Best value 'M' lenses available today

[Martin B]

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On 7/10/2023 at 7:28 PM, pippy said:

Apologies in advance for repeatedly flying the flag for the 50mm f1.5 Summarit but I'm about to do so yet again!............

Having just delved into the archives of the dim and distant past (well; August last year) for an image for a completely different thread hereabouts I thought some members who don't frequent that quarter of the Forum might be interested in viewing an image which shows how the lens in question renders if stopped down just one click.

'A Picture Is Worth...'... (and so on) so here is a happy-snap taken at pretty-much MFD. Camera (FWIW) was M Monochrom and exposure was 1/2000 / f2.0 @ ISO320. If I had remembered to profile the lens to the body (hardly a 'Given'!) it would have been that for an old 50mm Summilux;

 

IMO at f2.0 there is no issue with the lens' sharpness and the rendering of the OOF bits is very pleasant. I also consider there to be easily enough 3D Pop for my liking and there is a fair amount of 'character' on show into the bargain.

It would, of course, have been nice - and probably rather educational - to have taken a second frame of the same subject-matter with my v4 Summicron for comparison-purposes but, well, I was on holiday and the waiter had just delivered my glass of beer...

Philip.

Also a fan of the 50/1.5 Summarit lens - great and often unpredictable bokeh with a special glow wide open. Not as sharp wide open compared to vintage Canon and Nikkor 50/1.4 LTM lenses which all have very unique lens properties. The Summarit lens is still in the more affordable lens range for vintage Leitz lenses  around $500-600. Prices have not increased as much compared to other M-mount Leitz/Leica lenses. It is harder now to find one in excellent condition without scratches on front lens etc. 

[pippy]

2 minutes ago, Martin B said:

...Not as sharp wide open compared to vintage Canon and Nikkor 50/1.4 LTM lenses which all have very unique lens properties...

I don't have f1.4 lenses from either manufacturer in LTM thread but for a while I did choose very often with a Serenar-style 50mm f1.8 Canon. In general use it is a very fine lens  - and in some situations is a 'better' choice than the Summarit - but it exhibits more barrel-distortion than I like and as much of what I shoot can be roughly described as 'Urban Landscape' it tends to get left behind more often than not.

Philip.

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[Martin B]

12 minutes ago, pippy said:

I don't have f1.4 lenses from either manufacturer in LTM thread but for a while I did choose very often with a Serenar-style 50mm f1.8 Canon. In general use it is a very fine lens  - and in some situations is a 'better' choice than the Summarit - but it exhibits more barrel-distortion than I like and as much of what I shoot can be roughly described as 'Urban Landscape' it tends to get left behind more often than not.

Philip.

This is my current "collection of 45 and 50 mm lenses - they all fall in a price range between $500-1500 per lens. I consider myself lucky to have mint copies without scratches etc. From upper left to bottom:

Leitz 50/2.0 Summicron M dual-range lens, 1960
Leitz 50/1.5 Summarit LTM lens, 1953
Leica 50/2.0 Summicron M lens, 2003
Nikkor 50/1.4 LTM lens, early 1950s
Canon 50/1.4 LTM lens, type II, 1972 (nicknamed Japanese Summilux)
Leitz Summitar 50/2 LTM extractable lens, 1945
Konica-Minolta Super Rokkor Chiyoko 45/2.8 LTM lens, 1956

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[Smudgerer]

Well despite my niggling problems with it's lens-hood/filter miss-design, ( which apparently Leica is/will be addressing ), I have to say that as far as new Leica brand lenses go the 35mm f1.4 Summilux-Classic SR re-issue is very good value with beautiful and unique rendering at f1.4 to f2 then sharp across the board when at +f4.5. It is more than two lenses in one, Leica just has to fix the hood/filter usage issues soon please.

Used Leica lenses? My vote here goes to the 50mm f2.8 collapsible Elmar that can be found at under €1K in great shape. It's a sharp and versatile lens that when mounted on a M camera turns out to be a very portable / pocket-able combination and yes, I like a small lens profile on any M camera, this fits that bill nicely.

Voigtlanders? Keeping with the 35mm FL my vote goes to the VM Nokton Classic f1.4 35 II SC. Yes it does have a very similar performance to the above mentioned Leica 35mm Summilux Classic SR re-issue, almost imperceptibly so especially on film, but with in my mind it has better design and handling characteristics plus being available in black finish too!  The Voigtlander 75mm f1.5 lens is quite wonderful too for stupid cheap.......I just don't use it much though as I almost never go above 50mm FL on an M.

7Artisans? I only have the 28mm f5.6 lens. I bought it whilst I still owned the Leica 28mm Summaron so I could test them side by side, but sold the Leica soon afterwards when I couldn't see any reason to keep it after trying out the 7Artisans lens. I got over €2K for the Summaron, and at that time the 7Artisans 28mm f5.6 cost me under €300, and it was in Black! For me, it was a no-brainer.

I've been tempted by the LLL 35mm f2 / 8 Element offerings but the usage of both the Leica Summilux Classic SR re-issue and the Voigtlander Nokton Classic 1.4 II has shown that purchase to be unnecessary, de-gassed.

[Martin B]

10 minutes ago, Smudgerer said:

Well despite my niggling problems with it's lens-hood/filter miss-design, ( which apparently Leica is/will be addressing ), I have to say that as far as new Leica brand lenses go the 35mm f1.4 Summilux-Classic SR re-issue is very good value with beautiful and unique rendering at f1.4 to f2 then sharp across the board when at +f4.5. It is more than two lenses in one, Leica just has to fix the hood/filter usage issues soon please.

Used Leica lenses? My vote here goes to the 50mm f2.8 collapsible Elmar that can be found at under €1K in great shape. It's a sharp and versatile lens that when mounted on a M camera turns out to be a very portable / pocket-able combination and yes, I like a small lens profile on any M camera, this fits that bill nicely.

Voigtlanders? Keeping with the 35mm FL my vote goes to the VM Nokton Classic f1.4 35 II SC. Yes it does have a very similar performance to the above mentioned Leica 35mm Summilux Classic SR re-issue, almost imperceptibly so especially on film, but with in my mind it has better design and handling characteristics plus being available in black finish too!  The Voigtlander 75mm f1.5 lens is quite wonderful too for stupid cheap.......I just don't use it much though as I almost never go above 50mm FL on an M.

7Artisans? I only have the 28mm f5.6 lens. I bought it whilst I still owned the Leica 28mm Summaron so I could test them side by side, but sold the Leica soon afterwards when I couldn't see any reason to keep it after trying out the 7Artisans lens. I got over €2K for the Summaron, and at that time the 7Artisans 28mm f5.6 cost me under €300, and it was in Black! For me, it was a no-brainer.

I've been tempted by the LLL 35mm f2 / 8 Element offerings but the usage of both the Leica Summilux Classic SR re-issue and the Voigtlander Nokton Classic 1.4 II has shown that purchase to be unnecessary, de-gassed.

Agree with the rendering and quality of the CV 75/1.5 M- lens which I also own. High quality and sharp wide open with beautiful more modern looking background blur. I have the silver version of this lens which has IMO two debits - the red stripe to mount the lens on the camera is very faint and hard to see on the silver body especially in dim light. The silver lens hood can cause some flare by reflections from the sun with the lens wide open (when closed the issue disappears). But definitely a keeper lens for me for the price and quality it offers!

So far the only Chinese M-mount lens I bought is the TTArtisan 11/2.8 fisheye M-mount lens. No rangefinder coupling but excellent built and optical quality for the price. 

[taketwo]

On 6/13/2023 at 4:12 AM, Al Brown said:

The most undervalued M lens is the Summicron-C 40/2 period.

would it be range finder coupled to something like an m8?

[lct]

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4 hours ago, taketwo said:

would it be range finder coupled to something like an m8?

The Summicron 40/2 for Leica CL but also the two Rokkors 40/2 for Minolta CL and Minolta CLE as well as the Elmarit 40/2.8 for Leica CL are coupled with digital rangefinders like those of the M8, M8.2, M9, M240, M10, M11 and Epson R-D1. Pixii too i believe but i have no experience with it.

[Alberti]

1. I like to vote for 40mm M-Rokkor, though It developed haze in a minor way, so I had it CLA'd which meant that Will van Maanen had to disassemble the lens and polish . . . But it came out 95% again. Before the haze it was my favourite. I bought it for €450, had it coded (+€ 100) , ten years later spent € 350 for CLA. The 35 Summicron4 that has the same style of signature (but more that is). @taketwo - Excellent RF coupling; I bought it for my M8. But note: at that time I found no UV/IR filter at 40.5mm and that was a shame; I should have used a 40.5-43mm adapter then 43mm. Now these filters are plentifull. On M8 it is really needed.
2. Also I have the Nikkor-HC 50mm LTM. The focus cam 'out of the box' does not go beyond 100cm. But van Maanen opened up the mount such that it follows now to 70cm. It is a great lens. I'ld say superb. 
3. I tried Jupiter-3 lenses which are super too for portraits (specially the single coated ones) , but I always check the focus with the EVF, because of focus shift (even with the Amadeo). I probably should have the lens adjusted professionally. 
4. The Canon 50mm F/1.4 LTM should be mentioned too. Again, van Maanen adjusted it. I have too little words for it, so I keep silent 🤫.
5. Then again, the Canon 35mm F/2.8 LTM is a marvel too. That has a slight yellow colour by now because of degradation of the thorium of the lens - but that implies that it is great for slightly darker skins. 

Nikkor-HC: [not an APO lens? Then it must be garbage.]

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Edited March 25 by Alberti

[KFo]

I have the Canon 35 f/2.8 LTM (sn 13588  ~1952) and the 28 f/2.8 LTM ( sn 10786 ~1956/1960)  They are both very nice little jewel-like lenses and are cheap measured on the Leica scale of spending.  The aperture rings are crisp and precise and focusing rings smooth.  The straight down position for the focus tab conforms well to my usage at about 3m.  They are from the era that may well have thorium containing lens elements however neither exhibit any yellowing visually or in photos taken.

They are my favorite lenses (and I have everything) for a variety of reasons. Primarily the way they draw and the roll off between POF and fore/background as well as slightly lower contrast than others.  They vignette dramatically wide open and aren't sharp across the frame either. They do get quite acute by f/5.6 but never to a contemporary standard.  I never photograph brick walls or bookshelves so I can't comment on other common dimensions of performance.  E.g. they are deeply defective in the gear forum world.😁

They are very nice if their defects suit you.  

Edited March 25 by KFo