which 40?

almontephoto

almontephoto

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ok, so I've decided to get a 40 mm lens for my bessa R3A. I currently shoot with a canon 50 1.4 LTM, a lens i love, the obvious choice would be the CV nokton 40 1.4, but I got my eye on the Leica CL 40mm F2 Summicron. which of these do any of you prefer? anyone have any experience with both lenses? what are the qualities of these lenses? from what Ive read they are both very sharp so im sure I would be happy with either one.

any thoughts?
 
I have a 40/2.0 Summicron-C that's almost glued to my M4-2. Sharp and good bokeh to boot. I am using it without a hood and haven't had any flare issues. But most users say it should be used with a hood because it's not multi-coated. I do use it with a 39mm filter. One thing though, the filter threads are different than current ones. I think they are 0.5 pitch instead of 0.75 (all others). You just have to carefully screw filters or hoods on. The original hood holds series 5.5 filters (which are almost impossible to find).

I've used the 35/2.0 Summicron (v4 and Asph) and still prefer this lens. Best deal as far as Crons go. If Leica made a framline for the 40 in the M I would not hesitate to replace my 35 frameline in my M.
 
interesting conundrum...40 cron for boke. 40VC for speed. I would go with the speed value...recently had several Crons, but nothing beats a fast avail light lens. a fast lens and 400/800 ISO film is brutal what you can do.
 
I like the M-Rokkor 40mm CLE version. It has standard filter threads and is multi-coated. It would be fun to have the Rollei 40mm f/2.8 Sonnar, but the Summicron/Rokkor probably has better performance (although the Rollei build quality may be better).
 
noimmunity said:
is there a 40 that doesn't have a tab?
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No, they all have tabs.

Since none of the 40's are duds and all a fairly inexpensive (Although Sonnar Prices are now creeping up) your choice will basically be what you value most in the lens your looking for. If you want speed the Nokton is obvious. If you want something compact, then a Summicron/Rokkor is the way to go. If you want ultimate flare resistance then the Rollei Sonnar is the lens of choice. If your choice is down to a Summicron or Rokkor, your choice should be what you can get at the best price (more often the Rokkor) or if you want to change filters regularly then the Rokkor wins again. But if your buying second hand, you will find you wont loose much to try a couple out first, but all are great lenses.
 
almontephoto said:
ok, so I've decided to get a 40 mm lens for my bessa R3A. I currently shoot with a canon 50 1.4 LTM, a lens i love, the obvious choice would be the CV nokton 40 1.4, but I got my eye on the Leica CL 40mm F2 Summicron. which of these do any of you prefer? anyone have any experience with both lenses? what are the qualities of these lenses? from what Ive read they are both very sharp so im sure I would be happy with either one.

any thoughts?
Click to expand...

I wonder what the problem is with the Canon 50/1.4 by the way?
 
No problem with the canon 50/1.4, great lens, just thought id get something a bit wider.
i have a leica CM which has a fixed 40mm lens, and i really like it, so I figured id get a 40 for my R3A.
 
Well, the 40/2 with the strange filter size...no filter on mine yet...is the only lens I own, hving just started to shoot rangefinders (bought a Leica CL a few weeks ago). The results with my first few rolls of film are posted here or, alternatively, can be seen at www.photo.net/photos/jaymueller in the folder "Recently..."

It's a very sharp lens, gorgeous bokeh, even rendition. I like the old school uncoated version for the blast it gives to backlit objext, but this is a doulbe edged sword as it flares a lot. I love the 40 mm perspective, just wide of normal I like to be able to use that little bit of wide to give an entrance and an exit to a lot of photos.

Cheers,

Jay
 
bambamphoto said:
I love the 40 mm perspective, just wide of normal I like to be able to use that little bit of wide to give an entrance and an exit to a lot of photos.

Cheers,

Jay
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Actually, a 40mm lens is the closest to normal one can get, as opposed to a 50mm, since the diagonal of the frame is 42mm. This also explains why, out of ALL my leica lenses, the 40mm summicron is the sharpest as incredible as it may sound.
 
bambamphoto said:
It's a very sharp lens, gorgeous bokeh, even rendition. I like the old school uncoated version for the blast it gives to backlit objext, but this is a doulbe edged sword as it flares a lot.

Jay
Click to expand...

Well, just about everything from the '50s on is coated, but "some are more coated than others." If you're getting excessive flare, you might look at the front element and give it a gentle cleaning with ROR or a mild water/alcohol solution.
Any lens is going to flare a little if there's a light source in the frame.
Nice portfolio, and the flare there doesn't seem excessive given the conditions.
 
I like the CV 40/1.4 SC so much I bought a camera for it - R3M.

Trix-Rodinal.

r3m-cv40sc.jpg
 
I don't think you'd regret buying either lens. I'd have to agree with Gary E that once you get a Summicron-C you'll almost never remove it from your camera. One of the real great performers and at a bargain price in the Leica lens world. How many times can you say that about Leica lenses?

The Minolta version does have a more common filter thread size, but then your lens won't say "Leica" on it! 😉 And no one has been able to prove that there is a better multi-coating on the Rokkor, like some keep saying. Lens coatings have been around for 60 years, it seems unlikely to me that in a specific 2 year strech there would have been a noticable jump in coating quality from the same manufacturer on basically, the same lens. Just my suspicious nature maybe...
 
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