Beater Fast 35mm M or LTM Mount Lens?

[brbo]

... and there is the Yashica 35 electro ccn with its 35mm 1.8 lens.

+1

There are also other fixed lens rangefinders with relatively fast (f1.7/f1.8) 35/40mm lenses, like Canonet (full manual mode possible!), etc.

 

[Daryl J.]

Some years back I picked up a scratched, hazy, stiff, wobbly, brassed 2/50 LTM Summar that had the coating coming off the inside of the barrel and was floating around randomly inside the lens.

For non-standard photography, it is amazing. But one mist study its quirks to get usable material.

They run $50-75US.

Likely a similarly mistreated 35-40mm is out there waiting for you.

 

[retinax]

I see the appeal in a fast 35. But given the budget, perhaps reconsider and use a 50 for the bokeh-y stuff, there's little to be had from a 35 anyway, and if it's actually about low light, use faster film or push? For abstract and impressionist pics, maybe you can live with more grain?

 

[stompyq]

Well, CV does make a 35mm f/1.2, but it's not cheap. However, it is large and heavy, and could be used to fend of would be muggers. I guess that would make it a "beater"? 😀

Kind of unfair to say that when the lens is only a little bigger than a Nikon 50mm 1.8 AFS

 

[a.noctilux]

This fits my definition of a fast beater. Except not in Leica mount. Maybe I pick up an old FM body to go with it.

Adapter from Fotodiox ... Nikon F to Leica M can be cheap:
https://fotodioxpro.com/collections/lens-mount-adapters/products/nikf-lm


:angel: scale focus only ...

 

[danielsterno]

FYI, my Jupiter 1.5 was almost mint for $400., purchased here on RFF, great/fun lens...

 

[mpaniagua]

Adapter from Fotodiox ... Nikon F to Leica M can be cheap:
https://fotodioxpro.com/collections/lens-mount-adapters/products/nikf-lm


:angel: scale focus only ...

Interesting. Got a bunch of Nikon lens that I don't use that much. Probably will get one to use with my M5/M6. My zone/hyperfocal focusing skills are so so, maybe give it a try.

Marcelo

 

[Takkun]

I can vouch that Fotodiox adapters are cheap but reasonably solid. Might be a bit unwieldily with an SLR lens on an RF, but better than my uses, which has been mounting RF lenses on a Panasonic AF100.

 

[presspass]

Yet another vote for the 40 cv. It's a good lens and not all that popular. And you can get it in single coating which is better if you are shooting b&w film. I should use mine more.

 

[johannielscom]

Very amusing to see all that squirming going on to find a rangefinder lens that meets the requirements. No need for all that if the result gets put before the equipment.

Does the lens have to be fast for bokeh? Use a soft filter with a hole. Does it have to be fast for film speed? Use a tripod.
In either case, get a 35mm lens on an old SLR and you'll be done under 100 bucks, tripod or filters heck even both! included.

 

[raid]

Yup, the days of the 200 dollar Canon 35mm f 1.5 lens in LTM were over in the late 1980s by my recollections from attending many antique camera shows.

A clean Canon 35/1.5 ltm may cost $500+ these days. I am glad that I got such a lens many years ago.

 

[ampguy]

How is distortion of 40mm 1.4

How is distortion of 40mm 1.4

Is it significantly less than the 35/1.4 CV? How about the old Ultron 35/1.7 LTM?

Anyone measure distortion on the 7artisans?

Consider the CV 40mm f1.4. A very good lens with a low price on the used market reflecting that it is shunned because it is not 35mm. Too many photographers never tried assuming it would not work because they did not have 40mm framelines or they assumed there was a discernible difference in the FOV between 35 and 40mm. A little bit of work with a file on the mount will bring up 35mm framelines which match the actual FOV (at least on a Zeiss Ikon).

I shot an entire project over a year with this lens, almost always wide open. See my South Apopka religion series at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtRnbe-9ul8&feature=youtu.be

Actually the 35mm slot in my M mount lens lineup is filled with this 40mm lens.