3rd party lenses for the M8

<p>VDue to declining health, I 'm considering selling my Canon outfit and getting the M8. I notice there are a couple of lens brands for the M8 that are less expensive than Leica's, Voigtlander and Zeiss. How do these other brands stack up to Leica's?</p>

 

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<p>They stack up well. Check out the flickr m-mount group for photos from various lenses. </p>

<p>David, that is a good recommendation. I often use Flickr groups to see what people are doing with other lenses. Jon, I'm sorry to hear of your health challenges. I personally don't think anyone meets the Leica build, but Zeiss is very close, and Voigtlander has some nice lenses. Certainly there are numerous VC and Zeiss lenses that provide a lot of bang for the buck.</p>

<p>CV (Cosina/Voigtlander) has the best fast 50mm for the money. Zeiss's 35 f2. is a wonderful lens.</p>

<p>Remember that you should rustle up a way to get 6-bit coding on any 35mm or wider lens on the M8 if you will use it with the UV/IR hot filter. If the lens is LTM, get a Milich adapter.</p>

 

<p>You can read all you want, but bottom line is that you really need to try them yourself to know for sure what certain lenses will do. The VC lenses are more than adequate for many and probably most people, and depending on what you are trying to achieve, they may be all you need. The 21 I used on the M8 seemed to be a very neutral lens that just did the job without much fanfare. The 21 Zeiss I have now has been superb with many of my pics, too contrasty in some situations. At the point I am now with my photography I'm very impressed with the Leica lenses I've used... they just produce a look of completeness, elegance, and perfection that I haven't seen matched. They tend to make objects in the photo look more 3-dimensional and solid, but you may not even want that... it just depends on you. </p>

<p>I don't see how getting the M8 and corresponding lenses makes any financial sense. You will also need excellent eyesight to manually focus the lenses.</p>

<p>If you want some cash, streamline your set of Canon lenses and/or downgrading to a single, lower-end body. For APS-C cameras, recent Digital Rebels leave nothing to be desired with their image quality.</p>

<p>Great thing about the M8 is it lets you travel very light. You mention declining health, so that could be a factor for you.<br>

Lots of great lenses by CV and Zeiss.<br>

The CV 28/3.5 is tiny and very good. If you can live with the slow speed, it's hard to go wrong with it. Pair it with the CV 75/2.5 and you'd have a lightweight kit capable of producing very nice photos.</p>

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<p>Jon --</p>

<p>Sorry to hear about your health issues. Good luck with those. Glad to hear that you can consider replacing your camera outfit.</p>

<p>At the outset, I note that you will need to select your focal lengths with recognition of the M8's crop factor compared with M film cameras. On an M8 a 24mm lens would be the equivalent of a 35mm lens on a film camera, a 35mm lens would be the equivalent of a 50mm lens on a film camera, a 50mm lens would be the equivalent of a 75mm lens on a film camera, a 75mm lens would be the equivalent of a 105mm lens on a film camera, and a 90mm lens would be the equivalent of a 135mm lens on a film camera, so select accordingly.</p>

<p>Leica's biggest attraction may be its lenses rather than its bodies. If you're going to spring for an M8, which is by no means cheap, you might consider getting some Leica glass to go with it. While the 24mm f/2.8 Elmarit Asp (B&H: $3,795), 35mm f/2 Summicron Asph (B&H: $2,795), 50mm f/2 Summicron (B&H: $1,995) and 75mm f/2 Summicron Asph (B&H: $3,295) are truly superb lenses, I gather than cost is a consideration. If you don't need fast lenses for available-light shooting, Leica's new 35mm f/2.5 Summarit, 50mm f/2.5 Summarit, 75mm f/2.5 Summarit and 90mm f/2.5 Summarit are much more affordable (B&H: $1,595 each), but good enough to be worth considering on the basis of quality, and fast enough for the majority of shooting. There are also a number of used Leica M mount lenses available for more affordable prices, through reputable sellers such as KEH, which will work with an M8. </p>

<p>The Zeiss lenses in M-mount have an excellent reputation for optical quality -- maybe a bit short of the best of current-production Leica glass (arguably equal in a couple of cases), and a shade less durable mechanically, but very, very good nonetheless. Up to about 50mm focal length, they offer high quality for a significantly more affordable price, although they're not cheap. Representative items include the Zeiss 25mm f/2.8 (B&H: $969), 35mm f/2 (B&H: $877), and the Zeiss 50mm f/2 (B&H: $692.) For whatever reason, though, the Zeiss 85mm f/2 lens (B&H: $2,912) is as expensive, or more expensive, than current production Leica lenses.</p>

<p>The Voightlander lenses, offered by Cameraquest, are more along the lines of good quality consumer lenses, offering good optical quality (in some cases quite surprisingly good), and high value for money, but not quite as good optically, and of somewhat less durable construction, than either the Leica or Zeiss optics. Most of them are made in LTM mount and require an M adapter, although a few of them are made in M mount. For someone taking family and travel photos for personal use, and not overly fussy about wringing that last fine gradation of quality out of the equipment, they are more than good enough. There might, however, be sufficient optical and mechanical differences between them and Leica lenses for a discerning and demanding photographer to notice the difference, at least in some cases. Voigtlander also doesn't offer a fast (f/2) medium telephoto (75mm to 90mm) lens.</p>

<p>Cameraquest offers a fairly wide range of Voigtlander lenses, with representative items including the 25mm f/4 Color Skopar in M mount ($379), 35mm f/2.5 Color-Skopar C ($284 in LTM mount with M adapter), 35mm f/1.4 Nokton in M mount ($579, lens hood $69 extra), 50mm f/2.5 Color Skopar ($344 in LTM mount with M adapter), 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical Nokton ($424 in LTM mount with M adapter), 75mm f/2.5 Color Heliar ($374 in LTM mount with M adapter), and 90mm f/3.5 Apo-Lanthar ($404 in LTM mount with M adapter).</p>

<p>What this really comes down to is four things, all of which are personal:<br>

• What's your total budget for your new camera outfit? That's a rhetorical question, and the answer is none of my business, but in realistic terms, your budget will define the price level at which you will be shopping.<br>

• How much shooting do you do in relatively dim available light? Put another way, how much extra do you need to pay for lenses with larger maximum apertures of f/2 or faster that will allow you to shoot in dim available light, as opposed to f/2.5 lenses that may be fast enough for the majority of shooting?<br>

• What will you personally find the most satisfactory overall, given the kinds of photography you do and your means and personal tastes: the highest quality and most durable equipment available (Leica, about $1,595 each for f/2.5 Summarit lenses, or $2,795 to $3,295 for f/2 Summicron lenses); high quality equipment that offers somewhat better value for money (Zeiss, $692 to $877 each for f/2 lenses); or very good and in some cases excellent quality consumer grade equipment, in a more competitive price range (Voigtlander, $284 to $579 each for f/2.5 to f/1.4 lenses)? <br>

• For the same amount of money, would you rather have a camera and one top-quality lens; or a camera and two or three good-quality lenses?</p>

<p>Good luck making your choices. I hope that this helps.</p>