carstenw
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A different sort of observation, not relevant to the current discussions, however relevant to the M8 in general, with respect to which lenses to buy for it:
I was studying the downloadable PDFs for the various M-system lenses today, and more specifically the 28 2.0 Asph versus 28 2.8 Asph, and the 75 Lux M, 75 Cron M and 80 Lux R.
With respect to the former two, I noticed that altough the performance of the two 28s is almost identical, often with the Elmarit being slightly better (for all the stops it has), this ends and reverses outside the dimensions of the M8's sensor. In other words, the 28 Elmarit at €1350 is a fantastic bargain for the M8, with the Cron being €2800 new, but for full frame or film cameras, the corners on the Cron are likely to be noticeably better. I would love to hear confirmation or denial from those who can compare.
I will personally hold out for the Cron, since I want to use it with a film-M eventually too, and anyway, since this lens has to substitute for a 35mm lens on the M8, going from the possible-on-FF 35mm f1.4 Asph all the way down to a 28 with a f/2.8 maximum aperture is rather a large jump, especially since this is *the* crowd focal length, and available light photography is just not the same at f/2.8 as it is at f/1.4. f/2.0 is a compromise, and this is how I will spend my mythical 30% discount, if it should materialise.
The second comparison I made was to try to figure out whether to get the 75mm Lux or Cron for the M8. I own the 80 Lux R, which is the same design as the 75 Lux M, so I threw its chart into the equation, as a known point. I would normally get the sharper lens, especially when it is cheaper, but two things made me look closer in this case: The 75 Lux M has been around for a while, and it is not hard to find perfect copies for the same price at the Cron new, and secondly, the 80 Lux R is my favorite lens, period. I probably spent an hour, or an hour and a half studying these charts, trying to recall everything I have learned about reading them.
The 75 Lux M and 80 Lux R are so similar in performance, with the 80 R having slightly better theoretical sharpness (yes, I am aware of the limitations of studying MTF charts, but its all I've got) in the centre, with the 75 Lux M pulling ahead in the field, but losing again in the extreme corners. This was when I noticed that the extreme corners are lopped off by the M8's crop factor, and it ends up looking like the 75 Lux is actually superior to the 80 Lux on a full-frame camera (my old camera is a 5D) in almost every way. Even the overall smoothness (bokeh) of the 75 Lux images are likely to be somewhat superior, since the sagittal and tangential contrast lines are much closer to each other than for the 80 Lux. I have occasionally noticed odd bokeh from the 80 Lux, especially with foliage in the background. I wonder if the 75 Lux tidies this up? Anyone?
Making this observation more interesting is the fact that from about f/5,6, the 75 Lux is as good as the 75 Cron, more or less, and even down to f/2.8, they are of similar sharpness in the centre at least, factoring in the crop of the M8 again. This means that the 75 Cron's advantages shrink to corners at f/2.8 and sharpness everywhere at f/2.0, as well as size, weight, and not blocking the viewfinder. The Lux has an extra stop to offer, not that much more weight, slight intrusion into the viewfinder, and stunning portrait performance.
A hard choice, to be sure. I am still not sure what I will do. I will certainly try to rent both before choosing.
Does anyone with more real-world experience with these than I have some helpful comments to make?
Interestingly, the worst aspect of the performance of the 50 Lux Asph, supposedly the best 50 in the world for any system, is the corners. Guess what? The M8 chops them off. I wonder if we aren't better off with a 1.33x crop forever, after all? It sure makes you think...
Edited by carstenw on Nov 25, 2006 at 09:50 PM GMT
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Oh well, someone fessed up 
Are these crops or scaled down?