Which affordable wide angle lens for an M2?

[moondrinker]

Hi everyone, I've recently bought an M2 from 1965 which I love to pieces, and would like to know what kind of wide angle lens (21, 24 or 28mm) is available for that camera and at a decent price (including viewfinder). My absolute limit is $700 (including viewer). Do you think I can find a decent second-hand lens and viewfinder for that price?

Any recommendation would be greatly appreciated.

cheers,

Nick

 

[Phantomas]

For that price you can get not one, but two used Voigtlander wideangles + finders. And yes, they're decent enough and definitely excellent value for money. Plus, because they're fairly new, you can easily find them secondhand in excelent condition.

 

[SimonSawSunlight]

I recently got a cv 21mm color-skopar in screw mount for 200€ new (!) which is a ridiculously low price in europe / germany. without the finder though. it might not be up on the same level as, say, the zeiss biogon 4.5/21, but it still is a very good performer and I love how it handles. you should get the screw mount version used for close to nothing.

 

[youngmrcurtis]

I second that voigtlander 21/4 recommendation, great lens for the price, colour production isn't as good as the zeiss but it's plenty sharp and there's a healthy amount of contrast. I recently got a new one with finder for €430 or so from cameraquest, I'm pretty sure that came in less than 700 america moneys.

 

[moondrinker]

Thanks a lot for your prompt recommendations guys, those Voigtlander lenses look good indeed for the price.

youngmrcurtis, thanks for the tip, I'll check cameraquest.

cheers

N.

 

[fixbones]

Cameraquest is the best!!
Just bought CV 28mm f3.5 from stephen. Can't wait to play around with this litle little lens.

 

[rover]

another vote for the CV 28/3.5 Skopar. It is very well made, small and excellent. In chrome in looks like it was made for the M2.

 

[Turtle]

i would second the 28 3.5 skopar too, as with a M2 you can use the peripherhy of the 0.72 finder as you look straight thru for fairly accurate composition.

 

[oscroft]

Yep, CV 28/3.5 and CV 21/4 really are both exceptionally good for the money - I use my 28 a lot on my M2 without an external finder (I hate them), and just use the full frame for approximate framing.

 

[Ronald_H]

The older LTM 25mm CV lens I have is also a little gem. Sadly the foot of the viewfinder has broken off, but I wanted a brightline anyway.

The lens is really good and really small too. Works great on my M2!

 

[Frank Petronio]

I like the VC 35mm/2.5 in M mount, new for $319 USd. It seems as well built as the older "user" Summicrons I've had and the image quality is indistinguishable. Get an inexpensive 39mm screw-in vented shade on eBay.

And save the rest of your money for film and adventures. Superwides are boring.

 

[ferider]

I recommend to go for 28mm and skip the finder (as Turtle wrote, post #8). For your budget you will have access to some of the best glass out there, including CV 28/3.5, 28/1.9 (both my favorites), 28/2, M-Hexanon 28/2.8, Zeiss ZM 28/2.8, or a classic lens, like Winogrand's Canon 28/2.8, among others.

Check the flickr M-mount group and see which photos taken by the different lenses you prefer.

As Frank said, Superwides are boring 🙂 But 28mm is not superwide.

Cheers,

Roland.

 

[oldoc]

Affordable is a state of mine for Leica gear.
I started with the Voigtlander 35/1.4 and never looked back...

 

[Tom A]

Within your budget you could pick up a 28f3.5 and a used 21f4 LTM with finder. On the M2 you can easily use the "full view" and get pretty close to 28. You can improve this by simply putting some black tape over the corrugated window and this will "remove" the framelines - but leave the rangefinder fully functioning. On some of my M2's I always keep a piece of black tape on the bottom (either the baseplate or Rapidwinder) as my $0,001 28 finder!

 

[Rob-F]

I notice you didn't include a 35mm lens in your wish-list. Is that because you already have one? If not, you could get a real Leitz lens within your budget. The one I'm thinking of is the 35mm F/2.8 Summaron.