Super-Elmar 18mm

[thighslapper]

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There is not much difference in the actual sharpness over the image field...... but .....

 

There IS a difference in colour saturation and contrast though which is quite noticeable.

 

With minor adjustments in LR you really cannot spot the difference otherwise.

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[Coach Rosie]

Thanks, Thighslapper. But, which is better with the saturation and contrast? Is it the 18mm due to its fixed length?

 

In addition to my M240, I have an M6, and I am wondering if there would be noticeable differences. In some ways, it seems worthwhile to get the WATE, even with the increased expense, because it has multiple focal lengths. In other ways, I have always been partial to fixed length lenses.

 

Thanks again.

[Rick]

Leica 18 and 21 SE are great lenses and do have a bit less edge distortion witch would be completely unnoticeable unless you were doing very critical architectural work. If, that is your job, then the SE is your lens. Otherwise, the WATE gives virtually identical results but gives you a range of 16-21. The WATE also is a tele centric design and has better properties in the corners and edges; like less smearing (sharper on digital) and less need for color correction. In this way the WATE is a better designed lens than the other retrofocus designs.

 

That extra range down to 16mm is a huge difference at these focal lengths. For example, jaapv's photo of the circular shells inside the ship would have included the entire right side of the circle of shells. It may have made a more interesting shot to see the entire arc. Also, if the shot was taken very close to one of the shells, the perspective of that shot might have been more interesting. That is what the 16mm perspective gives more of than either 18 or the more normal 21.

[uhoh7]

I use both ZM 18 and SEM 21, and frankly cannot decide which I like more.

 

What does the SEM 18 have over the ZM 18?