24mm The lost lenses of Leica M

[Schittra]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

One of my friends is a big fan of 24mm. He has Summilux 24 and shots many nice photo.

I don’t see many post related to Elmar or Summilux 24mm very often. Any issue of this lenses or not popular focal length?

Thank you.

[spydrxx]

Had the 24 Elmarit & finder, but sold it after a year. It was a beautiful lens, sharp as a tack, good color. But it sat on the shelf too much, being in between my favorite 35 and my 21.

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[lct]

Most people prefer 21 and/or 28 i suspect. Only reason why i bought mine was 24mm framelines of the M8.2 but they've been discontinued in FF cameras. 

[jaeger]

I use 24 Lux extensively and freaking love it.  ken rockwell bad mouth this lens and probably some people believe him?  I am not sure...  some say 24mm is nonstandard and supposed to be either 21 or 28 whatever, I think it's nonsense (not implying you lct).  I have so many reasons to use 24mm, I use it more then 35mm or 50mm.  So what do you wanna know about it?

 

 

 

 

[ktmrider2]

Have the Zeiss and love the focal length.  My favorite focal length (half the time) is 35 and I find the 28 too close (in fact it is a lens I have never gotten on with).  Additionally, I have owned several 21's over the years and find it too wide (gave my last one away).  Back when I took photography seriously and earned a living with it, I carried two Nikons with a 24 permanently on one and the 85 fixed to the other.  So yes I have spent lots of time with a 24 and find it excellent.

Again, no experience with the Leitz products but some reviews say the Zeiss is the sharpest of the ZM line of lenses and some reviews have called it "brilliant".

[Schittra]

1 hour ago, spydrxx said:

Had the 24 Elmarit & finder, but sold it after a year. It was a beautiful lens, sharp as a tack, good color. But it sat on the shelf too much, being in between my favorite 35 and my 21.

Me too. By my order of usages, lux50, lux35, cron75 and SEL21.

I found out I use lux35 more and more comparing when I had cron35.

[onasj]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I agree that Leica's 24 mm offerings are underrated. I just acquired a 24/3.8 (Elmar) and it is an optical masterpiece. When I was shooting Nikon DSLRs I favored the Sigma 24/1.4 for context-rich scenes. I'm looking forward to renewing my love for this focal length with the M10-P/M.

 

[ardbeg]

I previously owned the 24 Elmar. A lovely compact and sharp lens. 24mm was previously one of my favorite focal lengths on SLR. All that said, it didn’t “connect” with me on the rangefinder, sat idle frequently, and was ultimately replaced by a 28 Summaron and a CV Ultron 28 1,9 LTM. The same fate also arrived for my 35 Cron ASPH and I’ve largely reorganized my kit around 28s, 50s, and one 90. 

Edited March 16, 2020 by ardbeg

[steveBK]

Personally I enjoy the 24-25mm range as it’s about as wide as you can go before distortion / or a certain visual unreality come into play.

Being a glasses wearer, the nonexistent 24mm frame lines are as visible as the existing 28mm frame lines, so the need for EVF/VF isn’t a huge deal.

Also having the Q and then Q2 makes 28mm on the M seem superfluous .. 

All that said, 28mm lenses are quite cheaper and/or smaller for the same speed.. and have more speed options as well which helps their popularity.

[darylgo]

The 24 Summilux has been panned for it's curvature of field, shifting forward towards the edges.  One highly regarded test says it's edges will never focus sharply at infinity.   My initial tests showed it to be light years sharper than a week known Japanese brand N.  The forward curvature of field is ideal for landscapes.  I never did photograph a flat wall to see the flaws in the lens, I guess it's a pos if those edge bricks are poorly rendered.  

 

 

 

 

[Schittra]

5 hours ago, jaeger said:

I use 24 Lux extensively and freaking love it.  ken rockwell bad mouth this lens and probably some people believe him?  I am not sure...  some say 24mm is nonstandard and supposed to be either 21 or 28 whatever, I think it's nonsense (not implying you lct).  I have so many reasons to use 24mm, I use it more then 35mm or 50mm.  So what do you wanna know about it?

 

 

 

 

Thanks. I think no standard focal length though. People would be just happy on the focal length and style. When I used Contax RX, my favorite lens was Planar 85/1.4. I switched to Sony A7 for a year and got 85/1.4. It’s not Planar that I knew. 
When I first came to Leica in 2004, my favorite was 50/2. When I moved to M9, I got 50/1.4 and never be without it. I had 35/2 but mostly stay at home.

When I back to M10, I first got 35/1.4 FLE. I use it more often these days. 

[adan]

Excepting the oddity of the M8, the deal is that a 24 provides no internal frame lines, while a 28 is only marginally different - and does include framelines (if hard to see). And if one is going to bother with an external finder, why not just get a 21?

Leica went for 30 years or so, resisting the call of a 24 in the lineup - long after Canon and Nikon and Pentax (and their users) had jumped on that focal length in the late 1960s. It just wasn't all that necessary. (Of note, the SLR 24s were 1) better than the SLR 20/21mms of the time and 2) often f/2.8 - and soon f/2.0).

Personally, I tried the 24 Elmarit ASPH for a while, but I always felt cramped by a 24 and went back to a 21. Brilliant IQ, though - originated the term "clinical."

I also tried the 24 f/3.8, but I'm sorry, a 24 f/3.8 is so, so - Pentax screw-mount era. I prefer to live in the present and future, not 50 years ago. I though a 24 f/3.5 was s-l-o-w and antique even in 1974.

Tried the Summilux, too. Sorry, a 24 that goes for 8 large had better equal the Elmarit at f/2.8-5.6 - right across the frame. Summilux couldn't do it. I wouldn't know if it beat N and C - but it looked like H**** near the edges, to me. Can't do architecture if the bell tower at the top of the frame is all full of astigmatism and jittery double-images.

Heck, my 1980 21 Elmarit (not known for its edge performance, either) did better, head-to-head at f/8.

I've never understood why Leica dropped the 24/21 Elmarit-ASPHs. Maybe they required some eco-unfriendly heavy-metal glass or something. But I've been underwhelmed by the 24mm successors.

**** Holga

[AndreasG]

My wide angle lenses are the 35 Summilux, 28 Elmarit, 21 Elmarit, 18 Zeiss Distagon and 15 Voigtlaender. In this range I never missed a 24mm lens, If I need more than the 28mm, I take the 21mm Elmarit, which still is - I bought around 1990 - a versatile lens of high quality.

[jaeger]

6 hours ago, adan said:

the deal is that a 24 provides no internal frame lines,

The way I focus RF doesn't see any frame lines, doesn't matter any focal length.  Probably I don't see that was a problem.  😆

 

10 hours ago, darylgo said:

tests showed it to be light years sharper than a week known Japanese brand N

agree totally! 

 

 

Edited March 16, 2020 by jaeger

[pgk]

I too have never really found the 24mm focal length to my taste. Had one on the M8 but sold it and ended up with a 21mm on the FF cameras. It’s a betwixt & between focal length and in my experience people either find it precisely what they want or they prefer slightly wider (20/21mm). Add to this the need for a desperate viewfinder on Mrf cameras and it’s a costly wide without being as wide as all that. Probably one of the less popular focal lengths on an M I’d guess.

[Jeff S]

Interesting, though, that Leica made a big deal about extending the first SL zoom down to 24 rather than the ‘standard’ 28 (and the top end to 90), even while making it bigger and heavier. And both 21 and 24 SL Summicrons are on the way.

Jeff

[jaapv]

17 hours ago, Schittra said:

One of my friends is a big fan of 24mm. He has Summilux 24 and shots many nice photo.

I don’t see many post related to Elmar or Summilux 24mm very often. Any issue of this lenses or not popular focal length?

Thank you.

The Summilux 24 is my absolute favourite lens M. I've said it so often on this forum...

[willeica]

The M10 plus 24mm Elmar and Frankenfinder are the perfect combination for car shows. This combination is good for interiors, but as I also have the WATE I sometimes switch to that for really large interiors.

I have the 28 Summicron, but do not use it much as I prefer my 35mm Summicron as a general purpose lens. The 24mm, 35mm and a 75mm Summarit are a nice compact travelling combination.

William

[marcg]

I like the 24 mm apart from anything else because you don't actually need a viewfinder or frame lines. If you squint into the corners of the viewfinder – that's pretty well it.

WYSIWYG

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Ouroboros]

24mm displays more wide angle distortion than 28mm and has less wide angle 'drama' than 21mm.  For travel photography, it doesn't really pair  comfortably with anything else in my experience.  You either like the 24mm angle of view or you don't.

I don't.