28mm Elmarit

[Jodorowsky]

Right, i've decided to get a 28 Elmarit; ordered a 24mm Elmarit Asph, but I have doubts, especially as I would have to sell something. I can examine what I buy though, and return what I don't like in it's original condition etc.

I can get a new 2.8 Elmarit Asph for £850 with rebates etc, or I can get a 4th Version Elmarit for £650.

Which one would you choose? Would I be silly to try to save £200 to buy an old lens (with myth and voodoo attached), or should I go for the new Asph? I could use the £200, but I'm not desperate.

Honest answers on a post card please!

Thanks.

 

[Jodorowsky]

S'ok! I think Tom Niblick already answered this....

 

[leicavidom]

Are you planning to use with film or digital M?

Are you planning to use with film or digital M?

Tom A has some interesting imput about both lenses when the subject of
28mm lenses came up recently.Thinking in purely practical terms,if you buy
the new lens and don't get on with it,you should be able to get your money
back on it in a few months when the UK price +15% increase and without
the 15% cashback will make the current price you quote a resale bargain.
Where in the UK are you? Maybe there is a series IV user you could get
together with to do some comparative picture taking.

 

[Jodorowsky]

Digital

Digital

For now, but I'll be buying a film M before too long, too...

 

[Ben Z]

When I got my M8 I also decided I needed a focal length to get me close to the 35mm focal length on a full frame. The 24mm equates to about a 32mm, and the 28 to about a 37mm. Given that the choices in 24mm are slim, and the Leica ASPH is quite costly even used, I decided on a 28. I was all set to buy the new Elmarit-ASPH @ $1300 (for a demo) but out of nowhere a IV came into view at the incredible price of $650 due to a tiny mark in the front coating (the previous owner firmly believed that UV filters "degraded" his images, and that lens hoods protect front elements from harm 😀). So I snatched it up and it quickly became my most-used lens on the M8. The only drawback by comparison to the ASPH is the size. The IV is larger in all dimensions, and the hood is much larger.

At some point after that, I happened on a Voitlander Ultron f/1.9 28mm for $199 (previous owner must've thought if he used a black marker to black out the writing around the filter ring, nobody would know he was pointing a lens at them 😀), and since then the Elmarit IV hasn't seen much use.

So my recommendation, if you're not married to the idea it has to be a Leica-brand lens, is to check out the Ultron. (I used a 9cm Leitz LTM-M adaptor I hand-milled and coded as a 28 Summicron, and the firmware erases the cyan corners from the IR filter perfectly). I hear tell there's now an M-mount version of this lens. Worth a look.