ruskkyle Posted May 22, 2020 Share #1 Posted May 22, 2020 Advertisement (gone after registration) I’d like to get hold of a compact 21 or 18 for zone focussing when out on the street with my CL. Speed is not particularly important as I’ll only be using it outdoors, but compactness and image quality are. I like the look of the Zeiss 21 f/4.5. Has anyone used it on this system? I’m also aware that the newer VM 21 f/3.5 is well regarded. The Leica variant is probably out of my reach but any other recommendations would be great. Cheers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted May 22, 2020 Posted May 22, 2020 Hi ruskkyle, Take a look here Compact wide angle M lens options. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Stealth3kpl Posted May 22, 2020 Share #2 Posted May 22, 2020 (edited) I have a tiny Voigtlander Color Skopar 21mm f4. Tiny! There is one that is rangefinder coupled but I'm pretty sure mine isn't. Mine is the screw mount version but there is a M mount version Very cheap and very good. I use it on a Ricoh GXR. https://flic.kr/p/243p7Cd https://flic.kr/p/25GLkAJ Pete Edited May 22, 2020 by Stealth3kpl Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrozenInTime Posted May 22, 2020 Share #3 Posted May 22, 2020 When I had it, I recall the ZM 21/4,5 as being nicely sharp on the TL2 with green/magenta color shift only in the outer 500 pixels. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted May 22, 2020 Share #4 Posted May 22, 2020 No color shifts with the CV 21/3.5. It is a bit taller than the CV 21/4 but not by much. It is also sharper than the latter at f/4 with significantly less flare but it has more CA. See: Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruskkyle Posted May 23, 2020 Author Share #5 Posted May 23, 2020 Thank you all very much. Anyone tried an 18 on this system? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted May 23, 2020 Share #6 Posted May 23, 2020 Well, given that there are two native lenses offering this focal length, I guess the answer is yes. As they are AF, there is no need to revert to zone focusing either. I'm sure that you are aware that choosing the desired aperture and setting the camera to face recognition will give better results. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruskkyle Posted May 23, 2020 Author Share #7 Posted May 23, 2020 Advertisement (gone after registration) Jaap as per the thread title I specifically want to try zone focussing for my street work. The face AF is not quick or reliable enough. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted May 23, 2020 Share #8 Posted May 23, 2020 In my experience on. the CL and from other's on Q and SL, that drawback, which certainly was valid not too long ago, does not apply any more. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruskkyle Posted May 23, 2020 Author Share #9 Posted May 23, 2020 My experience with the 23 in busy street scenes in face AF mode is that it will often either be too slow to lock on, pick out the wrong face or revert to multi-field. None of which get me the shot. I want to be in control of what’s going on not hoping for the best, hence interest in zone focussing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted May 23, 2020 Share #10 Posted May 23, 2020 I agree wholeheartedly with the last, but that is exactly why I dislike zone focusing - I am somebody who finds exact placement of the plane of focus essential. I tend to throw out images which depend on DOF to appear acceptably sharp. To my mind it is zone-misfocus. Possibly that is why I am not an avid street photographer. The quick manual correction possible in the CL will be of help, I'm sure. https://www.exibartstreet.com/news/leica-cl-review-street-photography/ 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boojay Posted May 23, 2020 Share #11 Posted May 23, 2020 58 minutes ago, jaapv said: I agree wholeheartedly with the last, but that is exactly why I dislike zone focusing - I am somebody who finds exact placement of the plane of focus essential. I tend to throw out images which depend on DOF to appear acceptably sharp. To my mind it is zone-misfocus. Possibly that is why I am not an avid street photographer. The quick manual correction possible in the CL will be of help, I'm sure. https://www.exibartstreet.com/news/leica-cl-review-street-photography/ Thanks for that link Jaapv - not one I've read before. One thing that had me scratching my head though was the sentence below, as I'm sure I have never been able to achieve a magnified view in autofocus mode when moving the focus ring, even when half pressing the shutter button. Am I missing a trick somewhere? The auto to manual focus switching system is another brilliant implementation from Leica engineers since you just need to rotate the focus ring on your lens and you are in full manual control, assisted by a magnified portion of the framed scene or, if you prefer, by a color-customizable focus peaking system. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruskkyle Posted May 23, 2020 Author Share #12 Posted May 23, 2020 (edited) I agree, it’s an interesting article. But my problem is with the idea of manual focus correction in fast-moving scenes, as opposed to preemptively getting it right. Edited May 23, 2020 by ruskkyle Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted May 23, 2020 Share #13 Posted May 23, 2020 By autofocus you nearly get it right and the manual tweak takes less time than pressing the shutter. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted May 23, 2020 Share #14 Posted May 23, 2020 2 hours ago, Boojay said: Thanks for that link Jaapv - not one I've read before. One thing that had me scratching my head though was the sentence below, as I'm sure I have never been able to achieve a magnified view in autofocus mode when moving the focus ring, even when half pressing the shutter button. Am I missing a trick somewhere? The auto to manual focus switching system is another brilliant implementation from Leica engineers since you just need to rotate the focus ring on your lens and you are in full manual control, assisted by a magnified portion of the framed scene or, if you prefer, by a color-customizable focus peaking system. I'm missing the same trick - I tried it for the first time without success just now- never used it with AF lenses, one loses the framing - I use blue focus peaking Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boojay Posted May 23, 2020 Share #15 Posted May 23, 2020 (edited) 10 minutes ago, jaapv said: I'm missing the same trick - I tried it for the first time without success just now- never used it with AF lenses, one loses the framing - I use blue focus peaking Pretty sure that the CL does not do what was being described in the review. Not a problem, just was slightly worried I was missing something. I hadn't ever tried it myself, and even resorted to checking out the manual, but as you say, it is just focus peaking available as a manual assist when in autofocus mode, not magnified view. If someone else knows differently hopefully they will let us know😃. Edited May 23, 2020 by Boojay 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruskkyle Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share #16 Posted May 25, 2020 Anyone tried the 21 super Elmar M on APS-C? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cp995 Posted May 25, 2020 Share #17 Posted May 25, 2020 vor 30 Minuten schrieb ruskkyle: Anyone tried the 21 super Elmar M on APS-C? I did it yesterday with my old Sony A6300 (CL should be even better) Thinking about buying a CL and I'm acutally looking for a standard lens; 21mm might be a solution. The SEM 21mm is a great lens, I'm using it for years on different Bodies. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruskkyle Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share #18 Posted May 25, 2020 1 hour ago, cp995 said: I did it yesterday with my old Sony A6300 (CL should be even better) Thinking about buying a CL and I'm acutally looking for a standard lens; 21mm might be a solution. The SEM 21mm is a great lens, I'm using it for years on different Bodies. Have a look at this article, should be right up your street: https://www.reddotforum.com/content/2018/08/using-m-lenses-on-the-leica-cl-new-city-new-camera-familiar-glass/ 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boojay Posted May 25, 2020 Share #19 Posted May 25, 2020 1 hour ago, ruskkyle said: Anyone tried the 21 super Elmar M on APS-C? Sure someone on here will have. I have Elmarit M 21mm 2.8 (pre Asph), it does well enough for me on the CL. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott kirkpatrick Posted May 25, 2020 Share #20 Posted May 25, 2020 When I first got the M8, its 1.5 factor made wide angles a problem, so I got a Zeiss 21/2.8 to use as a ~35 mm equivalent. I liked it and still have it. It should also be good on the CL. Fairly contrasty with clean shadows. Back then the digitals had insufficient dynamic range so some folks argued for "sunny day" lenses that would fill in the shadows a bit with a boost from flare. Now we just push on the shadow slider. The Zeiss has clean shadows and wasn't a sunny day lens. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.