M8 with 2.8 50mm elmar

[denizg7]

I've been looking online and keep getting mixed results.

Basically I am looking for RFF users who have used a Elmar 2.8 50mm for 2 years along with their m8 and what impacts did they have on the m8s sensor.

My questions are

1.Can you mount it on your m8 collapsed?

2.Looking at your M8's sensor now , can you see scratches that may have been made when collapsing it in?

3.Does the collapsing store a lot of dust in your sensor?


If your first 2 answers are a no , it's very important that I know which year your elmar is from, this is because i can afford a 60's elmar, but not the latest one at the time.

The main reason the 50mm elmar 2.8 seems attractive to me is I want to use it as a travel lens. I havea wide 1.4 lens that I want to use at night and a mid fast 50mm lens during the day for sharp pictures.

I will keep switching the lenses from digital bodies to film bodies so I may forget to uncollapse before mounting to m8.

thanks

 

[Monochrom]

Hi, leicas are designed to use almost all of the lenses, in the case of the elmar and the m8 is no difference, this can be collapsed safely.

The m5 and cl cannot use the lenses collpased since they fault the lightmeter arm. But sure it´s not the case.

The collapsible lenses are my weakness i love them and use them extensively, on the m9 i use the ms-optical apoqualia all the time!

Cheers!

 

[mfogiel]

Sorry to intrude with my opinion here, but the new Elmar is in a completely different league than the old one. I have both, and I have used them only on film, however the old Elmar 50/2.8 is mainly a nice soft lens for portraiture with lovely bokeh, but it never gets seriously sharp, not even at f8.0. The new Elmar is probably the most underrated Leica lens. It is a lovely mix of non clinical sharpness, bokeh and absolutely great B&W rendering. I am going to write about this lens here, once I will have posted enough photos on flickr for use as examples. If you want to spend less, rather go for the Collapsible Summicron.

 

[denizg7]

Sorry to intrude with my opinion here, but the new Elmar is in a completely different league than the old one. I have both, and I have used them only on film, however the old Elmar 50/2.8 is mainly a nice soft lens for portraiture with lovely bokeh, but it never gets seriously sharp, not even at f8.0. The new Elmar is probably the most underrated Leica lens. It is a lovely mix of non clinical sharpness, bokeh and absolutely great B&W rendering. I am going to write about this lens here, once I will have posted enough photos on flickr for use as examples. If you want to spend less, rather go for the Collapsible Summicron.

yeah i wish it did not cost 900 bucks though.

is the Collapsible Summicron safe to collapse in the m8 though?

 

[denizg7]

I am going to buy a 60s elmar in 8 hours from the bay.

IF someone is having issues using them on their m8 please tell

 

[johannielscom]

Look for a Voigtlander 2.5/50mm LTM with adapter. Small as a pea and sharp as a razor. No need to uncollapse, no risk.

Or, get a Konica L-Hexanon 2.4/50mm collapsible. Planar design and also sharp as a razor. Several members here have one and maybe you can find in the Hexar RF Forum if it is safe to collapse on the M8.

The collapsible Summicron is sharp if it's a sample that has absolutely no haze and by that time you will be in 'new model Elmar' territory, pricewise.

 

[leicapixie]

FWIW i've used a 60's or 70's Elmar and it was way sharper than my Collapsible Summicron..I liked the feel but searching for the apertures and or re-focusing gets weary. The new Summitar is almost as small as a collapsible lens but more than $900 new. so maybe..i shot my Summicron on an M8 and results were nice, not spectacular. That's my feel about digital and film.
Please i don't want to hear about the newer "better" digital..I've heard this ad nauseum, since 2001.

 

[johannielscom]

From the classifieds here, no connection to trader:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/pho...brass-for-your-35mm-f-2f2-8-summaron-21/cat/8

 

[LCT]

I have 3 Elmars 50 from 1962 (# 11612), 1994 (11824) and 2004 (11831). The 11824 and 11831 are indeed sharper at f/2.8 and generally more contrasty with significantly less flare but otherwise the 11612 remains an interesting lens, especially for B&W photography.
1. The 11612 can be mounted on my M8.2 in collapsed position. Better do it extended though if you don't want to take the risk of hitting the roller cam or the internal flocking with the bottom of the "tube" (the lens barrel) when you mount the lens on the camera. This risk is lower with the 11612 though as the diameter of its tube's bottom is smaller that that of later Elmars. See http://tinyurl.com/42cfpzm.
2. The 11612 cannot hit the shutter blades, let alone the sensor itself.
3. I cannot say that the 11612 stores more dust than other lenses. Probably less so than collecting dust from interchanging lenses on the body.

 

[denizg7]

I have 3 Elmars 50 from 1962 (# 11612), 1994 (11824) and 2004 (11831). The 11824 and 11831 are indeed sharper at f/2.8 and generally more contrasty with significantly less flare but otherwise the 11612 remains an interesting lens, especially for B&W photography.
1. The 11612 can be mounted on my M8.2 in collapsed position. Better do it extended though if you don't want to take the risk of hitting the roller cam or the internal flocking with the bottom of the "tube" (the lens barrel) when you mount the lens on the camera. This risk is lower with the 11612 though as the diameter of its tube's bottom is smaller that that of later Elmars. See http://tinyurl.com/42cfpzm.
2. The 11612 cannot hit the shutter blades, let alone the sensor itself.
3. I cannot say that the 11612 stores more dust than other lenses. Probably less so than collecting dust from interchanging lenses on the body.

this is actually exactly what I needed to know. Thank you very much. Good thing i can afford the older elmars than the newest.

 

[el fotografo]

I have the current elmar-M and used it my M8 as a compact travel lens.
It is a great lens.

I had a V1 elmar for a while and it is a very nice lens with a classic Leica look.
One thing to know about the V1 lens is the aperture ring rotates when focusing the lens.
You will need to learn how to hold the aperture ring in its desired setting while you focus.
I used to set the aperture first and then held it with my little finger while I focused.
The design of the recent elmar-M as well as collapsible summicron and summitar do not have this issue.