“cheap” Leica lenses to build a kit

[as.photoportfolio]

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Can you advise me on "cheap" Leica lenses to put together a kit that can be used to photograph landscapes, portraits, but most importantly, street photography? thanks

[a.noctilux]

How cheap is cheap ?

Which focal length(s) ?

For which Leica M ?

Have a look at LTM Leitz lenses second hand, old and some not in Leica Standard anymore.

Otherwise, I'm very happy with Summarit-M 2.5 lenses in 35/50/75.

Edited September 9, 2023 by a.noctilux

[Carlos cruz]

You can start voigtlander cheap, zeiss cheap, summarit cheap or even FSU cheap. I think the best way is to pick one lens at a time shoot with it and deciding if it belongs to your kit or needs a new home. Everyone’s looking for different qualities in lenses. It’s you who decide what’s good for you. 

[lct]

38 minutes ago, as.photoportfolio said:

Can you advise me on "cheap" Leica lenses

If you mean cheap M-mount lenses, there are several of them in China and elsewhere but Leica lenses are hardly cheap per se, if they are in working order at least.

[TeleElmar135mm]

Befinde with a used Summarit 35mm and 75mm - for me 35+75 is a good combo and later easy to expand wit a 24 and/or 90mm. If the 35 mm is not wide enough take a 2,8/28 Elmarit - small and very good

[Bobonli]

No. Your question is too broad. There’s inexpensive ( compared to new) and then there’s cheap. My definition of cheap might be very different than others here but I’ll define it as: sufficient to take photos but lacking in build quality, durability, aftersale support, and quality of individual components. You can get M mount lenses for a couple of hundred dollars that feel like toys and perform well below that of Leica glass. But if your budget is only $300 then that’s what you can get. Or you can wait, save and get better quality but more expensive glass. Keep in mind you’re on a forum where members have multiple $$$$$ cameras and lenses. Nothing in this ecosystem is inexpensive even in used condition. 

[as.photoportfolio]

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What means LTM on leica lens?

[a.noctilux]

Just now, as.photoportfolio said:

What means LTM on leica lens?

Leica Thread Mount.

With adapter I use some LTM lenses on M bodies

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[Carlos cruz]

2 minutes ago, as.photoportfolio said:

What means LTM on leica lens?

Leica Thread Mount aka screw mount lenses, lens mount used before m mount. Easily adaptable to m mount usually older and cheaper. Canon made them, zeiss made them, first voigtlanders from early 2000 were ltm.

[250swb]

It’s a dichotomy, you can’t appreciate Leica lenses until you’ve used them, and you can’t appreciate other lenses until you’ve used Leica lenses. I started with Leica lenses because back then there were few alternatives. But starting from here and not back then I would confidently support Voigtlander lenses not only because they are cheaper, but the quality is absolutely top of the game. So work it out, you need to use a Leica lens sometime, but you can genuinely get something as good much cheaper if budget is the concern.

[elgenper]

3 hours ago, Carlos cruz said:

... I think the best way is to pick one lens at a time shoot with it and deciding if it belongs to your kit...

That´s the one and only secret, folks!  If you come from some other system you should have some idea of what focal length you use most, and are most comfortable with (and, remember, there are no zooms in the Leica M universe!).  Buy a good/decent/characterful one in that length, and nothing else.  Then use it for at least one year, and learn to apply it to all the photo opportunities you come into.  

You´ll be surprised how much you can actually DO with that single, well chosen lens.  And, you´ll learn to SEE like that lens; without even raising the camera, you´ll know what will get into your image, and decide how to gather all that into an interesting image.  You will save both weight and time, by not having to change lenses all the time, and you will save money, or buy a better lens for the same money as 2 or 3 mediocre ones would set you back. And, should your first choice prove a mistake, that better lens will be easier to sell...

As for myself, I almost always go out with just a Summilux 50 Asph (even travel with just that one permanently on he camera), and never miss anything else.  I do own other lenses: I use a Summicron Apo 75/2 for dogs at play, and a lovely 8-lens Summicron 2/35 for e.g. walks in Stockholm Old Town.  But I never leave home with more than one lens at a time.

The attached image was made with that 50, on a week-long trip bringing only the M9 and that single lens.

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Edited September 9, 2023 by elgenper

[rramesh]

12 hours ago, as.photoportfolio said:

Can you advise me on "cheap" Leica lenses to put together a kit that can be used to photograph landscapes, portraits, but most importantly, street photography? thanks

What’s your budget? And what’s your photo taking style?

[kivis]

Get Voigtlander lenses or buy some older Leica lenses and play Leica roulette.