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Best second Leica lens?


vaotix

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Observe the images you like best. Would any be improved with a longer or shorter focal length?

 

If your common lens is 50mm

 

Wider - 35mm

Longer - 75mm

 

And choosing from the above, if you wish an old-time rendering in 35mm, the Summilux F1.4. which stopped down to F2 is a Summicron. 75mm is whatever you can afford. My favorite is Version 1.

Edited by pico
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I have a frivolous, perhaps shameful,  quantity of new and old lenses. On a digital full format M here is my usage in order of frequency: 50mm Cron (II) , 35 mm Cron (asph), 18mm Zeiss Distagon, and 90mm Cron (asph).  These are the lenses that serve me best and most frequently. My 28mm Elmarit gets little use - it seems that when it is appropriate, the 18mm is more so. Regards, Ron

Edited by Ronazle
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Since you’re only new to Leica and not new to photography I assume we do not need to advise you on the angle you choose alongside the 50 but just on what are good Leica lenses in an absolute sense. My list of best Leica lenses, more or less taking into account the value for money:

Summilux 75 M

Macro-Elmarit 60 R

Summilux 35 FLE M and Summicron 35 M mark iv, ex equo

Elmar 50 M

APO Summicron 90 M

APO Elmarit 180mm R

Summaron 35/2.8 M

If you want to stay in the Summarit range I can say that the 35mm is in itself a better lens than the 75mm and the 90mm. I would however prefer the Summaron 35 above the Summarit because of it’s smooth bo-keh

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Statement how 35mm Summarons are available at reasonable price sounds like a cliche to me, happy to be convinced otherwise.  What is reasonable price for a working copy of Summaron 35mm in 2018?  Casual google search today finds f2.8 versions on ebay for no less than £750, f3.5 are much cheaper.  In the last 12 months I only managed to find goggled version on sale with reputable Leica UK dealers.

 

Reasonable compared to Summicrons of the same vintage and certainly the pre asph Summilux.

 

A casual search suggest prices of around £700-£750 on eBay, so yes, they have crept up a bit compared to when I last looked.

 

Ernst

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I'm actually going to be the contrarian here and suggest you try using just the one focal length for a while, 35 or 50mm make excellent options. There's something to be said about removing options and simply grabbing your camera to go shoot rather than worrying about which lens to use for a given scenario. 

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Now, which will be your third Leica lens?

 

Funny you should mention that. While browsing lenses, I found a 90mm Elmar thin lens for $300. So I grabbed that and the 35mm Summarit.  :lol:

 

Also, I know some people were suggesting 3rd party lenses and I'm not against that. Gonna wait and see before going that route though.

Edited by vaotix
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Also, I know some people were suggesting 3rd party lenses and I'm not against that. Gonna wait and see before going that route though.

 

It requires some cumbersome research online. I found questions to compare specific Leica with third party lenses in online forum posts, in reviews, in comments to bought lenses, etc etc. Sometimes Ken Rockwell's site is helpful to get an idea about all the different kind of Leica lens versions out there but not too much when it comes to third party lens performance IMO. I also found that sometimes older Leica M lenses are worthwhile getting compared to third party lenses and other times not. Then it also depends how you want to use the lenses - just on Leica M film cameras or also on digital cameras (the tree divides here again in Leica M digital only or Sony FF mirrorless for example - again it takes research to figure out which lens works under specific usage conditions). 

 

Generally as rule of thumb I found that older Leica M lenses 50 mm and above are worthwhile getting but caution should be taken with older wide angle Leica M lenses - they are often for their quality overpriced IMO and not competitive in quality with newer third party lenses. If lenses should work on Sony FF mirrorless cameras, better stay away from brand new Leica ASPH M lenses with f/2 speed - they cause severe issues with the thicker sensor glass cover which Sony uses compared to Leica. Older lens versions don't do this as much (good example here is the 35/2 lens). Faster lenses like the Summilux versions have a larger pupil entrance and therefore also work as ASPH versions on the Sony cameras. Just my 2 Cents from a lot of studying...;)

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Thanks for the insight. I'm trying to stick mostly with coded lenses because I only have an M240 right now - no Leica film cameras. I did just grab the 90mm Elmar which isn't coded, but I think I'm gonna try to code it myself and it was just so cheap I couldn't pass it up. 

 

Third party lenses interest me a little bit though. I'd like to try out a Zeiss maybe. But I bought into Leica to get that Leica look and feel so I'm sticking with Leica lenses for now.

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May I suggest that bit-codes above 50mm isn't of much value, first of all, and second, in my experience non-coded old lenses give more interesting results. This series was made with the Summilux75 with lens recognition OFF http://lotwouda.zenfolio.com/p735541593 which gives a nice sort of vignetting which you would've seen on film too and would have been flattened out with lens recognition ON.

Edited by otto.f
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May I suggest that bit-codes above 50mm isn't of much value, first of all, and second, in my experience non-coded old lenses give more interesting results. This series was made with the Summilux75 with lens recognition OFF http://lotwouda.zenfolio.com/p735541593 which gives a nice sort of vignetting which you would've seen on film too and would have been flattened out with lens recognition ON.

 

I do plan on using the lens without coding for a couple weeks before making any kind of decision. I don't have everything I need to do it anyway. Who knows...maybe I'll enjoy it. 

 

Those are awesome photos. I do like the feel and mood of them.

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The argument with cropping seems to me to be very valid. As the difference between 28 and 35mm is not huge, some cropping is acceptable even with the M10 sensor. You can even try to make photographs with the 28mm all by looking through the 35mm framelines and crop in pp. Being realistic: One will see no difference in the final picture because of the cropping. Therefore its more sensible to go for 28 instead of 35 and have less lenses to carry.

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If you want to stay in the Summarit range I can say that the 35mm is in itself a better lens than the 75mm (...) I would however prefer the Summaron 35 above the Summarit because of it’s smooth bo-keh

I have to withdraw this statement: https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/257654-black-and-white-image-thread/page-79?do=findComment&comment=3438360. #1561 and #1562.

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Hello

I bought a M240 a few months ago along with a Summarit-M 50mm lens. I love the combination so far but I find having only one focal length is pretty limiting right now. I just got some unexpected extra money and want to buy a second lens for my kit. I plan on sticking with the Summarit line because the price is right and the max f/2.4 aperture doesn't bug me. So far I'm trying to choose between the 35mm and the 75mm (though, I heard the 90mm is also really great). I'm having a tough time deciding which direction to go. I mostly use the Leica for portraiture and street shooting. Though, I can see it as a travel camera in the future, too.

 

What would your choice be for someone starting with Leica? I'm not a beginner photographer by any means, but this is my first Leica. Any tips or suggestions would be most welcome.

as you I started leica with a 50mm and had the same problem as you...

Combined with 50mm, the 35mm and the 75mm are too close to 50mm. When I had 35+50+75, the 50 didn't be used any more.

The combination 28+50+90 is more useful (35+75 are enough for two lenses).

28mm is may be short for street photography but is good for landscape and architecture.

90mm is good for portraiture with some more air too girls...

 

You can make your own test cheaper with second hand cosina or voigtländer lenses...

 

J.Ph.

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