R lens with character of old M lenses

[johnwolf]

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Are they any R lenses capable of mounting on an EOS body that have the character of some of the early M lenses? I mean the lower contrast, soft edge look. Ideally in the 35 to 50mm range. Thanks.

 

John

[Ruhayat]

The Summilux 50mm comes close, especially when you use it in low light and shoot black & white... the slight blur gives it added Leica goodness.

 

The Canadian Summicron 50mm at dusk will also do in a pinch, I have discovered -- in good light it's a bit too "modern" for me, but accurate colours and bright almost like using Portra NC with my Canon 5D. It's as good as my 90mm pre-APO Summicron-M, I find.

 

The Elmarit 28mm is higher contrast, punchy colours. More like using Portra VC film.

[Ruhayat]

Here's Summicron-R 50mm at dusk, B&W from the camera, unprocessed:

[Ruhayat]

This is Elmarit-R 28mm (but on the Olympus E1... I hardly use it on my 5D), JPEG out of the camera, unprocessed:

[lct]

Early Summiluxes 35 and 50 spring to mind but they don't fit on all EOS bodies. No problem with APS-C cams according to pebbleplace.com.

[johnwolf]

Thanks, everyone. The photos are also very nice. But I'm trying to avoid shooting wide open.

 

John

[Ruhayat]

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Thanks, everyone. The photos are also very nice. But I'm trying to avoid shooting wide open.

 

John

 

If that's the case, you should also investigate other lenses, because the main strength of the Leica lenses to me is when you shoot them wide open. Others I have good results with are lenses from OM Zuiko (the 50/1.8 is superb for portraits, being softer at the edges than the Leicas), Pentax and Hexanon.

 

Also, haven't tried it myself as it's so rare (not to mention expensive), but from what I've seen online results from the 80mm Summilux are superb as well.

[Jamie Roberts]

LCT is right...Get an earlier Summilux R 50... I had no problem mounting it on an EOS adapter.

 

It's a soft-y "cream machine" and filled with pleasant aberrations. Wide open it's nearly useless, actually, because it's kind of unsharp even in the middle and makes the M Nocti look downright razor sharp. The vignette and low contrast, though, is creatively nice. I had one for awhile and it's an interesting portrait option... I kind of wish I hadn't sold it now

 

The problem with the earlier Canadian R Crons is that they're all too "sharp" and "contrasty" for you (though not by current M standards), though for the $200-$300 they cost on eBay they're definitely worth having! I love them a lot

 

But the 50 Lux is what you want. Even stopped down it's very low contrast. Shouldn't cost very much either (In other words, anything but the current version Lux, though having said that, the current 50R Lux is a truly spectacular lens, and easily my favourite 50 of all time, including the M lens 50s).

 

The 80 R Lux, BTW, is my favourite R lens of all time, but it's totally sharp edge to edge, and definitely contrasty (in a very beautiful way) from f2 on.

[johnwolf]

Thanks, Jamie. I'll give the old Summilux a try.

 

John