24 f2.8 ASPH Elmarit: recommended?

Just thinking to expand my Leica lenses line-up and need some advice, please...

I use a 35 lux 1.4 and/or a 35 f2 asph, a 50 f2 cron and/or a 50 f/1.4 lux, a 90 elmarit f/2.8

and/or a 90 SAA.

How does the 24 f2.8 fit in this line up according to your experience?

Will it make any difference from using a 35mm?

Thanks in advance for your much appreciated help/advice on the matter.

Luigi,

You will need an auxiliary finder to frame your Image. That may be your biggest problem. If you are, already, used to using a finder, there is no problem at all. The lens is outstanding. There is a bit of getting used to the prospective, a need to get a bit closer when framing as not to have any wasted space, but other than that, you will be thrilled with the results. Resolution AND contrast will equal your 90AA.

Well, you can use a Leica 24/2.8 and/or a Zeiss 25/2.8.

 

I too have your combo, sort of: 35/1.4 lux, pre-asph., 35/2 cron, Asph., 50/2 cron, 50/1.4 lux, Rokkor 90/4, Canon 100/2. I can vouch for the optical quality of the Zeiss. I also think it is very well made. It is considerably cheaper than the Leica 24/2.8. I is also lighter. There is the queston of the bump, but I've actually gotten to like it. There is a way of dealing with it, which is resting the top part of the fore finger against it, not on top of it.

I like the 24mm but what is right for me may not be right for you. I suggest you try out an

inexpensive CV 25mm before committing $2000 on the Elmarit. The 25mm Skopar comes

with a finder which you will need anyway should you go for the Elmarit in the future.

Luigi,

The 24/2.8 ASPH is my second favorite lens, just behind my 35/1.4 ASPH. Third is my new 75/2.0. The 24 is truly a remarkable lens. It gives me the most 3d like images of any of my lenses.

Ned, I have a .58 viewfinder on my MP body...Don't think I will need an auxiliar finder to

focus on the 24, will I?

Luigi, the 24 is perfect spacing for use with a 35, and although there are other choices, I can recommend it optically without hesitation.....a truly outstanding lens, one of Leica's very best.

I don't use anything wider then a 35mm focal length at this point, but if I were to go any wider I believe I would go 21mm, because you can use that focal length w/o an attached view finder -- its basically your entire vision, including your peripheral.

It is indeed a very fine lens. That said, I decided that it was "too sharp" (if you can believe

that!) and sold it. Maybe its the aspheric correction, but there was something un-natural

about it for me.

 

FWIW, Tom A has a piece on Cameraquest in which he suggests the Zeiss 25mm is a better

lens (something Erwin also suggested IIRC), and also, being smaller than the Leica, is nicer

to carry around.

I am also thinking of getting a 24mm ASPH or a 25mm ZM. Now, this will undoubtedly win the nitpicking fussbudget award of the week (I can see the comments already), but I imagine the 25mm to be a little too close to my 28mm. On the other hand, the 24mm seems better spaced between the 21mm and 28mm. Also, the Elmarit has a rectangular shade, undoubtedly more effective than the ZM's round/vented one. So I'm leaning toward the 24.

 

Erwin did have some favorable comments about the ZM. I think he said the distortion was lower. But he also said (I'm relying on memory here) the Elmarit had better rendition of fine detail, giving it more "sparkle." That sounds good.

 

Then again, $900 for the ZM sounds good, too!

...I run around with the 24 since 3-4 months and it�s shocking good !

Sometimes I hang around a bar and just picture whats around me and it looks phantastic! Even at longer exposure times with the elbows on the bar at 1/15 etc.. phantastic pictures.

Also bought very cheap - 7eur a old little scratched B+W UV Filter - gives phantastic outdoor colours and the very small scratches soften the pictures just a little so I can enjoy some qualtiy the Zeiss25 should have.. <G>

 

Btw - I am a little brand freak - and would get small headaches carrying a MP with Zeiss lens - thats not really smart I know but I want it complete. Driving a 911porsch with a Kenwood stereo is about the same thing - the Kenwood might be a great stereo but still looks not right for me...

 

Get the 24 - you will enjoy it a lot... - you will love the correct corners with no big distortion etc...

I owned a 24mm Apsh for a couple of years until recently; someone offered me nearly twice what I paid for it.

 

I immediately replaced it with a new 25mm ZM Ziess T* (about half the price of a used Leica 24mm). While I have to admit I don't miss the 24mm, it is one of Leica's best performers - better than the 21mm Asph, which I prefer.

 

However, based on your current arsenal, I would heartily recommend either the Leica 24mm or the Zeiss 25mm.

 

On a side note, while only 1mm longer than the 24mm, I have observed the 25mm to be a crop factor away from the 28mm (which I also have). That 1mm makes a noticable difference.

Bill, I'm confused. Do you mean that the 1mm difference makes the 25mm less significantly different from the 28, than the 24 is? Not sure what you mean by "a crop factor away."

 

Just how significant that 1mm will be, will help decide which lens I get.

Luigi,

As I remember it, the whole frame of the .58 viewfinder is very close to the coverage by the 24MM. I think you saved yourself $250 pluus.

"A crop factor away."

 

Specifically what I meant by a "a crop factor" was this: if you look into an M6 RF and count about the thickness of four 28mm framelines further out you will closely approximate the 25mm view.

 

When using my 24 I rarely missed the 21 (my favorite lens). However, when using the 25 I often miss the 21. IMO, the 21 and 24 are interchangeable, but the 25 and 21 are not. Instead, as has already been observed, a 25 is interchangeable with a 28.

BTW, between the Zeiss 25 and the Leica 24, Erwin gave the edge to the 24, saying, "overall the images do not have the brilliance of the current Leica lenses."

Yeah, Bill, that's close to what I thought I remembered. Only where he said "brilliance," I had typed in above "sparkle." Close enough. Thanks for the explanation about the frameline coverage! If the 24 is interchangeable with the 21, and the 25 with the 28, then apparently I don't need the 24 or the 25! Too bad--I'd have liked to play with one of them. I would like to try the 24 though--as so many of you say it's so outstanding.

 

Thanks again.