28 or 35 mm? 75 or 90 mm?

[Graeme]

Last weekend I went down to Brussels, and the nice man at Photocine House sold me a black M8. Unfortunately I neglected to buy a lens with it, which was a bit of an oversight.

At the moment, I'm thinking of either a 28 mm or a 35 mm as a general purpose lens. I took a look through the viewfinder with both today, and there didn't seem to be a huge difference in the angle. I figure that the perspective will change slightly between them, but I'd have to take a few photos for that to be apparent.

I found the framelines for the 35 mm to be easier to see. I wear glasses, and that pushes my eye a bit further away from the viewfinder, which means that the 28 mm lines are partially obscured.

In the 50 mm lens thread, it sounds like a lot of people like to shoot on an M8 with a 35mm lens. Does anyone actually prefer a 28? Is there a lot of difference in a practical sense?

Having said that, I recall seeing that there's a common preference for the 24 over a 28. Any comments?

Lastly, and as a slight change of topic, does anyone use a 90 mm on an M8? The framing lines seem pretty small when I've taken a look. Ultimately, I'd like to get a longer lens, and was wondering if a 75 might be more user friendly.

 

[jaapv]

A lot of users have the 28 practically superglued on, me incuded. It corresponds to the traditional Leica 35 mm lens. Having said that, the top 35's are considerably lighter than the corresponding 28's, making the new 28/2.8 asph a very popular lens as it is superlight and small. But I like the 35 Summicron asph a lot. I sold the 24. It is a superb lens, but I found it neither here nor there in focal length for my style of shooting. I sold it to my brother who swears by it..... I use a 75 Summilux, a 90 AA and a 135 TE on the M8 without problems. One could use a magnifier to overcome the small framelines and shortish base, but usually I don't even bother or feel the need. Instead of wearing glasses you could consider buying the appropriate diopter.

 

[simonclivehughe]

Graeme,

For myself, I typically have 21mm or 28mm on one body and 75mm or 90mm on the other. With the 21, I use an external 28mm VF, of course.

Yes, I prefer 28 to 35 as overall I prefer a wider field of view. You'll find that you can shoot with a 90mm fairly easily with a bit of practice. As Jaap suggests, I use a Megaperls 1.35X magnifier on the body I use the longer lenses on... it makes a real difference.

 

[tbarker13]

35-75 works great for me.
35 UC Hexanon and a 75 lux. The other lenses in my kit are just there in supporting roles.

 

[peter_n]

The 35 and 75 work well together as a pair, as do the 28 and the 50. You want to be a bit further away or a bit closer to your subjects?

 

[Hacker]

28-50 works great for me. If I want absolute quality, 28 Cron ASPH and the 50 Lux ASPH. Otherwise, 28 Elmarit ASPH and the Hexanon 50mm.

 

[hdrmd]

I use the same combinations as Simon noted above. One exception; I don't use the eternal finder. I use every bit of the viewfinder including outside the 24mm lines and I find it ti be very the view of the 21mm. with the instant replay of the digital, this works well for me. DR

 

[Gary B]

M8 lens choice

M8 lens choice

I find the my most used lens on my M8 is a Zeiss 25mm f2.8 with the next lens being a 50mm Canon f1.2. I like the feel of the 25 as it is close to the same angle of view that I enjoyed with a 35mm on my film Leicas. The 50 Canon is used like I used my 90mm on film cameras for close ups and portraits. I also added a 75mm as it felt better to me than a 90mm on the M8.

I thought I could do with less lenses when I got the M8 but then I got GAS. I found that I had to fill in the blanks of having every other focal length that worked fine for me with my film Leicas.

Gary B

 

[Cindy Flood]

The 28 cron is my lens of choice on the M8, just as the 35mm is my lens of choice on a film M.

I use a magnifier on both of my M bodies and never take it off. It makes focusing the 75 and 90's easier and I need the diopter adjustment.

 

[usccharles]

if you want small size and good general purpose, cant go wrong with 28/2.8

but personally, even though i love the 28 and its small size, i find it alittle too slow for use as an all around lens because i do alot of available light shooting. so in the end, i end up picking up my 35/1.4 over the 28/2.8. excellant lens, fast, a truly all around lens in my opinion.

i said this on another thread somewhere, if i had to drop ALL my lenses and only keep ONE forever, it would be the 35/1.4

😉

 

[Graeme]

I ended up going for a 35mm Summilux (I know, more money than sense).

I spoke to a dealer about a week ago, and he suggested that an interesting trio of lenses would be either a 28 / 50 / 90, or a 24 / 35 / 75.

As I said previously, I found the 35mm framelines easier to see, and as I'm interested in shooting in low light, figured that the extra stop of speed would be more useful than a slightly wider view.

OK, there are differences in the lenses' perspectives, but...

The plan is to get a 75 in the New Year, and probably stick with the 35 / 75 pair for a while. If I need one, I'll add a wide angle at some point in the future.

Right, now I've got to figure out how to drive the camera properly.

 

[peter_n]

No Graeme, you will never regret your choice. That is just a really terrific lens. Congratulations! Your dealer was right about both combos, I have all of those lenses but my favorite combo is 24/35/75. Covers just about everything you might run up against...

 

[dee]

I am cheating - I will buy a 28mm and a 75 mm to extend my old 50mm Summitar / Elmar . Probably Voightlander , 'cos the M 8 wiped out much of my funds !
but a £62 adapter will allow me to use my 24/28/35/45/50/85/135 Rokkor SLR lenses on the M 8 , but scale focusing only . I do not worry too much about precise framing - I will learn each lense as it comes along - the 135mm zoom for example , at 200mm , will be at infinity only - and there are plenty of subjects at infinity for my other SLR lenses .

The M 8 is a dream come true though .

But I am a real amateur '' considered snapshooter '' anyway !

dee

 

[Graeme]

Thanks Peter.

I think that I'd be inclined to go for something a bit wider than a 24, but I'll see how get on with the 35 for the time being. (I tried the camera out today, and there were a couple of times when a wider lens would have been nice.)

Despite my lack of photographic skill (I've just graduated from a compact), one of two of the shots I took looked an awful lot better than I expected. It must be down to black Leicas taking better photos, as people on this forum keep on point out.

 

[Hacker]

You will end up sooner or later with all the lenses. In fact, you will end up with multiple lenses of the same focal length 🙂. Resistance is futile. For example:

35 Lux ASPH for the speed, Cron ASPH for weight, Cron IV for the bokeh, UC-Hexanon for the modern Cron IV look, Zeiss for contrast, etc.

 

[BigSteveG]

A fast 28 is available through Voigtlander? 28mm 1.9 if I remember....probably large...don't really know...I'm busy playing with darkroom equipment

 

[rivercrew]

Voigtlander Ultron 28mm f1.9

Voigtlander Ultron 28mm f1.9

The Ultron 28mm f1.9 has been discontinued but you can still get one new thru Steve Gandy at Cameraquest.com for about $450. I have one that is less than 1 month old that I am selling for I purchased a Zeiss Biogon 28mm ZM .

 

[Digital Dude]

I have the 28-‘cron and no complaints and my second logical lens will be the 50-’lux followed by the 21-Elmarit. There are few that will disagree with this particular lens set, aside from those with more money than myself.
Regards,🙄

 

[jvr]

28 and 75.

I'm very happy with the 28 Cron ASPH and the CV 75/2.5 Color Heliar (the 75/2.5, at least my sample, is surprisingly excellent).

35 feels like a 50 (that's god or bad, depending on your taste), 90 is bit long on the M8.

If you like wide, take a look at the CV 25/4. Although not fast, is so small, light and opticaly sound that it's almost "mandatory"... 🙂

 

[35mmdelux]

I ended up going for a 35mm Summilux (I know, more money than sense).

I spoke to a dealer about a week ago, and he suggested that an interesting trio of lenses would be either a 28 / 50 / 90, or a 24 / 35 / 75.

QUOTE]



Here is the deal, the more you have the less any lens gets used. Any of those lenses are phenomenal.

Best - P