advices on best small lenses

J

joykafka

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I am looking for a small sized lens whose image quality, esp in terms of color, is beautiful and bokeh is pleasant or acceptable, mainly for street photography, sometimes for landscape. Large aperture, creamy bokeh, weight and price (to some extent) are not my main concerns.

Currently using Nokton 40/1.4 and I feel quite ok with it. However, I still wonder if Color Skopar 35/2.5 Classic/P-II will bring me more satisfaction because of its color rendering plus better bokeh? Or is there any other lens I need to take into consideration for my purpose? Basically I am considering only the focal length from 24mm to 50mm.

I like my current Voigtlander setup but I don't mind using a non Voigtlander lens if it is small and good enough.

Many thanks in advance.
 
I'd suggest you consider the CV 28/3.5. It's really quite small, and in my opinion is a real gem - its resolution, contrast, tonality are all very nice indeed, and it's possibly my favourite ever lens.
 
All the slow VC Skopars are reasonably small. I've just bought the 28/3.5 and I've been positively surprised by its small size - it's even smaller than the 35/2.5.
 
Roger Hicks said:
Summarits.

Cheers,

R. (There is a review on the site if you're interested). And yes, they're fine on film.
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Thank you, Roger Hicks:

I did a quick search on the internet and found a few reviews saying that Summarit 2,5/50 is better than 2,5/35 in terms of image quality, but the latter seems to have a higher price tag? Would need to do more research tomorrow.
 
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Spyderman said:
All the slow VC Skopars are reasonably small. I've just bought the 28/3.5 and I've been positively surprised by its small size - it's even smaller than the 35/2.5.
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oscroft said:
I'd suggest you consider the CV 28/3.5. It's really quite small, and in my opinion is a real gem - its resolution, contrast, tonality are all very nice indeed, and it's possibly my favourite ever lens.
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Thank you, Spyderman and oscroft.
Actually I didn't think of the 3,5/28 at the first thought due to its small aperture even if I don't think that matters. This lens looks interesting. I would compare some images taken by 3,5/28 and 2,5/35.

Oscroft, you have taken so many wonderful photos with so many different cameras and lenses.... Couldn't figure out which are taken by 3,5/28 though. Quality of your images are consistent, or shall I say the stories in your images just won't give me a chance to think about its image quality.

Spyderman, hope to see your photos taken by your new 3,5/28 soon.

I am just wondering whether I should keep my 1,4/40 with the 3,5/28 as a combo, or I would find it comfortable walking around just with a 3,5/28?

By the way, does its length of 25,8mm include the shade?
 
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leicasniper said:
You cannot go wrong with the 35/2.5 color skopar. Very small, excellent image quality. Inexpensive. Worth getting one, for sure.
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feenej said:
I also think the 35 mm Color Scopar is fab. f2.5 is plenty fast for a rangefinder camera.
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Thank you, feenej and leicasniper:

 I think so as well. Just feel like to make sure if it would be better to shoot with 2,5/35 than my current 1,4/40. f/1,4 is sometimes very helpful but not so critical in my style of shooting, and anyway in that case I'd need to use ISO 400. My idea of using a 2,5/35 is to replace 1,4/40 as a walk-around lens rather than keep both in service.
 
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I'm not exactly clear on what you are not getting from the Nokton. Have you tried experimenting with different films and/or developers?
 
I like the 28 3.5 for color. I find it a little harsh and contrasty for black and white myself but I use it because it's so tiny and it was cheap. I'd only replace it with a new 28mm Elmarit but I don't have $1500 lying around as nothing else is as small.

Really though for a small lens that will work for just about anything, get yourself a pre-ash 35mm Summicron if you can. It really is an incredible lens. I use it 95% of the time and it is lovely for black and white. Don't sweat the version too much. I've got Canadian version 3 I think and it's wonderful. If you can have one lens this is it.
 
Joe Brugger said:
I'm not exactly clear on what you are not getting from the Nokton. Have you tried experimenting with different films and/or developers?
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Generally speaking I am not unhappy with my Nokton.

I like the lens because it allows me to well catch the ambience under lowlight when shooting with Xtra 400. I like the slides it produces with Kodak Elite Chrome 100 as well, although the scans from the shop were a disaster. I don't like very much the feeling with Proimage 100 so far. Yet to experiment it with Tmax 400, etc...

Not much experience so far, but I just have a feeling that the colour of film could be better in comparison to the colour from a dSLR, such as the 1,4/24mm on my EOS 5D. And, at the price of large aperture, I should be able to get an image quality even better than my 1,4/40. If this is not true, then I don't find it necessary to change.
 
nightfly said:
I like the 28 3.5 for color. I find it a little harsh and contrasty for black and white myself but I use it because it's so tiny and it was cheap. I'd only replace it with a new 28mm Elmarit but I don't have $1500 lying around as nothing else is as small.

Really though for a small lens that will work for just about anything, get yourself a pre-ash 35mm Summicron if you can. It really is an incredible lens. I use it 95% of the time and it is lovely for black and white. Don't sweat the version too much. I've got Canadian version 3 I think and it's wonderful. If you can have one lens this is it.
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Thank you,nightfly.

You meant Elmarit-R 2,8/28mm or Elmarit-M 2,8/24mm?

As for pre-ASPH summicron, I am not so enthusiastic about spending a great deal of time and efforts for a rare lens though, if that'd be the case. But, I will try to do some searches.

 
I mean the new M 28mm 2.8 Elmarit. It's super small. No use for R lenses.

A Pre-Asph 35mm Summicron is not rare. They made them for like 30 years and there are tons on the used market. There was a 4th generation one for sale here this morning for $1000. If you get anything other than the 4th generation or a new ASPH lens, you should be able to pick one up for less than a $1000. More like 7 or 8 hundred especially if you are not particular about cosmetics.

It is one of the reasons to own an M mount camera.

You also might want to look at the new CV 35/1.4. I don't know if anyone actually has one yet but they are about $600 and supposed to be very small and of course fast. I'd be interested to know if they exhibit the same overly contrasty (to my eye) results as some of the other CV glass.
 
Oscroft, you have taken so many wonderful photos with so many different cameras and lenses.... Couldn't figure out which are taken by 3,5/28 though. Quality of your images are consistent, or shall I say the stories in your images just won't give me a chance to think about its image quality
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Thanks - I'll try and find some specific photos I've taken with both the 35/2.5 and the 28/3.5. It won't be a very good comparison though, because I think my 35mm shots have all been colour and 28mm shots mostly b&w. I'll see what I can do though - if you don't mind waiting a few days I'll post them here.
 
The Skopar 35mm f/2.8 PII is the only lens I have. You can see some of my shots on Flickr to get a sense of what you may end up with -- the link in my signature works. It's a nice lens. It's very small if you don't use the hood.
 
Avotius said:
A while back I made this post http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38464 with images taken by the PII. Its a great little lens that handles well. There are some shots there taken wide open so you can get an idea of the DOF.
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They are very nice photos !! I beg your pardon for not knowing the right words to decribe the way in which you arrange lights and shadows in such a good contrast that can well visualise the subject and even the story.

Thanks alot, Avotius.
 
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