Lomo Loves Leica M7 : Minitar 32mm 2.8 lens

[Huss]

Leica M7, Fuji C200.
What is interesting is how this lens varies its look depending on lighting and of course aperture setting. None of these images were 'cooked' in pp.
All from the same roll of film.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Lovely lens for juicy colors.

 

[sebastel]

shrug. sorry.

 

[fer_fdi]

I specially like the draw on second picture.

Great for a ~$50 lens! But it's price is 350 Euro. No way (imho)

thanks a lot for sharing

 

[Huss]

shrug. sorry.

Nothing to be sorry about! These are a variety of images to show how the lens 'performs' For better or worse..

It gives an idea for others who may be in the market and curious.

It definitely works best with colour film

 

[Huss]

I specially like the draw on second picture.

Great for a >$50 lens! But it's price is 350 Euro. No way (imho)

Is the price high? It is much cheaper than an MS Sonnetar nearest equivalent. About 1/3 of the price I think. And from the Sonnetar examples I've seen the Lomo outperforms it. It actually is very sharp in the center, but rapidly degrades outwards.

Crop from the middle:

It is also very nicely made, and maybe the clincher, it is tiny tiny. With it you can slip the camera into a pocket, it is the size of a body cap.

At 2.8 you get the heavy vignetting and the blur. Which actually is why many buy it.

And the bonus is that it is also RF coupled.

 

[Huss]

Lovely lens for juicy colors.

THAT my friends, is the point of it.

None of my Leica, Zeiss, Nikon, Minolta, Mamiya or Helios lenses do this.

It's all about saturation, vignettes and blur on colour film.

 

[Austerby]

Mine arrived this week but I've not used it yet. I'm going to take it with me on a short trip to Mallorca this weekend, probably used on both my A7ii and I might pop it on my CLE for a super-pocketable combination, with some cheap colour film too.

 

[Huss]

Mine arrived this week but I've not used it yet. I'm going to take it with me on a short trip to Mallorca this weekend, probably used on both my A7ii and I might pop it on my CLE for a super-pocketable combination, with some cheap colour film too.

Careful with the CLE. I have two of them and the lens does not fit on either. And I know of another CLE user who experienced the same. Don't force it...

These are my findings:

Mounts and removes easily on:

M240
M3
MDa

Mounts but a bit of a struggle to remove:

Bessa R3A

Does not fit at all:

Both my Minolta CLEs

Chickened out trying to fit because I love it too much and it is the best camera ever made:

Leica M5

 

[fer_fdi]

Is the price high? It is much cheaper than an MS Sonnetar nearest equivalent. About 1/3 of the price I think. And from the Sonnetar examples I've seen the Lomo outperforms it. It actually is very sharp in the center, but rapidly degrades outwards.

Crop from the middle:


It is also very nicely made, and maybe the clincher, it is tiny tiny. With it you can slip the camera into a pocket, it is the size of a body cap.

At 2.8 you get the heavy vignetting and the blur. Which actually is why many buy it.

And the bonus is that it is also RF coupled.

Love it's size. And it's pretty sharp in the center.
Just I won't pay 350 E for that performance at f2.8
imho it's way overpriced considering performance, but that's me

 

[f16sunshine]

From your very first m240 posts I really have lovd what you are getting from tgis lens Huss.
I'll get one some day. Till then please keep posting 🙂

I think the price is just fine. Why would anyone complain?

 

[Huss]

Love it's size. And it's pretty sharp in the center.
Just I won't pay 350 E for that performance at f2.8
imho it's way overpriced considering performance, but that's me

The way it performs is exactly the reason for this lens. It's what separates it from others. The look is unique, for better or worse, but if it didn't have this look, then there would be no point to it. Why make a lens that is just like all the others out there already? This gives you an option for something else.
Also, if it had the qualities of a Biogon, Color Skopar etc it would also have the size of them.
There is nothing else like this lens. Whether you see value in that is a judgment call, but it is really cool that it is offered.

From your very first m240 posts I really have lovd what you are getting from tgis lens Huss.
I'll get one some day. Till then please keep posting 🙂

I think the price is just fine. Why would anyone complain?

This is the cheapest M mount currently available, with a 2 year warranty.
Made out of brass, and rangefinder couples. I get that people may not like the results - that's subjective - but I'm always curious as to how people think a company is meant to make money and survive. The market for M mount lenses is tiny. Let's be honest. And this lens is within a tiny niche of that! And yet, apparently, it should cost peanuts!
That's not how businesses survive.

 

[danielsterno]

grabbed one from CameraQuest and have been using it on my M6/M5 with color & B+W film, have not gotten any developed yet…. Thanks for posting yours, I'll add mine when I get them back….-D.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

grabbed one from CameraQuest and have been using it on my M6/M5 with color & B+W film, have not gotten any developed yet…. Thanks for posting yours, I'll add mine when I get them back….-D.

Can't wait for bw! 🙂

 

[Larry H-L]

The head bartender currently has a used one on his site, for $289, I think.

 

[Huss]

Can't wait for bw! 🙂

It will be interesting to see. Personally I find this lens is much better suited for colour photography. B&W requires fine tonal contrasts. Something that my copy is foreign to...

 

[Huss]

B&W shot on the M7 w/ the Minitar