letvet
Member
Out of curiosity, does anyone have the 24 Summilux? I have to say I really, really want one. The cost is not justified, since I do not make a dime off of my photography but I want one just the same.
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Anyone splurge on the 24 summilux?
- Thread starter letvet
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35mmdelux
Veni, vidi, vici
Im waiting for the honeymoon period to be over and snag one discounted 50%.
letvet
Member
Hmmmm. Great idea. And since I do not have an extra 6 grand, I will also wait. But if any of you lucky RFF members have one, lets see the shots.
peter_n
Veteran
I would like to get one (I think), but have been unable to use one or even see one. That includes a special trip to a dealer's Leica Day where one was promised, but not delivered. In the meantime I have purchased the new Leica 24mm viewfinder to go with my Elmarit, which I do not intend to give up.
Roger Hicks
Veteran
It's a truly stunning lens. I've been using one for the last few months. I've been away for a month (got back yesterday) and the 24 has been the 'standard' lens on my M8.2. Shutterbug has my review and there'll be one on the site eventually.
It's possibly a tiny bit too wide for my taste -- a 28 Summilux might be even nicer -- but the performance is so superb I'll put up with it.
Cheers,
R.
It's possibly a tiny bit too wide for my taste -- a 28 Summilux might be even nicer -- but the performance is so superb I'll put up with it.
Cheers,
R.
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peter_n
Veteran
I love this FL too. One of the things that concerns me about the new 24 is the focus throw. I have read that it is long and I think the lens doesn't have a tab. I really like the short throw on the 24 Elmarit, very useful.
rodneyAB
Established
peter n
How do you find the Leica 24 finder?, I know the zeiss finders are gloriously bright, just curious about the Leica
How do you find the Leica 24 finder?, I know the zeiss finders are gloriously bright, just curious about the Leica
Rayt
Nonplayer Character
I have the 21/1.4 and if the 24/1.4 is anything like this then just get it. I sold three Leica mount lenses and a Hasselblad set to pay for this and will do it again. At f/1.4 it does not disappoint.
Roger Hicks
Veteran
Actually I have both and prefer the 24. But that's down to focal length, not image quality, which is stunning with both. They're on loan. The 21 will go back. The 24 almost certainly won't.
Tashi delek,
R.
Rayt
Nonplayer Character
It was a tough choice for me between the 24 and the 21 but my favorite on the M8 is the 28/2 and I thought the 24 may be too close.
Roger Hicks
Veteran
peter_n
Veteran
OT a bit but I haven't used or even seen a Zeiss finder, although they look a bit on the big side to me. I currently have three 24/25 finders (don't ask!) and attach a pic of them below. The brightest is the 25 CV, then the new metal 24 (very close in brightness to the CV, but a wee bit more "tunnelly" in the view) and then the discontinued plastic 24. There is absolutely zero barrel distortion in the new 24, a very slight amount at the edges in the plastic 24, and a fair amount in the CV. The frames in all are really pretty clear, although I could do without the M8 corners in the new Leica VF. I bought the new 24 because its all-metal, I've had plastic feet break.
Left - 24 Leica discontinued in 2005, center - new metal Leica, right - CV
Bill Blackwell
Leica M Shooter
I took one out for a "test drive" about a month ago (Mr. Rose was kind enough to let me have it for the weekend) and was able to compare it directly against my 24mm Asph Elmarit-M and 25mm Biogon ZM.
I absolutely HATE the new lens shade design - Leica has abandoned the clip-on concept it has used for over 50-years in favor of a screw-on design. The other thing not to like about it is Leica has decided to go back to drop-in filters with both the Summilux 21 (series VIII) and Summilux 24 (series VII). When I mount a lens to an M body I naturally grab the front of the lens and turn (you can't do that with these lenses because you'll twist the shade off).
On the one hand, performance is outstanding, but on the other it performs comparably stop-to-stop to both the Elmarit and the Biogon; you read right - the Biogon compares dead-on stop-to-stop against both the Elmarit and the Summilux. In fact, IMHO, the Biogon had the best handling of the three.
IMHO – I would recommend the Biogon for both image resolution and handling, but if you need the two-stop advantage you'll have to pay an additional $5,000 for it - that's an extra $2,500 per stop (about $1,500 per stop for the Elmarit). FWIW since I’ve owned the Elmarit I have never wished I had even one additional stop.
If I had nothing to start with in a 24/25mm M-mount lens, I would be shopping for a ZM Biogon.
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Benjamin
Registered Snoozer
I see your point, and personally even if I had that kind of money I would still buy an Elmarit (f/2.8) or Biogon. But still, what you're paying for with a lens like the Summilux is quality wide open and not just speed to snob-off about.
Benjamin
Registered Snoozer
Well, that is assuming that people will buy the lens to make proper use of it, and not just to snob-off about. This Leica culture thing is weird.
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Al Kaplan
Veteran
There seems to be two Leica cultures warily coexisting with one another. One wants the latest, greatest, sharpest, everything pristine and perfect, cost be damned, which is a good thing. It lets the rest of us get some great bargains in fantastic condition at estate sales held by clueless widows and orphans. Or maybe they're not clueless. They just want to get rid of any reminders of that obsessive egotist who wasn't interested in shooting pix of the grand kids with a digi point and shoot so they'd be easy to email to friends and family.. No, not him! But he'd drag out this honkin' big DSLR to shoot pix of his latest Leica finds so he could post 'em on the Rangefinder Forum.
Benjamin
Registered Snoozer
Al, I can never find these great Estate Auctions, though I do trawl car boots and antique shops in the hope that I might one day find something useable. Nothing so far, just more chippying stuff.
Also funny you should mention 'thee egotist' though, I have met those guys before. They all think that they're f/ing.095 Germans!
Bill Blackwell
Leica M Shooter
Your statement comes with the presumption that someone out there actually wants the two extra stops. My point is precisely that I have never NEEDED the extra stops.
This, along with the bazaar handling (I would have preferred it had a tab too, BTW) of the new Summilux, begs the question and causes me to realize, especially since the Summilux outperforms neither Elmarit nor Biogon stop-to-stop, how happy I’ve been with the Elmarit.
Benjamin
Registered Snoozer
Fair enough Bill, sorry I wasn't trying to bend your words. All I mean is that one isn't just paying for extra speed, but quality at the wider apertures. Something that you don't necessarily get with a fast Nikkor for example.
I would have to agree with you however, I have never wanted for a f/1.4 lens. Good technique is more appealing to me, and certainly more important than a lighter a wallet and another piece of heavy kit.
yanidel
Well-known
I also would love to own the 24mm Summilux and its two extra stops because of its ability to throw backgrounds off. I am surprised to see so few samples of pictures taken with it on the web (and flickr). I wonder if they just stay in their box because of fear to scratch them 😉
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