lens dilemmas

[jaapv]

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It's Leica... More lenses will come - at Leica's pace.

 

However, I doubt whether a fast standard zoom has high priority. 

[ramarren]

Apologies for being disruptive but is everyone really satisfied with the current TL / CL lens lineup? ... 

 

 

Given that I use the CL with my R and M mount lenses rather than with AF lenses, I hadn't given the TL/CL lens line much thought other than to consider that the 35/1.4 and 11-22 ultrawide zoom are probably interesting to me at some point in the future. I intensely dislike "normal zoom" lenses, and once they get fast I like them even less because then they are overly bulky.

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[albert]

I just noticed that my 18-56 was made in Japan. Is this the NORMAL? Is my CL camera body also Japanese?

[jonatdonuts]

LOL yes that's normal. Only a few of the TL lenses are made in Germany (35 lux and the 60mm macro being among them). I wouldn't be too upset, however. The optics of the 18-56 lens is great for a 'kit lens'. The only drawback is that slow aperture. 

 

I'm sure Leica will get there eventually but I just feel that it's taking far too much time. Of course, you can adapt prime lenses onto the CL TL to good effect, but then that's what the M is for, and it is much faster and more intuitive to use the rangefinder. 

 

Let's get some fast native, fast AF lenses in. The market is still open.

 

I just noticed that my 18-56 was made in Japan. Is this the NORMAL? Is my CL camera body also Japanese?

[johntobias]

DECISION DAY....decided to sell the 40 summicron and 35 7 artisans and go for the summilux.... kit will be 18 35 (and M90 &M135 until I move them for the 55-135 TL) 

 

other posts have made me realise I'm just not that  fast at manual focussing  so  AF with good glass is the way forward !.......

 

Thank you for everyones valued contribution......this is one of the friendliest and most knowledgable forums around ....proud to be a member!

 

ps anyone want  the 7artisans or Summicron C   40mm ??

[IkarusJohn]

Sounds like a good choice.

 

For myself, I have the 11-23 zoom (it really is fantastic) and the 35 Summilux-TL. I don’t plan on adding to my TL lenses as I can add M primes, giving me longer fields of view - 75-135-205. Odd as it may seem, the 11-23 zoom (equivalent 16-35) is a cracking standard zoom ...

[johntobias]

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Sounds like a good choice.

 

For myself, I have the 11-23 zoom (it really is fantastic) and the 35 Summilux-TL. I don’t plan on adding to my TL lenses as I can add M primes, giving me longer fields of view - 75-135-205. Odd as it may seem, the 11-23 zoom (equivalent 16-35) is a cracking standard zoom ...

yes, my thoughts too , will continue to use my elmar 90 and elmarit 135 for those 'fun' long shots but eventually replace with the TL zoom.........In the long run I'll prob replace the 18mm TL with the 11-23 zoom too.......what an outfit....CL, 11-23, 35 and 55-135 all AF lenses ....thats the endpoint  (aye right ! as we say in Scotland sarcasticly)

[Keith_W]

Apologies for being disruptive but is everyone really satisfied with the current TL / CL lens lineup? 

 

I'm not buying into the TL system until they release a fast and compact 35mm equivalent. I'm sitting back and waiting to see what they'll do next. 

[johntobias]

I'm not buying into the TL system until they release a fast and compact 35mm equivalent. I'm sitting back and waiting to see what they'll do next. 

Fast - Compact - Autofocus ....sadly it's a pick any two , even for Leitz  :-)

[jonatdonuts]

Finally, a fellow disgruntled gentleman speaking his mind. 

 

I hear you. Release a 23mm 1.4 and a mid range zoom with a constant 2.8 aperture and I'm in. If Fuji can do it, Leica can sure as hell pull it off too. Just a question of will and resources.

 

I'm not buying into the TL system until they release a fast and compact 35mm equivalent. I'm sitting back and waiting to see what they'll do next. 

Edited August 15, 2018 by jonatdonuts

[johntobias]

Finally, a fellow disgruntled gentleman speaking his mind. 

 

I hear you. Release a 23mm 1.4 and a mid range zoom with a constant 2.8 aperture and I'm in. If Fuji can do it, Leica can sure as hell pull it off too. Just a question of will and resources.

The X-pro system is a great system, the viewfinder would be welcome in an M11...imagine optical rangefinder and digital for non coupled lenses !  however having used the system, the lenses are certainly good but an order of magnitude worse than leica when it comes to contrast and (imho) cross frame sharpness.   a 35mm summilux M equiv for the cl would be awesome (23mm f1.4 )

[jonatdonuts]

Yes! That's the dream. I believe the M engineers tried to integrate an EVF into the rangefinder mechanism before but weren't happy with the quality. I guess the technology isn't small enough yet to ensure you get the best of both worlds without compromise. But I'm sure it will come eventually. 

 

I'm very happy using the rangefinder up to 50mm, but wouldn't the EVF just be perfect for the 90 and 135 focal lengths? 

 

The X-pro system is a great system, the viewfinder would be welcome in an M11...imagine optical rangefinder and digital for non coupled lenses !  however having used the system, the lenses are certainly good but an order of magnitude worse than leica when it comes to contrast and (imho) cross frame sharpness.   a 35mm summilux M equiv for the cl would be awesome (23mm f1.4 )

[ramarren]

I dunno: When I tried one, the X-Pro viewfinder was mediocre as both an optical viewfinder and as an EVF to my eyes. I'd never buy one of those things instead of an M with its superb optical viewfinder or the SL/CL with their superb EVFs.

 

A nice fast 23mm lens would be nice. You can keep the zoom.

 

I keep wondering if the Voigtländer ultra-fast lenses for Micro-FourThirds format would cover APS-C format adequately. If they do, I'd like to see them produced with L-mount flanges ... no need for AF etc.

 

Whether you want to be disgruntled or not, well, that's your choice. Most of the rest of us are pretty happy, most of the time.

Edited August 15, 2018 by ramarren

[albert]

So,

I have a CL, and a 18-56 & a TL 35 1.4. Should I lean toward the 11-23 or the 55- 135?

[IkarusJohn]

So,

I have a CL, and a 18-56 & a TL 35 1.4. Should I lean toward the 11-23 or the 55- 135?

Do you prefer wides or teles?

 

I can say with confidence that the 11-23mm zoom is very good. I don’t have the 18-56mm or the 55-135mm. My compact kit is the TL2 with the 11-23mm zoom and the 35mm Summilux-TL.

[ramarren]

So,

I have a CL, and a 18-56 & a TL 35 1.4. Should I lean toward the 11-23 or the 55- 135?

Well, I can't really speak for what you prefer.

 

My leaning is to wide and ultrawide, because I have enough long lenses (35, 50, 60, 75, 90, 135, and 180) already. My current ultrawide is a Tri-Elmar-M 16-18-21mm f/4 ASPH. That nets me the equivalent of a 24mm on FF field of view, which is plenty wide already, and it works very nicely on the CL. But ... Ultrawide is the one area where I'd actually find AF handy some of the time. And the T11-23 would net an ultrawide down around the 16mm on FF equivalent range, which is very wide indeed. So I have the 11-23 on my prioritized short list as #2, right behind the 35/1.4, but it's a competition as to which I ever buy, and which one first.

 

For longer lenses up to the 200mm on FF equivalent (135mm), I prefer primes. Beyond that, yes, a zoom is useful to me again. But then I prefer manual focus anyway, and I have plenty of choice there now.

[jaapv]

So,

I have a CL, and a 18-56 & a TL 35 1.4. Should I lean toward the 11-23 or the 55- 135?

What do you want to take a photograph of?

[albert]

What do you want to take a photograph of?

You and your village.

[jaapv]

You need the Hubble for that from where you are.

 

Seriously - the lens you need is determined by your subject, not by a general forum query.

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[LocalHero1953]

Just seen this thread, which is covering topics that I'm interested in with a trip to India coming up. I wrote in another thread that I need a good reason for taking more than just the CL and 18-56 zoom. The limitation of that lens, for my photography of people (portraits and street) and landscapes (happy holiday snaps) is lack of speed, particularly after dark. I will probably take my Apo-Summicron-M 75 but (on the reasonable argument that a big holiday needs a brand new lens) the 35TL sounds very attractive.