Which wide angle lenses work very well with the M9?

jkcampbell said:
The Zeiss 21mm 4.5 ZM lives on my M9. Compact and super sharp, I love this lens!
Click to expand...

I tried this lens on the M9 back in 2010. It was very sharp, but the vignetting and edge colour shift was quite severe... particularly the colour shift. But that was prior to some of the later firmware updates. How's it working for you?
 
rscheffler said:
I tried this lens on the M9 back in 2010. It was very sharp, but the vignetting and edge colour shift was quite severe... particularly the colour shift. But that was prior to some of the later firmware updates. How's it working for you?
Click to expand...

I use it almost exclusively for B&W so I've never taken a close look at edge color. I do agree on the vignetting, but it's not much different than my 21mm Elmarit. For me I like the effect but if you don't it's easy to take care of it in post. Here's a quick snap of the dog taken a few minutes ago.
Duffy.jpg

ISO 800 1/45s f5.6
 
So when asking for excellent wide angle lenses for the M9, it should be stated that I am looking for a wide angle lens to be used with color images.
 
raid said:
So when asking for excellent wide angle lenses for the M9, it should be stated that I am looking for a wide angle lens to be used with color images.
Click to expand...

Easy....the 21mm Elmarit ASPH, on the M9..





and M262..



Or, better, the even wider 18mm f3.8 Super Elmar, which works really well with the M9. I don't have any M9 images online to add here right now. These were captured with the M262.

https://gmchappell.smugmug.com/Other/Leica-18mm-f38-Super-Elmar/





 
raid said:
It seems that wide angle lenses have more challenges with color than with B&W on digital cameras.
Click to expand...

Fixed this for you.

"It seems that wide angle lenses have more challenges with color than with B&W on" [Leica M] "digital cameras". To be complete to some degree this is the case for all digital cameras with short lens-mount registers.

As mentioned and displayed above some Leica lenses (18 and 21 SEMs for instance) seem to be designed to optimize edge-to-edge sharpness. Since Leica knows their sensor assemblies' micro-lens optical properties, wide-angle lenses can be designed to specifically match the micro-lens array properties. And Leica uses excellent image rendering parameters to correct remaining issues (vignetting and color shifts) for in-camera JPEGs and, or post-production raw rendering.

Harmonizing lens and sensor assembly micro-lens optical designs and effective lens correction parameters supplied by the camera/lens designers are common throughout the industry. As usual, Leica's designers achieve excellent results.

As far as other M/LTM lenses go, as always edge-to-edge sharpness will vary. But user created rendering lens correction parameters for vignetting and color shifts are conveniently applied once they are created. In fact Adobe provides free software and detailed technical instructions on how to create custom lens correction profiles for ACR (LR and PS). The process is tedious but it works. Other platforms offer similar tools. And I understand one can purchase plug-ins that are very effective at implementing post-production corrections for M/LTM wide-angle lenses.
 
When I decided - after 10 years - finally to try something wider than 28 again, on the 240, after some mixed experience with the "Italian Flag", cornerfix, etc., I decided to pick a Leica lens for which a code exists. I just don't want to limit myself to B+W only when I shoot - I prefer to make that call when editing.

I found a late, near mint Elmarit 21/2.8 pre-asph for US 800, which is rarely mentioned in threads like this, I'm guessing because Puts once remarked that the new asph Elmarit and Elmar are so much better.

I'm very happy with this Mandler lens, Raid. Even on the 240, it out-resolves the sensor f5.6 and up, distortions are not visible in real life, and it does have the typical Mandler contrast/shadow behavior. I feels a little large at first, but since the hood can be reversed, it's very portable. For my photos with this lens, see http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152649. My most recent favorite is this:

L1000402-X2.jpg


Roland.
 
on my M8/M9 the pre asph Leica 21/2.8 worked well and can be properly coded. If I remember correctly, the Biogon 21/2.8 works very well, too, but needs some initiative to have it coded.
 
I have started to first try (again) lenses that I own. I placed today a Minolta Rokkor 28/2.8 on the M9.

Roland: Thanks for the tip to consider the Elmarit 21/2.8 pre-asph.. Such a lens sounds very suitable to me. I will start searching for one.
 
24 3.8 elmar if that is fast enough. Mine is virtually perfect wide open. Mine came used from KEH on sale for $1200-long story. Then the new 24 BL finder advertised as plastic was metal when it arrived.

All that CV stuff is trash. I use mine for paper weights.
 
One more note, Raid: after exercising the Elmarit in Utah, I decided to change from ZI finder to classic SBKOO. LV is not usable in high contrast daylight (snow, etc), so I feel the finder is very important. The Leitz finder is a little dimmer (single-coated) than the ZI finder but much more accurate (> 10%). Did some new camera p*rn with the new finder this morning:

_DSC7567bw_tn-L.jpg


🙂

Roland.
 
ferider said:
One more note, Raid: after exercising the Elmarit in Utah, I decided to change from ZI finder to classic SBKOO. LV is not usable in high contrast daylight (snow, etc), so I feel the finder is very important. The Leitz finder is a little dimmer (single-coated) than the ZI finder but much more accurate (> 10%). Did some new camera p*rn with the new finder this morning:

_DSC7567bw_tn-L.jpg


🙂

Roland.
Click to expand...

I much prefer the 12002 to the CZ 21mm finder. Mostly for the much better eye relief.
 
Hi Roland,
I searched today for an Elmarit pre-asph, but any 21mm Elmarit ranged in price for $1400-$3000 (for asph at the high end) or higher.

The finder is very important. I agree.

I wonder how the Elmarit compares with the Kobalux 21/3.5?

Raid

ferider said:
One more note, Raid: after exercising the Elmarit in Utah, I decided to change from ZI finder to classic SBKOO. LV is not usable in high contrast daylight (snow, etc), so I feel the finder is very important. The Leitz finder is a little dimmer (single-coated) than the ZI finder but much more accurate (> 10%). Did some new camera p*rn with the new finder this morning:

_DSC7567bw_tn-L.jpg


🙂

Roland.
Click to expand...
 
raid said:
Hi Roland,
I wonder how the Elmarit compares with the Kobalux 21/3.5?
Raid
Click to expand...

The Kobalux 21mm is an f/2.8 lens, not f/3.5. The most significant downside of the Kobalux is its 58mm filter size. Also, the Kobalux 21mm viewfinder is enormous. Belongs on a medium format camera. 😉

The head bartender has a page on the Kobalux 21mm here. However, no indication as to how it performs on a digital body.
 
I may have been thinking of the max aperture in the Kobalux28/3.5, but you are correct that the 21mm lens has aperture 2.8. The viewfinder can always be replaced by a smaller one.


nasmformyzombie said:
The Kobalux 21mm is an f/2.8 lens, not f/3.5. The most significant downside of the Kobalux is its 58mm filter size. Also, the Kobalux 21mm viewfinder is enormous. Belongs on a medium format camera. 😉

The head bartender has a page on the Kobalux 21mm here. However, no indication as to how it performs on a digital body.
Click to expand...
 
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