W/NW: The Mandler 21 (pre-asph Elmarit)

35mm f2 Summicron on one M9 and the 21mm f2.8 Elmarit on a second and a couple of other lenses in the bag. That's my idea of an ideal travel outfit.

M9 and 21/2.8..



Belo Mansion in Dallas. Now home to a legal organization, at one time it was a funeral home, with one of the more notorious funerals being that of Clyde Barrow..

 
19019268239_fb06ce280f_c.jpg



19727964568_1d9386306e_c.jpg



20963721006_7aeefc54f1_c.jpg


MM ~ Elmarit-M 21mm f2.8 pre-ASPH


19024360761_55b891c269_c.jpg


M-P 240 ~ Elmarit-M 21mm f2.8 pre-ASPH
 
I had one for years and never had any issues with it. It was head and shoulders better than my 21/4 Super Angulon lens. I sold it years before I purchased my M9, so I don't have any images handy to show. I recently purchased a mint 21/2.8 ASPH and I have no issues with that one either. According to Erwin, it is much better than the pre-ASPH lens. I hate to say it, but a low-priced alternative is the 21/4 Color Skopar. It is no slouch and compares very well to the ASPH lens.
 
Thanks, Phil and David.

David, here is what Puts writes about the pre-asph:

"... The general performance of the Elmarit-M lens is better than that of the Super-Angulon at f/3.4. ...At f/4.0 extremely fine details are visible with good contrast in the center and within a 12 mm diameter circle around the center. ...Optimum performance is reached at f/5.6 with extremely fine details now visible over the entire image area into the outermost corners. Subject outlines, especially in the outer zones, have soft edges, giving an overall impression of a smooth, somewhat subdued image....Generally speaking, this lens is a commendable performer and an improvement over the Super-Angulon lens....The Elmarit-M handles light sources quite well at full aperture. In strong backlight the silhouettes of tree branches are dark (no leaking of light around the edges) and sharply outlined"

He later also reviews the 21/2.8 ASPH, and recommends it as the better performer wide open but also notes that it has more distortion than the pre-ASPH.

The way I interpret this as a user is that @f5.6, the pre-ASPH has high resolution with lower contrast in the corners, with typical Mandler contrast handling (nice on the dark tones). The ASPH might be technically better, but at f5.6, the pre-ASPH already outperforms the 240 sensor. Just for fun, a 100% crop of the bench photo above:

AlmanorCrop.jpg


(click for slight enlargement)

Cheers,

Roland.
 
Thanks for that Roland,

Your crop here is impressive- and very nice picture by the way! I had read that from Puts, but also recently saw this comparison- http://leica.nemeng.com/029ba.shtml who states that at f5.6, "the 21P lags behind notably". After reading several other remarks about the lens, I wondered whether there is variation from early batches (serial 321xxxx) to later ones of which there are two that I have experience with (serials in 35xxxxx). Anyway my findings were different and consistent with what you have shown here although I never ran tests. My interest was revived recently because I am back to Leica M9, I have one of these on it's way now.

And looking at that barbeque grill and the size of your pups, I'd say the modest cut in the foreground on the grill was for you and the other two......well they wouldn't have lasted long! 😉
 
Have no fear, David, I'm sure it will perform well on the M9.

I just got a framed 12x18 print of pic 3 / post 24 above. I looked close, and thought the printshop had scratched my picture ... turns out to be a plane:

L1000821crp.jpg


(click for some enlargement)

🙂
 
You guys are killing it here 🙂

The lens looks fantastic, and very little distortion. I use the profile for this lens on ZM 18 and CV 21/4. I have a SEM 21, which I really like, but 2.8 could be useful.

How do we compare this lens to the ZM 21/2.8?
 
Just bought one of these Mandler 21mm lenses about a month ago to use on a trip to Japan. I'm using it on a Leica M6 with a Leitz viewfinder. Loved it. Used it for both colour and b&w and results were quite good. Came quite close to buying one of the Zeiss 21mm lenses but the price on the Elmarit -- in quite fine condition -- was unbeatable. No regrets and no desire to change it for anything else/better.
 
pepeguitarra said:
The Beach 2-1 by Palenquero Photography, on Flickr

Fishing Spot-1 by Palenquero Photography, on Flickr


LeicaM21mmf2.8-TheGhost2-1 by Palenquero Photography, on Flickr

LeicaM21mmf2.8-Downtown-1 by Palenquero Photography, on Flickr


LeicaM21mmf2.8-UnionStation1-1 by Palenquero Photography, on Flickr


LeicaM21mmf2.8-Downtown6-1 by Palenquero Photography, on Flickr

LeicaM21mmf2.8-Downtown4-1 by Palenquero Photography, on Flickr
Click to expand...

These are fine photographs, but may I recommend: "Real World Image Sharpening" by Fraser and Schewe? They could be even better when crisped up.
 
Interesting Jaap,
the book is about sharpening creatively, and introduces what I might call 'Zone Sharpening'. I looked at the Amazon preview, interesting book. I will ask it for birthday in exactly one years time 🙂

My appraisal: I tend to think that for the last 2 (Downtown 6-1 and 4-1): a little bit of OOF of the background might focus the attention more on the central object (subject?); make it pop.
(I have this art historians & museum background so I may say this Pepe, hope not being an eternal critic 😉 , I like the pictures' compositions.)​
 
Outstanding, Roland. 🙂

I really would like to see how the M10 handles this lens. It's meant to be noticeably better with other older wides.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

rfaspen
Decentered Elmarit 21mm pre-asph - what to do???
Replies
9
Views
1K
D&A
D
J
Did Nikon really blow Leitz and Zeiss out of the water in 1950? Not quite, but....
Replies
9
Views
1K
aoresteen
aoresteen
J
The Downsized SLR Revolution of the ‘70s and ‘80s
2 3
Replies
58
Views
8K
shawn
S
J
35mm Still-Picture Photography: It began with scale focusing cameras! Back To Basics. Part 1, From the first to half-frame 35s of then and now.
Replies
10
Views
1K
Jason Schneider
J
A
Voigtlander Nokton 21mm f/1.4 Asph Review
Replies
6
Views
2K
WJJ3
WJJ3
Back
Top Bottom