Best M Mount Lens For M10-R?

[Mo(w)gli]

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I ordered the MR together with the 50 apo. For wide angle I have the Q2, so the 50mm will be my one and only for the next years. I tested 50 Lux and 50 apo on the MR and I didn’t have to think long about it. 

[pippy]

8 hours ago, ChrisL said:

9 or so replies, only one person tried to answer the question as posed. Can’t we do better?

OK. A serious answer;

For as long as I've been using a digi-M my #1 lens (as I've written elsewhere many times) has always been my 40mm f1.4 Voigtlander Nokton. If I was to choose nowadays I'd almost certainly follow in the footsteps of FrozenInTime and buy the f1.2 version. The 40mm f/l just happens to be the 'Goldilocks' focal length for how I see things. For my needs the Voigtlander lenses are better suited than are the Leitz / Minolta Summicron versions for the old CL/CLE. One minor downside to the f1.2 over the one I already own is the physical bulk but I'd easily be able to live with it if I was only going to have one lens to lug about with me and in any case there's not that much difference between the 1.4 and the 1.2 - the 1.2 being only around 15mm both wider & longer and 140g heavier.

The only real question I'd have to settle would be whether to choose the LH-8 or LH-11 hood. I see FrozenInTime has solved that dilemma by getting one of each. I'd be interested to hear his views on which is a better hood in actual use.

Philip.

Edited September 15, 2020 by pippy

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[Guest BlackBarn]

7 hours ago, ChrisL said:

9 or so replies, only one person tried to answer the question as posed. Can’t we do better?

Chris have you really considered the possibility that your question is nonsense in context to what might be a usable or meaningful answer. The nine replies all answered your question even the person who sensibly said ‘ the one you have on the camera’ because you must of had a reason for buying it in the first place. There was even one answer which you had a reason for not accepting  ...something about a tweener focal length.

Sure if your target audience were only those who had a 10r and only used a single lens and also had a 10m and did or didn’t change it and happened to take photos in a similar profile to yours and had chosen their lens based on a no price limitation and of course doesn’t have a tweener focal length ...but hey ho I don’t think many of those are around so you are receiving the only possible answers from the perspectives of multi users.

So in order to assist you better ......Any chance you could do better in constructing your question because there are a lot of knowledgable folks here who would love to engage and help.

[FrozenInTime]

1 hour ago, pippy said:

The only real question I'd have to settle would be whether to choose the LH-8 or LH-11 hood. I see FrozenInTime has solved that dilemma by getting one of each. I'd be interested to hear his views on which is a better hood in actual use.

Philip.

When I bought the second lens, as they only had the LH-11 in stock, I though I would give it try. I prefer the smaller LH-8.

No hood is not an option, as it will flare with the sun at a glancing angle.

Donald.

[FrozenInTime]

4 hours ago, ChrisL said:

I’d read great things about that lens but was concerned that, since I only use the optical viewfinder, that I wouldn’t like this tweener focal length that doesn’t align with the VF framelines. I take it you don’t have an issue with that. 

Filling out the frame so that the wanted scene is bursting out of the 50mm line seems to work well enough 95% of the time. If I'm in a tight squeeze using the EVF or chimping the LCD gets the job done.

Donald.

[pippy]

12 minutes ago, FrozenInTime said:

...as they only had the LH-11 in stock, I though I would give it try. I prefer the smaller LH-8...

Thank you very much, Donald, for giving us your thoughts on this matter. If both types work equally well then my view would be 'smaller is better'. Odd that the larger hood is the (marginally) more expensive of the two!

I must also apologise for any confusion arising due to a typo in my earlier post (in case anyone else is considering buying this particular combination) as the larger hood is the LH-10 and not the LH-11 as I wrote earlier.

Mea culpa.

Philip.

 

Edited September 15, 2020 by pippy

[FrozenInTime]

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9 minutes ago, pippy said:

Thank you very much, Donald, for giving us your thoughts on this matter. If both types work equally well then my view would be 'smaller is better'. Odd that the larger hood is the (marginally) more expensive of the two!

I must also apologise for any confusion arising due to a typo in my earlier post (in case anyone else is considering buying this particular combination) as the larger hood is the LH-10 and not the LH-11 as I wrote earlier.

Mea culpa.

Philip.

 

so it is just pulled them out LH-8 and LH-10 

[Guest]

4 hours ago, BlackBarn said:

Chris have you really considered the possibility that your question is nonsense in context to what might be a usable or meaningful answer. The nine replies all answered your question even the person who sensibly said ‘ the one you have on the camera’ because you must of had a reason for buying it in the first place. There was even one answer which you had a reason for not accepting  ...something about a tweener focal length.

Sure if your target audience were only those who had a 10r and only used a single lens and also had a 10m and did or didn’t change it and happened to take photos in a similar profile to yours and had chosen their lens based on a no price limitation and of course doesn’t have a tweener focal length ...but hey ho I don’t think many of those are around so you are receiving the only possible answers from the perspectives of multi users.

So in order to assist you better ......Any chance you could do better in constructing your question because there are a lot of knowledgable folks here who would love to engage and help.

Folks, it’s a simple survey question to satisfy my curiosity and I never planned to utilize the information to spend thousands of dollars on new equipment. I have plenty of good equipment that satisfies my needs and I’m an experienced photographer that’s been doing this quite awhile. So either answer the simple survey question or don’t - this is all meant to be a bit of fun. But please spare me your sarcasm and pomposity. I’ll only deposit that in the circular file. 

[Stef63]

Ok, I’ll limit my choice to the lenses I actually own or have owned (it’s a long list of Leica M, R and LTM lenses as well as M compatible lenses). So my opinion is based on my own experience, not on lust for a particular lens that I never used myself but considering the high price tag it “must be the best”.

I’ll go for a 28 mm.  Unfortunately I’m unable to decide between the Leica 28 f2.8 Elmarit ASPH (my first Leica lens bought together with then M9 11 years ago) and a Nikkor W 3.5 in LTM mount from the early 60’s.  My mind would choose for the Leica but the Nikon lens is such a characterful, sharp and small lens. Oh, and on a black M 10 it look’s sexy as well.  Well, as sexy as a camera can look... I let you decide.

[colint544]

If I could only have one lens on any Leica M, it would have to be the 35mm Summilux ASPH FLE. It's probably the most flexible all round lens Leica have ever made.

[tommonego@gmail.com]

vor 1 Stunde schrieb colint544:

If I could only have one lens on any Leica M, it would have to be the 35mm Summilux ASPH FLE. It's probably the most flexible all round lens Leica have ever made.

This is what I would say for one lens, I have a Summilux Canada, wide open maybe too much character, but a nice sharp lens, the 35 Summilux ASPH FLE would be its replacement. I just feel 35 goes with a rangefinder. Of course I would put other lenses around it, but that wasn't your question. 

[Fedro]

I am not sure why there should be a best lens for the R that is not the best lens for any other M camera, depending on your needs

and how do you define best anyways?

for my use, and my tastes, the 21 SEM, 28 Lux, 35 Lux and 50 APO are awesome on the R, as they are on my film MP

but then again, I prefer modern rendering lenses, so that is my bias

[agencal]

21mm Sem,

24mm Elmar

35mm f2.8 C Biogon

50mm Apo

75mm Summarit

135mm apo

These were my most trusted lenses for high resolution and corner to corner sharpness on m10. But now they all needed to be stoped donw one stop to get the same contrast of M10 with M10 R . Let's say for 50mm apo my most used aperture was f2.It had a contrast that no other lens has at f2.But now with my m10R f2 is weak and less contrasty. I do not know if i am missing some thing.

 

[agencal]

Once i was in weltzlar for the SL' s first day.I saw Karbe and asked ''i am in love with your 50mm apo,what is the wide of it?'' He said 24mm elmar without any hesitation.Makes sense?

[Herr Barnack]

On 9/14/2020 at 5:24 PM, ChrisL said:

This is sure to stir up some 🔥 and I apologize In advance if it’s redundant, but I see so many posts by folks insisting that they only shoot with one lens on their M. So, if you could only have one M mount lens permanently affixed to your high resolution M10-R, which was your only camera, and price was no object, what would that lens be (doesn’t have to be a Leica, but I’m guessing it will be)?  Would your answer change if you were shooting a 40MP Monochrome?  I’m Seriously interested in the response from this group.  Thanks. 

I do not have an M10R but rather an M10 Mono. 

One lens only for me would have to be the 28mm Summilux.

If I were permitted to have a second lens for my imaginary (or some day to be acquired M10R), it would be either the 50mm  Summilux or the 50mm Summicon APO.

The 50 Summilux would be more compatible with the 28 Summilux in terms of fingerprint (rendering) and depth of field.  My only hesitation in pairing the 50 APO with the 28 Summilux would be that the 50 APO images might possibly make the 28 Summilux images look a little lackluster. 

I would want image quality from both lenses to be on a level playing field for making exhibit quality prints; making 24x36 inch fine prints is where any chinks in the armor of a lens is going to become evident. 

The 28 Summilux is such a staggeringly good lens that this concern is probably a non-issue, but hey - I'm a Leica M user.  I have to OCD about something! 😎

Edited September 15, 2020 by Herr Barnack

[pippy]

29 minutes ago, agencal said:

21mm Sem,

24mm Elmar

35mm f2.8 C Biogon

50mm Apo

75mm Summarit

135mm apo

The question asked in the OP was;

"If you could only have one M mount lens permanently affixed to your high resolution M10-R, which was your only camera...what would that lens be...?"

As generous as it was to have offered us a selection of 6 lenses ranging all the way from 21mm through to 135mm it doesn't quite answer the question as posed and it would be wonderful if you could let us know which would be the one lens you would choose from your impressive list.

Thanks in advance!

Philip.

Edited September 15, 2020 by pippy

[Guest]

I would stick my best lens on the M10R ,the zeiss 35mm f1.4 zm but  it has to stay on my m262 for several years yet,which is great.

[rpittal]

On 9/14/2020 at 7:17 PM, rpittal said:

I am sure you will hear folks asking what you want to shoot or what are your favorite focal lengths, etc. 

My favorite high resolution lenses (ignoring any "character" aspects, re the Jupiters):

21: Leica SEM

28: Leica 28/1.4 Lux

35: Zeiss 35/1.4 Distagon

50: Leica 50/2 Apo

75: new Leica 75/1.25 Noct

For a single lens, I assume you would want something in the 28 to 50mm range.

Besides the list above, you may want to consider something dual purpose (character wide open but sharp enough closed down), such as sumicrons 35/2 eight element and 50/2 rigid, or sumiluxes 21/1.4 and 75/1.4. This is where you will get a thousand suggestions and why some folks have way too many lenses!

to answer the question, I would use the 50 apo

[james.liam]

Without hesitation or qualifications, 50 APO. 

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[agencal]

18 hours ago, pippy said:

The question asked in the OP was;

"If you could only have one M mount lens permanently affixed to your high resolution M10-R, which was your only camera...what would that lens be...?"

As generous as it was to have offered us a selection of 6 lenses ranging all the way from 21mm through to 135mm it doesn't quite answer the question as posed and it would be wonderful if you could let us know which would be the one lens you would choose from your impressive list.

Thanks in advance!

Philip.

Hi Philip

It depends. I mean what do you wanna shoot?

For landscape use one lens can not be enough so for wide side i would go 24mm elmar and for normal use i would go for 50mm apo.

For street work i would go for Ziess biogon c f2.8 

For portraits i would go for 75mm apo.

But if you ask me which one of these keeps you in leica M system i would say 50mm apo without hasitation.It makes you try to shoot everything with 50mm 😊