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Lenses that are great up close?


batmobile

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Can anyone recommend lenses in M mount that are particularly good up close. I am nto after a macro lens, just lenses that perform better than average at short distances. I am particularly interested in lenses in the 24-35 bracket, but also longer. I am aware of the 50 asph lux and 75 cron having floating elements to help with this, but have no idea if any shorter lenses perform strongly close in. Any thoughts?

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Between 700 mm and 1 metre I've always found the 35 Summicron asph to be very sharp across the frame (M8), have no noticeable curvature of field and no more than about 1/2 stop vignetting. My 28 Summicron is similar though very slightly lower contrast, although this is the lens's signature imho.

 

Pete.

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I agree with Pete's assessment of the 35mm Aspheric. I often use mine at its closest setting. Brian Bower, in his latest book, also gives an excellent example of how good the 50mm Summilux is at close range.

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In the longer lens category the 75 cron sounds like the one as it has a better close focus than the 50s and is still great as a regular short tele. Still, expensive (well into ouch territory for me). The 24-35 is the toughest one to crack. A 28 summilux with floating element would be nice (Leica?), but just as expensive.

 

I am wondering whether the new 24 3.8 might fit the bill, but have found very few insightful comments on this lens, especially wrt look/contrast etc. I will be honest and say I am looking towards the FF m9 (I hope) for new lens purchases and would be looking for lenses with modest contrast, which might not nake the 24 3.8 such a sound idea as it sounds like a very high contrast lens. The 28 cron is killer expensive too... and some say not that great up close (is it?)

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... I am wondering whether the new 24 3.8 might fit the bill, but have found very few insightful comments on this lens, especially wrt look/contrast etc. ...

Sean Reid has reveiwed this lens on his (subscription) site. If you haven't already subscribed I recommend the site for it's excellent, impartial, scientific reviews and informative articles.

 

Pete.

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50 Summicron (version current since 1980) holds up very well to .7 meters - better (IMHO) than the 50 ASPH f/1.4 (which is great at infinity) - especially wide-open.

 

Most of the 28's I've tried are very good at .7 meters and wide-open - cron, Elmarit v.3 (canadian), Elmarit-ASPH.

 

I used a 24 Elmarit-M-ASPH with a 55mm closeup lens attached, and scale focus based on ruler tests, and that produced very good results, too, given the stress I was putting on it (scale-focus, accesory lens). My attempt to recapture the close-focusing capability of the old Super-Angulon 21. (15" or so)

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The 50mm Summicron is excellent. I use a 90mm Elmar (3 element) which is outstanding, and I suspect the current 90mm macro-elmar is better (it is designed for close-ups). With new lenses, Leica does not offer much as accessories to enable close-up photography, except the macro-elmar 90 (with its close focusing device). Older lenses with a visoflex, some focusing device (I have the bellows), are outstanding in this regard.

 

Also - use any lens at its optimum aperature, if at all possible. Maximumize your chances of getting the technical best your lens is capable of.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Can it be used on a Visoflex, Rick?

 

Pete.

 

Geez, I dunno about that. I'm not a viso guy. Or an R to M guy, but thinking about it, R's can be used on M bodies. With a digital M, trial and error focus would be possible. But not for sports.

 

How does the overall register length of an M+viso compare with M+R adapter?

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M+viso is thicker than M+R adapter. Either you get no ttl focusing (R adapter) or you get no infinity focus (Viso + R adapter)

 

I believe the original question was "Can anyone recommend lenses in M mount that are particularly good up close," anyway. No such thing as 100mm APO-Elmarit in M mount. Nice lens in R-mount, though.

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Why do you care about how close, in absolute terms, you can go? I have a 15mm Super Wide Heliar that focuses down to 30cm (12") and where does that get me?

 

What is sensible to ask is the largest reproduction ratio, i.e. how big you can picture an object. So my advice is to stop thinking about wide angle optics and look at long focal lengths. Here is what you get:

 

90mm Macro-Elmar 1:6.7 (without the adapter)

90mm Elmarit and Summarit: 1:8.9

75mm Summicron 1:7

75mm Summarit 1:9.9

 

For wide angle lenses, expect ratios around 1:20 or more. Draw your own conclusions. What matters is how big the object is on the sensor/film.

 

The old man from the Age of Close Up Lenses and Measuring Tapes

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