50mm 2.8 Elmar-m

[pedaes]

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26 minutes ago, geesbert said:

lens comparison

The screw-mount Elmar holds up pretty well. I have a Red -scale and must try it on M10.

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[aires35iii]

On 10/24/2020 at 3:37 PM, pedaes said:

I tend to take the Elmar-M if the light is good and can use it at f5.6 and 8,  when it's at it's 'sharpest'. It has a nostalgic charm and is fun to use and just makes for a change. Looks nice on a chrome body (mine's chrome) and is a 'friendly' lens that people don't seem to find intrusive. All very subjective I am afraid!

This shot was taken at f5.6. (remember the posting resolution is quite low)

 

Thanks Pedaes, I understand that. I could indeed make close discreete street portraits thanks to the outdated Elmar’s appearance. My concern with it is a potential lack of details in high contrast zones compared to the Apo-Summicron.

And about the Apo-Summicron, when do you use it ?

[aires35iii]

On 10/24/2020 at 4:25 PM, geesbert said:

The Elmar M is one of the greatest 50 of all time, there might be sharper ones, there might be faster ones, but for pleasant rendering it‘s king!

I got mine fitted with a 35 cron 4th‘s focus tab a few years ago, it is perfect now!

If you’re interested, the only lens comparison I did it my whole life as a professional photographer can be found here […]

Thanks Geesbert ! What a nice test. I noticed the clever mirror on the picture. I confess I did not see much difference between the Elmar and the Summilux Asph. What do you think ?

[cboy]

E.Puts on Elmar-M:

"The redesigned Elmar-M f/2.8 at full ap-
erture provides a medium to high con-
trast image with very fine details very
crisply rendered over most of the field.
Generally the new one is a stop or two
ahead of the predecessor. More impor-
tant for the overall image quality is a
much-improved micro contrast that adds
to the very fine textural details a sparkling
clarity. At f/5,6 the Elmar-M is close to
the performance of the current Summi-
cron-M f/2.0/50mm. Close-up perform-
ance of the Elmar-M is excellent at full
aperture. The four elements of the Elmar
give less latitude for aberration-correction
than the six of the Summicron. The
lesser number of elements on the other
hand produce a very pleasing, almost
brittle rendition of very fine details.
At f/2,8 the Elmar-M has the same fin-
gerprint as the current Summicron-M at
full aperture (f/2.0), be it with slightly
less overall contrast" - LEICA LENS Soul & their Secrets

I agree with puts when stopped down its difficult to fault it. More importantly its rendering is not clinical and opened up the oof is plesant. Nice for portraits imho

Edited October 26, 2020 by cboy

[pedaes]

12 hours ago, aires35iii said:

 

And about the Apo-Summicron, when do you use it ?

Most of the time! If you spend that much on a 50mm you kinda feel you need to use it. If I am going anywhere that I think there may be the possibility of a opportunity for a good image at 50mm in any light at any angle I would take the APO. Equally, if I am going somewhere that I might want to use  f2/4 would definetly take the APO.If we are just going for a walk (as in image posted) I will probaly take just camera and Elmar-M, Summilux 35 or Summarron 5.6/28 depending on mood - it is a broad church! . I can't see any practical difference between Elmar-M and APO in good light at mid apertures in A3+ prints, especially if you put the images through LR and Topaz Sharpen AI. However, on 'Auto' Topaz does apply a higher percentage of correction to the Elmar-M files, so it obviously detects a difference. But that it is not the whole picture (excuse the pun).

The Elmar-M is a great little lens, but it cannot compete technically with the APO (Mr.Peter Karbe would have wasted eight years of development if it could) or give the sense of assurance or versatility the APO provides.

Good luck and have fun deciding! Let us know outcome, although that you are asking suggests you know what you want! The Summilux 50 is good to, although rumours are starting about an update sometime.

Edited October 26, 2020 by pedaes

[pedaes]

6 hours ago, cboy said:

E.Puts on Elmar-M:

He added in his "Leica (50mm) Lens Saga" book

"...the lens combines nostalgia with high performance and that is a proposition many Leica aficionados cannot resist"

I can't!

[aires35iii]

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On 10/26/2020 at 12:40 PM, pedaes said:

He added in his "Leica (50mm) Lens Saga" book

"...the lens combines nostalgia with high performance and that is a proposition many Leica aficionados cannot resist"

I can't!

Thanks Peades, I already have the Elmar-M and the Summilux-Asph. Your comments and other’s helped me to precise my needs, yes, and I beleive that I would prefer the Apo Summicron. It seem to match perfectly my needs. But far better from the Summilux-Asph, it seem not. One day perhaps, in case of an a good auction…

[a.noctilux]

Aires35iii,

Elmar-M, Lux asph, then Apo-Summicron = trio de choc 😉.

...waiting others ...

I don't count my lenses anymore, but with time (depending on nothing logical), I tend to trade/sell the less use

lenses, the Elmar-M and 50 Summilux asph. were  those after some many more before them.

 

Just an idea ... I've had Elmar-M 50 in two periods, first the Silver then the black ...

I'm happy to report that Summarit-M 2.5/50 is ( for me, plus tiny Elmar 3.5/50 LTM) nice complement of larger lens like 50 Noctilux/Summilux

Edited October 27, 2020 by a.noctilux

[weeowee]

Is the Elmar M 2.8 significantly better than the Elmar LTM 2.8? I’ve read good reviews for both and I can’t quite decide.

[pedaes]

1 hour ago, weeowee said:

Is the Elmar M 2.8 significantly better than the Elmar LTM 2.8? I’ve read good reviews for both and I can’t quite decide.

If you want the 'best' in measured criteria the last version of the Elmar-M ('94-'07)is the one to go for. Not sure which two versions you are talking about (there are two M mount lens), but the first 2.8 LTM was not a lot different from the 3.5 apart from aperture. All are good and fun to use.

[lct]

3 hours ago, weeowee said:

Is the Elmar M 2.8 significantly better than the Elmar LTM 2.8? I’ve read good reviews for both and I can’t quite decide.

I own both Elmar (11112) and Elmar-M (11831) 50/2.8. The latter is sharper and more contrasty with less flare than the former. Also its barrel doesn't rotate when focusing and its late samples are 6-bit coded. It is my favorite by far but i like contrasty lenses and i don't use film anymore so you may feel differently.

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[TomB_tx]

4 hours ago, weeowee said:

Is the Elmar M 2.8 significantly better than the Elmar LTM 2.8? I’ve read good reviews for both and I can’t quite decide.

The "Elmar" 2.8 was made in both ltm and M mount, but the M mount version was still named "Elmar". The later design was named "Elmar-M" to distinguish it from the M mount Elmar.

I have and use both the Elmar 2.8 (in both ltm and M) and the Elmar-M. As noted by others the Elmar-M is an improvement in image quality, but I still get nice results from the Elmar. The 2.8 Elmar was the first Leica lens I tried in 1968, which sold me on Leica.

[weeowee]

Thanks everyone! I’m trying to choose between the 2 for my M3, the M version is almost double the price of the ltm mount so I was thinking of just sticking to the cheaper one.  

[weeowee]

Just an update:), ended up ordering the ltm mount version. Can’t wait to get it and try it on my M3. 

[M2Pete]

On 10/29/2020 at 7:54 PM, weeowee said:

Thanks everyone! I’m trying to choose between the 2 for my M3, the M version is almost double the price of the ltm mount so I was thinking of just sticking to the cheaper one.  

Great choice! Have the V2 Elmar and the Elmar-m. The former lives on my M2 while the latter is for my digital M-D. I really like the "look" of the photos I get on my M2, especially with B&W films. 

How are you enjoying it?

Happy shooting!

[Muso]

An old-ish thread indeed, but...

I am enamoured with this lens!

I have a chrome version from about 2004.  it works beautifully on my M-10P, but its home is on my 1967 M4!

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[Stein K S]

😀 Have that tiny little Elmar-M in chrome myself... on chrome bodies. A real charm to use!

 

And welcome to the forum!

[Muso]

Thanks, Stein!  Yes, this lens gives modern sharpness and contrast, but the rendering still looks... hmm... "not modern."  I love it.

-James

 

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Muso]

On 2/6/2018 at 1:44 AM, UliWer said:

Unfortunately the Elmar-M has the worst mechanics of all collapsible lenses Leica made.

?  Not at all!  At least not the chrome version that I have.  It is a solid, tight, high-precision hunk of brass and glass.  OTOH, in Leica terms, maybe it is the worst one they ever made.  But bloody 'ell, it's still one helluva solid lens!  

 

On 2/6/2018 at 1:44 AM, UliWer said:

Unlike all others there is  no definite position to fix the extracted shaft. So it will happen that you can only see the aperture scale when you look from below, if you don't fix it in the right position. When I first had it, I thought mine was misadjusted by some imcompetent repairer - until I learned that all Elmar-Ms were like this. The mount also is not strong enough to prevent it getting wobbly - something which won't happen to other collapsible Leica lenses.

Again... ?  One would have to try pretty hard to pull the Elmar-M out upside down.  I know - I just tried it.  It was not easy lol.  If it's difficult, just put the lens cap on right side up (the cap reads "Leica" in their luvly trademarked script) after you collapse it, and make sure it's right side up again when pulling the lens out.  Aside from that, there's the aperture index dot - if somehow the shaft got spun around, just spin it until the aperture dot lines up with the red mounting dot, pull, and twist.  But I've never had it twist itself around in my bag.  It's always where I left it.  A potential problem in theory that is not a problem in real life.  

As for being wobbly - that is probably the simplest adjustment that can be made on any Leica lens.  A pro can adjust the tension literally in less than a minute.  3 quick tweaks with a small flat-blade screwdriver.  

Yours may indeed have been screwed up by some incompetent repairer.  Send it to Dan Goldberg, and tell him to just do whatever to make it right.  He made mine perfect.  You will fall in love.  🙂 

Pics:  Lens cap.  Index dot.  

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[Alberti]

49 minutes ago, Muso said:

As for being wobbly - that is probably the simplest adjustment that can be made on any Leica lens.  A pro can adjust the tension literally in less than a minute.  3 quick tweaks with a small flat-blade screwdriver.  

Indeed. Several years ago leica had a walk-in week for owners and their equipment. I had my collabsible Elmar 90mm with me . It was wobbly and let loose quickly. The mechanic walked away and in 5 minutes he was back. The lens firmly fixed. The walk took more time than handling the screwdriver. Ah he said, I had to figure out how it worked, this is a new lens (it was) but the mechanical adjustment is just the same. So even subtract the thinking. LOL.

The thing that does annoy me is that the 90mm cannot be fixed in the house, so when you have the camera hanging like under a jacket - my favourite M.O. -  it will quickly move out. The only reason I have not yet bought a 50mm coll-2.8. fear.