M vs. TL lenses on the CL?

[Le Chef]

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I'm intrigued by the flexibility of the CL to shoot in automatic modes as well as manual, and to shoot using autofocus lenses vs manual focus lenses. Do any owners here have a preference for shooting manual and using manual focus lenses, and if so what led you to this preference, and which manual or M lenses do you prefer to use?

 

MTIA!

[onasj]

The biggest reason to shoot M lenses is that there are far more of them than L lenses!  If you are looking for primes, your choices in L lenses are basically 18, 23, 35, and 60, one maximum aperture each.  In my experience, these lenses are all at least good, with some (35/1.4) fantastic.  The autofocus works quite well on all four of these lenses in my experience.

 

Of course the M lens stable is arguably the crown jewel of Leica, with many excellent to world-class choices.  Just at the 50 mm focal length, for example, current offerings include the 50/0.95, 50/1.4, 50/2 APO, and 50/2.4.  At 28 mm you have 28/1.4, 28/2, 28/2.8, and 28/5.6, all of which are excellent, if not a bit gimmicky cough cough summaron cough cough  And on and on the Leica M lens kingdom stretches.

 

And of course several other manufacturers also offer quality M-mount lenses.

 

Finally, I'll note that the equivalent M-mount lens tends to be quite a bit smaller and perhaps somewhat better-made than the corresponding L-mount lens.  

Edited May 18, 2018 by onasj

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[jaapv]

I use both M lenses and TL ones. R lenses too. I don't see any reason for a particular preference, as the use of the lens is determined by the intended use, not by some subjective consideration.

[Le Chef]

So the question then is “intended use” and how that defines which type of lens, autofocus or manual, that is going to be used? What examples can you offer?

[jaapv]

Well, for fast sports action you might prefer the 55-135,  for low-light work the Summilux-M 24, for instance. Horses for courses applies. For wildlife I prefer the 105-280 R over the 90-280 SL, as it takes an extender and manual focus is mostly equal or better than AF in that case. 

 

Sometimes the presence of AF may be the consideration, other times speed or focal length of the lens or the precision of manual focus.  Then again you may want to have a small lens on the camera or simply like the way a lens renders, which make the focusing system irrelevant. And so on.

 

In all cases the use determines the choice, not a general preference.

[LocalHero1953]

I have just the 18 and 60 TL lenses because those suit my specific uses: a casual in-your-pocket camera for social events, and for macro. I use the Summilux-M 35 FLE and Apo-Summicron-M 50 to fill in the gaps when I need them. The main problem with this mix and match approach is getting your head around the change from AF to MF - it always takes me a few screwed up shots before I remember what to do each time. Aside from that, M lenses on the CL are a pleasure.

[jaapv]

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Well, the camera does behave differently with AF and MF lenses .

[Jared]

The TL lenses are all very good to excellent. The 18 is the only one that I would say is not up to modern ‘M’ standards in terms of image quality, and that’s just because it’s a pancake lens. Even it is quite good for what it is. Given the choice of an M lens or a TL of equivalent focal length and similar speed, I’d take the TL every time. They are much more flexible for the types of photography the CL is really good at because of the autofocus. Things like travel, family, street, and perhaps even reportage are really good choices for the CL, and AF is helpful for all of these scenarios.

 

If you already own an M lens you want to try on the CL, by all means do so. All the ones I tried seemed to work really well. But if you offered me a choice, I’d take a TL lens over an ‘M’ lens every time with this camera. Of course, that’s easy for me to say since I don’t use the CL for slower, more thoughtful photography. I have an X1D for those situations now. If I didn’t have the larger format camera, I might well use some ‘M’ glass on the CL, but I doubt I’d go so far as to purchase an ‘M’ lens for the CL, at least not a new lens. Maybe a used one? Or a Voigtlander or two? I do like manually focusing, but you give up an awful lot of flexibility when you go that rout.

[Photon42]

I like the CL for a different reasons.

• Street: The native 23 + AF face detection mode is great for street, sort of my replacement for the Q I sold to fund the CL
• On the wide angle side there is nothing better than the native 11-23 in my eyes. CL + 11-23 is a great addition to an M and is similarly priced (with camera) like the WATE.
• I use M lenses for mild/mid telephoto applications,  50/75/90 focal lengths. The summarit 90 has a perfect form factor for the CL.
• One lens shooting envelope: The downside for M lenses is the inability to focus closer than 70cm at best (some exceptions from Voigtlander). This was finally one of the the reasons I traded a less used M lens for the TL 1.4/35. it relatively large, but ok w/o hood
• The occasional macro: 55mm Nikkor 2.8 manual focus

[norm_snyder]

I have been using the 23mm in very poor lighting, with better success using autofocus than I have with my 35mm Summicron on my M cameras.  For focal lengths longer than 50mm I have been using M lenses, as well as an old LTM 105mm Nikkor, and love the way the focus peaking allows me to focus with precision.  The 75mm APO-Summicron-M is wonderful on the CL.  

[Le Chef]

Thanks all: I’m still looking for more “why” you choose these lenses for specific occasions rather than the “what” lens you chose. It’s the thought process that’s important to understand.

[lct]

[...] Do any owners here have a preference for shooting manual and using manual focus lenses, and if so what led you to this preference, and which manual or M lenses do you prefer to use?

 

I use only M lenses on the CL. I don't use AF a lot generally, only for P&S and long telephotos and i have other cameras for that. Otherwise i prefer manual focusing. It is a rather slow process when i need to nail focus as i don't rely on focus peaking at all but the right wheel of the CL works fine for image magnification. The M lenses i use the most on the CL are the smaller ones: Leica 28/2.8 asph v1, 35/1.4 pre-asph v2, 50/2.8 v2, 75/2.5 & 90/4 macro; CV 15/4.5 v2 & 21/4; ZM 35/2.8 & 50/1.5. Now my favorite lens in good light is a tiny Tessar 35/3.5 coming from a Yashica T4 or T5 and adapted by MS-Optical.

Edited May 22, 2018 by lct

[colonel]

Although it’s fun to shoot manual lenses on CSCs, the native lenses are the best, fully optimised for the system and AF

[LocalHero1953]

What is "the best"?

 

Best for IQ, best for weight and size, best for wide aperture, best for close focusing, best for speed of focusing (sometimes AF, sometimes MF).........?

 

To the OP: first decide why you're taking photographs, then pick the lens that is most likely to help you do that. If you do the first, the second will take care of itself.

[tritentrue]

After ditching my TL lenses along with my TL2 some time back, I decided to use my R lenses and focus manually on the CL. 

 

Why?  First of all, I thought the TL zooms were great until I started editing a number of shots for print.  The 11-23 and 18-56 (especially at the wide end) printed exactly like Cosina glass--not a good thing for me, without going into detail.  The 55-135 and the 35 1.4 (the only TL prime I had) printed same as my R and M glass, but my TL2 couldn't autofocus the 55-135 accurately, and Leica AP claimed there was no issue.

 

I can focus manually with ease and accuracy using the CL, and so far I'm ecstatic with the results I get.  At some point there will probably be a TL lens that will hook me into trying AF again, but for now I'm comfortable focusing manually.

[jaapv]

Thanks all: I’m still looking for more “why” you choose these lenses for specific occasions rather than the “what” lens you chose. It’s the thought process that’s important to understand.

I choose the lens which is best for the specific use, without considering whether it is an M or a TL lens.