Zeiss Otus on a M?

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

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Has anyone tried a 55mm Zeiss Otus on a M:confused:

[BerndReini]

Didn't Steve Huff try it? It may have been only on the Sony A7R. Either way a terribly unbalanced combination of the Frankenrig variety.

[FlashGordonPhotography]

Not the Otus. But I have just bought a Novoflex adaptor so I can use my 100mm Makro Plannar on my M. It really needs the grip to be balanced and hand holdable. I've had the adaptor only two days but it seems to work well. I imagine the Otus would be similar.

 

Gordon

[rodluvan]

Has anyone tried a 55mm Zeiss Otus on a M:confused:

 

money burning in your pocket?

 

whatever would be the point of putting a huge retrofocus (i.e. compromised) lens on a small non conspicuous leica M range finder body that already has 2-3 of the best 50's ever produced?

[rirakuma]

Zeiss Otus 55mm f/1.4 APO-Distagon on the Leica M (type 240) Review — Kristian Dowling

[hoppyman]

Kristian really knows his stuff of course. I guess it depends on what you want to do with the lens (for example do you NEED f1.4?) and what handling compromises are acceptable to you (the adaptor, the aperture control and above all that really large heavy lens on the front of an M (Typ 240). It doesn't sound like a combination you would want to carry around and use routinely.

 

The Leica Camera answer for best possible technical performance in theory, of course is the APO Summicron 50 ASPH.

The disadvantages there are that it is more expensive and very difficult to obtain still. The advantages of course should be obvious.

In Wetzlar the Director of Operations told me that that is in controlled serial production with any early issues solved but it remains very demanding to produce and will never be available in large quantities.

[FlashGordonPhotography]

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money burning in your pocket?

 

whatever would be the point of putting a huge retrofocus (i.e. compromised) lens on a small non conspicuous leica M range finder body that already has 2-3 of the best 50's ever produced?

 

Compromised? Apart from size, weight and cost the Otus would have to be the least compromised 50mm made. Definitely not for me as I don't chase optical perfection but I see the the alure of the Otus.

 

Gordon

[jaapv]

If a company with the expertise of Zeiss decides to build a 1.4/50 lens of this size and weight it would be a sad day if it were of lesser quality than the OTUS.

For normal use on the M 240 however it seems less suited.

[rodluvan]

Compromised? Apart from size, weight and cost the Otus would have to be the least compromised 50mm made. Definitely not for me as I don't chase optical perfection but I see the the alure of the Otus.

 

Gordon

 

a retrofocus lens is by design a compromise to fit a mirror in front of the film plane so you'll be stuck with a compromising design with no use for it. Mounting such a beast of a lens on a leica defeats entire every single point of having a leica in the first place (if we benevolently assume the main reason isn't to have a very expensive camera).

 

you give up size, you give up range finder ability, you give up having a less compromised non-retro focus lens, you opt out of using a Leica lens instead, for many, the quintessence of the Leica system.

 

if anyone wants to use the Otus, buy e.g. a D3200, or similar, instead, that will yield better result and way, way more usability. or even a Sonnar T* FE 1,8/55 ZA that comes within a hair's breadth of the Otus (MTF, distortion and speed) for a fraction of the price and size (not sure there is adaptability though).

 

considering an otus on a leica is on all accounts nothing but a vanity project, nothing I can think of can convince me otherwise.