Cheap lenses on expensive bodies.

[Huss]

Cheap lenses are junk, right? Leicas needs super expensive glass? Or do they?...

Howzabout a thread embracing cheap lenses on Leicas?

I'll start - Jupiter J8 50mm F2 on an M240.

Shot at F2.

 

[MIkhail]

Same lens on M6

 

[Huss]

Very nice, what film?

 

[fad gadget]

I really liked my J3, worked great on my film M's, but wouldn't focus to infinity on my M240 at the time.
I traded it and bought the new J3+, I really like it!
While not cheap, it has a the same look with a bit more polish.

Vey nice photos in both posts!

 

[Ronald M]

Waste of money. Body is just a light tight box so long as the shutter is accurate. Lens makes the image.

 

[xayraa33]

Back in the 1970s one could buy a natty 5cm Summar lens for 20 US dollars or even a used 50mm Topcor or Tanar lens in LTM for a bit more money from those New York photo stores that advertised in the back pages of Modern and Popular Photography magazines.

 

[B-9]

Cheap lens challenge! (M8+50Skopar)

 

[Huss]

Cheap lens challenge! (M8+50Skopar)

Very nice. For a sec I was going to say a 50 Skopar isn't cheap, but then I remembered I paid $180 for mine! It's funny how one's perspective gets skewed from both ends - Leica and Russian lenses.

 

[Huss]

Lomo Minitar on a Leica MDA

 

[narsuitus]

Howzabout a thread embracing cheap lenses on Leicas?

I first used this technique in the early 1970s when I had a Leica M1 that I used primarily on a microscope. I searched until I found two adapters, one that allowed a Nikon F lens to mount on an "X" body and another adapter that allowed an "X" lens to mount on a Leica M body. I no longer remember what "X" was; however, I do remember that this setup did not permit focusing on infinity.

Today, I use one modern adapter to mount a "cheap" Nikon 18mm on a Leica M6. I set the focus distance to 1-meter and the f/stop to f/11 so that everything from about 1/2 meter to infinity is in focus.


Nikkor on Leica by Narsuitus, on Flickr

 

[B-9]

Another one with the 50 Skopar

 

[uhoh7]

What do we mean by cheap?


broadway clouds by unoh7, Jupi 8 nex-5


Whitehouse by unoh7, 1937 CZJ 135/4 M9

I think the cheapest lens I often use is the Elmarit 135, but over 200 bucks, it's hard to call them cheap. These were pretty cheap:


CZJ and progeny by unoh7, on Flickr

But the old zeiss needed help:

DSC00060-1-2 by unoh7, on Flickr

So I sent it to the famous Harry, who fixed that, but then it was not a cheap lens anymore


River Banks by unoh7, CZJ 1937 50/1.5 on A7.mod

He made me promise to never touch the front element, as it has acquired a natural coating....sharper than new, according to Harry.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Junk in pure technical world is different from snob world. Technically M240 was junk failing behind the rest by the year it was released. Mediocre high ISO performance, long startup time and no AF.

 

[Huss]

Jupiter 8, M240

"Bedlam Lullaby" performing at "Beyond the Lines" in Santa Monica.
If you ever get a chance to check them out, do. An incredible harmonizing trio.

 

[mark_pw]

I used this lens.

Other samples are stored here.

 

[Huss]

Jupiter 8, M100

 

[robert blu]

i like the images in this thread, thank you all. Unfortunately I have no cheap lens for my M7 but that Lomo Minitar with that photo by Huss is tempting...
robert

 

[Doug]

Very nice. For a sec I was going to say a 50 Skopar isn't cheap, but then I remembered I paid $180 for mine! It's funny how one's perspective gets skewed from both ends - Leica and Russian lenses.

Indeed! About 15 years ago the 50 Skopar had somehow acquired a reputation for lack of sharpness. I think this impacted sales. All the samples seen online appeared sharp, but what can you tell from online jpegs? In 2004 I found one new-in-box for $175 and took a chance. In use mine was plenty sharp, with a nice image quality, and the only quarrel would be its slight pincushion distortion.

One behind the auto body shop with 2.5/50 Skopar @ f/4, Leica M(240)

I should show this old one again, the "Juice Bar Lady", 2.5/50 Skopar, Leica M2, Fuji 800Z... BTW this Leica body was not expensive either, just $150 used in a downtown retail shop in 1967.

 

[Huss]

Leica MDA with Lomo Minitar.

 

[kb244]

Unless the 'cheap' body can't focus or has light leaks/etc (makes me wonder, what exactly makes you love the expensive body?)
. I would say whatever body works with the lens, cheap or otherwise as long as you love what you get out of it.