Mounting a 28mm lens on an M2

[IanH]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi, 

I’m thinking about buying a 28mm Summaron. My only body is a film M2. Please can somebody confirm which, if any, framelines are triggered when it is mounted?

I do realise I may be struck down by Leica gods for committing this crime....

[Advertisement]

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

[Topsy]

50 minutes ago, IanH said:

Hi, 

I’m thinking about buying a 28mm Summaron. My only body is a film M2. Please can somebody confirm which, if any, framelines are triggered when it is mounted?

I do realise I may be struck down by Leica gods for committing this crime....

I just tried my 28mm Summarit on my M2 and the 90mm lines showed.

 

I shouldn't have been surprised really since the 90 is paired with the 28 on my MP.

Edited April 2, 2021 by Topsy

[oldwino]

The entire viewfinder on the M2 is roughly equivalent to the 28mm field of view. 
or, get an accessory finder, and don’t worry about framelines in the viewfinder. 

[logan2z]

9 minutes ago, oldwino said:

get an accessory finder, and don’t worry about framelines in the viewfinder. 

+1 that's what I do when using my 28mm Elmarit on my M4. I use a SLOOZ.   

[adan]

My very first M Leica (which I didn't keep at the time - I'd drunk the SLR Kool-Aid™ in the 1970s-90s ) was an M2 - and the cheapest lens the dealer had to put on it was a 28mm (without its accessory finder).

It operated fine. As folks say, you get the 90 framelines, and you can kinda-sorta use the whole window to "point" the camera. You will generally end up with more in the picture than you can see in the finder, so just frame over-tight.

But realistically, for most lenses, a rangefinder camera's viewfinder is not a "framing" device - it IS a "pointing" device. It is one of the mental gear-shifts we all must make in transitioning to rangefinders and making best use of their strengths and weaknesses.

If you absolutely want every picture to be a perfect composition all the way to the corners every time, an SLR or mirrorless (or Ansel Adams view camera) is the better choice.

But for making pictures "about" the subject and the world, and their moments and gestures, the rangefinder is a great tool. even with a finderless 28mm

2018-19 snaps with older M 28s. Elmarit v.2 (1970s vintage), and Elmarit c.3 (1980s vintage)

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[IanH]

Thank you for all the advice, photos and shared experiences. I’m certainly not expecting millimeter  accuracy from the frameline indicators, so the idea of using the whole viewfinder for 28mm is appealing. 

I’ve currently got a very nice v2 35mm ‘cron, but the photographs that usually make me look twice are layered close up 28mm shots, like those in Jason Eskenazi’s Wonderland book.

I popped in to the Sydney Leica store recently and there was a 28/5.6 on a silver M-A in the cabinet. Sublime pairing of lens and body. I still use a digital Ricoh GRii for 28mm (equivalent) at the moment....

@adan, can you remember what film the colour shot was taken on? It has nice colours.

 

[adan]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

No film - Leica M10 image.

But I credit the colo(u)rs to my 1983 Leitz Canada 28mm Elmarit-M v.3.

A late Walter Mandler design that has, compared to more modern Leica lenses (and like its other 1980s Canadian siblings), a bit more of a cyan-green-yellow cast. That cast keeps skin tones in the brownish, "tanned, not sun-burned" palette, but, counterintuitively, also gives pop to true magentas and pinks (by contrast and complementarity).

A rather large 28mm by M standards (and certainly by Elmarit-ASPH or Summaron standards), but whose size I put up with precisely because of its color rendering and gentler pre-ASPH contrast.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

I would guess* among modern films, Kodak Portra 160/400 would be the closest starting point, with a little adjustment of white balance to scans to remove a touch (~3-5 points) of magenta tint.

_____________

*I haven't shot 35mm film since 2006 and the arrival of the M8. I have shot the recent Portras in 120 format.

AND - I have not shot with the current 28 Summaron, which being a replica to a 1950s design, may have its own native color rendering.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complementary_colors

[Axelwik]

The 28mm Biogon is my most-used lens on the M2. They work great together.

[Cotton Eyed Doug]

On 4/2/2021 at 7:20 AM, adan said:

My very first M Leica (which I didn't keep at the time - I'd drunk the SLR Kool-Aid™ in the 1970s-90s ) was an M2 - and the cheapest lens the dealer had to put on it was a 28mm (without its accessory finder).

It operated fine. As folks say, you get the 90 framelines, and you can kinda-sorta use the whole window to "point" the camera. You will generally end up with more in the picture than you can see in the finder, so just frame over-tight.

But realistically, for most lenses, a rangefinder camera's viewfinder is not a "framing" device - it IS a "pointing" device. It is one of the mental gear-shifts we all must make in transitioning to rangefinders and making best use of their strengths and weaknesses.

If you absolutely want every picture to be a perfect composition all the way to the corners every time, an SLR or mirrorless (or Ansel Adams view camera) is the better choice.

But for making pictures "about" the subject and the world, and their moments and gestures, the rangefinder is a great tool. even with a finderless 28mm

2018-19 snaps with older M 28s. Elmarit v.2 (1970s vintage), and Elmarit c.3 (1980s vintage)

Most film SLRs aren't going to guarantee perfect "framing" either. The vast majority of film SLR viewfinders only provide about 93% to 98% coverage. If I'm in doubt framing, I just lean back a bit and crop later if need be.

[a.noctilux]

15 hours ago, Cotton Eyed Doug said:

Most film SLRs aren't going to guarantee perfect "framing" either. The vast majority of film SLR viewfinders only provide about 93% to 98% coverage. If I'm in doubt framing, I just lean back a bit and crop later if need be.

Nikon F and F2  = 100% (as stated by Nikon)

[Herr Barnack]

Learning to guesstimate field of view is a useful skill.  With the M2 and 28mm Summaron, the viewfinder should show 95% or more anyway so it shouldn't be much of an issue.

When using my SEM 21 on my M-P 240, I learned to guesstimate what the actual field of view would be since 28mm was the widest frameline set the M-P 240 has to offer.  I'm pleased to report that I got many keeper images this way; further, I did not die and none of my external appendages spontaneously fell off.

[a.noctilux]

I appreciate with the Summaron 28mm the less-hiding of 28mm field in VF.

Even the Elmarit-M 28mm hides much more the right-bottom, to be guestimate or ignored in framing in VF.

So 28mm external VF is not bad idea on M2/etc. for other 28mm than Summaron.

Edited April 21, 2021 by a.noctilux

[logan2z]

1 hour ago, a.noctilux said:

So 28mm external VF is not bad idea on M2/etc. for other 28mm than Summaron.

+1 I find I prefer to use the SLOOZ on my M4 rather than the built-in 28mm framelines in my M-A.

[ktmrider2]

Since the viewfinder on the M2 is .72 which is the same as the M4, M4-2, M4-P, M5, M6, M6TTL, M7, MP and MA and the 28mm frame line is present inside the field of view of the finders which have a 28 frame, the entire finder can easily be used for a very good approximation of the photo from a 28.  If you look at the 28 frame lines and compare them to the field of view, the frame lines pretty much take up the entire finder.  Of course you loose parallax compensation.

[a.noctilux]

For me the viewing comfort is with the aux VF even if I'm not fan (now) as I "know" the field covering precisely.

Mag is x 0.5 that is quite close to later x 0.58 VF of some M7/MP/M6 TTL for comfortable framing (with or without glasses).

[MarkP]

On 4/22/2021 at 5:00 AM, a.noctilux said:

Nikon F and F2  = 100% (as stated by Nikon)

...and F3.

[Q2ER]

28mm trigger the 90mm frame lines as stated above. I prefer to have the 35mm frame lines so I use a 35mm frame lines screw mount adapter and a 28mm screw mount lens. Wor 

[Greenhilltony]

As mentioned above the 0.72x viewfinder is capable of showing the 28mm lines—just too tight, even though I don’t wear glasses it is a pain to check the corners of the lines. Anyway I have mastered shooting an M without viewfinder in most cases. I can even guess the composition almost exactly as I want by adjusting where my lens is pointing at.

The shot below was taken while I was strolling past the suitcase. I want to put the boy’s head in between the handle, and I held my camera at the waist level, the moment I pressed the shutter I saw my lens align through the space between the handle. Then I got it.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Leica M