Goombah6 Posted February 12, 2012 Share #1 Posted February 12, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) I am looking to expand my collection of lenses and just don't know which would be most useful for me...a 21mm or 28mm? I use the M8 and presently have a 90mm leica, 40mm summicron C (without hood unfortunately), CV Nokton 35mm 1.2 (which I love), and CV 15mm wide. I'd really love to pair my m8 with a good useable prime leica lense for everyday stuff. Just wondering if any of you have some thoughts about the relative utility of a leica 21 or 28mm lense versus frameline issues and lense speed, corner aberations, lense coding, etc. Very interested in your thoughts on this. Thanks! ---Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted February 12, 2012 Posted February 12, 2012 Hi Goombah6, Take a look here Advice needed please. 21mm or 28mm?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
drjho Posted February 12, 2012 Share #2 Posted February 12, 2012 I used my 21/lux on my M8 more than any other lens. It was fantastic. I wear eyeglasses and used an external finder for framing. I really like the perspective of the lens on the M8. I continue to use it on my M9, maybe not quite as much, but it still is definitely one of my favorite lenses. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikenic Posted February 12, 2012 Share #3 Posted February 12, 2012 My 28mm Elmarit-M IV (pre-asph) is permanently glued to the front of my M8. It has just completed a 25,000k loop around Australia and it performed superbly. It does have that f:/2.8 aperture limitation of course, but in the Australian outback, lack of light isn't much of a problem . I also use it for stitched panorama landscapes using an "L" bracket I have designed for it and the M8. I shoot these in a vertical orientation. For me, for landscape and much general purpose use, the 28mm is in the M8 sweetspot. I do have a number of other (more expensive in comparison) lenses of different focal lengths BTW. This 28mm is still my favourite and most useful. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertJRB Posted February 12, 2012 Share #4 Posted February 12, 2012 Depents on what you like on full frame, 28mm or 35mm. I'm a real 35mm person so I took a 28mm on crop as daily lens. I had some 28mm's and sticked with the 28 cron asph. Its almost perfect for the M8, real nice combo to use. Even heard some M9 shooters who liked it more than their M9 with 35 cron combo. Only downside is the big hood, but this one can be replaced with the 35 asph v1's hood and is nothing compared to the 21 lux finder blockage. The 21 can be used by the M8's finder by using the entire finder, I did this with my 18mm with seemed to be a little to wide, so the 21mm should fit better. But you will miss the extra view around the frame. Big disadvantage with 21mm is the lack of speed with most. As I mentioned before I have the 18/3.8. Lovely lens, but to slow to be my daily driver. The only way to get a fast 21mm is the lux, with is a lot of money, weight and finder blockage. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbretteville Posted February 12, 2012 Share #5 Posted February 12, 2012 I rally enjoy the 24/2.8 on my M8, it is truly a stellar lens. Big advantage with the frame lines being there and no need for an external finder. Carl Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drz1959 Posted February 12, 2012 Share #6 Posted February 12, 2012 If you are looking for a good 21mm performer on a budget, don't exclude the Voigtlander 21mm lens. I own one and love how it works with the M8. Another option would be the Zeiss 21mm f/4.5 . Not the greatest indoor lenses, but for the outdoors, the perform really well. The only problem with these lenses is if you are planning to move up to a M9 it wont work well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goombah6 Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share #7 Posted February 12, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) Thanks for the responses everyone. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobey bilek Posted February 12, 2012 Share #8 Posted February 12, 2012 The traditional focals have been 35/50/90. On an M8, 28/35/50 or 75 are perhaps the closest. I find 35 a more perfect general use wide than a 28 for full frame. Therefore I would not pick the 21. Further my 21 2.8 requires a 60 mm uv/ir filter and it is quite expensive. I did opt to purchase one as it fits my 75 1.4 so there is dual use. If you can not decide, think about a 24 or the 25 2.8 Zeiss which by all accounts is a fine lens. You will invest $1000 in the Zeiss and can decide later if you wish wider or narrower and sell with little loss. If I did not already own a 21/28 combo, I would seriously consider a 24/25 mm solution permanently. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fWord Posted February 12, 2012 Share #9 Posted February 12, 2012 Since you have a 90mm lens, consider also that both the 28mm and 90mm framelines are displayed at the same time in the M8's viewfinder when either lens is mounted. This means that you can see, at a glance, what approximate field of view the other lens in your bag is likely to yield given the same camera position. Depending on how you work, this may be a bonus. I'm not a heavy user and have only two lenses with the M8, one being a 28mm and the other a 90mm. I bought the 28mm over a 24mm lens for the reason as above, but also because I wear eyeglasses and can't see the 24mm framelines all that well. It's a very personal choice, IMO. Key is to get the lens that you would use the most and stick to a setup that is as simple as possible for the work you do. If you get bogged down with lens changes, photography is less enjoyable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted February 13, 2012 Share #10 Posted February 13, 2012 ...wondering if any of you have some thoughts about the relative utility of a leica 21 or 28mm lense versus frameline issues and lense speed, corner aberations, lense coding, etc... 21: No framelines but you can use the entire frame of the viewfinder. At the exception of the CV 21/4, all 21s will block more or less the viewfinder. I use both Elmarit 21/2.8 asph and CV 21/4 P. At f/4.5 and on both lenses are very close. At f/4, the Elmarit asph is a bit sharper. Both great lenses if your CV sample is good. I don't use much the Elmarit due to its bulk and blocking of the viewfinder (i don't like accessory finders). 28: Leica framelines are comfortable and reasonably accurate on the M8.2. I use most the Summicron 28/2 and Elmarit 28/2.8 asph. Both are the best 28s i have ever owned. I use less the M-Rokkor 28/2.8 due to the excellence of its Leica competitors but the Rokkor is very good indeed. The Summicron blocks a bit the viewfinder but not that much. No blocking problems with both Elmarit asph and Rokkor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IWC Doppel Posted February 13, 2012 Share #11 Posted February 13, 2012 I like my Summciron 28 asph very much on my M8, my second favoiurite lens is the 21 Elmarit-M asph. The 21 Elmarit is in my view a little under rated, it's not overly sharp and clinical like my very limited SEM experience but has a real '3D' rendering and something I really like about it in terms of depth when taking people in confined spaces. Pixel peepers would take the SEM but the Elmarit-M 21 paints wonderfully in confined spaces. I wish it was f2........ I think you need both Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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