Leica CL only with M-lenses & compared to CL lenses

[trequartista]

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Hello

 

I‘d like to get a CL and some Zeiss/Voigtlander lenses, like the Nokton 35mm 1.4 and the Zeiss Sonar 50mm 1.5.

Do you think that‘s a good combination?

 

Also, I am still looking for a lens that will me equivalent 35mm on crop sensor, but I couldn’t find one yet. Big issue might be that a 24mm will be big and heavy and only fast as 4 or so. Any suggestions?

 

The CL lens, I think it‘s the Summicron 23mm f2, how fast is this lens on crop? Really f2?

 

Another thing I wondered: How is it to swap between M-mount and sl/cl lenses?

 

Many thanks in advance.

[ramarren]

I bought a CL body and am testing it for use with my existing collection of Leica M and Leica R lenses. So far, albeit that they are generally larger and heavier than M lenses by any vendor, I'm really liking it in use with my R lenses ... They just fit the TTL viewing and focusing system much more due to their different ergonomics compared to M lenses. They're much more regular in shape and in control locations, for instance: the aperture control is always at the back of the lens, the focusing ring at the front. Although small differences to write down, it makes a big difference to me in use. 

 

I've no idea how the Nokton 35/1.4 and Sonnar 50/1.5 will perform on the CL since I don't have either of those. Probably okay, at least, but it's always difficult to say until you try them. I haven't done formal testing of my Voigtländer Color Skopar 28mm f/3.5 yet, but from my preliminary snaps with it, it looks like it performs pretty well. All my other M lenses are now Leica lenses and, so far, they all perform very nicely. I've tested the WATE, the Summilux 35 v2, the Summicron 50, the Summarit 75, the early M-Rokkor 90 (it's actually the Elmar-C 90 but with Minolta branding and bezels) and the Hektor 135.

 

If I were buying a CL and wanted to stick with manual lenses, I would probably stick with Leica lenses ... I had the Color Skopar 28 from almost a decade ago when I bought it to use with my film M. 

 

Regards the Summicron-TL 23mm f/2, yes: it's an f/2 lens. I'm not sure why there's any question about that. An f/number is a function of the focal length and the size of the lens opening. This lens has a 23mm focal length and a maximum lens opening of 11.5 mm, so it's an f/2 lens. A 23-24 mm lens nets the closest equivalent FoV to a 35mm FF lens on the APS-C format. The smaller format nets a change in DoF at the marked f/numbers, so a given f/number on the 23mm lens used on the CL nets the same DoF as a 35mm lens on a FF camera does at the next f/number setting. For example, the equivalent FoV and DoF of a Summilux-M 35 set to 10 feet and f/4 on a Leica M10 is provided by the Summicron-TL 23 set to 10 feet and f/2.8 on the Leica CL. It's not exact, but it's quite close. 

 

To fit an M lens, you remove the L-mount lens, fit the M Adapter L, and fit the lens you want to the adapter. (Of course, if you only have one M-mount lens, you can take it on and off with the adapter, saving yourself from juggling the adapter and the lens separately.) If the lens is coded, and your configuration is set to automatically recognize codes, you're done. If your configuration is set for manual coding, you have to set the lens profile. Third option is to ignore the lens profile, set it off, and do any corrections in post processing with software that supplies the profiles, or manually if there is no profile for your lens. 

 

Note also that when you are using adapted lenses, you lose Program and Shutter Priority exposure modes, have the choice only of Manual exposure, Aperture Priority and Video settings.

Edited July 17, 2018 by ramarren

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[Ari Kfir]

Well, Signore Treguartista, here is some feedback from an artista who a few months ago purchased CL with the 23F2 Summicron and is quite happy with the body and satisfied with the lens.  Size wise the body is perfect, lens is fine. VF is great, controls are OK.  Some of the CL shots I made were presented at this site.

 

Am ready to get M to C mount adapter, so my old beloved M lenses could be used with CL, and also am impatiently waiting for the TL 11-23 zoom availability.  

 

Good luck to you.

[jaapv]

Hello

 

I‘d like to get a CL and some Zeiss/Voigtlander lenses, like the Nokton 35mm 1.4 and the Zeiss Sonar 50mm 1.5.

Do you think that‘s a good combination?

 

Also, I am still looking for a lens that will me equivalent 35mm on crop sensor, but I couldn’t find one yet. Big issue might be that a 24mm will be big and heavy and only fast as 4 or so. Any suggestions?

 

The CL lens, I think it‘s the Summicron 23mm f2, how fast is this lens on crop? Really f2?

 

Another thing I wondered: How is it to swap between M-mount and sl/cl lenses?

 

Many thanks in advance.

If a 24 is big and heavy it is 1.4 (Summilux 24); if it is 4.0 it is minuscule (Color Skopar 25/4.0)

A 35 and 50 mm lens are very close in focal length IMO.

[lct]

I‘d like to get a CL and some Zeiss/Voigtlander lenses, like the Nokton 35mm 1.4 and the Zeiss Sonar 50mm 1.5.

Do you think that‘s a good combination?

 

Depends on how much you like those lenses actually.

I have them both and they work fine on the CL.

The Sonnar 50/1.5 is my favorite 50 for soft portraits and is now my favorite soft "75" on the CL. Superb lens, a bit soft at f/1.5, which makes its charm, and plenty sharp at f/4 and on with little to no flare at all. Focus shift is a flaw of this lens on RF cameras but not on mirrorless provided you focus at working aperture. 

The Nokton 35/1.4, at least the "SC" version i own, is an interesting lens in that it tries and succeeds to some extent in mimicking the famous Leica Summilux 35/1.4 pre-asph. It is a soft lens at f/1.4, as expected, but it has not the "glow" (halos around highlights) of the Summilux. Focus shift is also a problem of this lens but not on mirrorless cameras when focusing at working aperture as mentioned above. Serious flaw is flare on this lens though. I've heard that the "MC" version has less flare but i don't like is rather harsh bokeh whilst that of the "SC" is soft generally. Now at this price level i'm not aware of a better 35/1.4 in M mount i must say.

[lct]

[...] I am still looking for a lens that will me equivalent 35mm on crop sensor, but I couldn’t find one yet. Big issue might be that a 24mm will be big and heavy and only fast as 4 or so. Any suggestions? [...]

 

Recurrent issue on APS cameras. If you want a very small lens it can't be faster than f/4 (CV 25/4) and a fast one (Leica 24/1.4) will be huge on the CL let alone its price. Better compromises are f/2.8 (ZM 25/2.8, Leica 24/2.8) and f/3.8 (Leica 24/3.8) lenses. My experience is limited to the Leica 24/3.8 personally. It is a superb lens but not fast enough to replace a 35mm lens on full frame IMHO. If i needed a faster and not too big 24/25 now i would probably choose the ZM 25/2.8 but i have no experience with it.

Edited July 18, 2018 by lct

[ramarren]

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... If i needed a faster and not too big 24/25 now i would probably choose the ZM 25/2.8 but i have no experience with it.

 

 

The ZEISS Biogon T* 25mm f/2.8 ZM had an excellent reputation amongst in the community of Ricoh GXR-M users when I was using that camera. I imagine it would do well on the CL also (same format sensor, etc). 

 

If the Voigtländer f/0.95 lenses for Micro-FourThirds covered the APS-C format. Micro-FourThirds mount register is 19.25 mm, L-mount is 20mm, so if the lenses covered APS-C format satisfactorily, it wouldn't be unheard of to do a lens mount swap, machining a little off the mounting flange bits of the lens body to accommodate the shorter register. Then you'd have access to the Nokton 10.5mm, 17.5mm, 25mm, and 42.5mm focal lengths, all f/0.95 (and quite nice lenses they are!). That's a beauty set of equivalent very very fast 20, 35, 50, and 90 mm lenses for a FF camera.

 

It's probably just a fantasy ... the lens designs are most likely optimized for FourThirds format sensors specifically and would lose too much edge and corner quality on the larger APS-C format if they covered it at all. 

[jaapv]

Recurrent issue on APS cameras. If you want a very small lens it can't be faster than f/4 (CV 25/4) and a fast one (Leica 24/1.4) will be huge on the CL let alone its price. Better compromises are f/2.8 (ZM 25/2.8, Leica 24/2.8) and f/3.8 (Leica 24/3.8) lenses. My experience is limited to the Leica 24/3.8 personally. It is a superb lens but not fast enough to replace a 35mm lens on full frame IMHO. If i needed a faster and not too big 24/25 now i would probably choose the ZM 25/2.8 but i have no experience with it.

Still, the summilux 24 is carry-anywhere lens for me on the CL. The results far outweigh the size and heft.

[fotografr]

If you can settle for a 42mm focal length rather than 35mm, the 28mm Elmarit asph would be a superb option.

[FrozenInTime]

I was hoping the 28mm Elmarit ASPH would be a winner ( mine is a 11606 ).

My initial test showed the 28mm Summicron ( 11604 ) had more detail, so I’ve been using it quite extensively.

I will try the 28mm Summilux soon - but it’s size makes it a special occasion rather than everyday walk about lens.

The 42mm like view is working very well for me.

 

( The Zeiss 21/4,5 and 35/2,8 also looked very good )

[jaapv]

Summilux 24 example:

 

 

 

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[ramarren]

I think I needs take a walk with the Color Skopar 28mm f/3.5 fitted ...

[bocaburger]

I don't have a CL but I do have a Sony Nex 6 which is also an APS-C EVF mirrorless.  My favorite lenses for it are the CV 15mm V1, CV 28/1.9 and CV 75/2.5.  The 15 and 75 fairly closely approximate 21 and 90 on full-frame, the 28 is in-between 35 and 50 but it's reasonably small/light given the speed, and a stellar performer.  All of those lenses are natively LTM but a simple M adapter remedies that.