I really liked the rendering of my older Elmarit vIII that I used to have (with regard to both M240 and film usage) and I enjoyed the short time I had with the 28 Summicron before I had to send it out for repair (which I'm still waiting for. Two trips and 4 months later, come on Leica!)
I've always heard rave commentary about the 28 Elmarit ASPH (v1) with regard to outright lens performance, but it seemed that some deemed it too contrasty for their liking. Contrast doesn't bother me personally, and when it comes to wider lenses I want solid performance.
I still think that the 28 Summicron is probably the one to get, but it can be cost-prohibitive unless you find a good deal on one.
Gary Clennan wrote:
I have been thinking of picking up a 28cron to try out but wanted to see what my other options were first. I prefer the faster f/2 of the cron but could make do with a f/2.8 lens. What would be the top contender for an f/2.8 lens in 28mm FL?
Next best is the 28/2.8 v4
Bigger than the ASPH but optically really good. Much better than the v3- which is fun but not in the cron league. Then you might consider an ultron, both are good.
But 28 crons are almost down to 2k. It pretty much smokes them all. It might even work a bit on that r2
Just landed in Singapore.. Can't sleep so I'm visiting my favourite thread
I'm going to agree with uhoh7 on the 28 Summicron. Especially if you can snag one around the $2k mark.
Question for any of you who've had lenses misfocusing on your M bodies... did you send the body and lens to Leica, or just one or the other?
Got my 50 Summilux ASPH today, and it's backfocusing by quite a bit on my 240 (the focusing ring is also super stiff, so it needs some help there too) ... but all my other fast lenses are perfect on the 240 (50 Lux pre-ASPH, 35/1.4 Distagon, etc.) so I don't want to send it in, and the camera come back focusing right with the Lux, and off with everything else.
Any advice? I'd rather not just send the ASPH back, but if that's the better option I'll do that.
Bigger than the ASPH but optically really good. Much better than the v3- which is fun but not in the cron league. Then you might consider an ultron, both are good.
But 28 crons are almost down to 2k. It pretty much smokes them all. It might even work a bit on that r2
adamdewilde wrote:
Just landed in Singapore.. Can't sleep so I'm visiting my favourite thread
I'm going to agree with uhoh7 on the 28 Summicron. Especially if you can snag one around the $2k mark.
That's what I got mine for ($2k) so I was pretty content. I just barely got to use it before I had to send it out unfortunately!
RyanFlynn wrote:
Question for any of you who've had lenses misfocusing on your M bodies... did you send the body and lens to Leica, or just one or the other?
Got my 50 Summilux ASPH today, and it's backfocusing by quite a bit on my 240 (the focusing ring is also super stiff, so it needs some help there too) ... but all my other fast lenses are perfect on the 240 (50 Lux pre-ASPH, 35/1.4 Distagon, etc.) so I don't want to send it in, and the camera come back focusing right with the Lux, and off with everything else.
Any advice? I'd rather not just send the ASPH back, but if that's the better option I'll do that....Show more →
That's a tough one man because I'm experiencing almost the same thing. I just got one recently and it is ever so slightly off, not dramatically so but if I use live view I can tell it's a little off. Where all my other lenses are spot on. I was a little miffed when I bought my Summilux too as it was described as mint (this is why I hate that term) but it had some minor scuffs on the barrel (don't really care about that), slightly stiff focusing, and some oil on the aperture blades, however from what I'm reading those are fairly common issues with this lens.
I'm also really reluctant to send anything to Leica anymore after this bummer of a service experience I'm dealing with right now. But unfortunately I don't know who else will calibrate the digital M bodies.
If you have a return window I might suggest that but that does mean taking a chance and buying a different one.
I would just send the lens and see what happens. But turnaround will be long... 1-2 months. And the 50 Lux ASPH can be a picky lens to get properly adjusted. Mine also back focuses (actually my camera is also a bit off), and that's how it came back to me from Leica after they replaced the 'focus mount' which I understand to be the helicoid and RF cam. It came back with much tighter focus throw, which I think has loosened up slightly since. I just intentionally front focus it and it generally works now that I've got a feel for how much 'offset' to apply on the fly...
You could try sending it to a 3rd party Leica repair shop, like DAG. IIRC, Gary here had his 50 Lux (was it the ASPH?) serviced there for something. Probably faster and less expensive.
I don't remember exactly any more, but my understanding has been that Leica used to prefer receiving camera with lens, but as of the M240, may no longer be necessary. That said, after I got back my 50 Lux ASPH and the infinity hard stop was a shade past infinity focus (causing a noticeably reduction in image sharpness), as well as the RF not even hitting infinity, they asked me to send it back with my M240. However, my M240 is fine at infinity with all my other lenses and I didn't want to be without my main M body for however long it would take them to fix it.
Gary Clennan wrote:
I have been thinking of picking up a 28cron to try out but wanted to see what my other options were first. I prefer the faster f/2 of the cron but could make do with a f/2.8 lens. What would be the top contender for an f/2.8 lens in 28mm FL?
edwardkaraa wrote:
I would wait and see what kind of sensor toppings will be in the next M. If you don't plan to upgrade from the M240, then the elmarit mark 1 would work best, but the mark 2 is designed for the SL toppings so I think it's safe to say the next M will have a similar cover glass, and the mark 2 is quite bad on the M240.
Hi Edward, are you sure about that? The comparisons test crops I've seen of the 28/2.8 ASPH v1 vs v2 show considerable improvement with the v2 on the SL and slight but still noticeable edge/corner improvement of v2 on the M240...
Gary, I thought you had the 28/2.8 at some point? Maybe I can be talked into upgrading to the new 28 Cron, which would free up my old one (after I do some comparison tests)...
From my casual testing and research, the best technical performance will be from the Leica ASPH lenses. The 28/2 Ultron is lower contrast, has focus shift at near distances and takes a lot of stopping down to bring up the outer zone. The ZM28 is very snappy contrast/micro contrast and also very sharp centrally, but also needs a fair bit of stopping down for the outer zone. And probably none will be optimal on stock mirrorless. IMO the Cron has a good combination of speed, size, character and overall performance.
rscheffler wrote:
Gary, I thought you had the 28/2.8 at some point?
Yes, you are correct. I had it back in the M8 days and liked it quite a bit. Very small and good overall performance. However, this may seems like a strange thing but I found the lens to have a very "contrasty" output. Couple this with the M8's typical output and you have a much harsher image than other lenses (and sensors) would typically provide. It made a great combo for B&W but didn't suit my taste for everyday use. IIRC - it had a similar output to the ZM35C I used to own. I sold the 28 Elmarit asph before I bought my M240 though....
Gary Clennan wrote:
Yes, you are correct. I had it back in the M8 days and liked it quite a bit. Very small and good overall performance. However, this may seems like a strange thing but I found the lens to have a very "contrasty" output. Couple this with the M8's typical output and you have a much harsher image than other lenses (and sensors) would typically provide. It made a great combo for B&W but didn't suit my taste for everyday use. IIRC - it had a similar output to the ZM35C I used to own. I sold the 28 Elmarit asph before I bought my M240 though.......Show more →
Are you planning to shoot wide open a lot Gary? If so the cron has bags of character that you won't get from the elmarit. I used to own a cron and v3 elmarit, loved the character from the cron and loved the rendering from the elmarit but I don't shoot wide open much so I settled on a 28 elmarit asph. Size was my main goal but it still renders nicely for portraits. Here's a sample with a crop, nice and clean rendering and the size is great for travel
Gary - 28Cron - go for it. Wide open its not super sharp but renders beautifully. Stopped down, its very sharp and still renders beautifully Main problem with the 28Cron is built quality - almost everyone who has the original version would have had some problems, chipped or broken hood, loose aperture ring or loose front ring, misalignment, etc etc.. so a trip to DAG or Leica may be needed but the good thing is that it can be fixed. Better to ask questions if you are buying used or get it from a dealer or friend who will at least give you a few weeks to check out the lens.
------
A few with my 28Cron V1 at Deer Island Boston
rirakuma wrote:
Are you planning to shoot wide open a lot Gary? If so the cron has bags of character that you won't get from the elmarit. I used to own a cron and v3 elmarit, loved the character from the cron and loved the rendering from the elmarit but I don't shoot wide open much so I settled on a 28 elmarit asph. Size was my main goal but it still renders nicely for portraits. Here's a sample with a crop, nice and clean rendering and the size is great for travel
Yeah but Rocky you can make any lens look good, you just have that eye.
airfrogusmc wrote:
Just got some really good news today.
First one of my images was selected for the Soho juried exhibit at the Soho gallery in New York in July. I also had a piece selected for that gallery and show in 2014. This year there were 1500 entries. My work is also being featured in the next issue of Viewfinder Magazine.
Will have to first see what the specs will be.
