leicanet Posted May 31, 2007 Share #1 Posted May 31, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Well, I have done it. I bought an M8. Three days ago. And a 28/2.8 Elmarit ASPH to go with it. After months of indecision (I have been using for quite a while now both my M7 and MP and loving every single shot, but the idea of using my-pretty well stocked-collection of M lenses on a digital body appealed to me very much so...) and after following a lot of forums waiting for an improvement of the camera hardware after its badly bugged early days, I have taken the financial plunge and finally went for it. It actually took me five minutes to decide that a new love affair was starting after handling the camera at my local dealer shop...the M8 felt just right in my hands, and even though a little chunkier and made of a lot of plastic compared to my MP, it was much lighter than the MP and surprisingly very easy to handle, and the lens, the 28/2.8 Elmarit ASPH, wow, very nice little lens indeed... Software wise, it has probably still quite a long way to go, but it is definitively a very nice camera to use now and potentially still with a lot of room for further improvement. I hope my early days good impressions on the camera will be the same in a few months time... Anyway, my dealer also had a new Tri-Elmar 16/21/24mm f4, and I am considering buying it...My main concern (beside the EXPENSIVE price tag) is the fact that I will have to use the BIG and CHUNKY viewfinder that goes with it...don't really like the idea of turning my M8 into an SLR...is the viewfinder ESSENTIAL...or can I get away with it? Or is it a very good accessory to have? Does anybody in this forum have any experience of the new Tri Elmar 16/18/21mmASPH on the M8 and/or any M camera with or without the viewfinder...? Is it worth the financial plunge? And what about its performance (forget its f4 limitations...). I am also planning to use the lens on my MP, and I wonder if the viewfinder will be essential in that case too. The only wide angle lenses that I own at the moment are the Elmarit 24/2.8 ASPH (which I could easily sell on if I'd go for the Tri-Elmar), and the new Elmarit 28mm/2.8 ASPH. My other lenses are a Lux 50mm ASPH 1.4, a Noctilux, the APO Summicron 75/2 and the 90 Macro Elmar 90mmf4 with Adapter... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted May 31, 2007 Posted May 31, 2007 Hi leicanet, Take a look here M8+Tri Elmar 16/18/21mm f4 ASPH. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
ChrisC Posted May 31, 2007 Share #2 Posted May 31, 2007 Lul - Welcome to the forum. The 16/18/21 is commonly known here as the WATE and a great deal has been written about it by forum members. I would suggest you do a search for 'WATE', and 'Frankenfinder' [the colloquial term of relative endearment for the WATE's finder], I would suggest to you that becoming a subscriber to Sean Reid's subscription site Reid Reviews could be the best purchase you have made with regard to all things Leica and M8. That's probably enough to be getting on with, but you will also come across John Milich in this forum, and he has done sterling work fabricating a splendid solution for mounting an IR filter with a hood on the WATE. There is a wealth of knowledge here, and many people will help you by sharing their hard won experience. Happy reading. ...........................Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cme4brain Posted May 31, 2007 Share #3 Posted May 31, 2007 Well, I have done it.I bought an M8. Three days ago. And a 28/2.8 Elmarit ASPH to go with it. After months of indecision (I have been using for quite a while now both my M7 and MP and loving every single shot, but the idea of using my-pretty well stocked-collection of M lenses on a digital body appealed to me very much so...) and after following a lot of forums waiting for an improvement of the camera hardware after its badly bugged early days, I have taken the financial plunge and finally went for it. It actually took me five minutes to decide that a new love affair was starting after handling the camera at my local dealer shop...the M8 felt just right in my hands, and even though a little chunkier and made of a lot of plastic compared to my MP, it was much lighter than the MP and surprisingly very easy to handle, and the lens, the 28/2.8 Elmarit ASPH, wow, very nice little lens indeed... Software wise, it has probably still quite a long way to go, but it is definitively a very nice camera to use now and potentially still with a lot of room for further improvement. I hope my early days good impressions on the camera will be the same in a few months time... Anyway, my dealer also had a new Tri-Elmar 16/21/24mm f4, and I am considering buying it...My main concern (beside the EXPENSIVE price tag) is the fact that I will have to use the BIG and CHUNKY viewfinder that goes with it...don't really like the idea of turning my M8 into an SLR...is the viewfinder ESSENTIAL...or can I get away with it? Or is it a very good accessory to have? Does anybody in this forum have any experience of the new Tri Elmar 16/18/21mmASPH on the M8 and/or any M camera with or without the viewfinder...? Is it worth the financial plunge? And what about its performance (forget its f4 limitations...). I am also planning to use the lens on my MP, and I wonder if the viewfinder will be essential in that case too. The only wide angle lenses that I own at the moment are the Elmarit 24/2.8 ASPH (which I could easily sell on if I'd go for the Tri-Elmar), and the new Elmarit 28mm/2.8 ASPH. My other lenses are a Lux 50mm ASPH 1.4, a Noctilux, the APO Summicron 75/2 and the 90 Macro Elmar 90mmf4 with Adapter... Glad to see you join us and the M8 club. You have a fine collection of lenses, but consider the Zeiss and Voigtlander lines as well- they are incredible deals for the money. I agree with the above in that you should subscribe to Sean Reid's website! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tashley Posted May 31, 2007 Share #4 Posted May 31, 2007 In a perfect world, you would have the WATE as one of a number of lenses. The viewfinder is very good and the spirit level in it is much more accurate than a tripod mounted one, so great for architecturals, but the need to focus in one finder and compose in another is clutzy and counter-intuitive. I am keeping mine, for now - but increasingly I find that my little CV15 with a Milich adaptor (just search for it here or read reidreviews.com) is very fine, almost better (I may make enemies here) and tiny and light. I get used to zone focussing it and guesstimating the FOV, which I've got pretty good at. In other words, if I had the 28 2.8 and the money for a WATE, I would buy the CV15 instead and use the rest of the money for another lens. Maybe a used 50 lux or 35 lux or cron, or a CV 35 cron with a Milich adaptor. My 2 cents as usual! Tim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodyspedden Posted June 1, 2007 Share #5 Posted June 1, 2007 Glad to see you join us and the M8 club. You have a fine collection of lenses, but consider the Zeiss and Voigtlander lines as well- they are incredible deals for the money. I agree with the above in that you should subscribe to Sean Reid's website! Whatever you do it should not be selling the 24 Asph. This is one of the "masterpiece" Leica lenses and with the crop factor of the M8 AT 1.33 gives you an effective focal length of 31.92mm which is one of the great focal lengths in the history of M Cameras. It is a great complement to the WATE and of course at f2.8 considerably faster. Just MHO. WOODY Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tashley Posted June 1, 2007 Share #6 Posted June 1, 2007 Whatever you do it should not be selling the 24 Asph. This is one of the "masterpiece" Leica lenses and with the crop factor of the M8 AT 1.33 gives you an effective focal length of 31.92mm which is one of the great focal lengths in the history of M Cameras. It is a great complement to the WATE and of course at f2.8 considerably faster. Just MHO. WOODY And you're right, I sold mine when I got the WATE cos I thought it was too close to 21mm, but now I have developed such an affection for the CV15 I wish I had kept the 24mm as a good intermediate point on the way to 35 and 50mm. It IS a great lens but it has an irritating feel. Bit too big, not quite wide enough at max aperture, fiddly hood and view-blocking to boot. But very nice and sharp without being brutal. t Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
phovsho Posted June 1, 2007 Share #7 Posted June 1, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Congrats on joining the club. I bought my M8 a few weeks back and love it. I bought it with the Wate. Yesterday I got the 28/2.8mm Asph. So we did things in reverse order. My two cents: 1. the Wate is a great lens. It is not necessarily better or worse than the CV15 (it is more expensive), just different. See the comparative review at Reid Reviews, as suggested by others. Personally I like the flexibility of the Wate and have no problems with the separate focusing and viewing windows - the charm of rangefinders. 2. I don't find the viwer has much impact on the obtrusiveness of the camera. It is a big viewer yes, but I wear the M on my shoulder, and under a jacket. In this position I don't even notice it. So I would definitely by the lens with the view finder. 3. Having the Wate, 21/2.8A, 28/2.0 A, 35/1.4A, Noct, 50/2.0, 75 lux and (on order) 90 macr), I did a lot of soul searching on whether the next lens should be the 28/2.8 or the 24 or the 50/1.4 . The last two are recognised as masterpeices, but so really are all M lens. In the end I choose the 28 (despite already having a faster lens at that focla length) because of its compactness and I'm more a 35-50mm shooter with film (28 does that better for me than the 24). Not sure if that is helpful or not regarding the decision to keep or sell the 24mm - I certainly woul;dn't sell a 24 If i had one and could afford to keep it). 4. As someone who has both the noctilux and the 50/1.4 a, what are your thoughts on these two lens and how well do they complement eachother in your stable of lens? Good luck - you can't go wrong really. M Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MP3 Posted June 1, 2007 Share #8 Posted June 1, 2007 Hi Murray I got both the 50/1.4A and Noct. Ths former for 18mths and the latter just since this April from my 30% coupon. The 50/1.4 is needless to repeat. Sharp, great color, fine detail and beautiful bokeh. As mine is the MP3 version, it is also especially compact. It is flare free from my experience so I never out a hood on it. Compare to the Noct, it is for sure my preferred lens - Light and very fast focusing due to its short throw. For my Noct, I take it out only once on a while, weight and long focue throw I think. However, the creamy bokeh and classic leica image smoothness is hard to pair. I'll let it grow on me until I find a good copy of Noct/1.2. Cheers Matthew Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Yoder Posted June 1, 2007 Share #9 Posted June 1, 2007 Concerning a smaller finder for the WATE, the older 21-24-28 VF is a possibility, though it's not a BL. Concerning the WATE itself, I'm beginning to call it the WAIT: I got confirmation of my order from Solms dated Feb. 28th ("preferential price" - 30% off for getting my M8 before 12/31/06.) It's now three months later, and notta. Emails to Solms beget replies that amount to "have patience mit uns." Anyone else waiting this long? I hear that the lens is 'way behind in production, yet you all are saying dealers have them. Are we 30%ers low priority? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwelland Posted June 1, 2007 Share #10 Posted June 1, 2007 I'm in a similar WATE quandry - my WATE has arrived at the dealer but I've found I'm really happy with the CV 15, Zeiss 21, 28/2 Summicron & 75 summicron combo that I normally carry around. I ordered a normal Tri-Elmar 28-35-50 which hasn't arrived yet and I'm wondering whether to forego the WATE (as I know it'll get snapped up immediately by someone else) and instead get a 2nd M8 plus just wait for the Tri Elmar which would fill the focal lengths I'd use more (although I tend not to change lenses to fill in the gap). I'm thinking that this might be more useful for a travel lens since I normally leave the 28 summicron on or flip back & forth with the 75. Thoughts? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicanet Posted June 1, 2007 Author Share #11 Posted June 1, 2007 Well guys, first of all many many thanks for your warm welcome to this forum. I am glad I joined in, it looks like this is THE forum to be for a Leica user. I used to be part of the Leica forum on photo.net, but, "thanks" to the very bad management of that site, things have gone sour and that forum is now very close to useless and I am not renewing my subscription with them when the time comes. Back to the WATE, I keep being tempted, but having the 24mm Elmarit already, and also not being a huge fan of wide angle photography, I really don't know whether to go for one or hold back and may be just get a nice MP "A la carte" and just enjoy my existing array of lenses (which for my type of photography is just "complete") both on film and digital. But being the lens so scarce on the market, and seemingly pretty sought after from what I understand, may be I'll just buy it, check it out, and if not really "my cup of tea" I might always sell it on, may be to one of you guys...! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom0511 Posted June 1, 2007 Share #12 Posted June 1, 2007 Back to the WATE, I keep being tempted, but having the 24mm Elmarit already, and also not being a huge fan of wide angle photography, I really don't know whether to go for one or hold back and may be just get a nice MP "A la carte" and just enjoy my existing array of lenses (which for my type of photography is just "complete") both on film and digital. But being the lens so scarce on the market, and seemingly pretty sought after from what I understand, may be I'll just buy it, check it out, and if not really "my cup of tea" I might always sell it on, may be to one of you guys...! As much as I am impressed by nice technology, I would not see how I would get a MP a la carte when I can buy a M6 (which can do the same) in good condition for 900 Euro, at least as long as there were still lenses I could use/want. Cheers, Tom Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
punktum Posted June 1, 2007 Share #13 Posted June 1, 2007 Concerning a smaller finder for the WATE, the older 21-24-28 VF is a possibility, though it's not a BL. I´m using that one... You have to get used to it - then it´s fine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicanet Posted June 1, 2007 Author Share #14 Posted June 1, 2007 Hi Thomas, you are 100% right, a 900 euros M6 will do exactly the same job of a 3000+ euros MP, perhaps even better, but a nice silver chrome MP .58 or .85 with tan/cognac custom leatherette I think it does look very nice, doesn'it? And anyone can choose how to spend (or waste for that matter, points of view...) his hard earned money the way they wish... I know it's probably a waste of money, a statement of "ego", but sometime it is and it might feel good to treat yourself if/when you can... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom0511 Posted June 1, 2007 Share #15 Posted June 1, 2007 Hi Thomas, you are 100% right, a 900 euros M6 will do exactly the same job of a 3000+ euros MP, perhaps even better, but a nice silver chrome MP .58 or .85 with tan/cognac custom leatherette I think it does look very nice, doesn'it? And anyone can choose how to spend (or waste for that matter, points of view...) his hard earned money the way they wish... I know it's probably a waste of money, a statement of "ego", but sometime it is and it might feel good to treat yourself if/when you can... I am sure it looks nice (as my old M3 does which I wont sell) - I just meant it would be sad if you would not get the WATE because of that. I also have to admit that I own quite some photo-eqipment which I do not really need, and in the end I think you are correct, one should get what one wishes, and the wish should not only be based on function of something but also on look, feel etc. etc. I take back what I wrote in my last thread. cheers, Tom Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
phovsho Posted June 1, 2007 Share #16 Posted June 1, 2007 If you're not into wide photography then don't get the wate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonoslack Posted June 1, 2007 Share #17 Posted June 1, 2007 Hi Lul - and welcome. Of course, opinions vary, but I really like the WATE - I find the 3 different focal lengths (equivalent to 21/24/28) much more useful on the M8 than I had expected, and the results I'm getting are absolutely excellent - I don't miss the speed, as extreme wide angle and low light aren't really my cup of tea - besides which, I'm usually shooting smaller apertures to increase the dof. As for the Frankenfinder - I don't use it all the time - in fact, I quite often simply point the camera in the right direction and shoot (21mm isn't far from the whole viewfinder anyway). However, it's a wonderful thing - it works splendidly well (and will do on your film cameras as well), the bubble is extremely helpful for keeping your horizon level and it's beautifully made. Put all that together, and you'll begin to find it much less offensive. I was planning to put mine on ebay, but now you wouldn't prize it out of my cold dead camera bag! For general travel now I carry: WATE normal tri-elmar and either 50 f2, 75 f2 or 90mm f4 depending on where I'm going. Gives a great range for not too much weight. Whatever you decide, I hope you enjoy your M8 as much as most of the rest of us do! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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