Overview of the 28mm M lenses

[Leicaboy Norway]

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Hey guys!

 

I am struggling to get an overview of the 28mm lenses for Leica M from Leica.

I am mostly interested in Summicron and slower lenses because I don't like big and fast lenses for wide angle.

Especially it seems the 28mm Elmarit has been replaced and updated

 

What I want to know is what are the best performers in general and for the money

 

I wish we had a resource like Pentax reviews where almost every Pentax lens made is rated and reviewed by users

[AndreasG]

Best performer for the money is a used Elmarit 2.8/28 ASPH V1.

[a.noctilux]

We have this website for discussions and some images as samples.

Yes, the 28mm @AndreasG mentioned above is one of the best "allround" 28mm.

 

57 minutes ago, Leicaboy Norway said:

I wish we had a resource like Pentax reviews where almost every Pentax lens made is rated and reviewed by users

You are at theright place here, a bit search will answer, and each M is different, so not really useful "reviews".

Your own experience is the only available "review".

I use old (first) Summicron-M 28mm asph  before, for years, and when I use the Elmarit-M, I hardly see differences, 

not counting weight and F/2 of course.

Benefit is a very good lens and hiding much less the M finder.

...

Summaron-M 5.6/28 is another winner.

 

 

[a.noctilux]

I forgot ...

here a size "review" of my 28mm lens from Leica

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another size "review" of my other 28mm for M/LTM

Summicron-M 28mm is at center, not so big comparing to M-Hexanon 2.8/28, at left

 

[Tessar.]

I've been using my screw mount Hektor a lot recently, because it's so small and I like the rendering.  It cost me £680 and the previous owner had it serviced by Cameraworks, so the glass and mechanics are perfect. If you can find a good one and at a good price then they are well worth it for daytime shooting.

I also have the VM II Color Skopar which is tiny and excellent - very similar to the Elmarit ASPH in output.

I found either of the Elmarit ASPHs great, as is the ZM 28mm.  Although I no longer own these.

The Summaron is great too, like a Hektor on steroids, but the effect can be a bit too much at times.  I prefer the Hektor, with the disclaimer that I am not too fussy about the far corners of my images and like a vignette.

I have just taken delivery of a screw mount Avenon 28mm, which on first impressions is very sharp and tiny too, but I've yet to take it out for a spin...

I found the V4 Elmarit and M-Hexanon 28s to be pretty similar in size to the Summicron.  The Summicron is lovely in output, but I prefer a smaller lens... 

I found the M-hexanon to have focus inaccuracies with my M typ 262 and returned it.  Optically it was quite similar to the V4 Elmarit. (my V4 had some lens separation, so it was returned too - look out for that on older lenses...)

Edited July 1, 2024 by Tessar.

[Anbaric]

1 hour ago, Leicaboy Norway said:

I am struggling to get an overview of the 28mm lenses for Leica M from Leica.

I am mostly interested in Summicron and slower lenses because I don't like big and fast lenses for wide angle.

Especially it seems the 28mm Elmarit has been replaced and updated

There are I think 4 different non-ASPH versions of the Elmarit and 2 ASPH versions (v1 = 11606 black with plastic hood, v2 = 11677 black with metal hood). All except the latest ASPH version are listed in the forum wiki here.

There are two versions of the Summicron (not counting silver variants), both ASPH (v1 = 11604 black with plastic hood, v2 = 11672 black with metal hood). Only the first one is listed in the wiki (which needs updating).

Some internet reviewers claim the v2 ASPH versions of both lenses are better than the v1 ASPH designs. I don't know if Leica have claimed this, and other people seem to think they are optically the same as the previous versions. Bear in mind that blogger reviewers are usually comparing single copies of each lens, probably aren't trained in doing this, and might be inclined to favour the new thing if they've spent their own money, so you may want to compare multiple independent reviews to form an opinion.

The late Erwin Puts assesses the non-ASPH versions of the Elmarit and the first ASPH version of the Summicron here.

Edited July 1, 2024 by Anbaric

[dpitt]

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The Leica Wiki on top of this page is always a good start. Full tech info of each Leica lens and references to discussions about it in this forum.

M Lenses sorted by focal length

 

[Anbaric]

1 hour ago, dpitt said:

The Leica Wiki on top of this page is always a good start. Full tech info of each Leica lens and references to discussions about it in this forum.

M Lenses sorted by focal length

Sadly out of date, though. I don't think it has been actively maintained for a long time. Date ranges like '1993-Current' are no longer correct, because the v2 versions of the 28/2 ASPH and 28/2.8 ASPH haven't been added. I see that Leica also now have an integrated hood 'product variant' of the 28/2 ASPH v2 (not to mention the similar 'Safari' version), and there is also the tiny 28/5.6 Summaron reissue to add.

[spydrxx]

Do some independent research, that way you will have a better grasp on the options, rather than just reading a listing of all Leica options and somebody else's favorite.

[Anbaric]

Well, if you don't have a list you don't know where to start - the OP wanted an overview. And independent research tends to mean reading about somebody else's opinion, which may or may not be well supported. I remember one blogger review of the 35/2 ASPH versions where the earlier one obviously hadn't been focused properly, so read critically. Erwin Puts is probably the only person who tried to look systematically at all versions of all Leica lens types (and measured MTF rather than just vibes), but sadly he is no longer with us.

[dpitt]

2 hours ago, Anbaric said:

Sadly out of date, though. I don't think it has been actively maintained for a long time. Date ranges like '1993-Current' are no longer correct, because the v2 versions of the 28/2 ASPH and 28/2.8 ASPH haven't been added. I see that Leica also now have an integrated hood 'product variant' of the 28/2 ASPH v2 (not to mention the similar 'Safari' version), and there is also the tiny 28/5.6 Summaron reissue to add.

You are right. The WIKI is very complete up to a certain point in time, but it does not have been maintained well since around 2015.
e.g. the section about the SL series has not even been added yet.
It is sad to see such a valuable knowledge base being neglected.

I contacted @LUF Admin to help with maintenance a long time ago because I have some pro experience with WIKI pages, but I never heard from him again. At the time, I assumed there were plans to rework the site completely, so any work on the old version would not help that much anyway.

Edited July 1, 2024 by dpitt

[lct]

LeicaWiki is a good start in its current state. Adding to it, Sean Reid did an interesting comparo on his subscription site. He found that the Elmarit 28/2.8 asph v2 might be preferable than v1 on SL cameras and the opposite on M cameras if i remember well. I kept v1 personally, having no experience with SL cameras. As for Summicron's i have both v1 and v2 and struggle to see significant diferences between them. I don't shoot often at infinity though. I prefer both Summicron's due to their slightly lesser contrast compared to the Elmarit asph but the latter is hard to beat if you want a compact lens. The Ultron 28/2 asph is even more contrasty than both Summicron and Elmarit asph. Great little lens otherwise with a bit more vignetting and CA. For less contrast in a compact package, my favorite is the M-Rokkor 28/2.8 for Minolta CLE which has a Mandler-like rendition but it has more veiling flare when shooting into the light. My best advice is try lenses in person if you can or come again here with more precise questions about your budget and your tastes regarding contrast, distortion, flare, etc.

[dpitt]

56 minutes ago, lct said:

LeicaWiki is a good start in its current state. Adding to it, Sean Reid did an interesting comparo on his subscription site. He found that the Elmarit 28/2.8 asph v2 might be preferable than v1 on SL cameras and the opposite on M cameras if i remember well. I kept v1 personally, having no experience with SL cameras. As for Summicron's i have both v1 and v2 and struggle to see significant diferences between them. I don't shoot often at infinity though. I prefer both Summicron's due to their slightly lesser contrast compared to the Elmarit asph but the latter is hard to beat if you want a compact lens. The Ultron 28/2 asph is even more contrasty than both Summicron and Elmarit asph. Great little lens otherwise with a bit more vignetting and CA. For less contrast in a compact package, my favorite is the M-Rokkor 28/2.8 for Minolta CLE which has a Mandler-like rendition but it has more veiling flare when shooting into the light. My best advice is try lenses in person if you can or come again here with more precise questions about your budget and your tastes regarding contrast, distortion, flare, etc.

+1 on trying the lenses for yourself.
Read up about them as much as you can and then decide to buy a used sample. If you buy used then trying it for a while and reselling is not that expensive because all M lenses and Leica lenses keep their value very well compared to SLR lenses in general.

I had the Leica Elmarit 1:2.8/28 ASPH v1 and it was great on my M8. On my FF M9 I prefer a 35mm so I moved to a Summicron 35 and bought a M-Rokkor 1:2.8/28
The Rokkor is a great performer for its price, nice rendering, but no match for the contrast and distortion free rendering of the Elmarit . Also, it flares and some samples suffer from white spots on the inside the lens barrel. But still I prefer its rendering to what Voigtlander has to offer (by a small margin), and maybe even to what I see from Zeiss online although I did not try the Zeiss myself. If you like a small form factor, I think Voigtlander, Rokkor and Leica have an advantage anyway. 
There are even cheaper Chinese options now, remarkable at first sight but lacking in character IMO. I think that if I would buy Chinese it would need to be at least as good as what LLL has on offer. 
YMMV of course.

[blackdot]

Depends on color v b/w, and film v digital. ASPH lenses can look too hard on b/w to some people (me), and deep non-retrofocus lenses may cause issues on digital.

[Ko.Fe.]

1 hour ago, blackdot said:

Depends on color v b/w, and film v digital. ASPH lenses can look too hard on b/w to some people (me), and deep non-retrofocus lenses may cause issues on digital.

Some ASPH, but not all of them. I had plenty of 28 in M, LTM and one ASPH was nice on bw and color film. 

[nitroplait]

On 7/1/2024 at 9:47 AM, Leicaboy Norway said:

What I want to know is what are the best performers in general and for the money

My favourite M focal length for film is 28mm.

I have used the now discontinued Voigtländer Ultron 28/2 (version 1) for years, and have been happy, but was thinking of getting a Leica branded 28 lens since I use that focal length a lot.

Over the past two years I have had the chance to try two samples of the 28mm f/2.8 Elmarit-M IV in direct comparison with my Ultron, and must disappointedly say that my Ultron performs objectively better along the frame edges/corners and that it tie in the center with the Elmarit-M.  And importantly, the Elmarit-M simply doesn't offer any additional subjective quality I can appreciate.

The price bracket of the Elmarit 28/2.8 IV has been as far as I have been willing to go, and I don't want to drop the money on a Leica lens if it doesn't at least match what I already own.

My point being, if looking for a "best performer for the money" with a Leica branding, this Elmarit-M does not qualify IMO. I would hope and expect there is better to be found when you move into ASPH territory.

The usual caveats apply; the two Elmarit-M's may have been poor sample variations or my Ultron may be a particularly good variation.

I am still on the lookout for a Leica-M 28mm but in the meantime I got the tiny Voigtländer Color-Skopar 28/2.8 for my LTM cameras, and must admit that this little jewel has raised the bar for what quality I have come to expect from my future Leica lens - which may consequently have made this  quest impossible within my budget.

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