Lenses with the most "character"?

[Lord Fluff]

Nice shot Mike

I'd advise against trying the 85L unless you can afford it. It is an utterly addictive lens, hard to use but oh the results. I'd pay Noctilux prices for one if I had to - so the price they command oddly seems like good value....

 

[Vincenzo Maielli]

My personal "Leica character lenses" are Summaron 35/2.8, firts version of Summicron 35/2 (8 elements), Summicron 50/2 DR, Tele Elmarit 90/2.8 "Shorty" and Summicron 90/2 first version.
Ciao.
Vincenzo

 

[pfoto]

When people say "pre-asph summilux" do they always mean the 35 or does it apply to the 50 too?

I at least meant the 50mm pre-ASPH Summilux. My apologies for being unclear.

 

[Haanes]

I got a Summarit 5cm/1.5 for approx. $200, and it's sure got character. It's out of focus-areas are magnificent, but it's extremely low contrast. The attached image (taken at f1.5) is adjusted with black levels +25 in LR.

edit: Summarit, not Summitar

 

[Haanes]

The bokeh of the CV was simply ugly, swirly and harsh.

Ouch, I just ordered this hoping for dreamy and creamy bokeh. Why is it that they have images taken with the 35 in japanese magazines, whereas there's not one single sample pic on the www?

Could you please elaborate on the bokeh? Is it similar to the 40/1.4?

Thanks,
Henrik

 

[cmogi10]

Ouch, I just ordered this hoping for dreamy and creamy bokeh. Why is it that they have images taken with the 35 in japanese magazines, whereas there's not one single sample pic on the www?

Could you please elaborate on the bokeh? Is it similar to the 40/1.4?

Thanks,
Henrik

Everyone's greatest fear...

 

[sirius]

I got a Summarit 5cm/1.5 for approx. $200, and it's sure got character. It's out of focus-areas are magnificent, but it's extremely low contrast. The attached image (taken at f1.5) is adjusted with black levels +25 in LR.View attachment 55470

edit: Summarit, not Summitar

Haanes, I think you mean summarit. The summitar is an f2 lens.

 

[Haanes]

Haanes, I think you mean summarit. The summitar is an f2 lens.

Yep, it's changed. 🙂

 

[tbarker13]

I had one of the newer C-sonnars for a few months. Loved the lens, much more so after it made a trip back to Zeiss to the focus optimized at 1.5.
In the end, I sold it while paring down my kit.
But now that I've decided to add a 50 to my kit again, I may even end up getting another. Also, looking at the 50 pre-asp lux.

 

[rxmd]

And if I may correct you, there's no lens in the Canon line which can compete against the best RF lenses in the 0 to 50mm range.

I beg to differ. The 50/1.4 can compete, because it is an excellent low-cost lens, fast, nice rendering and bokeh. I am not an MTF chart junkie but I doubt that the Summilux 1.4 is better, certainly not the eight times better that the price difference would suggest (unless you have a somewhat skewed utility function). Certainly not "better" in a way that would beyond differences of taste, or that would be descernible on 8x10 or smaller prints, let alone online. The 24/1.4 can compete. The SLR lenses are bigger, but that's a statement of the obvious; in other news, cars are bigger than motorbikes.

It seems like something that got a lot of people way to excited and become a much bigger deal then it actually is.

Welcome to the Internet.

Philipp

 

[Ororaro]

Maddoc and Ned. Have you guys been over at the mall shopping together again? 🙂

One day, me and Gabor will meet in Munich and go street shooting.

 

[Joe Vitessa]

Just wanted to cast my vote for the Summitar. One of my favorites--sharpish when I need it and full of character, too. I'm having fun with a Zeiss Planar 50mm , too, which has a surprising amount of character for a modern lens. I don't think any of the CV lenses I've shot with have any character, other than being just plain sharp and contrasty. Good for color, but not all that interesting...

 

[mfogiel]

rxmd
This was not supposed to start a brand war, however, the Canon 50/1.4 is no better than the corresponding Nikkor. I tested the Nikkor against the Zeiss 50/1.4 ZF and there was no contest, I tested it against the Makro Planar 50/2 ZF and there was even less contest, and I have tested the Makro Planar against the Planar ZM, and honestly speaking, it looks to me like the ZM version is slightly ahead, This relates to overall image quality, not only to sharpness, but my Makro Planar is as sharp full open, as the Nikkor at f4.0. It may be subjective to a point, but not totally subjective - maybe you can try to shoot your Canon lens on film and compare it to a first rate RF lens on the same type of film. I tried Nikkor against Zeiss both on digital and film, and there was never any contest. This is in part due to the different construction requirement of a normal lens in case of the absence of a mirror box - it is widely known for example, that even the Planars put on the Rolleiflex cameras in the 60' come out ahead of the same (nominally) Planars for the Hasselblad of a much later production.
As far as the 24 Canon lens, I can bet a good bottle of wine, that it cannot even kiss the legs of the current Leica Elmarit 24, not to speak about the Biogon 25 - they are both f2.8 lenses, so obviously they have an "unfair" advantage, but even a bigger advantage lies in their non retrofocus construction. If you go to fredmiranda alternative lens users forum, you will find that everybody raves about the C/Y Distagon 21 - well, I bet another bottle, that the 21/4.5 C Biogon wipes the floor with that lens... So there you are, you have 2 bottles of wine to win ! This might actually prompt you to shoot more splendid photographs ! 🙂

 

[photophorous]

I think my C/V 50/2 Heliar Classic has quite a bit of character. Not sure how to describe it, but the images I make with that lens stand out more often than images from any of my other lenses.

Paul

 

[Schorki]

For me, I only use my m6 with Summicon 35mm pre-asph lenses. I love the buttery smooth transition from sharp to unsharp. This gives the slides a 3d feeling where so many leicaphiles are talking about ;-) The bokeh just looks like it is painted. Example:

Greetings,

Jeroen

 

[ZebGoesZeiss]

As far as the 24 Canon lens, I can bet a good bottle of wine, that it cannot even kiss the legs of the current Leica Elmarit 24

At three times the price and two stops vignetting at f/2.8 it should... Saying that, it is the easiest lens I've ever sold - 24mm and f/2.8 --> utterly pointless in my world.

 

[VinceC]

BLUELIGHT WROTE:
>>I have a Nikkor 1.4 and noticed a strong tendency to flare ( or veiling flare or coma).

Would you please post more pictures with the Nikkor as I am learning to explore the potential of this lens.

Thanks<<

You probably won't get much discussion of Nikkors here in the Leica M forum (the Nikkors were LTM). It does flare wide open, but in controlled light can produce some wonderful images. If you stop down by about 1/3, you lose the worst of the flare and veil, and contrast picks up noticeably. I have some wide open Nikkor images on the front page of my gallery.

 

[former member]

Zeiss Jena Tessar "T" 50mm F2.8 in LTM.

Nobody mentioned one yet.

 

[maddoc]

One day, me and Gabor will meet in Munich and go street shooting.

That is a good plan !! 🙂

 

[maggieo]

I think my C/V 50/2 Heliar Classic has quite a bit of character. Not sure how to describe it, but the images I make with that lens stand out more often than images from any of my other lenses.

Paul

I'll second that! I've had the 50/2 Heliar Classic and it has just blown me away!

I'm also terribly fond of my CV 35/1.7 Ultron, which has a lovely blend of sharpness and moderate contrast, along with smooooth bokeh. I think it makes very distinctive "Ultron" photographs.