Lens suggestions for close focussing on M8

[jasperamsterdam]

Hi all,

I'm just one week the proud owner of a demo M8. I am a happy man! (apart from the fact i have to send it to Leica tomorrow, under warranty, to have them look at some weird banding and softrelease shutter action in Self timer function. I do get a loaner though from the nice people at foto nivo schweitzer in Amsterdam)

I bought a new elmarit 28mm 2.8 ASPH and must say i'm pleased with it.

Now i am looking for another lens, something that will let me fill the frame with, say a cup of coffee (i am in the coffee business) of the face of my first born baby boy! see photo)

I'm thinking 35mm or 50mm. I think 70cm is the closest you can get with a M, right? Any suggestions, or maybe some examples of 50mm at 70cm would be greatly appreciated!

Jasper

 

[martin s]

Not considering the crop factor you can pretty much fill the frame with a 75mm at .7m, so I would (and probably will) use the 50mm Summilux on the M8 (e46 version, previous ones only go down to 1m). It would supplement the rather slow Elmarit well, too.

martin

 

[Sonnar Brian]

0.7m is the closest focus on most Leica M's. Not all 50mm lenses will focus this close.

You might also consider a short telephoto. Most focus to 1m, but appear to get in closer. This also allows more working distance with live subjects. A 90/2.8 Tele-Elmarit would be a good alternative.

This is with a type 2 50/2 Rigid Summicron, (6 elements in 5 groups), closer than 1m. This is the first of the Summicrons that gets to 0.7m.

Wide-Open, fujicolor 200.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

This is with a 13.5cm F3.5 Nikkor at closest focus of ~1m.

Wide-Open at F3.5. The 2.7x magnification gets you in close.

 

[Merkin]

A good inexpensive option would be the 90mm f4 elmar, which can be had in great shape for about a hundred bucks. It would be in the neighborhood of a 135mm lens on your m8.

 

[rxmd]

Now i am looking for another lens, something that will let me fill the frame with, say a cup of coffee (i am in the coffee business) of the face of my first born baby boy! see photo)

Now your boy and a cup of coffee aren't exactly in the same ballpark sizewise, which is good both for your boy and for the coffee consumers. 🙂

The boy will also get bigger quite rapidly.

For boy-size shots any short telephoto will do. 🙂 However with cup-size detail shots, if you insist on doing those with the M8 you'll need either a long lens, or a standard lens with an extra accessory to adjust for close focusing. Long lenses can be difficult to focus and you'll have parallax problems with the framing. Focusing will be difficult because you have to tilt your camera all the time to focus with the rangefinder patch, which at close range may already throw off your focusing accuracy. Your best bet is probably a dual-range Summicron or something. With a 90mm Macro-Elmar you can get close (50 cm), but with the crop factor you already have quite a tight angle of view and focusing may not be all that easy.

For this kind of product shot a rangefinder is arguably not the best camera.

 

[Merkin]

For this kind of product shot a rangefinder is arguably not the best camera.

agreed. If a normal telephoto won't suit your needs, make sure you can't get a used DSLR of comparable image quality and macro lens for less money than a close-focusing lens for the M8 would cost. Macro with a rangefinder can get a bit messy because of the parallax.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Summicron 90mm or 75mm. Gives about the same size at the closest focus distance as a dual-range (DR) Summicron with the goggles on -- which won't focus to infinity with an M8 anyway.

Consider too a Visoflex and 65/3.5 Elmar in OTZFO (I think or 16464) helical focusing mount, too. You'll need to mask the ground glass but it's well worth considering: excellent results, and you add a macro DSLR to your M8 for a (very) few hundred pounds, dollars or euros.

Cheers,

R.

 

[jasperamsterdam]

Thanks for all the help!

Thanks for all the help!

I just sold the 5d mkii and am going to buy a 500d or so to use for slr stuff. Mainly products, my amazing old 80-200 2.8 and video.
I think i wont go longer than 50mm and guess i was just wondering how much i can fill (a face or a cup) with a 50 on the m8, and which 50 is performing great...

 

[payasam]

I have an M-Hexanon 50/2 which is excellent in every way and which goes down to 0.7M; but I agree with Philipp that a 75 or 90 would better meet your requirements.

 

[ferider]

0.7m min. distance Summilux 75/1.4.

 

[Tim Gray]

All the 90's that I know of only focus down to 1m, with the exception of the 90 Macro Elmar, which goes down to .77m. The 75 Summicron gives tighter framing (1:7) than any of the other 90s (1:9) since it does go to .7m, but the 90 Macro edges it out just a tiny bit (1:6.7). Of course, at greater distances, any 90 is going to do better than a 75 in these terms, and if you put the adapter on the 90 Macro (1:3?), you can get in quite a bit closer than the 75.

For coffee cup sized objects, I'd go for the 90 Macro. For your boy, I might go with the 75 - you might need the extra speed indoors. The 90 is a lovely lens and works wonders in good light just as a normal lens without the adapter, but the 75/2 is probably more useful in everyday situations due to its speed.

 

[rxmd]

Focusing a macro lens with a rangefinder is suboptimal at best. Accuracy suffers because focus off-center is different from focus in the center, framing with the framelines can be hit-and-miss, and depth of field preview on an SLR is actually worth something here.

 

[Tim Gray]

Just for the record, the 90 Macro really isn't in macro territory, 1:1. It's not even 1:2. I don't find it particularly hard to focus or frame reasonably accurate. It's not for taking pictures of bug eyes and stuff 🙂

Here's one I took when I first got the lens. It was with the adapter I'm pretty sure at close focus. You can get a good sense of the scale because the 'S' is from a stop sign. I had no problems getting the focus...

 

[jasperamsterdam]

Thank you for the tips and effort. I guess i'll have to reconsider long lenses . I allways liked TOP's quote " the shorter you longest lens, the cooler you are".
If it is not too much to ask; does anyone have a portrait shot at 70cm with a 50 mm on m8?
Thanks

 

[ferider]

Check Gabriel's flickr gallery http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabrielma. He does outstanding work with his M8 and 50mm Summilux.

 

[Jeicob]

Just made this quick 50mm at 0.7m shot for you - Sorry haven't been doing any latte art for while