Recommended RF body for 40mm

[stillshunter]

Preamble:
1. Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere - my search skills yielded little (lots on CV40 vs Summicron vs Rokkor 40mms but not much on the bodies to best clip them to).
2. Sorry if I've placed this in the wrong folder (as I didn't want to be specific to Leica, Voigtlander, etc.).

Question:
I'm sold on a Rokkor 40mm and wonder the best body for it?

Options:
1. CLE (or CL I suppose)
a) Pro: ideal size-wise,
b) Con: fickle electronics.
2. Voigtander R3-series
a) Pro: 1:1 finder @ 40mm,
b) Con: build quality.
3. Any Leica M
a) Pro: many
b) Con: use 35mm or 50mm framelines. OK and then which? I hear 35mm is good close up and then 50mm beyond 5m etc. Hmmm...Sounds like it might just be easier to opt for 1. or 2.

Really appreciate perspectives from experience.

 

[back alley]

i used the 40 on bodies that had a 35mm frame line...usually worked great.
my fave from the above was the cle...great little camera and as a bonus has a fab 28 frame line.

 

[stillshunter]

i used the 40 on bodies that had a 35mm frame line...usually worked great.
my fave from the above was the cle...great little camera and as a bonus has a fab 28 frame line.

All things being equal the CLE would be my camera of choice. Love the size. I remember falling in love with one I held about 10 years ago. I did not want to let it go..ever. Just didn't have the money back then to elope with it from the store. I hear though that the fickle electronics is a real show-stopper - i.e., something doesn't work then nothing works....unlike the CL where you can still use a hand-held meter if the swing-in meter stops swingin.

Is the 35mm FL native or only achieved after some deft grinding?

 

[back alley]

i never modified my lens, just used the 35 fl...

the cle is a higher risk buy, for sure...most of the problems have to do with dirt under the shutter assembly and a good cleaning fixes that...the cl is less risky and being mostly mechanical has the possibility of immortality...

 

[splitimageview]

In my experience, the fickle CLE electronics are no more of a risk than on any other camera with electronics, maybe even less. They just work. 🙂

 

[stillshunter]

i never modified my lens, just used the 35 fl...

the cle is a higher risk buy, for sure...most of the problems have to do with dirt under the shutter assembly and a good cleaning fixes that...the cl is less risky and being mostly mechanical has the possibility of immortality...

In my experience, the fickle CLE electronics are no more of a risk than on any other camera with electronics, maybe even less. They just work. 🙂

Guys, thank you!
Makes sense - hmmm... could trade in my all-electronic T3 for a CLE+40 combo. 😉

I thought no technician would touch a CLE nowadays.

 

[kxl]

CV R3A if you want the 1:1 finder and the 40mm framelines; else the Zeiss ZI

 

[Monochrom]

Hi, you can use the 40mm lens on any camra that has 50mm framelines....

Perhaps the most useful way to use the 40mm lens was in my old M8 upgraded camera...i used a lot the rollei sonnar 40mm hft....it gave me exactly 53mm fov....

But as said i used it on any leica m...minolta cle..voigtlander bessa r3a....etc...It´s really a nice focal length.

BTW i used a lot a nokton 40mm lens on my late epson rd1s...it gave me 60mm fov and it wass really helpful and not narrow as many would think!

I never use it with 35mm FL...only with 50 FL.

🙂

 

[kshapero]

Question:
I'm sold on a Rokkor 40mm and wonder the best body for it?

Options:
1. CLE (or CL I suppose)
a) Pro: ideal size-wise,
b) Con: fickle electronics.
2. Voigtander R3-series
a) Pro: 1:1 finder @ 40mm,
b) Con: build quality.
3. Any Leica M
a) Pro: many
b) Con: use 35mm or 50mm framelines. OK and then which? I hear 35mm is good close up and then 50mm beyond 5m etc. Hmmm...Sounds like it might just be easier to opt for 1. or 2.

Really appreciate perspectives from experience.

I have to strongly disagree about the build quality of the Voigtlander R3's. Every bit as good as the small Nikon FM/FE's. Also i use my Voight 40 mm on my M3 and M9 all the time.

 

[stillshunter]

I have to strongly disagree about the build quality of the Voigtlander R3's. Every bit as good as the small Nikon FM/FE's. Also i use my Voight 40 mm on my M3 and M9 all the time.

Ironic you should mention this. I've fallen for the 40mm perspective after many months of using the CV 40/2 on my Nikon FM2n....which will more than likely be replaced by this proposed RF 40mm setup. 😱

 

[Bingley]

I happily use a 40 on an M4-2. I modified the lens to bring up the 35 framelies. I have not found it difficult to get used to framing. I had an R3A. Great camera for a 50, but the 40 framelines I found hard to see (I wear glasses). I would seriously consider a Bessa R2* with a 40, and use the 35 framelines. The Bessas have great metering and a really bright vf -nice cameras.

 

[rbelyell]

having used RFs for quite awhile, i personally find my perspective changes over time. or maybe i just get bored with particukar FLs. problem is individual cameras have limited frameline capability, plus different focusing perspectives and abilities.

so in the end, after using many cameras, i finally decided on the bessa t for two reasons: magnified focus makes it easy to nail it close up, far away, and tele lenses. second, it is totally versatile because you supply the vf you need. ive a tewe 35-135, plus a few single FLs that ive acquired, and it accomodates whatever FL lens i'm in the mood to use. its 'future-proof'.
tony

 

[ferider]

If you shoot negative film, Leica M6 (and above) 35mm framelines fit perfectly down to 3m or so. Below that you have to give a little room. With M2, M4, M4-2, and M4P, the 35mm framelines are a little bit bigger and not as good a fit.

I can recommend the M6.

Roland.

 

[Rob-F]

If you shoot negative film, Leica M6 (and above) 35mm framelines fit perfectly down to 3m or so. Below that you have to give a little room. With M2, M4, M4-2, and M4P, the 35mm framelines are a little bit bigger and not as good a fit.

I can recommend the M6.

Roland.

+1. The framelines on the M6, M7, and MP are undersized--just enough that the 40mm will match the 35mm framelines very well, as long as you are not working in the closeup range. Some of us keep 40 Rokkor and 40 CV around just to get better accuracy with these Leica models.

 

[ZeissFan]

There's also the Rollei 35 RF, which is a Cosina Voigtlander Bessa-R2 with a different body covering and paint scheme. This camera has 40mm framelines.

I'm also using a 40mm lens on a Zeiss Ikon and the 35mm framelines. Haven't had a problem with it.

 

[rover]

Leica M6 body if your budget allows, or Bessa R2 series. With the Bessa bodies you can choose the frame lines you want to use. No need or temptation to hack at the lens. I like the 2 over the 3 Bessas as for me, with my glasses on, the 40mm frame lines of the 3 were too wide in the finder to see.

 

[maddoc]

Leica M3 with tape over the frame line illumination window, with the 0.91x VF magnification, the M3 is a good fit ( no parallax compensation though in this set up)

 

[ferider]

+1. The framelines on the M6, M7, and MP are undersized--just enough that the 40mm will match the 35mm framelines very well, as long as you are not working in the closeup range. Some of us keep 40 Rokkor and 40 CV around just to get better accuracy with these Leica models.

Exactly right 🙂

 

[Pioneer]

The CV Bessa R3M is a terrific choice and is a perfect match for the 40. It won't cost you an arm and a leg, and build quality is just not an issue at all.

 

[Godfrey]

I have both the M-Rokkor 40mm f/2 (II) and Nokton 40mm f/1.4 MC.

The M-Rokkor is semi-permanetly affixed to a superbly clean and functional Leica CL body, one of my favorite Leicas. There are few electronic things in the CL to go wrong, the most severe issues are that occasionally the mechanical metering arm can fail. So far, Sherry and DAG seem to have all the parts they need for putting them back to rights. I've often thought about having a CL modified to be meterless ... excising the sometime fragile metering arm and meter cell ... but I have not yet had one fail to be worth discussing this with DAG. (This is my third CL. 🙂 I paid $320 for this CL body.

The Nokton 40 I use most often with the Ricoh GXR-M and occasionally with the M9 and M4-2. I'm going to shave the frameline tab on it one of these days as the 35mm framelines fit its FoV pretty well in the two Leica bodies, and of course it's not relevant on the GXR.

G