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Best lenses for Leica Monochrom?

yudafu2

By yudafu2
in Leica M Lenses

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yudafu2

yudafu2

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Hi everyone,

 

I am George, and new to this forum. My leica experience is very much limited to my recent acquiring of the monochrom and a short ownership of m9 before that. I have used it for a month now, and it seems to me that many lenses perform very differently on the mm. It seems that many things that people care about lenses such as chromatic aberration is not a issue for the mm. I am interested in hearing what lenses you are using, and what are your favorite.

 

For me, so far I feel the 50 summicron rigid gets me the most attractive results, but the ASPH lenses (I own 35 cron asph, and 50 VC f1.5) seems too clean/ modern to my taste. What do you think?

 

Thanks,

George

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Zakk

Zakk

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The MM is very clinical so the use of the 35 asph appearing as it does is not a surprise. A few users are reverting to old glass, even using ltm-m converters.

Check out Steve Huff and Ashwin Rao. Both have had some amazing results with the MM and vintage glass. Just google them.

Good luck

Zakk

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For me, so far I feel the 50 summicron rigid gets me the most attractive results, but the ASPH lenses (I own 35 cron asph, and 50 VC f1.5) seems too clean/ modern to my taste. What do you think?

 

I would tend to agree, up to a point, but just buying another lens is a short sighted way to approach the problem.

 

There are many things you can do in post processing to add character, to 'mess up' the high resolution'. But this is what you should be thinking about in the first place, creating the image you want, and whatever lens you put on the MM it won't do it on its own. Post processing, or in the days of film 'the darkroom', is always the first place to start, and if you still can't get what you want then throw money at it. In fact you don't need to 'mess up' the high resolution at all, just change the characteristic curve, diffuse the highlights, make it high key or low key, add some grain,......the list goes on.

 

Steve

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yudafu2

yudafu2

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Thank you guys. I completely understand it is more of my problems than lenses. I love the results I get from the mm so much that I just want to find the perfect lens for it. I have been using silver effects along Lightroom 4 to do the post processing. Seriously, I believe that pp has a greater impact on the results than any lens can do.

 

I am still curious to hear what is everyone's favorite lens on the mm?

 

Thanks.

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MarkP

MarkP

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Hi George, welcome to the forum.

 

There are already a number of threads discussing different lenses on the Monochrom including a thread dedicated to Monochrom photos which you may find interesting.

 

There is no best lens(es) for the Monochrom. Your decision should be based first on the focal length(s) you want, and then the result you are trying to achieve.

 

There are significant differences on the Monochrom between the razor sharp higher contrast new ASPH lenses and the older slightly softer lower-contrast lenses. It depends on what you are photographing. Because of the more 'filmic' quality of the Monochrom files and noise (grain) there has been increased interest in using the older lenses on this camera. I would not for example try to take a flattering photograph of someone with the 1.4/35 Summilux FLE whilst this lens would be excellent for an architectural photograph to demonstrate very fine detail.

 

Finally the very flat and neutral Monochrom DNGs are very malleable and robust so you can do almost anything you want to them to get the look you want

 

Haviong said all of that the lenses I use the most on the Monochrom are the 50 Summilux ASPH and 28 Summicron ASPH as a combo, and then the 1.0.50 Noctilux (E60).

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And my favourite lenses on my MM are the 50mm Summilux and 28mm Summicron as well. They would go with me everywhere, but depending on the situation I may also take either a 21mm Zeiss f/2.8 ZM or a 90mm Elmarit M, but rarely both. It is often the case that what I start using I carry on using so for me lugging around more than three lenses is pointless and confusing. I think in many ways the 50mm Summilux, the 28mm Summicron and 90mm Elmarit M are very similar, they give a 'rounded' look to detail, not too contrasty, pin sharp, and each can be used at all apertures without worrying too much about good and bad ends of the scale. As for the wide 21mm Zeiss, well it is sharp, so it fits in with the rest. But the rendering is fussy and I much prefer the 21mm CV Skopar anytime I'm not using a tripod, it works really well on my MM when it was hardly worth considering on the M9.

 

Steve

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Can you kindly expand on what you mean by your comment that the rendering is fussy with the SEM21? Thanks.

 

Not really, I've got no idea, did I say that?

 

I've resisted the SEM 21 as I rarely use a 21mm lens, it would be wasted on me as a serious consideration to my lenses. And I look for the effect of the lens more than the ultra fine detail, so a CV or Zeiss is OK, the lens used shouldn't make that much difference to an intrinsically good picture.

 

Steve

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yudafu2

yudafu2

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Thanks guys. Hi Mark, thank you for your detailed response and welcome.

I know there is no absolute standards to determine which is the best lens for mm. What I truly meant is that mm seems to reversed our evaluation of many lenses. Some previously less acclaimed lenses might perform outstandingly well, while some otherwise superb lenses might not be as suited for black-while photography in general. When I am trying to purchase lenses for mm, it seems lots of the previous reviews might not apply. That is why I am interested in how people on this forum thinks about their favorite lenses on the monochrom.

 

Thank you again.

 

So far, I found a few lenses I really like:

1. 50mm summicron rigid

2. 50mm summilux pre-asph E43

3. 90mm elmarit, version 1 from 1960s.

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otto.f

otto.f

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The MM is very clinical

 

Sorry but this is nonsense. You can mold the files from the MM to any style, much more so than those from the M9 or M8 ( I do not own an M, so I have no opinion on that one).

Maybe this is why the first publication of MM photo's in LFI was very extreme not-clinical: it was as though the photographer had used TriX and pushed to 1600ASA, see LFI 4/2012: Jacob Aue Sobol.

Btw I love my Summicron 35 pre-asph as well as my Summaron 35 (1961) on my MM, but I think that this is more psychological, or at least extra-optical than optical.

Maybe your question should be posed reversed, what former lenses that had there flaws on films, now shine in a whole new fashion on the MM?

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otto.f

otto.f

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Even un-pp-ed, available light shots in tungsten or fluorescent situations like living rooms, taken without any filters, can look rather flat, misty or muddy than clinical, because of the long DR

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