Lens advice quesiton

kalex

kalex

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hello,

I recently acquired M8 and need advice with lens selection.

My budget is pretty limited and I pretty much narrowed it down to 2 choices.

Zeiss 35mm f2 ZM or Leica 35mm Summarit-M

since I'm pretty new to leica world I'm looking for little guidance in choosing my lens.

Which one would u recommend and why?

Does Zeiss need to be coded? if it does can it be done DIY style or does Zeiss have to do it? is coding needed?

thanks

Alex
 
Coding wise, well you don't have to but it will help the sensor give more accurate results if it is. It can be DIY'ed with coding kits. Dealers, Ebay have them etc.

Both are excellent pieces of glass, each with a different look. Really, it comes down to your preference. I do favor the Biogon however, take a look around sites such a flickr and take now of how each lens renders.

The Zeiss has the 1/3 aperture stops. This can be a good or bad thing depending on the user. Personally I don't like it because my guess work doesn't work in 1/3's. But when using AE on an M8, it gives you that extra little control.

The Leica is light & tiny, you lose a bit of a stop, but no biggie if you're not after Bokeh, not the Summarit's strong point. Focusing tab as opposed to ring etc. A very good performer.
 
Thanks Neare,
Thats pretty much my dilema :) both are good performers but its hard to decide and i can only have one of them :)
 
I have a nice CV 35 1.4 that i had "planned" to use on the M8. I did not like the FOV at all! I looked around and got a 28/2 'cron v4 for about $1250 used in great shape. I MUCH perfer it over the 35mm.

good luck....easy to DIY code it.
 
thanks atlcruiser. I had a 28mm m-rokkor on my epson r-d1 and didn't enjoy FOV that much. preferred 35mm more. but it can be different on M8 :)
maybe i should go through my pics and check again :)

do u happen to have any good links for DIY coding?

thanks
 
I think Popflash has coding kits.

Sometimes I use a Zeiss 35/2 on my M8 among others and I haven't felt the need to code the lens. Though I feel better that my Leica 28/2.8 ASPH is coded and I'd certainly look into coding for wider lenses.

I have the Zeiss 35/2, the CV 35/2.5 Color Skopar, the CV 35/1.4 Nokton, and the CV 35/1.2 Nokton. Between them, I'd say the Zeiss is the best all around performer with the Color Skoper not very far off. The faster lenses come through when nothing else will do with the CV 35/1.4 being both fast and a handy size.

For daylight subjects outside or inside w/ window light only, I consider the Zeiss 35/2 my best choice. With a f2.5 lens, I'd am tempted to move the ISO higher which I avoid doing to perserve image quality. Though if I can take a small flash, I don't hesitate using f2.8 or f2.5 lenses, day or night, since they are very nicely compact.
 
A great resource for you...http://reidreviews.com/reidreviews/

Sean is a working photographer with practical reviews on Leica and other gear, including very useful lens comparisons. He just completed a review of various 35 mm lenses on the M9, including the two you mention, and others. He also reviewed a collection of 35's on the M8 some time ago, including the Zeiss, but before the Summarit.

Besides the reviews, the essays are terrific, and worth the small admission price. No vested interest here, just an enthusiastic follower. You'll get your value in no time, not to mention the time saved not having to post your next 100 questions.:)

Jeff
 
are you searching for a new lens? or used? considering your price range, i'd actually recommend that you considered used leica summicron versions. that would still be more than a grand, but you'd have coding and a lens better than the summarit.
 
I'm searching for used one. Summarit are hard to find used though. Aren't summarits coded too?
So far I had no luck finding summicron below $1500 mark. I found few but they were version 1 and version 2. Anything newer seems to go for more. I can pickup new Summarit for around $1250 which is already at my max budget. Prices on used leica lenses seemed to gone up quite a bit since Leica raised their prices. I remember seeing a lot cheaper prices before price raise.
 
Kalex, regarding coding, you could do it with a felt tip permanent marker: with the M8 with no lens, get a pencil and mark around the edges of the chrome mount the position of the 6-bit contacts. then mount the lens and mark the positions on the lens. remove it, trace the 6 strips and using the marker, paint the needed ones black. it works, a friend of mine coded his summaron this way. if you don't mind it looking homemade, no hassle :)

regarding the lens, i assume the zeiss would be a better option. great optics and faster. the speed difference should give you an advantage on lower light situations, as the M8's high iso settings are not up to the R-D1's (from what I've been reading and from what I have seen on flickr at full size).

look for used summicrons on keh.com, tamarkin and igorcamera, they had used 35mm summicrons for as low as $1000. In January there was a chrome one for that price (I was looking for one for a friend). I came back next day and it had been sold. so be quick if you find one :)

I know you haven't mentioned it, but the 35/1.4 Nokton from Voigtlander performs well on the M8, a friend of mine had this combo and the results were quite nice. Go for the multicoated version though and get a hood. I have the single coated version and it flares considerably.
 
Thanks for the tip umcelinho.
I called Igorcamera and he had 2 summicrons for $1100 each. They were version II from 1970s i think. I'm watching few of them on ebay so will see :)
 
kalex: yes, summarits are coded. and, yes, i agree--used leica lens prices seem to have risen dramatically over the past year ...
 
@kalex

I would, if you don't mind the size and weight, encourage you to take a look at the Nokton 35mm 1.2. By far my favorite RF lens, it has quite the special signature and is an extremely good performer, it's up there with the best of them. It's in your price range too.
 
If you can stretch your budget, look at the 28mm/2.8 Elmarit. As I understand it,this lens is considered to be the "natural" for the M8 as it yields about a 35mm equivalent. It is very small. Though Leica will not say it, it appears that some of their recently introduced lenses like the WATE and the 24mm/3.8 were designed with the M8/9 in mind and the coatings optimized for digital. Not sure if this is true, but I have heard inklings of this.
 
Thanks everybody for helping out. I actually managed to find Mint condition 35mm Summarit-M for the price that I really liked. So for now it will do. Once i get more comfortable with leicas in general i will start looking for something else. It should be here in few days and I'll test it out. I'm going to consider 35mm 1.2 because its fast so I can use it at night. What about 35mm 1.7 Nokton? would it be a good choice for low light? I was shooting with a 28mm M-Rokkor on my Epson R-D1 before and didn't like the FOV it gave me and actually preferred my 40mm Nokton
 
kalex said:
....... 35mm Summarit-M for the price that I really liked. ....... What about 35mm 1.7 Nokton? would it be a good choice for low light?.......
Click to expand...

Alex - Your Nokton question, and your original question are answered in the relevant reviews at Reid Reviews. Many of us are indebted to Sean Reid's subscription site, and I too believe that reading Sean's fair and thorough reviews [and particularly his recent "35mm lenses on M9"] before making your purchasing decision would have clarified your options. For example, you may have discovered that for you possibly the Zeiss 35mm C-Biogon is a best-choice lens for f2.8 and slower photography, rather than the Zeiss f2.0 or the Summarit.

There is often no such thing as a universal-best lens amongst the M fit range; they all have strengths and deficiencies, and slow lenses [for example] can have design, cost, and size advantages over f2.0 and faster lenses........

Read Sean say I .

.............. Chris

P.S. - My first-choice 35mm lens for 'M' is the Zeiss C-Biogon f2.8. It is an artists' lens.
 
Thanks Chris :) I guess I'm going to have to subscribe to his site.
You are right there is no perfect lens and I guess I will have to test and decide for myself which one to get :)
 
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Many of the lenses for Leicas are pretty good and beyond the ability of most shooters to fully utilize them. There are many factors in choosing lenses as you've noted. For instance, compact lenses and ergonomics are important factors for me and I'm willing to exchange perfection for a compact unit I know I'll take everywhere. Expect some trial and error.
 
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