THE normal lens for my bessa r:

[paulfish4570]

early this summer, i hope to be in finanical shape to buy an actual voigtlander lens for my r, maybe even new-in-box.
now, i am a normal lens kind of guy, but i might go as wide as 35mm. i really like what i get with my canon 50/1.8 and industar-50; not so much my jupiter-8 (too, too contrasty).
i'd just like to have a new lens with new coating, no pig-in-poke issues. i like compact stuff, too; collapsible would be nifty but not required. i'm just not sure what all is out there.
so, what's your pick in LTM?

 

[freeranger]

The voigtlander 35mm 2.5 is a very good quality lens. Very compact and gives great results.

 

[paulfish4570]

i like the looks of that lens. i also like the fact that the 35mm frame lines are at the edges of the viewfinder, giving, in effect, an slr look to framing. this would be helpful for quick shooting, i think ...

 

[Jason Sprenger]

My pick for the Bessa R is my Jupiter 8, so take my advice with that grain of salt.

From CV, the 35/2.5 Color Skopar C is a great lens, the 50/2.5 Color Skopar is also good and both are nicely compact. Though not compact, the Nokton 50/1.5 is a nice fast, general purpose lens.

But if the J8 is too contrasty, these CV's might be also, given their modern performance.

Perhaps the current commemorative 50/2 Heliar in LTM is an option for you. It has few lens elements like old style Elmar's, Tessar's, Industar's, but opens up to f 2.0. It's a dichotomy in that it involves an old-style lens formula using modern materials and coatings.

 

[KeithCostin]

I have an r3m with the 50/2 Heliar and I'm pretty fond of the lens's performance thus far. Images turn out rather low-contrast, but really sharp at pretty much all f-stops. Of course, this is the only M-lens I own, so I can't really make comparisons, but here are my results thus far for reference.

 

[paulfish4570]

if i had to pick now, it would be between the 35/2.5 and 50/2.5 color skopars. but a collapsible heliar ...

 

[Mablo]

Another vote for Color Skopar 35mm/2.5. It's small and light, extremely easy to focus, very sharp and generally very good value for your hard earned cash.

 

[paulfish4570]

it could be just my copy of the j-8. anyhow, are the bugs out of the 50/2.5 CS? of the two, i am leaning hardest toward the 35/2.5 anyhow, because my canon 50/1.8 is so good ...

 

[f16sunshine]

Stick with he Canon if 50 is your FL.
The CV 2.5/35 is at least as contrasty as the J8 maybe even more so.
One if the reasons I like it but, I don't shoot bw film with it often. For color it's great.

 

[Bingley]

Another vote for the skopar 35/2.5. It's a perfect combination with the Bessa R, and is a terrific optic. I sold my Bessa R and skopar 35 a while back, and missed the lens that I bought the pancake version.

Another lens that I found balanced very well with the Bessa R is the Canon 50/1.8, which is an excellent optic at a very reasonable price.

 

[paulfish4570]

thanks for the confidence boost in the canon 50/1.8. ok, 35mm is what i'll go for, then a 90 ...

 

[PMCC]

The CV 35/1.7 Ultron is lower contrast, especially wide-open, than the CV 35/2.5 Color Skopar. But the Ultron is somewhat bigger and heavier. I'd choose the Ultron for black and white, the Skopar for Color.