Which wide angle lenses work very well with the M9?

[raid]

I want to buy a wide angle lens for my M9.

I used in past years two 21mm lenses and one 19mm lens in some other mounts with adapters on my M3 or M6, but after getting the M9, I did not bother buying a very good wide angle lens that works well with the M9. I could use a Canon FD 17/4. It is bulky and heavy and some people have expressed views that it lacks sharpness on the M9.

I once bought a CV 21/4 lens in Nikon mount to be used with film cameras since it does not fit the M9 even with an adapter. The only wide angle lens that seems to work with the M9 is my CV 25/4 ltm.

Is there a good 21mm lens that works well with the M9?

 

[icebear]

I'm not a wide angle guy. I have a 2.8/25 Biogon and the IQ on the M9 (and MM) is great.
I'd guess the 1.4/21SX will also work well but I don't have this beauty😉

 

[k__43]

I'm really tempted to buy a used Ultron 21/1.8
it works well with sensors as far as I've seen. No color shifts etc.
I use the CV25 too but mostly convert to b/w since I found that corner fix only works so so

 

[Rob-F]

Both my 21mm and 24mm Elmarit ASPH lenses work well on my M9. The 15mm CV is said to have color shift problems at the edges and corners, but I have not (so far) encountered a problem with it. I need to use it in more situations, to get a better idea.

Edit: I manually enter the CV 15 as the 16mm WATE.

 

[Darthfeeble]

My Ver. 3 CV 15 works very well with the M9, the older Cv 21/4 has a bit of vignetting but otherwise seems to be fine. Those two are as wide as I have. I have a 28 Elmarit that lives on the M9 these days.

 

[Godfrey]

I want to buy a wide angle lens for my M9.

I used in past years two 21mm lenses and one 19mm lens in some other mounts with adapters on my M3 or M6, but after getting the M9, I did not bother buying a very good wide angle lens that works well with the M9. I could use a Canon FD 17/4. It is bulky and heavy and some people have expressed views that it lacks sharpness on the M9.

I once bought a CV 21/4 lens in Nikon mount to be used with film cameras since it does not fit the M9 even with an adapter. The only wide angle lens that seems to work with the M9 is my CV 25/4 ltm.

Is there a good 21mm lens that works well with the M9?

The best ultra-wide performer is probably the Tri-Elmar-M 16-18-21mm f/4 ASPH (WATE for short). Both because of its retrofocus design and because Leica provides an excellent lens profile for it.

The Summilux-M 21mm f/1.4 ASPH is also reputed to be an excellent performer on the M9.

The CV21/4 produces significant color shifting on the M9 sensor and can only be fully corrected using CornerFix in post processing.

G

 

[brennanphotoguy]

Almost any of the newer Leica lenses will work great. The Zeiss 21 and Voigtlander 21 will have serious color shift and corner sharpness issues. It all comes down to your price range. I'm a big fan of the new 21/3.4 Super Elmar from Leica. That's a really nice lens.

 

[Out to Lunch]

I am happy with the Zeiss Distagon 4/18 and with the III CV Super-Wide Heliar 4.5/15. No issues when using them with the M9. Also very good results with the Zeiss Biogon 2.8/28 and the 2/35. After many years of usage, the 2.8/28 developed the ''wobble'' but Tom A. explained how I could try to fix it at home -it worked...I did not even need a screw driver.

 

[Gregm61]

Is there a good 21mm lens that works well with the M9?

Well, sure there are. Is that really the question here, or should the word "economical" have been added to the question?

The Leica 21's are all excellent, be it Elmarit, Super Elmar or Summilux. Pick your price-point.

The first 21 I used with my M9 was the 21mm f4 Cosina Voigtlander, which exhibited some edge color problems so I picked up the CV 21mm f1.8, a beautiful lens and the edge color issues are not nearly so bad, especially using the non-ASPH Elmarit profile.

Today, I have the 21mm f2.8 Elmarit ASPH. The Cosina lenses have not seen the light of day since I used the Elmarit the first time.

 

[tightsqueez]

21 SEM is absolutely stunning on the M9/240. No silly color shifts, perfectly sharp edge to edge, no stupid purple fringing you find on the 21/24 Lux's, size is perfect, easy to focus, hood is nicely shaped (same one used on 35 FLE). Additionally, having the common 46mm filter is great... Series filters are a joke.

 

[rscheffler]

I had a look at four 21mm M lenses on the M9 a few years back: my review.

I did not try the CV21/4... I suspect it might have some edge color shift, but I've also read comments from others having copy to copy variation problems with it.

Of the four I owned at the time of the review (21 Lux, CV21/1.8, ZM21/2.8 and 21 SEM), the 21/1.8 is IMO the best value for price/performance, though it is somewhat large and the permanently attached lens hood annoyed me. But, it's nearly as fast as the Lux with better across-frame sharpness consistency, while being about as sharp as the slower 21s once stopped down.

If you don't need the speed and don't mind the cost, I highly recommend the 21 SEM.

 

[Huss]

I use the Super Elmar 18mm Asph. Works perfect.

 

[Corran]

The Voigtlander 21mm does have some shift on the edges but it's not terrible.

Since you already have one in S-mount, my recommendation is you find a machinist to simply mill down the rear retaining ring a touch and it will clear the rangefinder arm in the M9. Will cost you very little if you already have an Amedeo adapter. If you don't, you should as it gives you a ton of fun options with cheap Nikon and/or Contax lenses depending.

I filed mine down by hand which took forever, but it works.

I haven't tried using any of the lens profiles with the 21mm but I imagine most of the color shift could be corrected with the Leica 21mm f/2.8 profile. I recently started using that with a 15mm Voigtlander (ver. 1) and it really helped.

 

[raid]

No, I did on purpose not mention the cost as I want first to know what the situation is. If I am told that only Leica 21mm lenses work well, and if this wil cost me (for a used lens) over $2000, then I know what to budget for (or not).

Raid

Well, sure there are. Is that really the question here, or should the word "economical" have been added to the question?

The Leica 21's are all excellent, be it Elmarit, Super Elmar or Summilux. Pick your price-point.

The first 21 I used with my M9 was the 21mm f4 Cosina Voigtlander, which exhibited some edge color problems so I picked up the CV 21mm f1.8, a beautiful lens and the edge color issues are not nearly so bad, especially using the non-ASPH Elmarit profile.

Today, I have the 21mm f2.8 Elmarit ASPH. The Cosina lenses have not seen the light of day since I used the Elmarit the first time.

 

[Brooklynguy]

I am very happy with the results of the CV 21/1.8, hand-coded as the Lux 21/1.4. It's sharp wide open, good color and contrast. Haven't noticed color shifts in the corners. I also have a 21/2.8 Elmarit Asph and the CV 21/4, but I prefer the versatility that the f/1.8 aperture provides. It's reasonably priced compared to the Lux 21, yet ~2 stops faster than the 21 SEM.

Regardless, the CV 21/1.8; 21/2.8 Elmarit Asph; 21 SEM; 21 Lux; Zeiss 21/2.8; they are all so good it would be hard to wrong with any of these lenses--it's a matter of price/speed/size.

 

[JMQ]

The late Tom Abrahamsson called the 21 SA the "drama queen". I totally agree with him, but as other have pointed out, there is the annoying banding and the meter which needs to be adjusted +2.5 to +3 stops to use the built in lightmeter on the digital M cameras. even then, this adjustment is not foolproof. In the end, I got tired of the adjustments, and bought the 21 SEM for my M9 and MM after selling the 21 SA.

 

[roundg]

canon 25mm F3.5 works very good on M9.

 

[raid]

Robin: is the lens sharp but low contrast?

 

[roundg]

Robin: is the lens sharp but low contrast?

Hi, Raid,

the lens is sharp enough to my eyes and contrast is not high and not that vivid in color. you can't use filter on that lens, filter will add slight dark corner on the pictures, but not a big deal to me.

I start a thread in a Chinese forum. U should be able to view the pictures without registration.
http://forum.xitek.com/thread-1353003-1-1-1.html

 

[jkcampbell]

The Zeiss 21mm 4.5 ZM lives on my M9. Compact and super sharp, I love this lens!