Three older lenses for the M8?

[johnastovall]

I can swing an M8 but can't go for new lenses just now. I'm looking at a basic three lens set up of older (cheaper) lenses. They need to be f/2.0. I'm thinking about a 28, 50 and 90 but with the 1.3 crop wonder if these would be a little long.

Also what about older non-Leica lenses or even older screwmounts?

Consider a budget of 4000 for the three lenses.

[Ben Z]

Originally Posted by johnastovall

I can swing an M8 but can't go for new lenses just now.

There's a lot of us in that same boat

I'm looking at a basic three lens set up of older (cheaper) lenses. They need to be f/2.0. I'm thinking about a 28, 50 and 90 but with the 1.3 crop wonder if these would be a little long.

Why wonder? 28 = ~37mm (a bit narrower than a 35, a bit wider than a 40)

50 = ~67mm (bit lonher than a 50, bit wider than a 75)

90 = ~120mm (bit wider than a 135). If you have an SLR with a zoom you can preview for yourself what these focal length changes will mean to you.

Consider a budget of 4000 for the three lenses.

To me "a budget of 4000" is a contradiction of terms I should only have that "tight" a budget for 3 lenses. What lenses do you currently have, or are you starting from scratch? If that, I'd think about the Voitlander 28 Ultron, a v.3 (1969) or 4 (either style) 50 Summicron, and the last E55 90 Summicron. With the 28 bought new and the 50 & 90 used you shouldn't need to spend more than around $1800. Substitute a v.3 28 Elmarit and add $500 if
you are concerned that the Ultron won't be able to be coded.

[Chaser]

For $4000 you can get a pretty good set up...or shall i say a great set up.
Lets see if it was me doing the shopping.
to get coverage of roughly : 20mm, 28mm, 37mm, 47mm, 66mm, and 113mm or 120mm

15mm VC SW heliar $350
21mm zeiss biogon $900
28mm Ultron $450
35mm older summicron $1000
50mm pre asph summilux $1000
85mm canon or 90mm older elmarit for the other $300

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by Ben Z

There's a lot of us in that same boat



Why wonder? 28 = ~37mm (a bit narrower than a 35, a bit wider than a 40)

50 = ~67mm (bit lonher than a 50, bit wider than a 75)

90 = ~120mm (bit wider than a 135). If you have an SLR with a zoom you can preview for yourself what these focal length changes will mean to you.




To me "a budget of 4000" is a contradiction of terms I should only have that "tight" a budget for 3 lenses. What lenses do you currently have, or are you starting from scratch? If that, I'd think about the Voitlander 28 Ultron, a v.3 (1969) or 4 (either style) 50 Summicron, and the last E55 90 Summicron. With the 28 bought new and the 50 & 90 used you shouldn't need to spend more than around $1800. Substitute a v.3 28 Elmarit and add $500 if
you are concerned that the Ultron won't be able to be coded.

I'm starting from scratch but for a 50/2.0 collaspable Summicron screw mount on my IIIG and it's a little foggy and scratched.

All my DSLR stuff are Canon L's.

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by johnastovall

I'm starting from scratch but for a 50/2.0 collaspable Summicron screw mount on my IIIG and it's a little foggy and scratched.

All my DSLR stuff are Canon L's.

Hi John, Some of the factors that might apply are what is your favorite focal length and how does that show in the M viewfinder. For example, I tend to favor lenses that have framelines within the whole window, so that I can see what is in and out of the frame. This means that when the framelines reach the window edges, I reach for a reflex camera. I think the 1.33 FOV factor may help with digital where filling the frame helps image quality. I gathered my M lenses one at a time over several years, sort of taking time to learn the lens and save up for another one
Using your Canon DSLR to preview the M fields of view might help, as suggested. I did it and it is interesting. Your 50/2 has a 67mm FOV ÷ 1.60 canon factor ÷ .95 Viewfinder factor = 44mm (adjust the factors for your camera). Tape a zoom down at 44mm and see if you can live with it.
Bob

[LCT]

Originally Posted by johnastovall

...They need to be f/2.0. I'm thinking about a 28, 50 and 90 but with the 1.3 crop wonder if these would be a little long...

If you prefer 28, 50 and 90 fields of view, your choice is not that difficult IMHO: 21, 35 (or 40) and 75mm lenses, but you won't get 3 f/2 lenses i'm afraid.
Within a $4,000 budget my vote would go for:
- a second hand 21/2.8 Leica Elmarit asph or pre-asph;
- a second hand Leica Summicron 35/2 asph or pre-asph; i dare not advise you to choose 40mm lenses like my favourite Summicron-C 40/2 as i don't know if we'll be able to use the 35mm frame lines of the M8 the same way as we do with current M cameras (just filing a flange of the 40mm lens);
- a new Cosina-Voigtlander Heliar 75/2.5 as your budget won't let you buy the fantastic Summicron 75/2 asph for now.
Best,
LCT

[Mark Norton]

Seems to me a pair of 35 and 75 Summicrons would be ideal to start with and you can fill in the gap with a 50 or go wider with a 28 or 21 later.

[jaapv]

24 Elmarit ASPH (2.8, but I cannot see that being a problem in the focal length) and Summicron 75. Both can be found under 2000 $ used and you cannot find better quality lenses. So you see, the possibilities are endless....

[Mark Norton]

...but I'd wait to see how Leica are going to handle the framing for 21 and 24mm lenses before going for either.

[jaapv]

Wise, Mark. I realise I'm impatient,maybe stupidly so but I did snap up a 24 a few weeks ago when I saw it, I shot some pics with it before sending it to be coded, and the results were great.

[petermcwerner]

4/20 Nikkor $200 + Adapter $200
At 20mm you can afford zone focusing

Peter

[johnastovall]

Well I've re-thought this based on information learned here and it looks like I could go with two new lenses and a bit more money and have a great basic setup and add a 21 wide later.

I'm looking at the following for the 1.3 crop sensor and they look to be the best all.

75/f2.0 APO Summicron

35/f2.0 Summicron Aspherical or if used the III which Puts calls the boke king.
7

[jaapv]

If you are into bokeh, you might consider the Summilux 75 instead of the 'Cron. The Summicron is very clinical, it is, after all, about the highest corrected lens in the Leica lineup. It is superb for harsh architecture shots, but certainly not for dreamy portraits. On the other hand, you might consider an old LTM 50 or 90 for that last purpose.

[johnastovall]

Well, I've solved the 21mm issue I'm going with a Zeiss ZM 21/2.8 new based on Puts review of it.

I've also found very good prices on new:

75/f2.0 APO Summicron

35/f2.0 Summicron Aspherical

from a couple of Hong Kong dealers with shops on eBay.