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Beyder28

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Ok, so I am getting close to buying the M9 (will wait to see if M9P has anything more to offer other than cosmetics). I would like to buy a 35mm and a 50mm. I am leaning towards the Summilux or the Summicron for the 50mm.

 

The one thing that I am really not sure is which lux or cron to buy. I cant afford them at full price so I go on Ebay and see a lot of different 50mm's on there for a lot of different prices. Most seem to be in similar good shape. I just dont know exactly what to look for and if things like pre ASPH make a big difference over ASPH and also what year to go for since some of them are very old and some of them are newer but there does not seem to be an easy way to tell.

 

What are some of the suggestions you guys have for picking out the right lens on ebay and also what should I be looking out for? I have read before on this forum of guys talking about their favorite vintage lenses that are still awesome today and are not noticeably worse than the newer versions.

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I have no idea what a "lux" and a "cron" are. They sound like the names of a couple of weight-lifting midgets working a sideshow.

 

Seriously, why are you contemplating buying lenses costing thousands of dollars when you have no real concept of what you are buying?

 

I'd think you could get almost identical results with a good point and shoot camera.

 

There is a vast amount of information on Leica lenses online that can be found within seconds with a Google search. Why don't you spend some time doing some research and reading?

 

Asking here is going to get you a hundred different answers and plenty of misinformation.

 

Very seriously, why do you want an M9 and these lenses? What kind of photography do you want to do? What have you done before?

 

Do you think your photography is going to magically improve by several orders of magnitude if you have such equipment?

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Take one...use it ...and then you can see by yourself if the lens is for you.

 

For me there is no absolute "better than other" lens.

They are all different and when you pick one, the other seems "better" in "internet" :p.

 

Arnaud

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Beyder,

 

As you've probably already discovered, 35 and 50 mm Summiluxes are hard to find new or used and as a result at the moment prices in the used market are inflated, some eye-wateringly so.

 

My advice is to go for the Summicrons because they are very good lenses, a little easier to find and a lot less expensive. Sure, you won't have f/1.4 but if you can live with that for the moment by upping the M9's ISO for low-light then the Summicrons are a better bet. You're unlikely to lose much if anything if you decide to trade up to a Summilux later.

 

You can determine the age of a lens and it's version from its serial number, which will give you an idea of its performance if you search the net.

 

As for aspherical or not, generally speaking the aspherical lenses are the more modern versions, which produce pictures with more contrast. Pre-aspherical lenses offer gentler pictures, which many prefer for their 'classic' look from earlier decades. There has never been an aspherical 50 mm Summicron.

 

Pete.

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Ignore Valdemort:p Everyone knows what a Cron & Lux are.

 

Firstly, stop procrastinating and go out and buy an M9! Nothing will focus the mind over a lens decision than having the camera body and no lens:D If you do have financial limitations do not waste your money on an M9-P, it will not make your photography any better, but from what you say about your finances it will significantly compromise your ability to buy the lenses you want. You will be waiting even longer to get the camera (whilst at the moment the M9 is readily available) and the difference in cost will fund another lens.

 

Valdemar does however make an excellent point (although it could have been more gently worded) in that as you really don't know what you want at this stage and your pockets aren't deep, you should go slow!

 

I would strongly recommend first buying only one lens in your favourite/most used focal length and get a feel for what you want.

 

You should also go through the old forum threads as there are many that discuss ad nauseum the relative virtues of each of the lenses you mention, especially the ASPH vs pre-ASPH lenses. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience (and some crap), tucked away in these threads. You can always come back and ask advice.

 

Good lenses retain their value so they can always be resold if they don't suit or you, or you need to fund a more expensive lens. Because of worldwide shortages second hand prices for the current Leica f1.4 lenses, or all Leica glass for that matter, are outrageous so you won't save much if you want a current lens second hand. The previous versions are also very expensive second hand, especially on eBay.

 

If you can't afford a new Summilux, and or if you don't need f1.4, save yourself a lot of money and buy a Summicron (for Valdemar's sake I'll avoid the contentious abbreviations). The other option would to buy a lens such as the Zeiss ZM 50mm Sonnar @ ~$1200 US (search within this forum and elsewhere for extensive discussion) which some prefer to the Leica f1.4. It gives a good mix of old style look you mentioned when wide open and razor sharpness when stopped down. One of the senior members of the Forum (Bill), sold his current Summilux 50 and kept the Sonnar as he much prefers it's character. This will free up a lot of cash for a 35 (perhaps also a f1.4)

 

You may buy one lensand once you've used it decide you want more distance between it and the second lens (just for example: 50 and then 28 or 24, rather than a 35)

 

If you really do want a 35 and 50 combination, and one of them needs to be a f1.4, the decision as to which it should be should be determined only by what you will use the lens and focal length for. No-one else can answer that question for you.

 

You can check the age of any Leica lens at least back to the early 1930s if you know its serial number. A quick search on the net will identify a number of resources that list Leica camera and lens serial numbers and production dates. However if the lens is in good condition the age is often a moot point.

 

Good luck,

Mark :)

Edited by MarkP
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This is a very sensible answer to the poster's questions. I would add that there are indeed Leica brand lenses that can be had promptly without any problems. These are the current Summarit lenses, where both the 35mm and the 50mm lenses would fit the bill. Don't worry about the 1:2.5 speed. Superspeed is not as important as it was with film – especially with Kodachrome 64! – and the Summarits are damn good optics in well built mounts.

 

Suppose that you buy a 50mm Summarit, and you decide that not that but a 35mm would be your most used focal length. In that case you could order a v.2 35mm Summilux ASPH for delivery in the future – but you should keep the 50mm. 50 and 35mm are not only the most useable of all lengths, they are different enough to make it worthwhile to have both. I own and use (and love) both a 35mm and a 50mm Summilux ASPH.

 

Or you may decide that 50mm is just right for you, in which case you order a Summilux – you will have a long wait for delivery, during which time you can use the Summarit to learn the two all-important arts, viz. to focus a M, and to pre-visualize the field of view of the lens on the camera, so that you actually 'see' the picture before even raising the camera to your eye. This is important, because the essence of the M is that it should become not a machine to use, but a subconscious extension of yourself. 'Flow' is what M photography is about. It has sometimes been likened to Zen archery; but there's nothing mysterious about it. You learn it by doing it. So start doing it.

 

And in the end, you may find that you love that compact Summarit, and decide to keep it as the compact companion to the Summilux. I own another 35mm lens, too ...

 

The old man from the Age Before Most Everything

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Valdemar, not sure how or why you would suggest that I would get the same results with a point and shoot. Just because I'm not an expert on Leica glass does not mean I don't know anything about photography. The fact that you would say that without knowing my background is kind of insulting but on the other hand just tells me you are not very bright when it comes to life but enough about you. I have read some information from quite a few sites before I posted this topic. I have read about many saying (on other online resources) that the rigid I is the best summilux in terms of pic quality and have noticed the differences between all the crons and luxs. I wanted to hear suggestions from people who have, at some point found themselves having to make a similar decision about picking the right 50MM (I am talking about most quality for the price and not for personal shooting style and shooting needs, which obviously differs with each person)

 

MarkP, I know what the common uses, advantages and drawbacks are of the 28, 35, 50mm FL's are, that was not my question. And as I have mentioned before, its interesting how people jump to conclusions about me and my experience. I come from the Canon DSLR world and have played around with range finders and have wanted to switch over for a while. I bought an X1 about 5 months ago and got the "leica bug."

 

I'm really considering just buying the 50mm and that's it for a while. I just wanted to get some "constructive" advice on what to look for (from people with experience on the topic) when weaving through a tough, tricky world of eBay and other second hand markets., making sure I'm not missing something important. This is not the first place I looked but I did read plenty of helpful things on this forum so after educating myself a bit on the subject, I wanted to hear from guys on this forum (some of which have been shooting Leica glass for 30+ years). I do thank everyone who at least tries to give real advice to someone who has decided to put a lot of money into the lenses we are discussing. Would not want to make my decision based on the feed back from one guy who doesn't even know what a "cron" is. ;)

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Hey, I know: Cron comes from the word chronos, the Greek word for time. Cron is a utility that can help with automating certain tasks in Linux. For example if you would like to create backups of certain files or directories each night while you are sleeping, you can use Cron to automate this.

Chronometer has a lot to do with this too. Coined in 1714.

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Hey, I know: Cron comes from the word chronos, the Greek word for time. Cron is a utility that can help with automating certain tasks in Linux. For example if you would like to create backups of certain files or directories each night while you are sleeping, you can use Cron to automate this.

Chronometer has a lot to do with this too. Coined in 1714.

 

And Lux? :D

Falstaff

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Beyder28,

 

I became only recently interested in Leica gear with the appearance of the M9. Although is has given me some troubles and still does, it is without question my favorite camera. With regards to lenses, if I could only have one, it would be the 50/1.4 Summilux-M ASPH. Again, although I bought it brand new, it wasn't flawless and I had to send it in. What I like about it is its tremendous flexibility to produce quality images from a technical point of view across a wide range of apertures, even wide open. In fact the image quality is so high, that one can easily focus on details and zoom in for a close focus image. It's absolutely wonderful to use, not too large or heavy and handles beautifully. I bought my copy long before I had a rangefinder camera but the lens was available.

 

You might consider putting an order in for your favorite lens and get something available now to tie you over.

 

Good luck with your decision.

 

Best, K-H.

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Ok, so I am getting close to buying the M9.......I would like to buy a 35mm and a 50mm. I am leaning towards the Summilux or the Summicron for the 50mm.

 

........ I cant afford them at full price.

 

If you can afford an M9 you can afford full price lenses ;-)

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... I'm really considering just buying the 50mm and that's it for a while. ...

In that case you should also consider the Leica 50/2.8 Elmar-M, which is one of the 'best kept secrets' of the Leica lens world. It is very inexpensive, very sharp, light and tiny (collapsible). Make sure that it has a serial number higher than 3668031 so that it's a second version produced from 1994 onwards.

 

Pete.

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In that case you should also consider the Leica 50/2.8 Elmar-M, which is one of the 'best kept secrets' of the Leica lens world.

 

I don't dare using that lens on my M8 for fear of inadvertently collapsing it. Is there any danger of damaging the M8 or M9?

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...I am leaning towards the Summilux or the Summicron for the 50mm....

If sharpness is what you prefer in a lens go for the current Summilux asph which is probably the most performant 50 ever made. It is hard to find out new but mint copies can be had easily on e**y.

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Hi Beyder,

 

I'm not going to get into a discussion about which focal length / aperture is best for you but I do have a suggestion I'd like to share with you. That is that personally I would be very careful buying such an item on ebay. There are plenty of excellent sources for secondhand lenses for M cameras, and for starters the buy/sell section of this very forum. There are others such as leicashop from whom I have purchased and can highly recommend, and others still.

 

Ian

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I don't dare using that lens on my M8 for fear of inadvertently collapsing it. Is there any danger of damaging the M8 or M9?

Philipp,

 

I've used it on my M8 for a number of years without a problem. For good measure it should be extended before being attached or removed but once it's attached it can be collapsed without causing a problem.

 

The only 'problem' I've had was Operator Error when I would occasionally forget to extend the lens before shooting and end up with a very blurry photo.:o

 

Pete.

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