Replacing 28mm summicron with a MATE?

[reddot925]

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Hello all,

 

When I travel I mostly shoot with a mix of 35 and 50mm depending if the place is more for street or more of a nature scene.   

 

But I do miss the occasional 28mm perspective for landscape so I bought the 28mm Summicron ASPH which I have absolutely no complain about the image quality BUT I hardly take it at all because it's given that within a few shots I will be changing to something longer.

 

Hope this makes sense.

 

So my question is if I can trade this lens with the Tri Elmar 28-35-50, not to replace the faster 35mm and 50mm, but to use when the places are more landscape oriented, do you guys think this is this a good move?   Main downside that's holding me back is the size of the MATE.

 

Thank you!

[a.noctilux]

My thinking is that you give MATE a try.

This is the lens to have/use to be decided love/hate affair.

 

I use Summicron-M 28mm (plus other  ) and MATE only when I want ONE lens: the two don't exclude each other.

- with 340g, MATE is very light for a three focal lens, lighter than one current 50mm Summilux-M asph. (but lack that f/1.4 )

- the main pain is the finder blocage (lower right) which is acceptable or not for you at 28mm and less so at 35mm

- some flare can occur at 50mm with bright light just outside the field and closing aperture can't help to reduce

- distortion may be a problem at 28mm

 

-otherwise, the IQ is at top for a "M-zoom" for dynamic picture session: I have no complain for that matter

 

Have a look, here:

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/236071-tri-elmar-28-35-50-opinions/

Edited August 25, 2017 by a.noctilux

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[Leicaiste]

28mm is the weakest focal length on the MATE.

[MarkP]

My most used two focal lengths are 28 and 50mm. I have the MATE, it is very versatile and compact as a 3-in-1,and has lovely rendering closer to the older Mandler lenses. However there is a reasonable amount of barrel distortion at 28mm and it flares fairly easily at 50mm.

 

You need 28, 35, and 50mm primes and a MATE to be truly happy :-)

[lct]

+1. Distortion is not huge and easy to adjust in PP though. Only serious cons IMO are indeed flare at 50mm and softness at 28mm in borders and corners below f/5.6.  

[duoenboge]

another option: Leica Q. A fast, high quality 28 Summilux with fix mounted autofocus Camera.

Regards

[Guest]

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...

 

You didn't write whether you are photographing analog or digital and what would you like to achieve.

The MATE is a good compromise for analogue photography, especially on holidays or as first overview pictures of an unknown region.

Digital - especially in the future with ever better resolving sensors - the excellent asph. Summicron 28mm might suffice, and doing some image cropping when post-processing, similar as the Leica-Q already does now if needed.

[lct]

The MATE has less corner issues than regular 28mm and 35mm M lenses on mirrorless bodies with thick sensor stacks. Tends to stick on my Fuji X-E2 where it shines and its flare problems at 50mm are easy to avoid thanks to the EVF. FWIW.

[Jeff S]

The lens is mechanically complex, requiring some care in changing focal lengths, which also are not in sequence (and unlike the WATE, it doesn't work at interim focal lengths). There are many threads on the lens (both versions). Here's one....

 

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/236071-tri-elmar-28-35-50-opinions/

 

Jeff

[reddot925]

Thank you.   I plan to use this lens with digital bodies, specially M10 and the M Monochrom.

 

 

You didn't write whether you are photographing analog or digital and what would you like to achieve.

The MATE is a good compromise for analogue photography, especially on holidays or as first overview pictures of an unknown region.

Digital - especially in the future with ever better resolving sensors - the excellent asph. Summicron 28mm might suffice, and doing some image cropping when post-processing, similar as the Leica-Q already does now if needed.

 

Edited August 25, 2017 by reddot925

[Leicaiste]

Thank you. I plan to use this lens with digital bodies, specially M10 and the M Monochrom.

I loved the MATE on the M8 which smaller sensor was only using the center of the lens. Not so much with more recent FF M digital or SL.

[MarkP]

I do not consider the Q to be equivalent to the MATE because of the progressive cropping of image size fro full frame at 35 and 50mm focal lengths.

 

Again, I also don't think that the MATE replaces the 28 Summicron ASPH with whatever 50 prime I choose to use.

 

Reddot, my thoughts on the MATE in detail:

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/236071-tri-elmar-28-35-50-opinions/?p=2695050

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/236071-tri-elmar-28-35-50-opinions/?p=2695079

 

MATE on Monochrom:

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/236071-tri-elmar-28-35-50-opinions/?p=3116430

 

A useful thread on the MATE:

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/236071-tri-elmar-28-35-50-opinions/page-1

 

Mark