Best lens for M8

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silbo

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Hi all you Leica experts can you help,im after optimum quality from my M8,what is the best lens, around 50mm, ive heard the summicron is good can anyone give me some feedback, thanks
 
I think you'll get the age-old (and sensibly correct) reply that it depends what you want to use it for, or what qualities you like to see out of lens.

That said, I will say I love both my summicron and summilux lenses, but when I'm after reproductive quality I will go for the summilux everytime; when on the street snapping away I will no doubt use the summicron - if only because it's lighter and feels quicker.

Ian
 
You have asked two questions; what is the best lense for M8 and what is the best lense 'around 50 mm'. The last question I don't find interesting at all, but the first is very interesting.

Leica went to great lengths to make their first digital M8 work well with wide angle lenses and have succeeded very well with this. The M8/WATE combo is one of the very best wide angle combos in the business. So, I will say that the WATE is the best lense for the M8.
 
I find the traditional 50mm too long on the M8 and would look more at one of the 28mm's or 35mm's if I want the FOV of a 50.

The only 50 I'm looking at getting for the my M8 is the Nocti but that's for the speed and very thin DOF and its Bokeh.
 
For 50mm lens on a M8 I have both a 50mm 1.4 last pre asph and the 50mm Summicron rigid. I like the 1.4 due to the smoothness and bokeh, mainly for portrait type shots. I had the Noctilux but comparing side by side with the 1.4, it was too close and sold it.
 
50mm lens on an M8 is not your dad's 50mm. The field of view is tighter because the sensor is not as big as film. It sounds like you bought an M8 without being an RF expert (if so, great you'll start learning now), but that leads me to think that money isn't an issue. So look at the 35mm summilux ASPH and 35mm summicron ASPH. Modern, sharp.
 
For my type of shooting, I've been comparing the 50/2 Collapsible Heliar, the 21/4P Color Skopar, 28/1.9Aspherical Ultron, and the 35mm Summaron f/3.5. For tele I'm trying the 90 Elmar f/4, and the 90 Elmar Collapsible, to get a smaller kit. Dependent shooting on B&W or Color, there is definately a contributing factor as to keeping ALL my CV/or Leica Glass.
For everything else, it's the Summicron-c 40mm, 40/1.4 Nokton, and the 135mm f/4 Elmar.
Everything works on ALL my M's(M3, M4-P, including the M8), so I won't be selling any glass soon.
 
cmogi10 said:
Anything less then the modern asph summilux is not worth your time.

:)
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Rubbish. Sorry but that is plain non-sense. When I bought my lens I had the opportunity of buying ( ie, funds wise ) a asph summilux. I did not.

Why ? I loved the Noctilux but that apart from being expensive, was BIG. and heavy. I loved the bokeh though.

So I searched and searched and settled for the Summilux V3 PRE-ASPH, with renders bokeh much nicer than the ASPH one. Yes indeed, the ASPH is a tad sharper and less contrasty ( I like the v3 better in this aspect actually ) but the bokeh transitions is much more noctilux alike and dreamy in the non-asph than in the asph. So having the possibility of buying a ASPH I actually opted for the non ASPH.

Since images are 1000's words and Im kinda lazy to type on, here's an illustration :

stop it down and its sharp
1717444094_8562d3d610.jpg


its great for portraits ( even non human ones )
1717437674_53be10a1fc.jpg


BOKEHHHHHHHHHHHH
1716587533_3c5898554e.jpg



love this lens
2054153300_719a033c64.jpg
 
Consider the 28mm f2.8 Elmarit

Consider the 28mm f2.8 Elmarit

I prefer two lenses on my M8 the 28mm F2.8 Elmarit aspheric which renders 36.4 mm and the 21mm F2.8 Elmarit which is 27.3 mm. The 28 is a gem of a lens and is a bargain for its price, it is my primary shooter as I do scenic and landscape and not a lot of people photography, so a 50 is not wide enough. When I do use a 50 I own the 50mm F2.8 Elmar which, although slower than the 50 cron or lux, can more than keep up with the trees, rocks and water I photograph. It is also a bargain lens and has its own look that I prefer. The overall build quality is not up to the cron or lux but here again I don't use it much.
Hope this helps.
 
infocusf8@earthlink. said:
I prefer two lenses on my M8 the 28mm F2.8 Elmarit aspheric which renders 36.4 mm and the 21mm F2.8 Elmarit which is 27.3 mm. The 28 is a gem of a lens and is a bargain for its price, it is my primary shooter as I do scenic and landscape and not a lot of people photography, so a 50 is not wide enough. When I do use a 50 I own the 50mm F2.8 Elmar which, although slower than the 50 cron or lux, can more than keep up with the trees, rocks and water I photograph. It is also a bargain lens and has its own look that I prefer. The overall build quality is not up to the cron or lux but here again I don't use it much.
Hope this helps.
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The 28 2.8 is pretty much glued to my M8. As well as being a superb performer, its very compact and light and has a lovelly short throw for focussing. My lux 75 should be here newxt week though!

best wishes

Richard
 
silbo said:
Hi all you Leica experts can you help,im after optimum quality from my M8,what is the best lens, around 50mm, ive heard the summicron is good can anyone give me some feedback, thanks
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i think all 50mm lens current and past have their own pluses and minuses, but if your 'optimum quality' includes sharpness and available light shootworty, yo u really can't get any better than the current 50 summilux asph. extrememly sharp wide open.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys, yes i am new to rangefinder cameras, but with your help ill soon learn, thanks again, silbo
 
The 35mm ASPH Summicron is pretty sweet on the M8. Focal length splits the difference between WA and 50mm. They're priced nice too second hand.

If I could only own one lens it would be the 35mm ASPH and the 15mm CV.
 
JWW said:
For 50mm lens on a M8 I have both a 50mm 1.4 last pre asph and the 50mm Summicron rigid. I like the 1.4 due to the smoothness and bokeh, mainly for portrait type shots. I had the Noctilux but comparing side by side with the 1.4, it was too close and sold it.
Click to expand...

Interesting observation. I have the latest Summilux 50mm pre-ASPH (E46) and was thinking of trading it for the Noctilux. Only hesitated due to the high price of the Noctilux but at the moment I am thinking more and more of keeping the Summilux ... :)
 
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