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24mm or 25mm lenses for Leica M


alan c.

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looking for a 24mm or 25mm lens for the Leica M, and there seem to be the following

options:

 

Leica 24mm f/2.8, obviously must be top quality, but very, very expensive....

 

which leaves me to:

 

Canon 25mm f/3.5 screw mount...does anyone have experience with this lens? i have

long been a fan of the Canon 50mm f/1.4 from the same era; does the 25mm come

up to the same high standard?

 

what is the actual difference between 24mm and 25mm? significantly less wide, or

just a hair?

 

Voigtlander 25mm f/4 Snapshot...no coupled focusing, and half a stop slower.

published sample photos seem pretty good...

 

Nikon 25mm f/4....collector's prices; very expensive; doesn't seem to be a better user

option than the Canon from the same era...skip, right? or is it so, so amazing???

 

are there any other options for this focal length?

 

thank you.

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My 25mm f4 CV vignettes strongly ( about like a view camera's Super Angulon) by comparison to my 24mm 2.8 Canon SSC FD, which illuminates totally evenly. Vignetting is easy to fix with Photoshop, and is often attractive in any case.

 

The click-stopped zone focus of the 25CV is wonderful, but would be a problem in a faster lens (eg would not be adequate with my 24 2.8).

 

The click stops would be big positives in 35mm, if 35mm would also focus conventionally. This seems CV's best idea.

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This one is a no brainer.

 

If you're a shooter the Cosina made Voigtlander 25mm is an excellent little lens. Tack sharp, contrasty and very CHEAP. Just stop it down to f/5.6 or f/8, hyperfocal focus and snap away.

 

There is a downside, however. I wouldn't look to this lens to deliver pleasant bokeh.

 

If you are into collecting screwmount rangefinder gear, the Canon 25mm with its original finder is a highly sought after lens. That said, it's not very sharp and not very contrasty.

 

Now if you're the sort of person who really needs a Rolex to tell time, go Leica.

 

;-)

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There may be no difference between a particular 24mm and a 25mm lens. The marked focal lengths are "nominal", and the actual focal length might vary a bit lens to lens. The original 50mm Summicron was supposedly 51.9mm, but a slight cam surface was ground into the rear of the focussing mount where it contacted the camera's roller to "zero in" each individual lens. That's probably as true today with current production.

 

The old 25mm Nikkor had a better reputation in its day than the 25mm Canon, which was the widest Canon made until they beat Leitz, Nikon and Zeiss by coming out with a very excellent 19/3.5. I'd suggest going with the Voigtlander. The lack of rangefinder coupling shouldn't be a big problem and they make some great glass!

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Another option is one of Steve Gandy's SLR-to-M adaptors, and any of a number of excellent 24mm SLR lenses plus a Voitlander 25mm finder (a used 24mm Leica finder can be found but they're quite expensive having been discontinued despite a general disliking of the tri-finder among users). Gandy sells semi-rangefinder-coupled adaptors (you "focus" with the adaptor then set the marked distance on the lens) but I have to question the possible accuracy of those considering you'd need to estimate the exact distance between markings on lens rings of different diameters. Anyway it wouldn't really be that much of an advantage on a 24mm lens so I'd probably go with the non-coupled adaptor.
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The Canon FD mount 24mm f2.0 nFD or S.S.C. will fit your camera by using adapters you will have the same zone focusing as with the VC 25mm but will have a faster lens (of course harder to focus at those apertures)

 

Canon Adapter B and then a LTM to M adapter you will maintain proper registration and infinity focus.

 

I use one on my 1955 If RD and my Canon Rf's as well as my 28mm f2.8 nFD

 

Just an option you may not have know about.

 

here's the setup with

 

http://www.deadzoom.com/member/awahlster/AdapterBusedetails.jpg

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The 25mm Canon f/3.5 is OK optically. The lens is very tiny which is good

because it makes a very compact package when mounted on any Leica.

However, mechanically because it's soooo small, one cannot change the

aperture only without also needing to re-focus because the two rings are so

close together.

 

Wide open, this fifty years old Canon lens can flare quite a bit but I've found

that it is highly dependent on the quality and direction of the light. Shots taken

at f/5.6 or f/8 are fine most of the time. It's a fun lens. I intend to take it to NYC

next weekend for a getaway weekend, with a 35mm Summicron and 75mm

Summicron. Together the three lenses and one M-body form a compact but

still versatile kit.

 

ONLY because of the mechanical problems noted above, I'll ultimately sell

this lens and buy either a 24mm Elmarit or 25mm Biogon. There's not a

dime's worth of difference between the angles of coverage of these two w.a.

lenses.

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As others have mention the Nikkor does have a better reputation than the Canon of the same era BUT I have never seen one available in Screw mount to be used on an M. I have seen them in Nikon S mount on occaision but only 2500 in total were made according to Robert Rotoloni's book and he makes no reference to a screw mount version at all like he does some of the other lenses in his book. I see the Canon 25's for sale quite often.

 

Erwin said that the new 25mm Biogon was every bit the match of Leica's 24, so if money is a problem this lens has the same perfomance for half the cost new. I would probably go with this lens in your circumstances. The Voigtlander would be my second choice.

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I have the Voigtlaender 25 and like it very much: quite small, great optics and a nice viewfinder. If it only were a 21 - I sometimes find it too narrow with a 40/90 or a 35/75 in a set. Coupled focusing reads nice to have, but I missed a shot due to focussing. I'd go for a (used) 25 Cosina first, if you later go for the Zeiss, you will need tha finder anyways and for a minimal cost you will get a nice compact travel lens as well.
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I have owned the Voigtlander 25mm and felt the performance was good, but not good enough. When compared to slides from lenses like the Leica 24/2.8 or 35/2, it was left standing in the dust. I suppose you get what you pay for.
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