Leica LTM 21, 25, 28 - Help me decide

[Kate-the-Great]

M-Hexanon 28mm f/2.8 is a great performer, tough build and very sharp all the way.

Regards,

Boris

I strongly considered a M-Hexagon 28 at one point, but I've heard that many samples suffer from "white spots" on the elements- some sort of coating defect? Is this something you've seen or experienced?

 

[mfogiel]

The 28mm is a FL that you can do many things with, from shooting from the hip, through architecture up to even a portrait. 21mm is a much more specialized lens. I like 25mm a lot for shooting in tight medieval street context or for shooting from the hip on zone focus and I find it much more suited for that than 28mm. My favourite 25mm lens is an M mount Zeiss 25/2.8, but in 28mm there is a gem called Ultron 28/1.9 ASPH, somewhat big, but this should not make any difference for LTM cameras.

 

[taskoni]

I have heard and have seen M-Rokkors does that, but never heard it about M-Hexanon.

Regards,

Boris

 

[02Pilot]

For my purposes, size matters. I like small lenses and small cameras, and am willing to give up speed if necessary. I also like flexibility; specialization is nice, but results in accumulating a lot of stuff that doesn't get used much, and I'm not busy nor talented enough to justify infinitely fine gradations of equipment capability.

The Snapshot Skopar seems to have enough going for it to warrant getting one, so that's the direction I'm headed first. I'll see if it's close enough to what I was hoping to get from a 28 and go from there.

Thanks for all the useful thoughts. It was a helpful discussion.

 

[02Pilot]

Got the Snapshot Skopar and shot a couple rolls with it yesterday. Feels pretty similar to 28, so I think it will be staying. Whether or not I keep the 21 for the long haul is the new question; right now I'm hanging onto it if for no other reason than it works pretty well on my X-E1.

 

[traveler_101]

Got the Snapshot Skopar and shot a couple rolls with it yesterday. Feels pretty similar to 28, so I think it will be staying. Whether or not I keep the 21 for the long haul is the new question; right now I'm hanging onto it if for no other reason than it works pretty well on my X-E1.

That's good to hear. I think it's kind of fun to use, not having to worry about the rangefinder focus and of course it is great for scenery and architecture shots. Can be used for people (low distortion) if you can get close enough.

You're right to be cautious, but in the end the 25 will make the 21 redundant. You could pick up a 15 eventually. Now that's real fun and basically point-and-shoot, hard to be out of focus. GREAT for shooting modern architecture, infrastructure (bridges, tracks), town squares (if done right), and streets scenery. Harder to use well but real nice lens to have.