Small, compact lenses

[Ouroboros]

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5 hours ago, setuporg said:

.......Get a grip people.  Carry a Leica S around for a day or an SL, and put 10-20 M lenses in their Hadley Pro instead and go for a road trip!

Sometimes, you just have to laugh.....

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[Stealth3kpl]

On 1/17/2020 at 1:35 AM, tommonego@gmail.com said:

This is a pre-asph 35 f1.4 on an M3, tiny lens have had this one since 1974. f1.4 -f2 gives the "Leica glow" f4 and above this is an excellent lens. They didn't come with a lens shade and the lens shades were difficult to find, remember trying to find one in 1974, lens made in 1972. I finally bought an Summaron shade and had it cut down. Today you can get a Chinese knock off for $45 or the original for $200-300. The other problem is the shade holds the filters and they are series 7, you can (barely) fit in a 49mm filter, but it does work. I have had this lens for a long time and I like the rendering of the lens. 

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Is there a thread where you tell us about your modified M3. The what, how and why? If not there should be.

Pete

[tomasis7]

7 hours ago, LeicaS2 said:

With the latest digital M cameras and the access to higher ISO, I can concentrate to compactness in lenses.

 

I am now covering the range 21 to 90 with three very compact lenses. The Voigtlander 21mm f4, the Leica Summarit 50mm f2.4, and the Leica 90mm Macro Elmar f4.   The Macro Elmar is half the size of other 90mm lenses when collapsed. While the Leica 50mm. Elmar collapsible is smaller than the Summarit when collapsed, but not by enough to make a difference. I had one in the past and didn’t like the uncertainty of the collapsing technique. The 90mm doesn’t have that problem for me, and when the 90 is collapsed the saving in size is significant. I am now using these three lenses on the M10M that allows ISO to 100,000, so anything faster than f4 is just to achieve shallow depth of focus. With a Aer City Sling I have a very low tiny camera set up, but frankly, I usually just put the two spare lenses in my pockets and have the camera in my hand.

  

 

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great choice of lenses!

[Fedro]

2 hours ago, Mark T said:

I think the main complaint about the 28mm Summilux is that it blocks so much of the viewfinder, which is one of the main reasons to use an M in the first place (as opposed to a SLR, Mirrorless etc). That said, all those little increments in size and weight add up. The 28mm Summilux is what, double the weight of the Elmarit? Imagine you made those choices everywhere, doubled the weight of everything you carried. It starts adding up pretty quickly. It I am going to carry an additional 250 g, I'd rather have a whole extra lens than an extra f stop. However, everyone has different priorities.

yes, that is a recurring complaint, though blocking the viewfinder does not bother me that much (but I don't use hoods anyways).

On weight, when I used to travel with the 28 elmarit, I always carried a fast 35, now I dont so that saves me weight in the end. And in general with a rangefinder I dont use much outside 28-35-50 so that limits the amount of lenses you can carry.

[Del-Uks]

On 1/16/2020 at 4:50 PM, vanGeist said:

The usual ones like 35 Lux pre-ASPH, 40 Cron/M-Rokkor.

The Minolta M-Rokkor 40mm f/2.0 II (~105g ; L: 22mm) is probably the lens I would choose if I had to keep only one.

[tommonego@gmail.com]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb Stealth3kpl:

Is there a thread where you tell us about your modified M3. The what, how and why? If not there should be.

Pete

I inherited the M3 from a college friend we had reconnected with when we moved to VT. She died way too early. Anyway the M3 I received had been in an attic for 25-30 years, she had become a successful local painter. The shutter was shot, so I had that fixed. I had helped her buy the camera when we were in college. There was a young Leica repair person in town trained at Leica Wetzlar, he didn't like Germany and moved back to the states. He would buy up or find broken Leicas and fix them up, my first M2 was one of his, my roomate had one of his cameras, so I had my friend also bought one. With a nationally known design school in town he had a market. Anyway when I received the camera, it was an M3 right, so I bought a 50mm collapsible Summicron for it. But using it the frame lines looked too familiar (I had worked with M2s for 30 or so years). Glasses obscured the 35 frame line but after finding them I realized this was an M4 viewfinder. I don't use the third strap lug on the side, but it was added kind of roughly. The camera was also a single stroke, this repair guy did not like the double stroke mechanism, he felt it was a problem waiting to happen. So I happened upon this camera, love working with it. 

[Ouroboros]

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2 hours ago, tommonego@gmail.com said:

I inherited the M3 from a college friend we had reconnected with when we moved to VT. She died way too early. Anyway the M3 I received had been in an attic for 25-30 years, she had become a successful local painter. The shutter was shot, so I had that fixed. I had helped her buy the camera when we were in college. There was a young Leica repair person in town trained at Leica Wetzlar, he didn't like Germany and moved back to the states. He would buy up or find broken Leicas and fix them up, my first M2 was one of his, my roomate had one of his cameras, so I had my friend also bought one. With a nationally known design school in town he had a market. Anyway when I received the camera, it was an M3 right, so I bought a 50mm collapsible Summicron for it. But using it the frame lines looked too familiar (I had worked with M2s for 30 or so years). Glasses obscured the 35 frame line but after finding them I realized this was an M4 viewfinder. I don't use the third strap lug on the side, but it was added kind of roughly. The camera was also a single stroke, this repair guy did not like the double stroke mechanism, he felt it was a problem waiting to happen. So I happened upon this camera, love working with it. 

Good to have friendships built with a camera with this kind of history.  Unlikely ever to be repeated with a digital camera. 

[mediumformula]

33 minutes ago, Ouroboros said:

Good to have friendships built with a camera with this kind of history.  Unlikely ever to be repeated with a digital camera. 

This is deep.

[stephengv]

On 5/20/2020 at 9:52 AM, LeicaS2 said:

With the latest digital M cameras and the access to higher ISO, I can concentrate to compactness in lenses.

 

I am now covering the range 21 to 90 with three very compact lenses. The Voigtlander 21mm f4, the Leica Summarit 50mm f2.4, and the Leica 90mm Macro Elmar f4.   The Macro Elmar is half the size of other 90mm lenses when collapsed. While the Leica 50mm. Elmar collapsible is smaller than the Summarit when collapsed, but not by enough to make a difference. I had one in the past and didn’t like the uncertainty of the collapsing technique. The 90mm doesn’t have that problem for me, and when the 90 is collapsed the saving in size is significant. I am now using these three lenses on the M10M that allows ISO to 100,000, so anything faster than f4 is just to achieve shallow depth of focus. With a Aer City Sling I have a very low tiny camera set up, but frankly, I usually just put the two spare lenses in my pockets and have the camera in my hand.

  

 

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Your setup fits the Aer City Sling?

[LeicaS2]

Yes, my setup it fits the City Sling perfectly. I used to separate the lenses from the camera with a lens cleaning cloth, but since I got a half case I don't need any separation beyond the leather of the half case. I have glued two base caps together so the two extra lenses don't rattle around. It's true you can also buy a Op Tech Double Lens Mount dual cap, but it's diameter is larger than the normal base cap and takes up too much room given the narrow lenses I use. Then my setup would not fit the Are City Sling as easily. Sorry for the quick pix, but they do demonstrate the fit.

  M10M, 50mm, 90mm Macro-Elmar, 21mm CV.

In the other pockets I have room for extra batteries and SD cards.

Or I can put one S lens in the City Sling, but I don't.

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[stephengv]

2 hours ago, LeicaS2 said:

Yes, my setup it fits the City Sling perfectly. I used to separate the lenses from the camera with a lens cleaning cloth, but since I got a half case I don't need any separation beyond the leather of the half case. I have glued two base caps together so the two extra lenses don't rattle around. It's true you can also buy a Op Tech Double Lens Mount dual cap, but it's diameter is larger than the normal base cap and takes up too much room given the narrow lenses I use. Then my setup would not fit the Are City Sling as easily. Sorry for the quick pix, but they do demonstrate the fit.

  M10M, 50mm, 90mm Macro-Elmar, 21mm CV.

In the other pockets I have room for extra batteries and SD cards.

Or I can put one S lens in the City Sling, but I don't.

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Love your setup. Thanks

[Fedro]

14 hours ago, LeicaS2 said:

Yes, my setup it fits the City Sling perfectly. I used to separate the lenses from the camera with a lens cleaning cloth, but since I got a half case I don't need any separation beyond the leather of the half case. I have glued two base caps together so the two extra lenses don't rattle around. It's true you can also buy a Op Tech Double Lens Mount dual cap, but it's diameter is larger than the normal base cap and takes up too much room given the narrow lenses I use. Then my setup would not fit the Are City Sling as easily. Sorry for the quick pix, but they do demonstrate the fit.

  M10M, 50mm, 90mm Macro-Elmar, 21mm CV.

In the other pockets I have room for extra batteries and SD cards.

Or I can put one S lens in the City Sling, but I don't.

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nice set-up. what case/strap is it?

[Rob L]

That appears to be a Harry Benz strap and Arte de Mano case (I have the same).

FYI the new Peal Designs 3L sling is perfect for Leica M. Very small and light. With a flexfold divider in the center (just the way it came), I can fit two M10s (in half cases) with lenses and straps or 1 M10 and two lenses.

[Ernstk]

18 minutes ago, Rob L said:

That appears to be a Harry Benz strap and Arte de Mano case (I have the same).

I think it's an AER City Sling.

https://londonundercover.co.uk/products/aer-city-sling-2?country_override=GB&gclid=Cj0KCQiA9P__BRC0ARIsAEZ6iri625r20mu5HBuzZTDx7CRsTK7iDj3K0eJoIdE-Fibv5_b48b-YULkaApkAEALw_wcB

 

[LeicaS2]

Rob is correct.

It is a Harry Benz wrist strap with the Arte de Mano case.

Not shown is the Harry Benz jLoop. shoulder strap that snaps onto the wrist strap..

And yes, it is the AER City Sling.

[Guest]

On 5/20/2020 at 3:36 AM, setuporg said:

I can't help it by noting that the simplest cure to all this hand-wringing about the M lens sizes is to buy an X1D system or better a Leica S system.  Carry it around with two-three lenses.  Then everything SL becomes standard (zooms) or small (primes), and anything M becomes miniature except for the 75/1.25 and 90/1.5 which are small.

This is really baffling to me.  OK you got a short lens which looks like a piglet snout on an M.  Anything smaller than a 50 APO (standard) looks too small.  Heck the standard 50 APO looks small.  LHSA 50 APO looks just right with the hood.  It's like the (awesome) Street Silhouettes guy saying the Summarits are smaller than the Luxes, as if the 24 Lux is not worth carrying around Europe to shoot in churches because it's a half lollipop longer.  Guess what?  I took it on a 10-country trip with my son, alongside a few other M lenses, and a Q2, and they were in a huge Hadley Pro with other stuff you need on such a trip, and it was fine!

Get a grip people.  Carry a Leica S around for a day or an SL, and put 10-20 M lenses in their Hadley Pro instead and go for a road trip!

You guys with your tiny sensor and small lens leica S cameras make me laugh...you should try using a proper medium format camera and full set of lenses like my hasselblad H6-D 100 c .

Took mine on my 27 country trip with my mistress and my hadley pro even more pro bag.

Then you would stop your whining about size etc etc etc etc........

I love ernst haas mind you.

[jacktaka]

I just made a review page that covers some of my favorite compact lenses. If you're looking for sharp, modern lenses, I definitely recommend the following:

35 Summilux FLE, review here
Voigtlander 21/3.5, review here
Voigtlander 50/1.5 II, review here
Leica 50/2 Summicron, review here
Zeiss 50/2 Planar, review here

The 35 FLE is not the smallest 35mm but it's still pretty compact, and is more than worth its size.

The new Voigtlander 50/1.5 II is crazy small; I think it might be shorter than the 50 Summarit.

The 28 Summicron is another compact lens that performs incredibly.

I haven't used the Voigtlander 75/1.5, but I hear it's impressively small for what it does.

The 90 macro-elmar looks sooo nice, but it's soooo expensive 😢

Hope this helps!

Edited January 16, 2021 by jacktaka

[Guest]

5 hours ago, jacktaka said:

I just made a review page that covers some of my favorite compact lenses. If you're looking for sharp, modern lenses, I definitely recommend the following:

35 Summilux FLE, review here
Voigtlander 21/3.5, review here
Voigtlander 50/1.5 II, review here
Leica 50/2 Summicron, review here
Zeiss 50/2 Planar, review here

The 35 FLE is not the smallest 35mm but it's still pretty compact, and is more than worth its size.

The new Voigtlander 50/1.5 II is crazy small; I think it might be shorter than the 50 Summarit.

The 28 Summicron is another compact lens that performs incredibly.

I haven't used the Voigtlander 75/1.5, but I hear it's impressively small for what it does.

The 90 macro-elmar looks sooo nice, but it's soooo expensive 😢

Hope this helps!

Nice reviews,very good fair minded comparison with the zeiss 35 f1.4 and the 35mm FLE.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[pippy]

On 1/16/2020 at 4:44 PM, caissa said:

The Summilux 35mm 1.4 AA...

You win.

Philip.

Edited January 17, 2021 by pippy

[LeicaS2]

Jackatka says "The 90 macro-elmar looks sooo nice, but it's soooo expensive"

I used to have a 90 summarit long ago and rarely brought it along because of it's size. An unused lens is more expensive that a lens that costs more but is used.

I have examined my lens usage on LR's dashboard and my 90 macro-elmar is now amortized. Initially I had tested a demo to see if I liked it and then bought new. Used ones are pricey too, which shows you how many people like the lens I guess.  So don't try a demo unless you can afford to then buy.

Jack