Suggestions on a CV walkabout lens ...?

[dmchadderton]

I'd like something that makes my M7 pocketable for everyday carrying. I don't want to spend Leica/Zeiss money for this lens, so I was thinking of one of the following 3 lenses;

25/4 Snapshot Skopar
28/3.5 Color Skopar
35/2.5M Color Skopar Pancake

Any recommendations? I'm not too worried about the speed of the lenses here, just size and performance.

 

[FPjohn]

Hello:

My 25mm Skopar is an excellent "walking around lens" on a 111b or M6. Perhaps a natural on the 111b. I would think, if you do general photography, that a 28 or 35mm might be a better normal lens. 'can't comment on the other CVs since I 've not had them.

yours
Frank

 

[peter_n]

I have a CV 35/2.5 pancake 1 on a 0.72 M7 right now. The 35 strikes me as a "normal" lens on an RF and is I think the best general lens you can get. The pancake 1 is optically extremely similar, maybe even identical to the current pancake but it has a regular focusing ring rather than a tab. The lens is optically excellent and very contrasty. The 25 doesn't couple with the rangefinder but the pictures I've seen from it are great. All I know about the 28 is that people rave about the build quality, which tells you something about the build quality of many of the other CV lenses I suppose.

 

[Way]

I know it's not CV but you might also look into a 40/f2 Rokkor or Summicron. Maybe a little more expensive ($350 ish?) but it is a great, small lens. Very compact.

 

[klas.buren]

I just got the CV 35 PII and it's very pocketable indeed. I haven't seen the results just yet, but from what I've heard it's a great performer too.

Klas

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

40mm Nokton.

 

[raid]

I use both the Summicron 40mm and the 25mm/4 VC lenses, and both are great. It depends which angle of view you prefer. There is little distortion with the 25mm lens, but you need to be careful with focusing when it comes to close objects. The Summicron is small and very sharp. There is little difference from a 35mm lens, and the price is right. Reselling the Summicron will be without a loss.

 

[dostacos]

I'd like something that makes my M7 pocketable for everyday carrying. I don't want to spend Leica/Zeiss money for this lens, so I was thinking of one of the following 3 lenses;

25/4 Snapshot Skopar
28/3.5 Color Skopar
35/2.5M Color Skopar Pancake

Any recommendations? I'm not too worried about the speed of the lenses here, just size and performance.

the 25/4 $245 is not coupled, if that is acceptable....
the 28/3.5 $285
the 35/2.5 classic is $205
the 35/2.5 pancake is $319

I have the classic 35/2.5 and my fat fingers could not handle a shorter lens 😱

the 28 is listed as the "smallest" wide angle CV lens.

all info and prices are from cameraquest

I also have the 50 and 75, walking around is the 35, unless I want something specific.

your milage may vary

Dan

 

[Fred]

I have the 28 Skopar 3.5 and its tiny. Focus is with a little stick instead of a tab. For normal use though I think that your better off with either a 35 or 50, a 28 is a tad too wide for general use.

 

[rover]

$205 for the 35 Classic sounds great.

 

[dostacos]

$205 for the 35 Classic sounds great.

and since you do not live in California you don't have to pay sales tax 😛

 

[lido]

CV 35 Classic, and you can pick them up in like new condition for about $150 if you look around pnet and some other sites. The lens is small, awesome build quality and a focusing tab if you like those.

 

[pvdhaar]

I really like the 25/4 as a walkabout/intuitive lens. There are three click stop distance settings (1m, 1.5m, 3m), and with the focus tab they're very easy to set, as is infinity. DOF is big, so these settings are all you need.

 

[dmchadderton]

Thanks so far ...

It's down to the 35/2.5 PII or the 25/4 at the moment.

 

[Hektor]

It is Interesting to compare the hyperfocal distance and pre-set aperture for the two selected lenses.......

25mm pre-set at F8 and 10 feet.........dof = 5 feet to infinity.

35mm pre-set at F11 and 12 feet.......dof = 6 feet to infinity.

It would seem that the 25 is slghtly more suitable for winter daylight with 100 asa film, but if 400 asa is used then either lens is ok, with a push say Tri-x in diafine (1000asa) available for poor light conditions, without needing to move off the pre-set settings.

 

[Hektor]

This would seem a suitable way to use an M7 for street shooting as I understand it has an aperture priority auto-exposure mode.

 

[Toby]

If you are looking for a literally pocketable lens the finder on a 25 or 28 may make this awkward. Having said that the I've got the CV25/4 and it is a very good street photography lens because you can pre focus it and just point and shoot. You do have to be that much nearer to the action to get the most out of it, and as with all wide angles there is the danger that your pictures will be all about the lens rather than the subject, 'wideanglitis' as my college tutor called it. This may disqualify it from being an everyday lens although I've always found my 25 great fun to use.

 

[pvdhaar]

Come on.. real men don't frame; they shoot from the hip 😉