75mm lens.

[IkarusJohn]

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Monochrom, 75 Summilux-M (stopped down).

Sadly, in the process of re-organising my photo library, the DNG file got lost.  I only have this thumbnail, but blown up to a metre across, sharp across the frame.

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[rsolomon]

You will likely struggle with it as I did, mostly on focus.  my original kit was 35 & 75 cron .... later to add a 21 and recently a 50. 

The 75 cron is awesome, I learned to use it properly when my 35 went in for adjustment leaving me with ONLY the 75. I have since learned this is the best method for learning a new lens .... I did not take it off my camera for months ... by the time my 35 came back I had pretty much completely understood this lens . it not just about reach, its POV (point of view) perspective , seeing the street, landscapes differently .  For me it was a lens that pushed me forward with my photography. Here's a few random samples  

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Edited January 28 by rsolomon

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[jaapv]

A nice lens to try out the 75 mm view is the Nokton 75-1.5. Small, light, not expensive and close to the Summilux in quality and usage.

[paulleica]

vor 6 Stunden schrieb jaapv:

A nice lens to try out the 75 mm view is the Nokton 75-1.5. Small, light, not expensive and close to the Summilux in quality and usage.

Yes, I can confirm that. I have now replaced many of my Leica-M lenses with Voigtländer lenses and Zeiss lenses. I never had a 75 from Leica, but I'm also impressed by the 75 1.5 from Voigtländer. I sold my Summicron 90mm 2.0 pre. asph. because it was too soft for me open. I found that you could only use it effectively from an aperture of 2.8. I replaced it with the very good Voigtländer 90 mm 2.8 Apo Skopar, which is very light and compact. As my camera bag is big enough, I now have both the 75 and the 90 with me most of the time. I don't think that the 50, 75 and 90 series are too close together in terms of focal length, as the image impression is different in each case. Cropping is not a good idea, I think, as the resolution of the M10 doesn't really allow it (I'm spoilt by the resolution of the SL2). In addition, the image impression is different when cropping than when I use the correct focal length. Cropping is only an emergency solution, even if the resolution is sufficient.

[LocalHero1953]

Apologies if I overlooked it, but I don't think anyone has mentioned the Hektor 7.3cm f/1.9 and its grandchild by a different father, the Voigtlander 75mm f/1.9. Probably not the choice for a first 75, but interesting to explore as an alternative. Creates quite tipsy bokeh, but also lovely portraits of a certain Edwardian summer's day vibe, and, with care, sunny landscapes.

[mikozia]

 

Sorry, wrong topic posted.

Edited January 29 by mikozia

[Biotar]

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You should not decide according to focal length, but rather according to use / character ... the 75 mm apo is the apo with the best price-performance ratio and most versatile usage between 50 and 90.

[NaAn]

Hi everyone  🙂

Thank you all for your comments, recommendations, photos and experiences. After reading some of the reviews with photos my lens is Voigtlander Nocton 75mm 1.5 (hope to get it soon). 

As I mentioned earlier, I’m not a photographer who does portraits and my interest is to shoot with reasonable price lens. Hope it will work for me.

[rsolomon]

Different strokes for different folks

 

 I don’t really get it… from my perspective leica is MUCH more about lenses than cameras …. Sure the camera body & sensor play a role BUT to me it’s the lenses that drew me to leica and keeps me here. 

I know to many will think this is silly but why buy a camera body with a leica lens mount and not use leica lenses? 

I get the $$ argument - personally  I rather have one leica lens than multiple x brand lenses.
 

certainly others companies sell m mount lenses so there is a market.
 

For me I would not put a no label , low octane fuel in a Ferrari 
 

[RexGig0]

17 hours ago, rsolomon said:

Different strokes for different folks

 

 I don’t really get it… from my perspective leica is MUCH more about lenses than cameras …. Sure the camera body & sensor play a role BUT to me it’s the lenses that drew me to leica and keeps me here. 

I know to many will think this is silly but why buy a camera body with a leica lens mount and not use leica lenses? 

I get the $$ argument - personally  I rather have one leica lens than multiple x brand lenses.
 

certainly others companies sell m mount lenses so there is a market.
 

For me I would not put a no label , low octane fuel in a Ferrari 
 

I understand. It was a specific Leica M lens, the Summilux-M 50mm ASPH, that drew me to the M system. Almost six years later, that specific Leica M lens keeps me here. I would not, however, consider all Cosina-manufactured lenses (Voigtlander, Zeiss) to be “low octane.” If money were no object, such that I could afford to acquire every Leica M lens in the line-up, I would, still, keep using at least two Voigtlander VM lenses, and at least one Zeiss ZM lens. Not every non-Leica M-mount lens is a second-best choice. With two of these lenses, the superb coatings, that resist flare so very well, compared to Leica M lenses, are major factors, but not the only factors. (The Zeiss T* coatings are very effective, and at least some recent Voigtlander lenses seem to be as well-done, in this regard.)

If I were, for example, to have to shoot* at a social event, in harsh mid-morning sunlight, here in southern Texas, with shafts of sunlight filtering through Live Oak branches, and glare reflecting from windows and other surfaces, my beloved Summilux might not be the best lens M-mount lens, if I want flare-free images. (Flare can, most certainly, be used creatively, and the Summilux can certainly be used in that way, when there is time to work with the direction and quality of light.) This scenario is largely why I bought a Voigtlander APO Lanthar 50mm VM, to complement my Summilux.

To be clear, I am not defending the Voigtlander 75mm Nokton. I have no experience with it, so, do not have an informed opinion. I do have practical and subjective reasons to love the APO Summicron-M 75mm ASPH, and have one, but have yet to use it for portraits, so, have been silent, until now, in this discussion thread.

*I am not a “professional photographer,” nor an expert, but, having performed evidentiary/forensic/crime scene photography, during my time as a public servant, people do tend to have expectations.

Edited January 31 by RexGig0

[panoramer]

The lens is magic...

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Leica M10-R and 75mm Apo-Summicron Asph.

[pippy]

On 1/30/2024 at 7:52 PM, rsolomon said:

...why buy a camera body with a leica lens mount and not use leica lenses?...

Because different lenses 'Draw' in different ways and countless non-Leica lenses 'Draw' very beautifully indeed. Voigtlander produces a number of such lenses which fit this description.

If you, personally, have had no experience in examining results obtained by using non-Leica lenses then you, yourself, have ample opportunity to answer your own question. All you will require is to have access to lenses produced by a number of different non-Leica manufacturers, use them, and adopt an open mind when viewing the results.

Do you think you could manage that?

Good luck.

Philip.

Edited January 31 by pippy

[rsolomon]

3 hours ago, pippy said:

Because different lenses 'Draw' in different ways and countless non-Leica lenses 'Draw' very beautifully indeed. Voigtlander produces a number of such lenses which fit this description.

If you, personally, have had no experience in examining results obtained by using non-Leica lenses then you, yourself, have ample opportunity to answer your own question. All you will require is to have access to lenses produced by a number of different non-Leica manufacturers, use them, and adopt an open mind when viewing the results.

Do you think you could manage that?

Good luck.

Philip.

Fair point…. To answer your very good question …  I think I could, but likely I won’t.

For the past 2 decades, as well as today  I’m dedicated to leica lenses, for me the 21 SEM, 35, 50, 75 crons  completely fulfill my photography journey. 

[IkarusJohn]

3 hours ago, pippy said:

Because different lenses 'Draw' in different ways and countless non-Leica lenses 'Draw' very beautifully indeed. Voigtlander produces a number of such lenses which fit this description.

If you, personally, have had no experience in examining results obtained by using non-Leica lenses then you, yourself, have ample opportunity to answer your own question. All you will require is to have access to lenses produced by a number of different non-Leica manufacturers, use them, and adopt an open mind when viewing the results.

Do you think you could manage that?

Good luck.

Philip.

Ooo, fighting words! 😋

I have had a couple of Zeiss lenses (made in Germany), and the build quality was outstanding; but one (the 15/2.8) had Italian flag and the other (35/1.4) I found a little cold.  I now find myself with more lenses than I need(21x1; 28x2; 35x2; 50x4; and 75x1), with little justification for buying other makers’ lenses.  I need to spend more time with what I have than to explore the alternatives.  I know this sin’t about me …

But, I do take @rsolomon’s point - Leica’s strength is not, to my mind, the cameras (particularly the digital ones) so much as the lenses.  You could buy into the M mount, get an affordable camera, then buy CV or Chinese M mount lenses (I’m not being disparaging), but I do think the you (generically) would be missing out not having at least one good Leica M lens to go on an M mount camera …

I say that being completely biased, and over-invested in Leica lenses (emotionally, not just financially).

[Mark Stutman]

I love my Summarit 75/2.5.  It's incredibly sharp and contrasty, and it's my easiest-focussing lens, thanks to its short focus throw.  I'm a fan of the 75mm focal length, and find that it's perfect in a 2-lens kit with a 35.  It's much easier to focus than a 90, and it uses-up much more of the viewfinder than a 90, which seems to make working a composition more natural.  I've owned two CV 75s and both were quite lovely, but I'm a sucker for 6-bit coding for my M10R's functionality and for EXIF lens data.

[pippy]

5 hours ago, rsolomon said:

Fair point…. To answer your very good question …  I think I could, but likely I won’t.

For the past 2 decades, as well as today  I’m dedicated to leica lenses, for me the 21 SEM, 35, 50, 75 crons  completely fulfill my photography journey. 

That's fair enough! Obviously, there's nothing 'wrong' whatsoever in sticking with Leica. Personally I like to have a bit of variety just for fun.

I've used Leica alongside other brands side-by-side ever since I bought an M2 in 1980 to go with the Nikon F which I was using at the time. In fact it's only recently (2014) that I've started to use digi-M Leicas exclusively(*) for personal work.

Philip.

* Actually I do sometimes take out other stuff when I want to shoot film - Barnacks, Nikons and such - but really that's only once in a blue moon...

Edited February 1 by pippy

[pippy]

5 hours ago, IkarusJohn said:

Ooo, fighting words! 😋

I have had a couple of Zeiss lenses (made in Germany), and the build quality was outstanding; but one (the 15/2.8) had Italian flag and the other (35/1.4) I found a little cold.  I now find myself with more lenses than I need(21x1; 28x2; 35x2; 50x4; and 75x1), with little justification for buying other makers’ lenses...

But, I do take @rsolomon’s point - Leica’s strength is not, to my mind, the cameras (particularly the digital ones) so much as the lenses...

😸

Nah! Not fighting words at all. I'm just a little surprised to read about a certain lack of curiosity of how other lens manufacturers' products 'draw'. I, too, have more lenses than I need where the M-mount is concerned. Of the 20 (covering 21mm to 135mm) only 6 are not Leica but two of those six - a LLL 35mm f2.0 '8 Element' and a 40mm f1.4 Voigtlander Nokton - are among my most frequently used lenses.

The main attraction of using an M for me is the camera form / haptics allied to those small, superb-performing lenses. I can't split the two parts of the process.

Philip.

[pgk]

FWIW I would not pay a high price for a non-Leica M lens for the very simple reason that most suffer higher depreciation than Leica lenses. So if I decided to pass it on I would most likely lose money whereas I have usually broken even, or gained, upon sales of Leica's own lenses. I would and do buy cheaper non-Leica lenses though, which have had their depreciation, and again most will break even if bought at reasonable enough prices. Of current Leica lenses the cheaper 75s and 90s offer good value (for Leica) and there are bargains to be had. The Summarits especially have been offered at low prices but are starting that inevitable climb as tthey have become scarcer and buyers realist that they are cracking little lenses able to compete with their more expensive counterparts much of the time.

[Stuart Richardson]

I bought a mint used 75mm Summilux made in Germany model for 1500 dollars in the very early 2000s. It was a stretch for me at the time. I have been in love with it ever since, even if I do not use it as much these days as I am mostly using SL lenses. Not long after the 75mm APO was introduced I bought a demo of it with the intention of selling whichever 75mm was worse. I still have it. It was very hard for me to sell, as it is also a superb lens. The conclusion that I came to was that the 75mm APO was better for digital and for sharpness at the wider apertures. When shooting digital M's I tended to stick to the APO, also because of the more convenient size. But honestly, the advantage is primarily at f2-f4. By 5.6 the 75mm Summilux is still extremely sharp and capable, even on 47mp or the M10M. I am fussy about sharpness, so if it satisfies me, it should satisfy most. What the 75mm Summilux has, however, is this incredible glow at 1.4-2.0, and exceptional bokeh. So the lens is versatile and allows you to choose a look based on the situation. Wide open it is a forgiving and pictorial lens, while stopped down it has modern sharpness and contrast. I also agree with IkarusJohn that it is a easier to focus than the 75mm APO, as the smooth and long helical is a bit easier to control and fine tune. The 75mm APO was I believe the first or second lens Leica made with a floating lens element (along with the 50mm 1.4 ASPH), and the early period was not quite as smooth as the later lenses. They still focus well, but there is a tiny bit of stiffness and unevenness in comparison to the 75mm Summilux. It could just be my copy, but both my 75mm APO and 50mm 1.4 ASPH had it. After 20 years the 50mm 1.4 is quite smooth, but the 75mm is still ever so slightly jerky. I expect I could service it, but it is not bad enough to warrant.

I would say that if you want a versatile and creative lens, the Summilux is the way to go, while the 75mm APO is the way to go for the best sharpness and contrast on digital. I do think it is due for an update though. The 75 APO SL does that job even better. In fact, I am planning on selling the M version to get the SL one at some point. Instead of having two M 75mm lenses and no SL one, it is a better balance to have the character lens on the M and the performance lens on the SL.

Edited February 1 by Stuart Richardson

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[Stuart Richardson]

P.S. The MTF of the Summilux are kind of wild...you can see how soft it is wide open, but how quickly it improves and at 5.6 it is as good as the APO except in the high frequency detail at edges.

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Edited February 1 by Stuart Richardson