Thanks, Luka. The 28 Cron is a great lens, but before buying it, you should try out the 24 Elmarit. The 24 gives a greater impression of sharpness and has very punchy colours, but has a bit less of that softness the 28 Cron has. It would fit a lot better with your 35 Lux ASPH though.
carstenw wrote:
Thanks, Luka. The 28 Cron is a great lens, but before buying it, you should try out the 24 Elmarit. The 24 gives a greater impression of sharpness and has very punchy colours, but has a bit less of that softness the 28 Cron has. It would fit a lot better with your 35 Lux ASPH though.
The 24 Elmarit does have more microcontrast as well......but Luka already has the ZM 25. I would rather see Luka with a 21/24 Lux
Carsten, thanks for the suggestion, but I'm not going to buy anything more that requires an external viewfinder. I use the ZM 18 and ZM 25 much less than I would like to because of the tedious process of having to dig out the external viewfinder (plastering it with fingerprints in the process), mount it etc The M system is really good between 28-75, but outside that range it IMO borders on being more trouble than it is worth.
Okay. Well, 28/35/50/75 is rather close together, but if you feel that the external viewfinder makes it not worth it... 28/35/50/90 is another option, of course, since 50 and 75 are especially close together, IMO.
My current field kit that I've been working with lately is the 18/35/50/75/90. As much as I dislike having to use the external viewfinder on the ZM 18, I need at least one UWA lens. This is already a slightly too large lineup. It is however difficult to eliminate anything. 35mm is my favorite focal length and the one I'm most comfortable with. The 50 Lux ASPH is the best lens of the lot so I have to bring it along. The 75 and 90 are imperfect in different ways - I'm not particularly fond of the 75's rendering and the 90 (Cron V3) can be rather weak in terms of raw optical performance. So I bring both and they complement each other.
Apart from perhaps replacing the 75 Cron and 90 Cron V3 with a 90 Cron AA, I don't see really a good way of reducing the number of lenses that form my standard kit. Adding a 28 would fill a gap between 18 and 35mm (without the need of an external viewfinder), but I feel that I'm already carrying around too many lenses.
I can see however a use for the 28 as a potential member of a lens troika - the 28, 50 & 90 - for those occasions that I don't feel like carrying too many lenses. Not sure though that it's sensible to add another lens as I already feel that my lens collection is is too large as it is.
The VF is the thing that eases me about having the 28/35 close together. I don't want to use one either. While the 28 and 35 are close, they are still very different lenses in the way they render. I find the 28 is excellent for street shooting and a lot sharper than the 35 Lux ASPH. The contrast and colors are much better with the Cron than the 35 Lux. While the lengths look similar on paper, they do feel much different when in use. I think your 50/75 or 75/90 lengths will actually be much closer than what the perspective of 28 & 35 will give you
I have been walking around with either a 28/90 combo or just the 35 lately. Each tmie I have gone out I haven't felt that I have missed anything with a simple one or two lens kit. The 50 has been relegated to strictly portrait uses for now as my other lenses are much better for street/landscape
Gregory - nice shots. I like the emotion of #3 and the girl smiling on the back of the bike
I've always said 28/50/90 is a great setup. And most of the time, you can leave the 90 home. I can't imagine walking around with the number of lenses some of you guys use. Yeah, I have 4 or 5 lenses, but I rarely go out with more than two.
If I were a 35 shooter, I'd have a 21, a 35, and 75 and call it a day.
Ryan and Luka, thank you guys
Luka, excellent shots! Very nice use of the 75 Cron, particularly for #1.
Ryan, really nice shots! Love #1, the feeling of depth and colours.
Gregory, nice shots! I really like the atmosphere to #1
Luka, I agree about the VF. Keeping it simple, light and unobtrusive is why I fully embraced the M9. Although, having a number of lenses now, my package when taking shots, will come down to taking only 2 lenses at a time, depending whether it's portraits or seascapes/landscapes. Great combo's are the 28 Cron/90 Cron Apo for landscapes. Portraits shots, 50 Lux/ 75Lux or 90 Cron Apo, and general walk around single lens the 35 Lux Asph II. It is a 5 lenses in total, all of which have very different and unique renderings. I do feel you wouldn't be disappointed with the 28 Cron, as it is very different to the 35 Lux.
I don't see what the big deal is about an external finder. I just leave the 21 finder mounted permanently on the thumbs up... and got the version with two shoes, so when I'm working 15mm & 21mm, I have both mounted. Works for me. Someone once asked me if I was shooting in 3D when I had both mounted
ZM21:
ZM50P:
Lots of great images lately! Greg - nice to see you managed to get an M9 and looks like the CV12 works a bit better on it than the 15 in terms of corner colour shifts...
Lovely shots luka, especialy like number 1! you have to share some of your strategies on composition - i tried to take some pics of surroundings a-la your style - mostly disastrous!
Great pics ryan - 28 cron is superb!
Ron, nice street shots - very sharp and crisp renditions.
Greg, wow, that noct is amazing.
Wow, so nice response, thank you, Philber, Lovinglife, Singletrack!
I cannot justify to get the more expensive Leica lenses, so my collection is largely Voigtlaender.
Only recently I made a good deal on an older 35/2 cron on ebay, but I haven't received it yet.
These pictures are made with a CV 35/1.4, a CV 75/1.8 and a CV 15/4.5 II (coded as WATE, therefore the exif shows a different focal length).
I also own a Canon 50/1.2 and a CV 50/1.5 but I did not use them that day.
