Advice for choosing the right 28mm lens for landscape photography?

[Peter K]

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I have a question about choosing the right 28 mm M lens for landscape photography. If it has been asked in other posts already, I apologise in advance.

Background
I have decided to buy a 28mm for my M240. It will be used for landscape photography almost exclusively.

For the first time in my life, I am leaning towards an Elmarit ASPH. However, I always have this nagging inner voice telling me, that Summilux and Summicron are the only ways to go no matter the situation.

So before buying, I want to make sure that I will not be compromising on any key aspects important to me with an Elmarit. And since I live in a place where trying different lenses before buying is not an easy alternative, I turn to all you skilled Leica experts in here for advice.

My needs
I will be shooting at apertures between f/8 - f/11 most of the time. And I will only rarely be focusing on objects very close. So I am not that concerned about bokeh (which I guess is not that relevant for a wide-angle lens anyway).

The same thing goes for color rendering, since I’m shooting digital and will be postprocessing the RAW files anyway.

However, I am very interested in achieving good sharpness from corner to corner. And I am also concerned about the handling of lens flare.

Question
Do you think the Elmarit ASPH will be the right choice for my purpose? Or will the 28mm Cron or Lux in any of their incarnations perform noticeably better under the above circumstances?

Reading lots of reviews, both the Cron and the Lux obviously outperforms the Elmarit for low light situations. But will there be differences in image quality, sharpness and flare handling when stopping down to f/8 - f/11?

Any input will be much appreciated. Thanks!

- Peter.

[a.noctilux]

Hello Peter,

to begin, I think the Elmarit-M 28mm asph. is a "winner".

I have( before the 2.8/28 asph.) the Summicron-M asph. 28 very good lens compact and light for a f/2 lens, but in use I barely see difference from f/4 upward.

And the 2.8 lens hides less the OVF than f/2 lens, if that is important, but in LV use not relevant.

[SiggiGun]

For Landscape at f/11, the Elmarit is a good option. Personally I have the Cron, which is in my opinion the best compromise as a general "all in 1" lens

[Ouroboros]

35 minutes ago, Peter K said:

.......But will there be differences in image quality, sharpness and flare handling when stopping down to f/8 - f/11?

 

Probably no practical difference between any of the Leica M mounts lenses that you'd notice in a print.  The 28mm summaron-m might show slightly more vignetting at those apertures than the elamarit-asph, summicron asphs or the summilux.  You, what you point your camera at and your technique are likely to have the most influence on the outcome.   

I have both the 28mm summicron asph v1 and the 28mm summaron-m.  The summicron asph looks to be the better lens in almost every way on paper, but the summaron-m is the lens I use the most  by far for landscape and travel. At the level of the Leica M lenses you are interested in, stressing over mtf charts, 'sharpness', 'colour rendering' (very little to do with the lens in a print workflow) is firmly in the realm of Numpties.

For your intended use the elmarit asph would be near perfect, especially if you know how a tripod works.

[wda]

I concur with the Elmarit. Excellent performer. However, given your specific need, why not consider this lens https://www.reddotcameras.co.uk/m-lenses/10573-leica-summaron-m-28mm-f-56.html  I have no connection with the vendor. Search for earlier discussions on this forum by actual users of the Summaron.  Do not be a slave to the seduction of a Summicron or Summilux, where there is no need for speed or shallow depth of field.

[Peter K]

1 hour ago, a.noctilux said:

I have( before the 2.8/28 asph.) the Summicron-M asph. 28 very good lens compact and light for a f/2 lens, but in use I barely see difference from f/4 upward.

And the 2.8 lens hides less the OVF than f/2 lens, if that is important, but in LV use not relevant.

Thanks! It's good to hear that there is no major difference from f/4 and beyond since that is where I will be most of the time with this lens.

Elmarit still seems to be the right choice for me, I guess.

Thanks,
Peter.

[Peter K]

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1 hour ago, SiggiGun said:

For Landscape at f/11, the Elmarit is a good option. Personally I have the Cron, which is in my opinion the best compromise as a general "all in 1" lens

Cool, thanks. Yeah, the Cron will definitely be better for more purposes than the Elmarit.

But it's good to know, that you find the Elmarit to be a good choice for landscape. I think I will go with that one.

Thanks,
Peter.

[Peter K]

1 hour ago, Ouroboros said:

Probably no practical difference between any of the Leica M mounts lenses that you'd notice in a print.  The 28mm summaron-m might show slightly more vignetting at those apertures than the elamarit-asph, summicron asphs or the summilux.  You, what you point your camera at and your technique are likely to have the most influence on the outcome.   

I have both the 28mm summicron asph v1 and the 28mm summaron-m.  The summicron asph looks to be the better lens in almost every way on paper, but the summaron-m is the lens I use the most  by far for landscape and travel. At the level of the Leica M lenses you are interested in, stressing over mtf charts, 'sharpness', 'colour rendering' (very little to do with the lens in a print workflow) is firmly in the realm of Numpties.

For your intended use the elmarit asph would be near perfect, especially if you know how a tripod works.

Thanks for your elaborate answer. Much appreciated!

I agree, technical specs on paper are not always worth stressing over when making decisions like these (sometimes they are, of course).

Judging from all the answers above, I am almost certain that the Elmarit ASPH will be the right choice for me. And yes, I know how to use a tripod 🙂

Thanks,
Peter.

[Peter K]

1 hour ago, wda said:

I concur with the Elmarit. Excellent performer. However, given your specific need, why not consider this lens https://www.reddotcameras.co.uk/m-lenses/10573-leica-summaron-m-28mm-f-56.html  I have no connection with the vendor. Search for earlier discussions on this forum by actual users of the Summaron.  Do not be a slave to the seduction of a Summicron or Summilux, where there is no need for speed or shallow depth of field.

Thanks for the tip. To be honest, I wasn't aware of the Summaron. I will give it a closer look.

And yes, I am trying to free myself from the eternal seduction of both Summicron and Summilux. Though I have to admit, it's hard sometimes 🙂

Thanks,
Peter.

[Kwesi]

Hi Peter K,

the 28/2 v2 (11672) was re-designed specifically to deal with sharpness at the corners. I do own this lens and highly recommend it.

[Peter K]

4 minutes ago, Kwesi said:

Hi Peter K,

the 28/2 v2 (11672) was re-designed specifically to deal with sharpness at the corners. I do own this lens and highly recommend it.

Thanks for your answer. That is good to know, since corner sharpness in landscape photography is one of my main concerns.

Do you think it will also make a visible difference when stopping down to around f/8 - f/11? Being a Canon user for many years, I do not yet have that much experience with Leica lenses and how they behave.

Thanks again,
Peter.

[Kwesi]

https://www.slack.co.uk/leica-m-resolution.html

Here is an article by Jono that compares the old and the new 28/2 with a focus on resolution and sharpness

[Peter K]

11 minutes ago, Kwesi said:

https://www.slack.co.uk/leica-m-resolution.html

Here is an article by Jono that compares the old and the new 28/2 with a focus on resolution and sharpness

Thanks! I will give it a closer look.

[tobey bilek]

Mine is the version 1  28 2.8 ASPH.  Beautiful lens .  Current version 2 comes with a big fat hood, a design which I was pleased to dispense with  when I sold my Pentax Spotmatics.   

To me Leica is about small camera.  I see no point in my Nikons with giant lenses.  I use them as appropriate, but that is becoming less.    All the new Leica glass seems to be fast and big  with HIGH cost.  My 90 4.0 macro is wonderful and does what I want.   

[Casey Jefferson]

I love the cron V1 with clip on hood (which I don't use), that seem to flare when there's light source just outside of the edge, sometimes when the light is too strong it'll result in rather big purple blotch. But even wide open that thing renders razor sharp image, just not edge to edge sharp. Shooting portraits with it even if it's not ultra shallow depth of field, the way the subject popped right out of the slightly blurred background is quite phenomenal for a 28mm, almost like a cut out.

Since you're mainly using it for stopped way down, the elmarit is a no brainer, since you'll be giving up a lot of things for one extra stop of light. Though there was a recent discussion about the older pre-asph elmarits having less clinical rendering which you may want to have a look.

[Peter K]

57 minutes ago, tobey bilek said:

Mine is the version 1  28 2.8 ASPH.  Beautiful lens .  Current version 2 comes with a big fat hood, a design which I was pleased to dispense with  when I sold my Pentax Spotmatics.   

To me Leica is about small camera.  I see no point in my Nikons with giant lenses.  I use them as appropriate, but that is becoming less.    All the new Leica glass seems to be fast and big  with HIGH cost.  My 90 4.0 macro is wonderful and does what I want.   

Hi Tobey,

I wasn't aware of this difference between version 1 and version 2 of the 2.8 ASPH. That is good to know before I make the decision.

Thanks,
Peter.

[a.noctilux]

Thing that I planned to do for some time now,

your post led me to take snaps of the three 28mm from Leica for comparing their sizes

Summaron-M 5.6  ...Elmarit-M asph. 2.8 ...Summicron-M asph. first models for these last two ( I don't have the present time lenses )

 

 

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taken with

M262 with Summicron DR closest distance , wide open

[Kwesi]

https://www.streetsilhouettes.com/home/2017/3/12/quick-comparison-two-generations-of-leica-28mm-lenses?rq=leica 28

Here is another visual read comparing both versions of the elmarits, summicrons and the new Summilux withe the same subject and lighting.

Edited April 11, 2021 by Kwesi
spelling

[Jeff S]

Are you printing (and how big?) or pixel peeping?  Ergonomics, handling and VF experience (blockage?) can also matter.  I resolve these matters by trying the lens(es) (demo, rent, etc) and making prints.  Generally, stopped down, you can save your money, from an IQ perspective.

Jeff

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[Herr Barnack]

Quote

...I have decided to buy a 28mm for my M240. It will be used for landscape photography almost exclusively...

...I will be shooting at apertures between f/8 - f/11 most of the time. And I will only rarely be focusing on objects very close...

Given those factors, the 28mm Elmarit ASPH would be an excellent choice.

The 28 Elmarit has a lower price than the 28 Summicron or 28 Summilux.  That is not because it has lower image quality or lower build quality.  It is because a 28mm f/2.8 ASPH lens is much less difficult to design create and produce at the level of image quality and build quality that Leica adheres to than a 28mm f/2.0 ASPH or a 28mm f/1.4 ASPH lens is.

If you decide on the Elmarit, I would recommend the current production version (#11677) made in Germany or the made in Portugal version (#11711). 

 

Edited April 11, 2021 by Herr Barnack