mandelbrot Posted November 8, 2015 Share #1 Â Posted November 8, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi all, I am in the Market to buy an used copy of Leica SEM 21mm but hard to find it. I was wondering if the ZEISS could be a good alternative. Thanks M Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 8, 2015 Posted November 8, 2015 Hi mandelbrot, Take a look here 21mm Super Elmar 3.4 vs ZEISS Biogon 2.8. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
pgk Posted November 8, 2015 Share #2 Â Posted November 8, 2015 One of the forum's sponsors - Red Dot - have one in stock.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted November 8, 2015 Share #3 Â Posted November 8, 2015 It certainly can be a good alternative. The lens has a different character though. The Leica lens is more neutral - precise if you want. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulus Posted November 8, 2015 Share #4 Â Posted November 8, 2015 Zeiss has two very good ones. The 2,8 and the 4,5. Â The 4,5 is a great lens, but... I had a lot of issue with reddish in the corners. Bought a SEM 21 and all my problems were gone. It's a realy wonderful lens!! Â Some shots shot 10Â and further: Â https://pauljoostenfotograaf.smugmug.com/Landscapes/Ballonvaart-en-landing-in-Moer/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted November 8, 2015 Share #5 Â Posted November 8, 2015 Elmarit 21 Asph (a lens I appreciate a lot) is a bit easier to find... (3 at Leicashop, one - good price and with CV finder - at Newoldcamera of Italy) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandelbrot Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share #6 Â Posted November 8, 2015 Elmarit 21 Asph (a lens I appreciate a lot) is a bit easier to find... (3 at Leicashop, one - good price and with CV finder - at Newoldcamera of Italy) Thanks a lot for the info For me important to have 46 as filter diameter and both SEM and ZEISS have that filter size. Â Ciao M Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MT0227 Posted November 9, 2015 Share #7 Â Posted November 9, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) Check B&H, they had 2 21SEMs used rated at 9.5 last week; I grabbed one immediately. Â The have a very liberal return policy on used gear and the higher rated samples tend to be in like new condition and hardly used at all. Â If you don't like it, send it back. Â I got great deals on my 50AA and 21SEM from there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
james.liam Posted November 9, 2015 Share #8 Â Posted November 9, 2015 Popflash Photo in Los Angeles is also a good source for used and factory seconds. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandelbrot Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share #9 Â Posted November 9, 2015 Thanks the one available is at 2099$ +49$ shipment +675$ as duty and taxes. The same cost as new in Italy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
james.liam Posted November 9, 2015 Share #10  Posted November 9, 2015 Thanks the one available is at 2099$ +49$ shipment +675$ as duty and taxes. The same cost as new in Italy.  Well, you can fly to the US for $675 and don't tell the Carabinieri or Guardia di Finanza at customs...  At Popflash, they intermittently have a used one available. Isn't customs and VAT lower for such an item? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MT0227 Posted November 9, 2015 Share #11  Posted November 9, 2015 or perhaps asking a friend in the states to act as a third party shipper.  Well, you can fly to the US for $675 and don't tell the Carabinieri or Guardia di Finanza at customs...  Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rscheffler Posted November 10, 2015 Share #12  Posted November 10, 2015 Hi all, I am in the Market to buy an used copy of Leica SEM 21mm but hard to find it. I was wondering if the ZEISS could be a good alternative. Thanks M  The SEM has a flatter plane of focus which results in better across-frame sharpness until between f/5.6-8. But for most uses, I found them difficult to distinguish by f/5.6.  When I got into the M system with the M9, the ZM was one of the first lenses I got. I now shoot primarily with the M240 and the SEM for that focal length, but still have the ZM. With the M9 the ZM definitely needed to be either coded or a lens profile set in-camera, otherwise there was some problem of edge color shift. Even with a code selected, there was residual color shift until the later M9 firmware versions. I'm not sure how much of a problem it is on the M240. In any case, I found the 11134 21/2.8 pre-ASPH code to be the best choice. Where I ran into some problems was with the camera occasionally not reading the codes on the lens (hand-coded with a black marker), which would then result in uncorrected images that would need additional processing in post, such as through Corner Fix. I narrowed down the problem to be caused by direct sunlight on the lens mount where the code reader is located. It seems strong light can seep in at this point and cause the reader to not be able to identify the presence of a code. This was quite annoying at times when I would have sequences of images with some coded and some not, requiring special attention and more time in post to equalize. I found that jamming my finger up against the mount in this area helped eliminate the problem. Others have suggested using a hair elastic, or similar. In any case, it was very much this experience that got me looking more seriously at Leica's own M lenses. Yes, you pay a fair amount more for some moderate feature improvements, but I found it resulted in a better overall experience.  A while back I did a comparison available here at my blog, of several M mount 21mm lenses, including the two in question here.  Anyway, the ZM is a very good lens and can be found used at quite attractive prices. If you want to buy new, I would suggest shopping around and checking some of the Asian markets, particularly Japan where Zeiss lenses tend to sell for about 30% less than the US (not sure about EU). The trick with Japan is finding a way to get it shipped internationally - there are some forwarding companies that can help with this, but then you will have to pay the Japanese VAT, which will somewhat reduce the savings. It might be possible that similar savings are available from Hong Kong, or elsewhere, but I have not looked into it for Zeiss. But, Hong Kong can be worth a look for new Leica. Pricing is definitely better than the US market, but may not be much different from the EU. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
exile Posted November 11, 2015 Share #13 Â Posted November 11, 2015 As a general note, if you can't or don't want to code a lens well, you can save the manual lens coding in camera as part of a pre-set user profile instead. I have one pre-set for each lens because none of mine are hand coded. Just beware that this will always change the ISO to the ISO saved in the pre-set whenever you change lens profile. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Posted November 11, 2015 Share #14  Posted November 11, 2015 A while back I did a comparison available here at my blog, of several M mount 21mm lenses, including the two in question here.  Thanks for posting this, I would be interested to read this comparison, but the link seems to return [an error occurred while processing this directive] with both Safari and Chrome. Is there an issue with the website ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayek Posted November 12, 2015 Share #15 Â Posted November 12, 2015 Before buying blindly and maybe buying twice, you may consider a subscription to Lloyd Chambers' Leica site (http://diglloyd.com/index-leica.html) b cause he extensively tests the Leica and compares it to the Zeiss. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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