Leica M and Zeiss ZM "wides"

[Godfrey]

If you're shooting with film, the Color Skopar 21mm f/4 is a wonderful lens and works beautifully. It doesn't work as well with the M digital cameras in my experience, unless using CornerFix works for you.

Ultra wide lenses are a tricky bit for me. I love the way ultra wide 'creates space' BUT it really takes my mental image of what I'm doing into a different space. I cannot mix an ultra wide with other lenses on a daily walk, for instance. I have to focus on using one, and only that, for a while before I see in the wide space. 35mm is my wide lens for most shooting; 28s are possible but marginal. I usually prefer to make the bigger jump from 35 or 50 to 21mm, and just dedicate myself to the ultra wide.

One thing that I love doing is shooting ultra wide squares, a la the Hasselblad SWC. But there is no digital SWC yet. My best simulation is to use a 15-16mm lens on 35 FF format and crop to a square. That's a ultra wide look that feels natural to me. Usually I do this now with the SL and a Super-Elmar-R 15mm f/3.5, but I bought the WATE to have a more compact lens available (the SER15 is huge) and one useable on the M as well.

I mostly use the WATE on the M-D at the 21mm setting. It is an excellent performer and relatively small and light for its type of lens. I use it with the Voigtländer 21/25 finder. I should probably pick up a 15mm finder to use it with too.

You've inspired me ... perhaps I'll carry the WATE on this morning's walk and shoot some ultra wide squares today. 🙂

G

Very happy with my Leica M4-2 and the standard 35-50-90 set-up. Thinking longer-term about wider lenses and curious how folks have approached it for themselves. Though I'm using Zeiss ZM myself as a 1st choice, I have an older Leica Tele-Elmarit thanks to recommendations here as well, so this is not meant to be a Leica / Zeiss shoot-out, but to understand for those who shoot wider than 35mm, which choices they have made (or would LIKE to make).. and if you care to indicate, you could add a note about why. Focal length more than version.

I've collected lenses for my digital Sony that cover the gamut... some like Makro... 'cause for copy work and studio photoshots for ebay, and others out of searching for the right lens among the cast-off Contax CY beauties while learning what I like... while I have yet to discard the unused (though that's the next step!). Looking to be much more selective with Leica... 'cause that's reality, right? As a fourth lens to add to the standard three-some... some day, I lean toward the 21mm, but am curious what others have done. The WATE is a tripple whammy beyond my present and prospective budget.

 

[bobkonos]

Leica: 28mm f6.3, 28mm f5.6, 28mm f2.8
Canon: 28mm f2.8, 25mm f3.5, 19mm f3.5
Nikon RF: 28mm f3.5
Cosina-Voigtlander: 15mm f4.5, 21mm f4 S-mount, 25mm f4 S-mount, 28mm f3.5 Color Skopar
Zeiss (Cosina-made): 18mm f4, 21mm f4.5

Dedicated wide lens camera bodies: C-V Bessa L, Zeiss SW, Leica MDa

 

[mcfingon]

I just bought the Elmar-M 24/3.8 and love how well it works on my Sony A7S and Leica M6. I also have the Biogon 35/2 but sadly that does not work well on the A7S, so it's being under-used for now.

 

[MIkhail]

Portra:

That's a pretty decent picture - I like the background defined well and overall composition.

 

[Chubberino]

I want a 28 but only because I want it for my M8 to get closer to actual 35mm. Right now I only rock a 35mm 2.8 Summaron on it which is wonderful, but I'd like the wider field of view.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

I used to have the ZM 21mm f/2.8 until I got my first 21mm f/3.4 Super Angulon.

Phil Forrest

 

[Doug]

I want a 28 but only because I want it for my M8 to get closer to actual 35mm. Right now I only rock a 35mm 2.8 Summaron on it which is wonderful, but I'd like the wider field of view.

The M8's crop sensor offers up some interesting and less common angles of view with common lenses... The 28 is a favorite in bringing in a "long 35" at about 37mm equivalent, near-perfect for many users. And if you favor a "wide 35", try the 24mm lens for a 32mm equivalent! Could also consider that a "long 28".

The Summaron gives you a 46.5 equivalent, which could pair nicely with a 28 equivalency provided by a 21mm lens...

My wider lenses find more use on the M8 than a full-frame camera for the extra flexibility.

 

[ornate_wrasse]

I have two wide angle lenses, One of them is the 21 3.4 Super Angulon and the other is the 28mm Elmarit, I tend not to use my Super Angulon much these days as I can only use it on my M3. However, I find myself using the 28mm Elmarit a lot these days. The trick with the wider lenses, as far as I'm concerned, is to make sure you get something in the foreground to make the shot more interesting. Without foreground detail, wide angle shots can be less effective. I used to have the Voigtlander 28mm 1.9, but I sold it after I got the Leica 28mm Elmarit as I didn't feel I needed two 28mm lenses.

 

[Richard G]

21s and 25s and 28s on Leicas from my experience. Get closer, fill the frame, shoot close to wide open with confidence still in depth of field, scale focus for speed, expose manually as the sky contributes too much to auto exposure. For architecture consider eliminating converging verticals and crop out the foreground later, and even with external finder, make the final adjustment of the framing with the camera's RF rangefinder patch to get closer to horizontal alignment.

 

[airfrogusmc]

I really like my 24mm 2.8 Elmarit.

 

[Daryl J.]

I have an itch for the 5.6/28 Summaron new issue.

 

[Archiver]

Leica 28mm Elmarit ASPH
Zeiss 28mm Biogon
Zeiss 21mm f2.8
Zeiss 25mm f2.8
Voigtlander 25mm f4 P
Voigtlander 15mm f4.5 LTM
Voigltander 12mm f5.6 M

The Zeiss lens red edge colour shifts are well handled by selecting and appropriate setting in digital Ms. The 21mm is glorious, the 25mm is super sharp, and the 28mm is virtually indistinguishable from the Leica Elmarit ASPH.

The "only" problem - and it's a big problem - is the lens wobble that most of my Zeiss lenses have developed. The 25 is becoming 'scuffy' and irregular in focus, the 28mm is so scuffy it is virtually unusable, and only the 21mm seem to be doing okay so far. I've read that Zeiss used cheaper grease in their ZM lenses, which has lead to them drying out and suffering these issues. The lens barrels themselves have worked loose, too.

Ironically, all of my Voigtlander lenses, which were manufactured in the same factory by Cosina, have performed perfectly and have no mechanical issues at all. The Voigtlander 25/4P is a great lens on a film body, although it has some red edge that cannot be removed in-camera. It is also a less contrasty and slightly less sharp lens than the Zeiss 25mm. This is a shame, because I love the Zeiss 25mm as a general walkabout lens, and have taken some super images with it.

 

[Gary E]

21 and 28

21 and 28

My first WA was the original VC 21/4 screw mount. I didn't have a 28 at the time and didn't know if I would like it or not, but after getting the VC 28/2 the 21 grew on me. It's the only 21 I think I'll ever need; such max performance to price ratio of any lens I own next to my 40/2 Summicron-C.

 

[raid]

I used to use 21mm SLR lenses on the M3 and m6, but they won't fit my M8 or M9.

 

[cnphoto]

21SA is always the one wide I come back to, I had the 2nd version 21 Elmarit and in the past also the 28 Elmarit - but the 21SA 3.4 on film is just amazing.

 

[roscoetuff]

I bought a used 21mm ZM rated "EX" by Adorama. Took great shots, but had wobble. I returned it to Zeiss who fixed it at a cost of $300 and a few weeks (sent to NJ and from there to Germany). Wobble is over. Get 'em fixed. Cost used + repair was still less than new.

 

[narsuitus]

As a fourth lens to add to the standard three-some... some day, I lean toward the 21mm, but am curious what others have done.

I use two 35mm rangefinder systems.

Leica M6 body with 21mm f/1.4 Leitz, 35mm f/1.4 Zeiss, and 90mm f/2 Leitz

Contax G1 body with 21mm f/2.8 Zeiss and 28mm f/2.8 Zeiss, 45mm f/2 Zeiss, and 90mm f/2.8 Zeiss

 

[MCTuomey]

OP: What is your 35/50/90 set-up not allowing you to shoot the way you'd like?

 

[MCTuomey]

I want a 28 but only because I want it for my M8 to get closer to actual 35mm. Right now I only rock a 35mm 2.8 Summaron on it which is wonderful, but I'd like the wider field of view.

M8's 28mm framelines are its VF sweet-spot, imho. Go for it.

 

[forceusr]

I've got three lenses for my M240 - a VC 15/4.5 ASPH, a Zeiss 35/2, and a vintage Canon 50/1.8. I'd love to add a 24mm or 25 mm to fill the gap between the 35 and 15, and then a 75mm or 90mm for portrait work.

I love the view of the world the 15mm gives, but it has some weird color fringing in the corners on a digital camera - easily fixable in black and white and not an issue on my R4A with film.