Leica LTM Most characterful LTM lens of any make

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
Koolzakukumba

Koolzakukumba

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I'm thinking about investing in a Leica screw mount body and standard lens but, like everyone else ;) , would like one with a bit of character. I wouldn't be printing any larger than 8x12 (full frame) and would like a nice sharp image (doesn't have to be biting) at that size. I'd also like something with nice bokeh as I shoot wide open a lot and don't mind (in fact, prefer) a little vignetting at the widest aperture as it saves me having to burn in the edges of the print. :D

If such a Leitz lens exists, then great but I wouldn't be averse to putting something from Zeiss or from behind the Iron Curtain on the Leica. Any suggestions? If you could show some pics to illustrate the character, that would be great.

As for a body, I'm open to suggestions. One of my photographic heroes is the pre-war (first) photojournalist J Allan Cash and he used a Leica II with a Summar. It's kind of tempting going down that road. What do you think?
 
If you can find a Summaron f/3.5 in good condition, I say go for it. I love mine, it's tiny and has tons of character along with good sharpness.

I also had the Summitar before selling it, another great lens.
 
I love my 35/1.8 Nikkor in LTM. Very dreamy wide open because of veiling flair on the highlights, but by F2.0 mostly gone. As a 1950's lens it is remarkably sharp stopped down. This lens is wonderful on rainy days with detailed contrast that's amazing. Nikon made only about 1500 in LTM.

Interesting to note is that I already have a 1935 black paint Leica II (model D) with chrome knobs. This body needs a CLA, but I use my Zeiss 25/28 VF'er and imagine the 35mm frames. Makes a great pocket camera, but no strap lugs.

Cal
 
There are so many to choose from. What is your preferred focal length? Do you want a classic Leica or a newer VC body? How about an FSU body for economy?

I do a lot of my fun photos with a Leica IIIc and the 50mm f3.5 Elmar. Yes it's slow but it's very compact and makes lovely photos. In a larger package I love my Nikkor 50mm f2.0 on the IIIc and I also have a Nikkor 35mm f2.5 that is wonderful. Some folks love the 50mm f2.0 Summar and the list goes on.

Find a good one and jump in and try. Good Luck, Joe
 
I like my Summar a lot. Mine is coated [presumably quite a while after it was made], and surprisingly sharp when stopped down. The 'bokeh' is wild, though. It's not nice smooth 'modern' out of focus areas, so it's a matter of taste whether you think that's 'nice'.

Mine is much less soft and low contrast than some I've seen. I don't, personally, like a lot of the sample Summar images I see on the web, but I'm not sure that's entirely about the Summar as a lens as much as it is about how some people choose to shoot them and process the results.
 
So many choices and what Roger said, what some love, others might hate. Also no ideas about your budget, how fast the lens should be, etc.

I for one don't like the "Summar look", and am still trying to like my Summitar. On the other hand, I like the collapsible Summicron, and also the various Sonnar incarnations (Canon 50/1.5, Nikkor 50/1.4 and 50/2).

I recommend to avoid Russian lenses. Might take you many frustrating trials before you find a good one.

Check the flickr M-mount forum (see my signature). Lots of sample pictures from various lenses that might help you pick.

Roland.
 
Calzone said:
I love my 35/1.8 Nikkor in LTM. Very dreamy wide open because of veiling flair on the highlights, but by F2.0 mostly gone. As a 1950's lens it is remarkably sharp stopped down. This lens is wonderful on rainy days with detailed contrast that's amazing. Nikon made only about 1500 in LTM.

Interesting to note is that I already have a 1935 black paint Leica II (model D) with chrome knobs. This body needs a CLA, but I use my Zeiss 25/28 VF'er and imagine the 35mm frames. Makes a great pocket camera, but no strap lugs.

Cal
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I would agree with this. So dreamy and slightly "twisted" wide open. Stops down wonderfully to become sticky sharp with great detail. i love this little lens. Hard to find in LTM.
 
Different people mean different things by 'character'. It doesn't always have to be bad. I find that very good quality lenses -- e.g. the Zeiss Planar on my Rolleiflex, some Sonnar design lenses in 35mm, etc -- have an interesting character to the image when shot wide-open, or against the light, or used in interesting ways.

I agree with the people who don't particularly like the 'Summar' look; I don't particularly like how many Summar images look, and even mine I prefer stopped down one or two stops, at which point it has a nice 'vintage' character to the image, but sharp in the centre, and without the crazy out of focus areas.
 
i am big fan of my 50mm/1.5f summarit, cranked wide open it has very nice boken. not hugely expensive compared to other leica lens's.

6818608802_b5865a70f4_b.jpg
 
Koolzakukumba said:
I'm thinking about investing in a Leica screw mount body and standard lens but, like everyone else ;) , would like one with a bit of character. I wouldn't be printing any larger than 8x12 (full frame) and would like a nice sharp image (doesn't have to be biting) at that size. I'd also like something with nice bokeh as I shoot wide open a lot and don't mind (in fact, prefer) a little vignetting at the widest aperture as it saves me having to burn in the edges of the print. :D

If such a Leitz lens exists, then great but I wouldn't be averse to putting something from Zeiss or from behind the Iron Curtain on the Leica. Any suggestions? If you could show some pics to illustrate the character, that would be great.

As for a body, I'm open to suggestions. One of my photographic heroes is the pre-war (first) photojournalist J Allan Cash and he used a Leica II with a Summar. It's kind of tempting going down that road. What do you think?
Click to expand...

As far as most recognizable, (not sure that its a good or bad thing) I'd have to say the Canon 50mm 1.2

Joe
 
Thanks everyone for a great response to my question. There's quite a lot to consider there! The 50mm Summarit sounds and looks nice. So does the Nikon 35mm f1.8 but if there were only 1500 made what would be my chances of finding one? Also, that would need a separate finder which I'm not so keen on. Would the Nikon couple to the rangefinder?

What's the general opinion of the Zeiss Sonnar? A pal of mine bought a IIIf recently and is trying to find one. It seems an interesting lens as well.

Roger, "most characterful" only means "worst" if you consider sharpness to be the be all and end all which I don't. I've seen plenty of bitingly sharp pics that no more represent art than a carpet tack.
 
Livesteamer said:
There are so many to choose from. What is your preferred focal length? Do you want a classic Leica or a newer VC body? How about an FSU body for economy?

I do a lot of my fun photos with a Leica IIIc and the 50mm f3.5 Elmar. Yes it's slow but it's very compact and makes lovely photos. In a larger package I love my Nikkor 50mm f2.0 on the IIIc and I also have a Nikkor 35mm f2.5 that is wonderful. Some folks love the 50mm f2.0 Summar and the list goes on.

Find a good one and jump in and try. Good Luck, Joe
Click to expand...

Hi Joe,
I was thinking mainly of a 50mm as I'd prefer to use the camera's viewfinder rather than a separate one. As for the body, I really fancy a Barnack Leica but I haven't made up my mind which one yet.
 
As others said - many great choices out there - from Leica, Canon, Nikon and others. Having tried many (and liked many) I kept 2 - Nikkor 5cm/1.4 and Summitar 5cm /2.0. These two have different ways they draw, but I absolutely love both. Summitar is my favorite lens made by Leica in ltm. Look at some flickr pics to get better idea.:

http://flickrhivemind.net/flickr_hv...rch=1&sort=Interestingness&textinput=summitar
 
I love my Soviet Jupier-3 50/1.5.
But as Roland mentions above, it can be tough to find a good sample. I've been told my experts on these lenses that the best tend to come from the early 1950s, when they were still using Zeiss glass.
 
Koolzakukumba said:
Thanks everyone for a great response to my question. There's quite a lot to consider there! The 50mm Summarit sounds and looks nice. So does the Nikon 35mm f1.8 but if there were only 1500 made what would be my chances of finding one? Also, that would need a separate finder which I'm not so keen on. Would the Nikon couple to the rangefinder?

What's the general opinion of the Zeiss Sonnar? A pal of mine bought a IIIf recently and is trying to find one. It seems an interesting lens as well.

Roger, "most characterful" only means "worst" if you consider sharpness to be the be all and end all which I don't. I've seen plenty of bitingly sharp pics that no more represent art than a carpet tack.
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No it doesn't. Vignetting, lousy bokeh, distortion, flare, focus shift, curvature of field, coma, chromatic aberration ... There are LOTS of ways to make a bad lens. Or, if you prefer, to add 'character'.

The fact that you can make bad pictures with a sharp lens is no argument either. You can make bad pictures with any lens.

For years I've used a 35/1.4 Summilux pre-aspheric, which many people decry for its acknowledged faults and others love for its 'character'. In 50mm alone, I use a 50/1.5 C-Sonnar a lot; I used to have a 50/1.2 Canon, but gave it to a friend or his 60th birthday; I have a cracked, scratched Summitar.

My point, simply, was that ANYTHING that one person calls 'character' may also be decried by another as the result of optical defects. I really don't believe that anyone can guess what sort of 'character' is going to suit (or even be acceptable to) anyone else, any more than you can choose a lover for someone else.

Cheers,

R.
 
Calzone said:
I love my 35/1.8 Nikkor in LTM. Very dreamy wide open because of veiling flair on the highlights, but by F2.0 mostly gone. As a 1950's lens it is remarkably sharp stopped down. This lens is wonderful on rainy days with detailed contrast that's amazing. Nikon made only about 1500 in LTM.

Interesting to note is that I already have a 1935 black paint Leica II (model D) with chrome knobs. This body needs a CLA, but I use my Zeiss 25/28 VF'er and imagine the 35mm frames. Makes a great pocket camera, but no strap lugs.

Cal
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Let's shake hands. : ) Nikkor 35mm f1.8 in LTM is also my favorite one. I want to find one more as my daily use lens. Nikkor 50 1.4,Canon 50 1.5,Leica summarit 50 1.5, Canon 35 1.5 all are very interesting. I am a big fan of LTM lenses.
 
Roger Hicks said:
My point, simply, was that ANYTHING that one person calls 'character' may also be decried by another as the result of optical defects. I really don't believe that anyone can guess what sort of 'character' is going to suit (or even be acceptable to) anyone else, any more than you can choose a lover for someone else.

R.
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Roger, given your opinion on the subject of this thread, which is obviously your right to hold, can I politely invite you to withdraw so that the rest of us can have a bit of fun discussing what, after all, is just a camera lens.
 
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