21mm Super Elmar v 21mm Elmarit

[Guest camera man]

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So, with the money that I have saved on not buying a 90mm APO, I can now purchase a 21mm lens. I already shoot with a 24mm Elmarit so the question is, should I find a pre-owned 21mm Elmarit or should I go for the new Super Elmar 21mm? I only shoot film. It strikes me that the Elmarit was made for film cameras. The Super Elmar is more of a M9 lens? What would be your advice?

[Double Negative]

I might suggest that the 21mm would be kind of close to the 24mm - but I have both myself.

 

Either 21mm lens would be great; the newer one would be better into the edges/corners and of course, is a little slower. I wouldn't peg either as strictly film or digital though.

[cornellfrancis]

So, with the money that I have saved on not buying a 90mm APO, I can now purchase a 21mm lens. I already shoot with a 24mm Elmarit so the question is, should I find a pre-owned 21mm Elmarit or should I go for the new Super Elmar 21mm? I only shoot film. It strikes me that the Elmarit was made for film cameras. The Super Elmar is more of a M9 lens? What would be your advice?

 

I shoot film with the 21 super elmar. It's a great lens and 21 is a great perspective but you already know that hence the reason you want a 21.

 

When I was looking for a 21 I found that there wasn't a huge difference in price between the elmarit and super elmar. I was able to find a super elmar that had just been delivered to my dealer do I jumped on it.

 

I believe the super elmar is supposed to be a bit sharper in the corners with less distortion due to the wide angle and of course the elmarit is a bit faster. Sometimes I do wish I had the summilux for more speed but the size and weight penalty is a bit too big for me, not to mention the price...

 

I don't think you can do wrong with either of them but but I have only used the super elmar with excellent results and have never used the elmarit.

[lars_bergquist]

I decided that 24mm (well, actually 25mm – thats the real focal length of the '24mm' Elmar) was too close to my favourite 35mm length, so I returned to 21mm. I saw the test results and the pictures and was convinced. I pre-ordered the Super-Elmar and had my lens as soon as the deliveries started.

 

It is a lens that performs to the level where my own ability is the limiting factor. It is one of the new Leica M lenses that actually do full use of the capability of the M9 sensor. It is, in short, fabulous.

 

Below is a shot from yesterday, Sunday, and a crop. The limits of uploading to this forum means that I cannot go much further in size, but believe me – I did scarcely believe my eyes. The shot was made hand-held at 1:5.6 and 1/750. Enough said. Except that in the original, ALL the text in the '139' sign on the bumper is perfectly legible. (In the bumper, under the '8' on the licence plate, you can glimpse me taking the picture ...)

 

The old man from the Angular Age

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