The Tale of Two 28s

[The Fondler]

As many of you know, I recently purchased a 28mm f/2.8 ASPH from Photo Village. The lens has been a wonderful addition to the M8 I have on permanent loan from that secret person whom we all know.

Lately, however, I have found myself shooting in less and less light, and I was wondering if perhaps it was a good idea to upgrade to the 28mm f/2.0 ASPH. I called the young man at Photo Village who sold me the f/2.8 and asked his advice. He said he could trade it in for $1000 for an f/2.0 he had in stock, or I could put it on consignment. The business side matters little to me, but I thought I would ask the RFF intelligentsia what they thought of the respective qualities of these two lenses. I would think the f/2.8 is sharper across the board, but the f/2.0 has f/2.0. Does the Summicron have better contrast? This is surely like Sophie's choice!

 

[BillBingham2]

How much did you pay for the 2.8 lens? How old is your lens?

Have you thought about the CV 28/1.9? Does ZI have a fast 28 offering?

The economy sucks right now so $1000 on trade might be good, but it just feels low. I doubt you would get any more else where, they are good people.

What about selling it outright here, how much would you get? Might be worth a go if you get even 10% more.

B2 (;->

 

[ddimaria]

I don't think you should trade a 28/2.8 for $1000. You could get a few hundred more for it. Also the CV 28/1.9 produces great results when used with the M8.

DD

 

[garin]

PM Sent

PM Sent

I send you a PM to buy your lens directly.

 

[KM-25]

The 28 Summicron is just about flawless wide open on either the M8 or film.

I will never even consider the Elmarit since the Summicron is so good.

Of course, your milage may vary...

 

[Robin Smith]

If the 28/2.8 ASPH had been available when I was buying I would have bought one...Having said this the Summicron is fabulous and actually is still a better performer according to MTF graphs than the 2.8 ASPH at pretty well all apertures I think. I'm not saying one would notice it, but the 'cron is still the one to beat. Not sure about distortion - the 2.8 may be better here. The Summicron's only defect is that it has some vignetting wide open, but there again as it is a stop faster one would expect this. It does not worry me at all and I have never used the 2.8ASPH. I have to say though with an M8 where you can change the ISO, I wouldn't have thought it was worth trading "up".

 

[Richard Marks]

Im very happy with the 28 2.8, The 'cron may well be a tad sharper at the corners but its twice the price. The other nice thing about the 28 2.8 is its absolutely minute and very nice handling. Id take some convincing the cron is worth the extra cash if buying new. Second hand would be an option but then theres the 6 bit coding issue.

Genrally Leica lenses are either superb brilliant or dam good. So chosing can be a problem!

Richard

 

[TJV]

In my opinion, size matters. F2 may be great, but a blocked viewfinder and massive price aren't.

I love the 2.8 ASPH and I'm positive I'd adore the 2.0 but Mastercard would kill me and my back already aches from my gear bag.

 

[grduprey]

In my opinion, size matters. F2 may be great, but a blocked viewfinder and massive price aren't.

I love the 2.8 ASPH and I'm positive I'd adore the 2.0 but Mastercard would kill me and my back already aches from my gear bag.

Master Card is not the problem here, as my wife would have killed me. That is why I got the 2.8 Asph, over the 24 Asph, which I REALLY wanted. As to the 28 2.8 Asph performance it is fantastic. Looking at the MTF's of the two 28's I could not see much difference at the posted apertures. Teh big decision here is do you need the f2 stop. don't see the reason to need it here.

Gene

 

[aizan]

fyi, a mint f2.8 asph went for $1800 the other day on ebay. if you're feeling generous, i'd take it for a grand! 😉

 

[szekiat]

consider the CV28 1.9. For $300++, u get the extra stop and quality that is probably at least 90% of the leica. I used the 28 pre-asph elmarit and the CV28 and kept the 28 in the end.

 

[irq506]

Ive used all three. cron is great wide open. Ultron is good from 2.0 through to about f8, VERY sharp, contrasty. the 2.8 is flat in comparison.