james.liam
Well-known
Back to the OP's ƒ/3.4-4 options.
Talk of behemoth 21 lenses like the 21 Nokton or CovidArtisans are beside the point.
Options are simple:
- Leica 21 SEM. Razor sharp corner-to-corner and with 6 bit coding, the color is perfect across the frame. Having shot with the Nikkor 14-24 and Zeiss ZF 2,8/21, the SEM is as good as it gets. Highest corner-to-corner resolution of the lot, with negligible (almost non-existent) distortion.
- Voigtländer 3,5/21. Small, optimized for digital sensors and recent in design. Wonky focus knob but if you can live with it, the best alternative to the Leica. Higher-resolution, uniform color and lower distortion than its CV predecessors. A notch or two below the Leica but an amazing value.
- Voigtländer 4/21 (LTM and M). Tiny, fun but a film lens. With the appearance of the reformulated 3,5/21, too many optical compromises to remain relevant on digital.
- Leica 21/4 SA. Schneider-built, focuses down to 0.4 m but again, built for the early film cameras; later M's can't meter through the lens. Has become a cult favorite of new M2/3/4 Filmistas for its close-focus & lack of distortion. Great for B&W film.
- Leica 21/3,4 SA. Successor to above, better center performance but with the same metering issues and limitations on digital.
- Zeiss 4,5/21 C. Tiny, spectacular on film; high resolution, negligible distortion. Severely flawed on full spectrum digital (color shift can only be partially mitigated in PP) and therefore of limited utility nowadays. If you're shooting Monochrom digital &/or just film, remains a solid, albeit slow lens and superior to the ƒ/4 CV options-but pricier. Shame Zeiss has not reformulated this little gem for digital.
Talk of behemoth 21 lenses like the 21 Nokton or CovidArtisans are beside the point.
Options are simple:
- Leica 21 SEM. Razor sharp corner-to-corner and with 6 bit coding, the color is perfect across the frame. Having shot with the Nikkor 14-24 and Zeiss ZF 2,8/21, the SEM is as good as it gets. Highest corner-to-corner resolution of the lot, with negligible (almost non-existent) distortion.
- Voigtländer 3,5/21. Small, optimized for digital sensors and recent in design. Wonky focus knob but if you can live with it, the best alternative to the Leica. Higher-resolution, uniform color and lower distortion than its CV predecessors. A notch or two below the Leica but an amazing value.
- Voigtländer 4/21 (LTM and M). Tiny, fun but a film lens. With the appearance of the reformulated 3,5/21, too many optical compromises to remain relevant on digital.
- Leica 21/4 SA. Schneider-built, focuses down to 0.4 m but again, built for the early film cameras; later M's can't meter through the lens. Has become a cult favorite of new M2/3/4 Filmistas for its close-focus & lack of distortion. Great for B&W film.
- Leica 21/3,4 SA. Successor to above, better center performance but with the same metering issues and limitations on digital.
- Zeiss 4,5/21 C. Tiny, spectacular on film; high resolution, negligible distortion. Severely flawed on full spectrum digital (color shift can only be partially mitigated in PP) and therefore of limited utility nowadays. If you're shooting Monochrom digital &/or just film, remains a solid, albeit slow lens and superior to the ƒ/4 CV options-but pricier. Shame Zeiss has not reformulated this little gem for digital.
