Character lenses are all the rage in Hollywood - what is your favorite from the M mount?

[Smudgerer]

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14 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

Due to popularity for "being different" I remember when Arri did the Amira update where it got the S16 mode... and most cinematographers still say the Cooke zoon is an awesome lens (but many also think the "best" being the Angenieux 7-81 T2.4, which is highly subjective), so there surely still is a cool niche market for these S16 cuties.

Yes, it was said that Cooke zooms "were never long enough, wide enough or fast enough", BUT they were, probably still are, the best there is out there.

[John Robinson]

1 hour ago, Al Brown said:

I am lucky to own the original 1949 black paint, 17 blade T coated Biotar f=5.8cm 1:2 in M42 mount that the Helios 44 was calculated upon

I have a similar-vintage Meyer Optik Primoplan 2/58 attached to a Pentacon F (very early SLR derived from Contax rangefinder) as well as another Russian copy.  Both are clean and produce very interesting results alongside the later Helios if you don't mind the preset-aperture system.  Might be candidates for M-conversion although they can be used as they are with zone-focusing or EVF.  There's something about these old lenses that is quite compelling.  The closest I have to your Zeiss Biotar is a 1949 Contax-mount T* Sonnar 50 that works well (including coupled focusing) via an L-Mount adapter alongside its older sibling the pre-war, uncoated 1.5/50 Sonnar.  Both have given me excellent results on Leica M-series.

I have a Biogon 2.8/35 that can also be adapted to L-mount but goes so far into the camera that it has to be handled very carefully (also have the Russian copy that is easier to use but doesn't quite have the look of the original Biogon).

Such a lot of choices if you are seeking an archaic look ...

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[Al Brown]

4 hours ago, Smudgerer said:

Yes, it was said that Cooke zooms "were never long enough, wide enough or fast enough", BUT they were, probably still are, the best there is out there.

You forgot the main moniker: "never sharp enough" 😊.

[Al Brown]

3 hours ago, John Robinson said:

Such a lot of choices if you are seeking an archaic look ...

Indeed and so funny when in rational explanation all that lens "character" are in fact flaws, aberrations, field curvature, coma, flaring, vignetting, distortion, spectral passthrough (for color)...
Perhaps a better word than "lens character" (which seems to trigger so many folks) should be "lens signature".
Here a wide open Old Delft Minor LTM 35/3.5 from 1948. All the flaws, all the signature.

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[Smudgerer]

18 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

You forgot the main moniker: "never sharp enough" 😊.

Yes Al, you could be right of course but I've never felt that "never...." myself with any of the Cookes I've owned / used, but then the impression of sharpness can be elusive at times with any lens. Cookes have a different kind of "sharpness" when compared with say Zeiss lenses, but again it's more the overall look that a lens gives rather than all the other parameters individually.........And of course that is something we seem to argue and opine endlessly here in regards to our Leica lenses when compared to other offerings, but that's why we're here, right?

Edited March 2 by Smudgerer

[Al Brown]

I wrote a short article on how I apply "character" to my modern Karbe ASPH lenses on modern sensors (M10-R) here. The fully mechanical (not in post) process gives me all the flaws I need and avoids those I do not desire (like coma + astigmatism of the fast pre-asph summilux edges).

[Al Brown]

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Another very “character” M mount lens that can be super frustrating until you get to know and tame it is the Voigtländer Nokton 35/1.4 v1 (first version). I have the MAP Camera anniversary edition and boy is it capricious…

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[Danner]

In my humble collection, the 1953 Summitar 50/2 has the most 'character' wide open for sure.  Runner up is the V2 50 Summulix, which is actually a very good lens optically, but it has the classic narrow DoF that Leica does so well.

[TheGodParticle/Hari]

Countless mounts and gems for each mount were produced … from the pancolar 75, trioplan 100, biotar 58 and 75, minolta 85, Voigtländer 125, c/y sonnars, planers and distagons … to all the m Mount goodness such as the summar, summitar, summarilt, summarex, xenon, hektor 

Its fun to have a wide variety of equipment to play with 

Image shot with my daily driver original 50/1.2

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