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I'm now a proud owner of an M8!


kalina

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Yayyy!!! I just won it on ebay. Now I have to search for a lens that's right for me. I might just go with a starter lens like the 50mm f/2.5 SUMMARIT-M. Some people use a Voightlander substitute instead. Can someone tell me about their experiences with theirs? Do pictures look like they "pop" like with Leica lenses? I'll do some research on Voightlander, too, but it seems as if most people use Leica lenses on their M8.

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It depends what your usage is.. reportage/environmental, portraits, low-light or, or? If you want "pop" I'd got for a faster lens, f2.0 or f1.4 :) If you want stupendous pop then get a Noctilux :D

 

Personally I'd stick to Leica for your first lens, and a faster aperture gives you more flexibility creatively and for low-light situations. Give us more details and we can help.

 

[incidentally I cant seem to find where to -ev my (fill) flash on the D-Lux 4.. any pointers?]

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Don't forget the crop on the M8. Unless you mostly shoot head-and-shoulders portraits, I would choose either a 28 or 35mm lens for the first lens.

 

Personally, I seem to use my 35 most often.

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Kalina,

 

way to go! I'd second David's suggestion that a 35mm or 28mm lens is worth investigating.

Erwin Puts has a review of the Summarit lenses here...

Summarit range

 

And there are some reviews of Voigtlander lenses here...

Voigtlander lenses

 

I'm looking forward to M8 number 2 arriving in a few days :D

 

Enjoy your new acquisition!

 

All the best,

 

Mark

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Congrats and welcome to the world of M8. Incidentally, there is a dedicated M8 forum here where you will get plenty of great advice from very knowledgeable folks.

 

As for the first lens, mine was 35 and, yes, the crop factor matters.

 

Voigtlaender and Zeiss lenses are viable alternatives, many are great performers and probably better value for money. I ended up going Leica for all my lenses but that was an investment I was happy to make.

 

A great source for advice on lenses is Reidreviews (reidreviews.com).

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It depends what your usage is.. reportage/environmental, portraits, low-light or, or? If you want "pop" I'd got for a faster lens, f2.0 or f1.4 :) If you want stupendous pop then get a Noctilux :D

 

Personally I'd stick to Leica for your first lens, and a faster aperture gives you more flexibility creatively and for low-light situations. Give us more details and we can help.

 

[incidentally I cant seem to find where to -ev my (fill) flash on the D-Lux 4.. any pointers?]

 

I'm definitely interested in low-light photography with no flash, of course. Ideally I'd like an f2.0. Let's see what I can afford at the moment. Looks like I might have to sell some music equipment to fuel my photography passion :)

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Congrats and welcome to the world of M8. Incidentally, there is a dedicated M8 forum here where you will get plenty of great advice from very knowledgeable folks.

 

As for the first lens, mine was 35 and, yes, the crop factor matters.

 

Voigtlaender and Zeiss lenses are viable alternatives, many are great performers and probably better value for money. I ended up going Leica for all my lenses but that was an investment I was happy to make.

 

A great source for advice on lenses is Reidreviews (reidreviews.com).

 

Thanks for the tip! And thanks everyone! I'm going to do some lens research and see which one's right for me.

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Kalina, congrats!

 

I bought a Summilux 1.4 50 mm and later a CV35 ... now wished I had done that the other way round. I seem to be using the 35 more often. It IS rather good, though, and has lovely bokeh, good detail and contrast.

 

So my tip: buy a summilux 1.4 35mm ... yes, it's expensive. But you could look at a second hand one here at the forum (see top "buy and sell"). On the other side: do me a serious offer and I might sell my 50mm :D

 

Marco

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I'm definitely interested in low-light photography with no flash, of course. Ideally I'd like an f2.0. Let's see what I can afford at the moment. Looks like I might have to sell some music equipment to fuel my photography passion :)

 

emm ok. a Summilux or Summicron will be your best starting points. Noctilux is too specialised a lens and costly for a first lens. I recommend a 35/1.4 Summilux ASPH. It is the most versatile lens and one you'll likely keep if you like the 35mm FL and FOV. Once a FF digital M gets released (eventually), the 35 'lux will be a superbly matched companion.

 

Other alternatives which would suit your purposes would be the 24/1.4 ASPH if you needed a wider perspective. The 50/1.4 ASPH is a superb lens and great for portraits.

 

The CV lenses are great value for the optics, at least from my experience with the 15 heliar. Other people have had very good experiences with the other FL's. And don't be afraid to purchase 2nd hand Leica lenses. Just check if they are 6 bit coded if this is important to you. Leica lenses generally are very well looked after and if you hunt around may pick up a good deal :D

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Looks like I might have to sell some music equipment to fuel my photography passion :)

 

heh, if you get hooked. you'll have to sell more than your music equipment. its amazing how easy it is to get sucked into the Leica GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome).

 

You're piggy bank will be showing its ribs quicker than you think :D:D

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I started out with the following lenses, which are at the cheaper end of the scale. Thoroughly recommended (though when I had more money I also purchased the latest Asph versions):

 

- Summicron 35/f2, Version 4 (the last pre-Asph). Also termed "King of Bokeh" this is one sweat lens and a real classic. Very compact too.

 

- Summilux 50/1.4, last pre-Asph (with built-in hood). Very classic romantic look and in fact smaller than the current Asph 50/1.4.

 

- Summicron 90/2, last pre-Asph (with built in hood). Often overlooked and can be had for small money (by Leica standards) I love this for portaits on my M8.

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Congratulations. I only recently got an M8 too. An incredible image making tool. If you aren't already a subscriber, (very much worth the money), I'd check out Sean Reid's site for lens reviews, Leica, Zeiss and Voigtlander. Leica lenses are most likely a "cant' go wrong" scenario. However, as previously suggested, CV lenses are absolutely incredible for the money. Very well made with a lot of choices. I have a Skopar 21/4, an Ultron 35/1.5 and a Nokton 50/1.5 for my M8, previously used on an RD-1s. The later two function very well in low light. Just some friendly thoughts from another new M8 owner.

Now you can join the "Coding Club". ;-) By the way, some nice work on your web page.

. . . David, (Burkey)

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Congratulations. I only recently got an M8 too. An incredible image making tool. If you aren't already a subscriber, (very much worth the money), I'd check out Sean Reid's site for lens reviews, Leica, Zeiss and Voigtlander. Leica lenses are most likely a "cant' go wrong" scenario. However, as previously suggested, CV lenses are absolutely incredible for the money. Very well made with a lot of choices. I have a Skopar 21/4, an Ultron 35/1.5 and a Nokton 50/1.5 for my M8, previously used on an RD-1s. The later two function very well in low light. Just some friendly thoughts from another new M8 owner.

 

Wow! Thanks for the tips. I think one of the Noktons is definitely a future purchase for me. For now, I think I'll go with the Summicron-M 35mm f/2.0 as a starter lens.

 

Now you can join the "Coding Club". ;-) By the way, some nice work on your web page.

. . . David, (Burkey)

 

Thanks David! :)

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- Summicron 35/f2, Version 4 (the last pre-Asph). Also termed "King of Bokeh" this is one sweat lens and a real classic. Very compact too.

 

Yep, I'm going for this one, although probably not a version 4 given the price and condition. I want to start out with a really basic lens. I love my D-Lux 4's f/2.0 lens and would like to get at least that on my M8. I'm looking forward to a lot more handheld ambient light shots and I look forward to using the rangefinder system, which looks so cool!

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As an affordable alternative to the Leica glass you might also consider the Zeiss Biogon 35/2. This is a contrasty lens that'll also produce that 'pop' you're referring to and is an excellent lens.

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... [incidentally I cant seem to find where to -ev my (fill) flash on the D-Lux 4.. any pointers?]

Press the up arrow 3 times (?) until it cycles through to Flash EV compensation.

 

Pete.

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