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21 Summilux - YES? / NO?


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As some of you may know, i returned my CV 21.  I did a detailed analysis of my past photos and I tend to shoot my landscape around 18-21 range. Now I am saving up for the Tri Elmar ( WATE) as many of you have suggested but now while i am on a mission to save for the WATE, I am thinking should i get the 21 summilux instead ? 

 

The only reason i ask is WATE seems slow or so i think. I have the 240s and that being said i don't have the luxury of having the ISO range that Monochrom or M10 offers.

 

What are your thoughts on the 21 summilux ?

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So, tell me, in your analysis did you happen to analyse the aperture you most frequently used in the 18-21mm range when shooting "Landscapes"?.

I bet it wasn't 1.4 even perhaps wider than f4.0.

 

Do yourself a favour, get over your GAS :) , choose a lens suitable for the task you specify, not a lens you appear to lust after.

There are no points to be had, having all the exotic (read ridiculously expensive) glass unless you have a very specific need for such capability.

"Landscapes" do not in the strictest terms require wider than f4 - f5.6.

 

Optimal suggestions in Leica would be the Elmarit 2.8 Asph for available light,  or SEM 3.4 for daylight landscapes.

 

Naturally your coin, your choice, but I can't help but notice from your posts, it's surely an expensive time for you!. 

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Unless you REALLY need f/1.4 then forget the Summilux. Its a specialist lens which is expensive because it is fast. Being fast means just that, not that it is better in any way simply faster.

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So, tell me, in your analysis did you happen to analyse the aperture you most frequently used in the 18-21mm range when shooting "Landscapes"?.

I bet it wasn't 1.4 even perhaps wider than f4.0.

 

Do yourself a favour, get over your GAS :) , choose a lens suitable for the task you specify, not a lens you appear to lust after.

There are no points to be had, having all the exotic (read ridiculously expensive) glass unless you have a very specific need for such capability.

"Landscapes" do not in the strictest terms require wider than f4 - f5.6.

 

Optimal suggestions in Leica would be the Elmarit 2.8 Asph for available light, or SEM 3.4 for daylight landscapes.

 

Naturally your coin, your choice, but I can't help but notice from your posts, it's surely an expensive time for you!.

I got some serious GAS going right now. Like so much so that I might need to go see a real doc lol. True I was at f8 or f11. It's only at night scape I really suffer with slow lenses. Now how often I shoot that once or twice a year when I visit Iceland. Am I talking to myself ? I guess WATE it is. 21 is my lust though..

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Ever hear of a three legged thing called a tripod?, much cheaper than any Leica lens.

 

At half the price of the WATE, get yourself a SEM or at nearly half the price of the SEM get yourself an Elmarit ASPH. At apertures in the f8 or smaller, those lenses should be very much the same, perhaps the SEM having the least distortion.

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Ever hear of a three legged thing called a tripod?, much cheaper than any Leica lens.

 

Agreed. See i always need support of wise people like you. Glad to have this forum. I found a used Tri Elmar at a decent price. Think ill pull the trigger on that and pull the plug on my expenses right after.. 

 

On another note - Three Legged Thing Tripod's suck! big time. I damaged 2 cameras using their tripods. One was in remote region of Iceland. 

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Do what others have suggested and get an Elmarit Asph. It's faster that the SEM, WATE, and CV21/4, smaller than the Lux and the WATE, cheap enough that it won't be 2020 by the time you have it, and takes normal sized filters (unlike the Lux).

 

In the end though, nothing is perfect and you'll always lust after something else. It won't make your photos better though.

 

Edit: I think you should update your signature to Leica GAS = broke, as you have easily shown that Leica != a cure for GAS!

Edited by michaelwj
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I don't feel that my 21 Summilux is nearly as sharp (but certainly adequate for most uses!) as my 21 SEM (near wide open), but the Summilux is great when low light (or more commonly when I want isolation of subject from background, even in bright light with my SL with the high shutter speeds), or need to match my 35 Summilux ASPH pre FLE and 75 Summilux in rendering. I use the SEM for landscape (and when I want to carry a smaller 21 and when I don't need the faster f stops). sorry about all the parentheses....

Regards,

Bob

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Edit: I think you should update your signature to Leica GAS = broke, as you have easily shown that Leica != a cure for GAS!

Michael - funny & true. my definition of cheap has drastically changed on a serious note. This is my last lens. I am done for 1 year. 

Edited by bozu_shutterbugger
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Bob - Interesting. I thought Lux might be a bit sharper than the SEM but i guess as others suggested, fast doesnt mean sharp. 

 

Have a look at the MTF; you can download them from Leica. There you will see that the SEM is the 'better' lens.

 

But the SLX is the better lens at f1.4, f2.0, f2.8...  ;)  

 

Your thoughts are all right, if you are talking about 35 or 50mm. But the 21mm SLX is a very special lens. Great from one point - but very special. 

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SEM + Gitzo tripod are the answer. The SEM is an absolutely outstanding lens - by far the best, technically speaking, 20/21mm I've ever owned and in such a small package. Add a carbon fibre Gitzo with a good head from Arca and you have gear that is as good as it gets.

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The only reason one would get an earlier Leica (WATE included), Zeiss, Kobilux, MS Optica or CV 21 is for size, convenience, speed, "drawing" character, price or any combination thereof. In terms of sheer performance-setting aside 'rendering'--the SEM is the highest resolving, flattest-field and best-corrected 21 in M format ever produced. Period. Arguably exceeds any and all 21mm lenses extant in 35mm format, straight from f/3.4 onward. Whether the subjective look is your taste is something for you to determine.

 

ADDENDUM:

The ZM 4,5/21 was a similar exemplar on film but doesn't hold up on a digital sensor.

Edited by james.liam
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I've been had 21/1.4 for one year. To be honest, the quality of image in F1.4 is very good, especially at night. BUT, it is too heavy for me, for m-p. Usually, when I think it's weight, I won't take it to street. This year, I sold it and bought 21/3.4. In daytime, I usually is F8, so I think it's the same as 21/1.4. If you shoot in daytime more than night, then choose 21/3.4, it won't let you disappointed. At night, use tripod:)

 

 

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I have both of these 21mm lenses.

For landscape I would strongly recommend the SEM:

    Lighter

    Smaller

    Cheaper

    Much less distortion

    f3.4 is as fast as you need for landscape

 

The 'rendering' of the SEM has a more 'detailed' and transparent look.  I love the 'rendering' of the Summilux images, a bit more like the 28 Summicron ASPH - perhaps a bit more 'character' than the SEM.

 

Hand-held in low light the Summilux is fabulous - a wide-angle Noctilux.

 

In the end though the SEM is fast enough for most applications at f3.4 (it is very wide so obviously can be handheld at lower shutter speeds than longer lenses at the same f-stop).  However, you will NOT want to lug that big Summilux around all day if you don't have to.

Edited by MarkP
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SEM + Gitzo tripod are the answer. The SEM is an absolutely outstanding lens - by far the best, technically speaking, 20/21mm I've ever owned and in such a small package. Add a carbon fibre Gitzo with a good head from Arca and you have gear that is as good as it gets.

 

+1, including the comment about the Arca head and carbon-fibre Gitzo tripod 

Edited by MarkP
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