Portrait lens recommendation for M8

[Guest PhotoWebb.co.uk]

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I recently became the proud owner of an M8, 35mm f/2 Summicron and 28mm f/2.8 Elmarit.

 

I find that I am wanting for a longer lens on occasion, especially for portrait work and detail shots and am thinking about purchasing a 75mm lens.

 

My budget may be able to stretch to a second hand 75mm f/2 Summicron but what is looking more likely is the 75mm f/2.5 Summarit. Does anyone have experience of either lens (or even better, both) who could give me some help.

 

I think it is unlikely that I will use this focal length in low light conditions so perhaps the extra half stop of the Summicron is not worth the extra expenditure for me. Image quality is my main concern.

 

I have heard that this focal length can be quite hard to use on an M8, please share your experiences.

 

I would love to see some images taken with 75mm lenses if you don't mind.

 

I bought the Leica as a travel camera (I shoot with a Canon 1Ds Mark 2 and L series lenses for landscape/pro work). The weight of the lenses is therefore a consideration for me aswell. I got the Leica as I was sick of lugging round a heavy DSLR and lenses when I travel.

 

Thank you in advance for your help - this is my first posting in the Leica community.

 

Kind regards

 

Daniel Webb

www.PhotoWebb.co.uk

[chrism]

Welcome!

I prefer the CV Heliar to my Summarit - both are f2.5, but the CV is a fraction of the price. I didn't find the Summarit as sharp, but you know how variable the focussing on these lenses can be, and having it adjusted might help out. Both, being longer lenses, have a relatively narrow depth of field used at 2.5, but if you really want to get your subject to stand out from the background you might want a larger aperture. The Summicron is said to be painfully sharp for portraits (possibly unflattering). I have a S/H Summilux on the way and I'm hopeful it will be the best of the lot. If your budget is tight I think you could do worse than look at the CV Heliar.

 

Chris

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[Guest PhotoWebb.co.uk]

The CV Heliar was another option. How do you attach these to the M8? I beleive they are not M bayonet mount so presume there is an adapter of some sort.

 

It feels like going for the Heliar initially will allow me to try out the focal length at a relatively low cost so might well go for that.

 

Let's face it; if I decide I don't like the lens I will probably get most of my money back if I sell second hand.

 

More pics from this lens and the Leica competitors would be great.

 

Thanks

 

Daniel

[Mauribix]

Welcome!

I prefer the CV Heliar to my Summarit - both are f2.5, but the CV is a fraction of the price. I didn't find the Summarit as sharp

 

Chris, I'm sure that something did not work properly with your summarit.

With all the respect, the match between the 75cron ASPH and the new 75Summarit is not that obviously solved.

The 75summarit is one of the best designs in the summarit family.

[piero]

I have read in different places that the summicron is sharper and better color balanced that the summarit. I have tested the summarit and then purchased the summicron, Apo helps in color work. The 1.4x magnifier is reccomended, I am having trouble focusing without it and it is not easily available: I have ordered it the 20th of september...

[Mauribix]

Daniel, welcome to the forum.

If you're looking for a 75mm lens, anyway almost every 75mm from Leica and CV should do the work: being it the cron ASPH, the Summarit, the Heliar or the Summilux 75 too.

It depends on what kind of "fingerprint" you like, being (at full aperture) different classes of the same FOV (the dreamy-soft look of the 75lux vs the sharp as a tack 75cron for example).

I suggest you to look for a comparison that Guy Mancuso posted here almost a year ago with all the 75mm lens compared (not the Heliar anyway).

 

But if you're looking for a "portrait" lens and you accept suggestions, I would invite you to try a summilux 50 ASPH or the latest pre-ASPH (with telescopic built-in hood) or the CV Nokton 50 f1.5, they are great lenses, with the Summilux 50 pre-asph as my personal favourite for portraits, they give you narrow DOF, precise framing with the M8 (unlikely the 75mm framlines), and 0.7m as the closest focus distance.

 

But choosing between a 75 or 50mm lens is just up to you, and it depends on what kind of portraits you mean.

 

I hope you'll find your way!

[Mauribix]

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here it is the Trio-comparison by Guy:

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m8-forum/40693-leica-75mm-trio-comparision-lux-cron.html

[johnastovall]

Voigtlander Color-Heliar f/2.5 75mm, M8

 

[chrism]

Chris, I'm sure that something did not work properly with your summarit.

With all the respect, the match between the 75cron ASPH and the new 75Summarit is not that obviously solved.

The 75summarit is one of the best designs in the summarit family.

 

I don't doubt you are right; my example of the Summarit 75 needs adjustment. I'm still delighted at how the much cheaper, smaller and lighter CV 75 does so well. I remember Guy's comparisons and I'm hoping the 'Lux will give me that shallow DOF that I love in tight portraits.

 

Chris

[dalippe]

Although it wasn't on your list, Maurizio wisely mentioned the 75 Summilux. I suppose it will cost more than the others, but might be your best choice among the Leica 75s for portraits since it is a bit softer than the others (I have no personal experience of the CV so can't talk about it).

 

As for the Summicron vs. Summarit sharpness question, I'm not so sure the Summicron is sharper. I did some very unscientific testing and thought the Summarit was at least as sharp. Sean Reid did very careful testing and if memory serves found the Summarit a hair sharper than the Summicron. His site is by subscription only, but if you think you have lots of lens decisions ahead of you, it is worth the price.

 

David

[luigi bertolotti]

Well, the initiator of this thread asked to see some pic taken with a 75... let's discuss less and post some more image...

Both of these were taken with 75 Summarit (f 2,8 the 1st, f 4 the 2nd) on M8: I'm very satisfied with it, but have no comparision, apart my Hektor 73 of 1931...

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[Guest PhotoWebb.co.uk]

Thank you everyone for your comments so far. More pics please! I find that looking at people's best pics taken with the lenses give me an idea of what the optics are capable of in real world shooting (which, after all, is what I am interested in).

 

Many thanks so far for your help, this forum is full of many more helpful people than you come across in other forums.

 

Kind regards

 

Daniel

[Michael-IIIf]

Impossible to tell on files reduced for the web, but for what it's worth here is a snap with the Summilux 75, M8,

 

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[Mauribix]

Luigi, that's exactly what I was sayin': the summarit 75 is an incredible lens (but the only 75mm I've never had:mad: ), I really like its bokeh and colour rendering. Did you anyway found it somehow flare-prone?

BTW lovely family shots!

 

Michael, I love the 75lux and your shot reminded me why!

[Guest zwicko]

Michael,

 

lovely capture!

 

Cheers, Z.

[Guest lll]

For me the best portrait lens is still the first Leitz Canada Summicron 2/90, although my Summilux 1.4/75 and even the Noctilux are not bad for this purpose.

 

It is not a question of l/mm!

 

Regards Friedhelm

[Mauribix]

For me the best portrait lens is still the first Leitz Canada Summicron 2/90, although my Summilux 1.4/75 and even the Noctilux are not bad for this purpose.

 

It is not a question of l/mm!

 

Regards Friedhelm

 

I don't doubt your 90, but don't you find it a bit too "long" as a portrait lens with the M8?, of course you can do portraits, but to me it seem too hard to handle the DOF with that lens... (sometimes I use a summicron 90AA)

[Mauribix]

de gustibus non est disputandum,

 

of course!

[james_h]

Daniel,

 

Sean Reid review site is well worth a visit and subscription.

http://www.reidreviews.com

Sean also posts on here and is very helpful.

After reading his reviews I bought a 50 CV nokton 1.4 & the 75 heliar. I'm happy with the performance/cost ratio.

 

Regards

Jim

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[Guest lll]

I dont think a 90 mm is too long for portraits, even not at the crop-M8. At the R8 I prefer the 180 for that purpose. You can concentrate really on the person. Not always you need to show the last end of every hairtip. Sometimes eyes only i.e. can tell a lot of the one behind them.

 

Focusing is not a real issue, especially not with the M8 where you have the sudden control. Interesting possibiliy with the old Summicron: use it with the short helical mount at the Visoflex. Then you can control the areas in and out of focus very well.

 

Regards Friedhelm