Leica Elmarit 28/2.8 ASPH - Opinions?

[jbrough]

Hi All,

I'm in the market for a 28mm lens for my M6 (and RD1) and I'm thinking the Elmarit M 28/2.8 ASPH looks pretty good, and is available new for what seems like a reasonable price. Does anyone have any opinions? I don't want to spend more than about US$1500, but I don't know much about the Zeiss or older Canon lenses that are also available.

Any help greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Jonathan.

 

[Tom A]

I tried the 28f2.8 Asph and found that it was not that great on film M's. I know people who uses it with the RD1 and the M8 and are happy with it. On the "full frame" ie film the corners are soft at f2.8. It is by no means a bad lens, but there are better choices out there.
The Zeiss 28f2.8 is more even across the image area and about 1/2 price from the Asph 28f2.8 and the new Ultron 28f2.0 is about 1/3 of the price of it and a better lens. I did some testing with it against the Summicron 28f2.0 Asph and apart from slightly softer corners at f2.0 (but better center performance) it is as good! It is also reasonably small for a f2.0 lens.
Some of the older lenses, Canon and Nikon's LTM lenses are almost too small to be comfortable and they are also getting on in age with problems like haze, accumulated scratches and flare problems.
Lenses like the Hexanon 28f2.8, the Ultron 28f1.9 and if you like compact, but easier to use than the Canon/Nikon, the now discontinued 28f3.5 CV Color Skopar in LTM - probably one of the best lenses around - are all very good. As was stated before - there are really no bad lenses around anymore for the RF's. It is more a function of ergonomics, availability and price that are the choices.

 

[jbrough]

I tried the 28f2.8 Asph and found that it was not that great on film M's. I know people who uses it with the RD1 and the M8 and are happy with it. On the "full frame" ie film the corners are soft at f2.8. It is by no means a bad lens, but there are better choices out there.

Thanks so much Tom - you are a fountain of information! BTW, what do you think of the pre-ASPH Elmarit 28? By lucky chance, one has just come up for sale second-hand down here.

Cheers,

Jonathan.

 

[pkreyenhop]

Hi Jonathan

The 28mm Elmarit ASPH is a marvellous (and my favourite) lens on the M8, but it did not do so well on my RD1s, because the contrast was too high. The Elmarit pre ASPH might be a good match for your Epson although a brand new Voigtlaender might be as good for half the price.

Cheers
Peter

 

[mfogiel]

It is a good lens, but lacks a bit the bite - I have just bought the Biogon 28, and from the first shots I like it more, however I'd like to make a more extensive comparison side by side - I have started a roll on Rollei ATP film, which should show easily the differences in contrast and resolution - will report the results when available.

 

[Turtle]

Biogon is a bit bigger but still compact. For me the choices would be:

Biogon
CV 28 3.5 if you are happy with a slow tiny lens
CV 28 f2

I think the Leica is very expensive and in the real world cannot fault my Zeiss Biogon.

 

[sepiareverb]

The Biogon is indeed a lot bigger than the Elmarit ASPH. Nearly twice as long (?) and with a 46ø filter instead of the 39ø of the Elmarit.
Elmarit:

Biogon:

You'll notice the better 3-D rendering the Elmarit brings here to the branches in the middle of the tree.

 

[Tom A]

I tried the 28f2.8 Asph and found that it was not that great on film M's. I know people who uses it with the RD1 and the M8 and are happy with it. On the "full frame" ie film the corners are soft at f2.8. It is by no means a bad lens, but there are better choices out there.

Thanks so much Tom - you are a fountain of information! BTW, what do you think of the pre-ASPH Elmarit 28? By lucky chance, one has just come up for sale second-hand down here.

Cheers,

Jonathan.

I still have my 1981 Elmarit 28f2.8 and it remains a favourite of mine. the newer offerings from Leica/Zeiss/Voigtlander are most likely better in some aspects, but this Elmarit was my "middle of the road" wide angle when we lived in Paris 82/83. Somehow there is a bit of sentimentality attached to it. Wide open it is a bit soft in the edges, but in black/white it works fine. The version that followed this (with the flat front element) is still a formidable lens - even by todays standard. However in that pursuit of "speed" -the f2's are the flavor of the day. I have to admit that my Ultron 28f2.0 goes along with me daily - could also be the size and the fact that on the R4M it does not block the viewfinder as much as the Elmarits or the Summicron 28.
I dont use digital and I suspect that many of the lenses we discuss behave differently on these beasts than on old M2's with Tri X. Truth be told, I wont go digital until my 28/35 or whatever is that on the Drf. If I put a 35 on a camera, that is what I want it to show, not some 42.5mm or 49mm focal length. Seems like it will take a while before this cames to bear and in the meantime there is about a mile and a half of film in the freezer!

 

[Turtle]

I am pretty sure the ZM is nowhere near twice as long as the 28 elmarit asph. Its just that Zeiss includes the mount and caps (which protrude) in their measurements. I recall it being about 10mm longer or something less than epic. You also dont need the hood as the 28 ZM is pretty reslient. (I own one) I hear the 28 asph is resilient also, but dont have one so cannot compare

 

[sepiareverb]

And a little more to ponder:

Crops of the upper right corner of the first image, first the Elmarit ASPH, the ZM, and then the Summicron- all at 2.8.

Elmarit ASPH:

ZM:

Summicron ASPH:

note: scans of negs, all got the same process in PSCS2: Invert, Desaturate, Auto Levels, Sharpen Edges. I made some minor adjustments to brightness for the Summicron image to make for a better match in paper tone. Files were cropped, resized and exported as jpegs.

For those who complain about the price of Leica optics: this is the true bargain Leica lens- top-notch performance and a very competitive price.

 

[35mmdelux]

the 28mm/2.8 EM ASPH (E39) is a street shooters lens, small and exacting. By comparison the others are huge... This is the issue for many Leica shooters. Many of us don't want a big Zeiss or the huge 28mm/1.9 VC.

Many shooters believe the Leica 28mm/2.8 IV (E46) is the penultimate. It really depends on your requirements: speed, quality, cost, form factor.

I decided what I needed was speed. So I have given up my 28mm EM-ASPH in favor of a 35mm Summilux ASPH.

 

[Turtle]

I am not quite sure where the 28 biogon's hugeness comes from! Bigger than the 28 2.8 asph - for sure! Smaller than a 50 summicron though - about 1cm shorter than the 35 f2 biogon etc. Compared to the 28 3.5 everything is huge!