Leica Lenses a mass of wonder

[Dfndr90]

Hello,

I am totally new to the forum, and just purchased an M6 TTL .85 and a Summicron 50mm. I am looking for more lenses, but would like to know where to find more information on the different models, i.e. Summilux, summicron, Elmar. What do all these identifiers mean. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Matt...

 

[Terence T]

Hi Matt,

Try this guide over at Cameraquest.

http://www.cameraquest.com/mlenses.htm

Look around the site, plenty of information on M lenses and bodies.

Have fun with the new acquisitions, let the GAS begin!

 

[jaapv]

And for current lenses:LEICA SITE

Welcome on the forum, you'll enjoy it here. 🙂

 

[markinlondon]

Welcome, Matt.

THIS SITE also discusses the relative merits of Leica lenses old and new. Which 50 'cron do you have?

Mark

 

[RML]

And don't forget the Carl Zeiss lenses (http://www.zeissikon.com). Less expensive but as superb as the Leica lenses, perhaps even better. 😀

 

[Dfndr90]

Mark,

I have the 1:2/50 Leitz Wetzlar 245***

 

[jaapv]

Which is a nice standard lens.

 

[Treb]

Summilux, summicron, Elmar. What do all these identifiers mean.

In ye olde days lenses had names too. Leica is one of a few who still use names for their lenses. The Leica lens names denote maximum aperture.

Noctilux: f1.0
Summilux: f1.4
Summicron: f2.0
Summaron: f2.8 or f3.5
(Tele)-Elmar/Elmarit: f2.8 or f4.0

More names exist, search the given links. Enjoy!

 

[Magus]

Post deleted by posters request

 

[MP/CLE]

And don't forget the Carl Zeiss lenses (http://www.zeissikon.com). Less expensive but as superb as the Leica lenses, perhaps even better. 😀

Check the thread on the main board about qa issues with two out of four ZI items... the body and one lens had to be returned for functional issues right out of the box.

 

[SDK]

I would not worry too much about Zeiss ZM lens QC. So far I have only seen one post of a defective Zeiss ZM lens, Joe's 50mm/2 Planar ZM. We know Zeiss has sold about 10,000 ZM lenses, and while there probably are more returns than our Joe's, there seems to be no avalanche of bad Zeiss M mount lenses. I have 5 ZM lenses and all are top notch quality. The Zeiss 21mm/2.8 and 25mm/2.8 Biogons are my favorites, but the 28mm/2.8, 35mm/2 and 50mm/2 are all fine lenses too. If anything the Zeiss lens build quality is more consistent than the newer Leica lenses I own (28/2 ASPH, 35mm/1.4 ASPH, 75mm/2 ASPH and 90mm/2 ASPH). All these lenses (Zeiss and Leica) are great lenses for the M7. The 75mm/2 ASPH is my favorite Leica lens, followed by the 28mm/2 ASPH.

 

[BJ Bignell]

(Tele)-Elmar/Elmarit: f2.8 or f4.0

And 3.5, too, I believe?

Not that it really matters to me, I just felt like being irritatingly fastidious for a moment. I'll stop now.

 

[sspeed]

I bought the "Leica Pocket Book" (7th ed.) by Dennis Laney when I bought my M6 TTL. It contains a lot of information on lenses and versions. In other words: Pure Leica Porn 😀

I second that. Very useful.

 

[SDK]

The Leica Pocket Book is great, though it stops short of some of the newest lenses, like the 75mm/2 Apo-Summicon ASPH. It's got great technical descriptions, including MTF curves for many older M lenses. The Leica and Zeiss Ikon websites are great too. You can download PDFs of all their current M-mount lenses.

 

[Grober]

More on Leica lenses

More on Leica lenses

http://www.photoethnography.com/equipment.html

Karen, a University professor, is also a rangfinder freak and offers some useful, allbeit very personal comments at the link above about various lenses for the Leica M.

My own put: first get a 90mm Elmarit and then the 28mm Summicron. Protect them both with appropriate B+W filters (and good cases when not in use) then start shooting.

Welcome to the Leica RF disease!

 

[Grober]

Matt,

You can also investigate Canon RF lenses which can be mounted via a screwmount-to-M-mount adapter which is widely available from a number of sources. The optical performance of the older Canon lenses is good but you'll be frustrated by the fact that, because they must use the adapter, they don't line up at the 12 o'clock position for focusing. I got rid of a tin, clean Canon 25mm just for this reason. Bought the new Zeiss 25mm Biogon and couldn't be happier both mechanically and optically.

-grober