Leica M9-P lens suggestion
p.1 #1Leica M9-P lens suggestion
Hello fellow members,
Having just acquired a silver M9-P, I would like to pair it with a 50 or 35 pre asph to compliment its CCD rendering.
Would anyone with this camera have suggestions?
thank you
RC
Having just acquired a silver M9-P, I would like to pair it with a 50 or 35 pre asph to compliment its CCD rendering.
Would anyone with this camera have suggestions?
thank you
RC
Sep 03, 2026 at 09:17 AM
p.1 #2Leica M9-P lens suggestion
RCHoosier wrote:
Hello fellow members,
Having just acquired a silver M9-P, I would like to pair it with a 50 or 35 pre asph to compliment its CCD rendering.
Would anyone with this camera have suggestions?
thank you
RC
you just sold both of these lenses...should have tested them first. Colors on the M9-P are going to be saturated and vibrant, low contrast lenses look fantastic on there. Careful with the fast lenses though, the camera obviously doesn't have live view so it makes the f/1.4 lenses a little tougher to focus. Impossible to see if you really nailed focus with the horrible lcd, too. When I had an M9 my two favorite lenses to use on it were 50 Lux e46 pre asph and the 35 Cron ASPH I
Hello fellow members,
Having just acquired a silver M9-P, I would like to pair it with a 50 or 35 pre asph to compliment its CCD rendering.
Would anyone with this camera have suggestions?
thank you
RC
you just sold both of these lenses...should have tested them first. Colors on the M9-P are going to be saturated and vibrant, low contrast lenses look fantastic on there. Careful with the fast lenses though, the camera obviously doesn't have live view so it makes the f/1.4 lenses a little tougher to focus. Impossible to see if you really nailed focus with the horrible lcd, too. When I had an M9 my two favorite lenses to use on it were 50 Lux e46 pre asph and the 35 Cron ASPH I
Sep 03, 2026 at 09:43 AM
p.1 #3Leica M9-P lens suggestion
RCHoosier wrote:
Hello fellow members,
Having just acquired a silver M9-P, I would like to pair it with a 50 or 35 pre asph to compliment its CCD rendering.
Would anyone with this camera have suggestions?
thank you
RC
Been a long time now but when I had the M9 I found the Summaron 35/2.8 to work wonderfully with the sensor
Sep 03, 2026 at 11:41 AM
p.1 #4Leica M9-P lens suggestion
I'd go for the Leica 35mm f/2 Summicron 8-Element for the M9. Or get the cheaper alternative LLL 35/2 8-E version. It's a bit less contrast than the ASPH version which works with that high contrast/saturated CCD look.
Sep 03, 2026 at 11:43 AM
p.1 #5Leica M9-P lens suggestion
On the M9, besides the lenses already mentioned, I thoughly enjoyed and liked the look and performance of the Leica Summilux 35mm f1.4 asph pre FLE. It had a wonderful combination of being a bit painterly when shot wide open and somewhat forgiving while still rendering a high degree of detail without being bitingly sharp. The current LLL 35mm f1.4 AA would be a good substitute with similar attributes.
Edited on Sep 03, 2026 at 01:49 PM · View previous versions
Edited on Sep 03, 2026 at 01:49 PM · View previous versions
Sep 03, 2026 at 12:00 PM
p.1 #6Leica M9-P lens suggestion
DandA123 wrote:
On the M9, besides the lenses already mentioned, I toughly enjoyed and liked the look and performance of the Leica Summilux 35mm f1.4 asph pre FLE. It had a wonderful combination of being a bit painterly when shot wide open and somewhat forgiving while still rendering a high degree of detail without being bitingly sharp. The current LLL 35mm f1.4 AA would be a good substitute with similar attributes.
Great suggestion Dan!
On the M9, besides the lenses already mentioned, I toughly enjoyed and liked the look and performance of the Leica Summilux 35mm f1.4 asph pre FLE. It had a wonderful combination of being a bit painterly when shot wide open and somewhat forgiving while still rendering a high degree of detail without being bitingly sharp. The current LLL 35mm f1.4 AA would be a good substitute with similar attributes.
Great suggestion Dan!
Sep 03, 2026 at 01:17 PM
p.1 #7Leica M9-P lens suggestion
I would recommend the following:
35mm: Leica 35mm Summicron V1 (8E) or LLL 35/2 (8E) and Leica 35mm Summicron V4 (7E)
50mm: Leica 50mm APO Summicron and Leica 50mm/2.8 Elmar
35mm: Leica 35mm Summicron V1 (8E) or LLL 35/2 (8E) and Leica 35mm Summicron V4 (7E)
50mm: Leica 50mm APO Summicron and Leica 50mm/2.8 Elmar
Sep 03, 2026 at 02:22 PM
p.1 #8Leica M9-P lens suggestion
my fav lens on my m9 is the noctilux f1 - something magical happens with that combo + gets around the low light limitations on the m9. shot maybe 75% or more of my kids' photos with it.
L1012213 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on Flickr
L1013413 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on Flickr
L1014769 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on Flickr
L1015262 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on Flickr
L1015407 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on Flickr
L1015488 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on Flickr
L1015561 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on Flickr
L1012213 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on FlickrL1013413 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on FlickrL1014769 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on FlickrL1015262 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on FlickrL1015407 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on FlickrL1015488 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on FlickrL1015561 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on FlickrSep 03, 2026 at 06:23 PM
p.1 #9Leica M9-P lens suggestion
Interestingly, most people suggested pairing the M9 with classic, vintage lenses rather than modern, highly corrected ones. The M9's sensor naturally delivers plenty of color and contrast to complement these softer lenses, whereas modern, high-contrast glass can often feel overwhelming or harsh on this camera.
Sep 03, 2026 at 07:47 PM
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p.1 #10Leica M9-P lens suggestion
Fred Miranda wrote:
Interestingly, most people suggested pairing the M9 with classic, vintage lenses rather than modern, highly corrected ones. The M9's sensor naturally delivers plenty of color and contrast to complement these softer lenses, whereas modern, high-contrast glass can often feel overwhelming or harsh on this camera.
Yep that's also what i find i preferred when looking back at all my photos - the 35iv and noctilux made up the majority of the photos. In terms of modern lenses, I've found pretty good matching with the 50 asph and 28 f1.5 nokton - the later I picked up near the end of using m9 as my main camera.
some from the 50 asph and 28 nokton on the m9.
L1004001 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on Flickr
L1004136 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on Flickr
L1004210 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on Flickr
L1005027 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on Flickr
L1004985 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on Flickr
L1047186 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on Flickr
L1047640 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on Flickr
L1047690 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on Flickr
L1048812 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on Flickr
L1048859 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on Flickr
L1048966 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on Flickr
Interestingly, most people suggested pairing the M9 with classic, vintage lenses rather than modern, highly corrected ones. The M9's sensor naturally delivers plenty of color and contrast to complement these softer lenses, whereas modern, high-contrast glass can often feel overwhelming or harsh on this camera.
Yep that's also what i find i preferred when looking back at all my photos - the 35iv and noctilux made up the majority of the photos. In terms of modern lenses, I've found pretty good matching with the 50 asph and 28 f1.5 nokton - the later I picked up near the end of using m9 as my main camera.
some from the 50 asph and 28 nokton on the m9.
L1004001 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on FlickrL1004136 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on FlickrL1004210 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on FlickrL1005027 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on FlickrL1004985 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on FlickrL1047186 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on FlickrL1047640 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on FlickrL1047690 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on FlickrL1048812 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on FlickrL1048859 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on FlickrL1048966 by Ricky Cheong Photography, on FlickrSep 03, 2026 at 08:33 PM
p.1 #11Leica M9-P lens suggestion
Respectfully disagree on the above.
Modern lenses work as well on the M9 as they do on other cameras. It all comes down to what look you are trying to achieve.
Some samples of photos on the M9 shot on modern Leica lenses:
Modern lenses work as well on the M9 as they do on other cameras. It all comes down to what look you are trying to achieve.
Some samples of photos on the M9 shot on modern Leica lenses:
Sep 03, 2026 at 08:33 PM
p.1 #12Leica M9-P lens suggestion
Thank you Canadian friends for sharing some great photos 
I had an M9-P, I got great results with a 35 Summilux FLE, 50 Summilux Aspherical, and Noctilux f/.95 aspherical.
All of those lenses, especially the Noctilux, show more "defects" on the M11 - which doesn't surprise me.
I also had an LTM Summaron 35, it was OK, it felt like it fought the M9s naturally punchy output.
Lastly, I had a Nokton 50mm f/1.5 from the oughties which was really, really nice on the M9.
(you didn't ask and it's probably way too tight for you but the 135 APO was great on the M9...if you could hit the focus...)
I had an M9-P, I got great results with a 35 Summilux FLE, 50 Summilux Aspherical, and Noctilux f/.95 aspherical.
All of those lenses, especially the Noctilux, show more "defects" on the M11 - which doesn't surprise me.
I also had an LTM Summaron 35, it was OK, it felt like it fought the M9s naturally punchy output.
Lastly, I had a Nokton 50mm f/1.5 from the oughties which was really, really nice on the M9.
(you didn't ask and it's probably way too tight for you but the 135 APO was great on the M9...if you could hit the focus...)
Sep 03, 2026 at 08:58 PM
p.1 #13Leica M9-P lens suggestion
when I shot the M 9 35 lux FLE and the 50 lux aspherical my most used lenses I never hated a lens on that camera more then the 50 nokton 1.5 first version
Sep 03, 2026 at 09:30 PM
p.1 #14Leica M9-P lens suggestion
50mm f2 Summicron Rigid is a favorite that works really well on the M9. Love the high resolution low contrast look on the CCD sensor.
Sep 04, 2026 at 06:51 AM
p.1 #15Leica M9-P lens suggestion
Great photos! This is a perfect example of the unique photos from this camera!
Sep 07, 2026 at 10:19 PM
p.1 #16Leica M9-P lens suggestion
fter working with every Leica M, while also regularly using medium-format systems and the latest Sony cameras, I can say that this body has earned a permanent place in my heart. Coming from stacked-sensor cameras—or even just the quieter modern Ms—when its shutter fires, it still sounds as though it wants to photocopy you front and back.
As far as I’m concerned, the colour issue has officially been tamed. At last, whether I’m shooting RAW or JPEG, I can carry its distinctive European take on Kodachrome with me across any camera body.
The way it renders—thanks to that little sensor and its big, chunky CCD pixels—still makes me smile. The accuracy with which it tells a story, filling all 18 megapixels with real substance depending on the glass mounted, makes me happy whenever I want to savour photography like a fine wine.
I have a DP2 Merrill and a pre-replacement M9 sitting in a drawer—and, for exactly the same reasons, neither of them is ever leaving it!
Whether I mount an aspherical Voigtländer such as the 40mm f/1.2, something razor-sharp like the 28mm Ultron or 50 APO, or a rare Mandler design—or even one that isn’t—the photographs that come out are always a pleasure.
As far as I’m concerned, the colour issue has officially been tamed. At last, whether I’m shooting RAW or JPEG, I can carry its distinctive European take on Kodachrome with me across any camera body.
The way it renders—thanks to that little sensor and its big, chunky CCD pixels—still makes me smile. The accuracy with which it tells a story, filling all 18 megapixels with real substance depending on the glass mounted, makes me happy whenever I want to savour photography like a fine wine.
I have a DP2 Merrill and a pre-replacement M9 sitting in a drawer—and, for exactly the same reasons, neither of them is ever leaving it!
Whether I mount an aspherical Voigtländer such as the 40mm f/1.2, something razor-sharp like the 28mm Ultron or 50 APO, or a rare Mandler design—or even one that isn’t—the photographs that come out are always a pleasure.
Sep 07, 2026 at 11:35 PM
p.1 #17Leica M9-P lens suggestion
The topic quickly turned into nostalgia for the M9 camera. I shot with the M9-P for 15 years, until the sensor completely broke due to corrosion. And I agree that absolutely any lens works fine with the M9. Well, except for the extreme 135mm – it's just hard to get focus precisely. Or the 15mm due to color distortion.
The Noctilux 1.0 and 0.95 are absolutely amazing with the M9.
My only regret is that I could retake many of the photos better today, but that's impossible.
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. I shot with the M9-P for 15 years, until the sensor completely broke due to corrosion. And I agree that absolutely any lens works fine with the M9. Well, except for the extreme 135mm – it's just hard to get focus precisely. Or the 15mm due to color distortion.The Noctilux 1.0 and 0.95 are absolutely amazing with the M9.
My only regret is that I could retake many of the photos better today, but that's impossible.
by by by Sep 08, 2026 at 12:55 AM
p.1 #18Leica M9-P lens suggestion
The M9 with Leicas 50 APO M is incredible. However with a 35 APO M is less so for some reason being that, the 35 APO is a much better performer. I actually like the Zeiss 35mm f2.8 on the M9 better.
Sep 08, 2026 at 05:22 PM