Get a Q or grab a 28mm Elmarit (or Summicron) for my M240/246?

[MarkP]

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1 hour ago, bcapphoto said:

I don’t know if I’d want/use/need a Q2 if I had the Elmarit. I’m thinking the v3 Elmarit may be the way to go eh? Consistency with my other lenses! I love the look out of my v3 35mm Summicron so you’re right - I’d hate to sell it!

Good choice. I thought you had a hankering for the convenience and modern look of the Q2, hence my comment about getting both.

Also much cheaper with the a 28 Elmarit-M than the other options you initially suggested 🙂

 

[RoySmith]

The pictures of your family are beautiful. I see you like selective focus which especially with a 28mm lens means a large aperture.
The choices are the 28mm Summilux M, and the Q2

The 28mm Summilux M advantage is that it can be used on multiple cameras, ie both of your M’s, and it will work on future M’s or the SL family of mirrorless cameras, so a better long term investment.

The advantage of the Q2 is autofocus, weather sealing, nearly silent leaf shutter, OIS, macro mode, and it is somewhat cheaper, but half a stop slower.

Living in Canada check out Camtec Photo in Montrèal, they are great to deal with. 

Roy

[NZDavid]

Some gorgeous pictures there. Many people love the Q series and describe it as a lens with a free camera thrown in. AF is a plus. On the other hand, you won't be able to replicate a 50mm look just by cropping.

If you can afford both, go for it, but I reckon a separate lens is the better investment because you can keep it for decades. 

Another possibility: a 24mm Elmarit. 

I wouldn't ditch your 35. A superb multi-purpose lens.

[Leica Guy]

On 4/21/2021 at 9:06 AM, bcapphoto said:

Further to my last comment, here are some (personal, family) film M shots on my M6 👇

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Your images are extraordinary! Priceless for your family. 👏👏👏

[bcapphoto]

Just now, Leica Guy said:

Your images are extraordinary! Priceless for your family. 👏👏👏

Hey thank you very much! 

[hdmesa]

Wonderful images. I second the post(s) recommending the Q2M – it's like adding a 4x5 black and white view camera to your bag. And since you already have a great mix of organic-looking film images and medium-resolution digital images, the high-res Q2M would add the most variation to your work. The Q2M also gives you the ability to shoot in low light or with a deep color filter with almost no penalty for using higher ISO. I bought yellow, orange, light red, and dark red filters for my Q2M, but I leave the light red filter glued to the lens since there's almost zero change in IQ even losing those 2.3 stops of light. And the light red filter is very flattering for lighter skin tones just like it is on b&w film. The other advantage to the Q2M is you can crop to 35mm and have an image that is nearly indistinguishable from one shot with a dedicated 35mm lens. I have shots cropped to 50mm from the original Q (Q-P) that look so much like my 50 Lux on the M10-R (minus the resolution) that I would be hard-pressed to tell them apart.

My only hesitation in recommending any Q for someone who shoots a lot of portraiture would be due to the heavy distortion correction applied in-camera and baked into the DNG profile. You have to be more careful with subject placement than you would with a better-corrected 28mm lens on an M body. Of course with either, you don't want someone's head near the frame edge, but with the Q, you will see a more exaggerated stretching near the edges. Usually when shooting in landscape orientation with a centrally-placed face, this isn't an issue. But for portrait orientation shots, the top and bottom of the frame are unforgiving. Just something to keep in mind.