER-ELMAR-M ASPH.

-> LEICA 21 f/1.4 SUMMILUX-M ASPH.

-> LEICA 21 f/2.8 ELMARIT-M ASPH.

 

 

Lightest are only:

-> Color Skopar 21mm F4 P

-> C Biogon T* 4.5/21

 

You did not not mention price range? There are also lots of legacy lenses. Let's see what other will say.

I personally planned to buy Voigtlander 15mm, but will wait for M version of 12mm (both are out of your scope anyway).

[tom in mpls]

Hi Tom!

You ask, like there would be tens of lenses :-)

 

I ask as a newbie who is uncertain of the range of options. Thank you for the comprehensive list. The 21 Lux is great, I am certain, but so big!

 

Biogon T* 4,5/21 ZM. Wow, only 210 gms!

 

I intentionally did not mention price as I would like to start my search with the other factors primary (size and quality). Certainly we all want to spend as little as possible; I would consider more expensive lenses as well.

[dseelig]

HI Tom

The zeiss 21 2.8 is a great lens. The 18 seems a bit bigger. I hated the 15 voigt on the m8 it would only be worse on the m9. David

[dannh]

Hey Tom,

 

Although fairly new and seemingly not widely used, I'm looking hard at the Leica 18mm Super-elmar. Just debating between the Zeiss and Leica at this point. I've rented the Leica and it was quite nice, just not sure if it was ~$1000-$1500 nicer than the Zeiss though.

 

I like the 18mm range, wide, but not too wide. (I find in some situations I've wanted a little bit less wide - less distortion, detail, etc)

 

Size wise, the Leica 18mm is great, it feels tiny compared to say a Canon 16-35 or Nikon 14-24. Side by side with a 35 Cron asph I'd say the 18 is about 1/3 larger, but the same (or maybe a little less) weight than the 35.

 

I have written off the WATE for now, due to size and cost.

[tom in mpls]

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The WATE seems reasonably small. Assuming cost and maximum apertures are acceptable, why would one prefer one of the other (smaller) lenses? Or not?

 

I must say, the Leica 18mm Super-elmar looks compelling. If this is a new lens model, am I safe in assuming that any used copy will be 6-bit coded?

[Jerry_R]

I hated the 15 voigt on the m8 it would only be worse on the m9. David

Maybe write more, what you hated, because many people show samples from M8, some from M9 - and they look cool (processed with CornerFix).

[dannh]

 

I must say, the Leica 18mm Super-elmar looks compelling. If this is a new lens model, am I safe in assuming that any used copy will be 6-bit coded?

 

Yes, the 18 was intro'd in early 2009, so all of them have digital coding.

[tom in mpls]

Can the Zeiss 21/4.5 really be used on the M9? If one chooses one of the 21mm settings from the lens menu, will that work? If not, how does one deal with color shifts? Does it vig badly on the M9? Links to info on correcting color shift would be appreciated. This is such a tiny lens! I guess my motto should be, "Small is good. Unless it's bad."