Elmar 3.5, 5 and 9 cm ..how good are they ?

[travis2]

all these screw mount lenses...how do they fare against the later M lenses? In what situations are they best applied?

[zoeica images]

The LTM lenses still hold up well in this new era of ASPH lenses and

new coatings. You cannot put a M camera w/lens in your pocket like

you can a Leica III w/50 3.5 Elmar lens.

 

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The older lenses may not be as sharp or have good contrast, but

considering you can still go out and shoot negs with a 35/3.5 Elmar

made in 1935, says a lot.

 

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The LTM lenses work best for B&W, since most were designed when color

just coming out and the negs were expensive to process. B&W was

easier and still is today.

[kaiblanke]

I have used the Elmar 3,5/3,5 (coated) for about half a year as an

alternative to the summaron 2,8/35. In my eyes it has a little less

contrast under some circumstances (on B&W wide open) and is a bit

more flare prone, but otherwise works almost identical on color slide

film. In normal situations I did not see a difference when shooting

at 5.6 and above.

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I don't have a modern 35 mm Leica lens to compare, but compared to my

distagon 2.8/35 it features a bit less contrast and is a bit more

flare prone at wider apertures. Altogether I was quite astonished by

the performance. Remember that the lens was recoated later on (most

probably at the factory), and this might have improved it quite a bit

(for contrast and flare). I also have an uncoated summar of the same

age which shows considerably less contrast and flares more, though it

has quite a lot of cleaning marks, so it is not completely comparable.

[pcg]

There's a softness factor that hasn't been mentioned. The LTM lens are simply not as sharp as

new M lens. I actually shoot the whole array purposely w/ a IIIC for that effect -- very 30s &

40s. We have become too used to tack sharp lens, & the older Leitz lens have a wonderful

signature that most photographers have forgotten. They're great tools, if used thoughtfully--

[jay_.]

I own those lenses...stop them down to f/8 and shoot them handheld on

ISO 400 neg film and you will not see a tremendous difference over

the latest M lenses. If you shoot wide open and your technique is so

meticulous that it correlates to Tech-Pan, tripod and resolution wall

chart results, then you will see a tremendous difference.

[Troll]

Elmars are 4 element lenses with only 6 air/glass surfaces, but it's

hard to know just how good these lenses were when new, as there has

bound to be some surface oxidation, at least in the old, uncoated

ones. The best 35mm Elmar is probably the LST Nikkor f:3.5/35mm

clone. The 90mm Elmar is the finest portrait lens that Leica has

ever made. Personally I swear by the 50mm for Kodachrome or Velvia.

Viewed under high magnification it's not all that sharp, but

projected the slides are just beautiful. All Elmars are at their

very best when stopped down a little.

[f._william_baker]

The last screw mount Elmar of the "old" series in 50mm that was

produced was the f2.8 (catalogued as ELMOO introduced in 1957). This

is one of the "softest/sharpest" lens that Leitz made in the late

50's. This lens defines that mysterious term "Bokeh" that is used so

much today. While all the future 6 and 7 element Summicrons are

technically better lenses, this old Elmar renders a smooth even tone

throught out its range. I put it on my lllF RD when I want to go

play and get that "vintage" look. Leave meter at home and do like I

did in the old days, guess at exposure at 5.6, 8 or 11 and just have

fun!

[chris_chen4]

I have the f/4 9cm collapsible Elmar in M mount (not LTM, but pretty

old, c.1954) & it performs very well, comparable to other high-quality

lenses of that era (Zeiss, Nikkor, Canon, etc.). Although they're

only single-coated @ best (& Leitz coating in that period was a notch

below the competition), the old lens designs (Tessar variant for the

9cm Elmar) minimized the # of elements, so they're quite capable of

producing excellent pix, as the great photographers of that era

proved. In my experience, the biggest disadvantage of older "classic"

lenses, both uncoated & single-coated, is that they're not nearly as

resistant to flare, so always use a hood & avoid filters as much as

possible.

[eliot]

Travis. The 3.5 and 9 cm Elmars were designed and introduced in the

early 1930s (1932 or so). The 5 cm Elmar was introduced as a

replacement for the Elmax lens in 1926. The optical designs of these

lenses remained unchanged, except that the post war lenses were

coated. As to how good they are, they were quite good for the late

1920s to early 30s era. But this is year 2002. Optically, any

modern Leica lens will blow these early lenses away. Leitz

deliberately kept the speed slow (3.5-4) because the ability to

provide edge to edge high quality was limited in those days.

[john_fleetwood]

Travis, my summicron 50/2 doesn't blow my elmar 50/3.5 away, at least

not in the crappy photos I take. One's sharper and has more

contrast. The elmar with portra 400VC or plus X at EI 400 in diafne

is sweet and smooth. By the way, my elmar is full of dust.

[andrew_schank]

I think the 50 is the best of the ones you mentioned, and I have a

clean coated 50 that is a surprisingly good little lens--emphasis on

little. Mine doesn't seem to be too prone top flare, and does fine

with color film--I don't find it lacking in contast either. It is a

fun lens to have and use, and makes my M3 seem like a much smaller

camera. Ergonomics are a bit odd and take some getting used to.

[sheridan]

Hello Travis.Considering the lack of computer facilities until 1951

and shortcomings in production techniques, Professor Max Berek and

his lense design team did a wonderful job with those old Elmars.The

same Elmar design with the necessary changes in the lenses' dimensions

(to suit the varying focal lengths) was employed in a number of new

types ,that followed the original 50mm focal length.A 35mm and a

135mm were introduced in 1931 and the 90mm and 105mm in 1932.The last

true Elmar design was the 65mm type made in 1960 for use on the

Visoflex housing.New glass types and coating methods among other

factors undoubtedly give better results over those early Elmars.Most

important is the fact that the standards of optical quality set by

Professor Berek when he designed the first lenses are still valid for

Leica today:perfection within reason. There is no ideal,perfect lense

and the best a designer can do is to design a lense that is free from

aberrations for all practical purposes.