- Location
- Central Ohio, USA
- Name
- Andrew
I was never close enough most of the time. Lol. Had to re-adjust my position frequently.Heh. I find my 21 to be too wide most to the time. A 12 would fry what remains of my brain cells
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Leica My Leica Kit - Joining The "Cult"
- Thread starter gryphon1911
- Start date
Lenses for Leica, there's a can of worms! LOL I like the old CCD Leicas which means I use the M9 and M8.2. But the lens favorites are Canon 50mm LTM f/1.8, KMZ Jupiter 8 (it's a crap shoot) and the Cooke Amotal in ascending order of preference. I have two J8's both good and they are Zeiss clones. The '51 has been determined to have Zeiss glass and internals by he who would know, the '57 is very sweet. So the '57 is a CZJ 5cm /f.20 clone while the '51 sort of is a CZJ 5cm /f2.0. They do color very well and are good on flesh tones, kind and not garish or overly color saturated.
The Canon has some magic to it and is affordable, many for less than US$100 on eBay. It was recommended to me by lens guru Brian and he was right. He pegged it as an affordable Cooke Amotal and that is accurate. And as much as I like the Canon and J8's, the Amotal has the magic "Cooke Look" that has a glow without loss of sharpness.
flic.kr
The Canon has some magic to it and is affordable, many for less than US$100 on eBay. It was recommended to me by lens guru Brian and he was right. He pegged it as an affordable Cooke Amotal and that is accurate. And as much as I like the Canon and J8's, the Amotal has the magic "Cooke Look" that has a glow without loss of sharpness.
L1002651 A better shot of the American Empress M9/Amotal
Explore Gar Nichts' 1483 photos on Flickr!
flic.kr
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- Location
- Central Ohio, USA
- Name
- Andrew
The Mitakon is here! falls size wise in between the Zeiss Biogon 35/2.8 and the Planar 50/2 in size without the hood.
Came in a nice little leatherette box - a black reptile skin looking thing.
The focus is smooth, the feel is good as far as weight is concerned.
The aperture ring feels more like the Vopigtlander 12mm - there are definite stops and they are positive, but I can see accidentally bumping it out of the current value. There are no true 1/2 or 1/3 stops in between values either. It is like a weird combination of clicked and declicked aperture settings. For example in between f/5.6 and f/8, you can see the iris change size, but any setting in between the it will just stay there. So f/6.3 is possible, just not by feel because there is no detent there to let you know.
Some people might appreciate that but if you want to go full apertures, the detents are there.
This is my first lens with a focus post thingy, and at first I'm not minding it at all. Only further use will tell if it is a thumbs up/down/sideways on it. I'm used to Nikon AI manual focus lenses so not having a tab or bump or anything to assist.
It does have the coding grooves already milled into the mount so you could update those to get the auto coding. Also appears to have the right frame lines showing when mounted as well.
Work has been making me work today, and I've been non-stop except for this post since 730am and will most likely not get another break until 3pm...so hope to get out this afternoon / early evening to play around with the lens.
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Came in a nice little leatherette box - a black reptile skin looking thing.
The focus is smooth, the feel is good as far as weight is concerned.
The aperture ring feels more like the Vopigtlander 12mm - there are definite stops and they are positive, but I can see accidentally bumping it out of the current value. There are no true 1/2 or 1/3 stops in between values either. It is like a weird combination of clicked and declicked aperture settings. For example in between f/5.6 and f/8, you can see the iris change size, but any setting in between the it will just stay there. So f/6.3 is possible, just not by feel because there is no detent there to let you know.
Some people might appreciate that but if you want to go full apertures, the detents are there.
This is my first lens with a focus post thingy, and at first I'm not minding it at all. Only further use will tell if it is a thumbs up/down/sideways on it. I'm used to Nikon AI manual focus lenses so not having a tab or bump or anything to assist.
It does have the coding grooves already milled into the mount so you could update those to get the auto coding. Also appears to have the right frame lines showing when mounted as well.
Work has been making me work today, and I've been non-stop except for this post since 730am and will most likely not get another break until 3pm...so hope to get out this afternoon / early evening to play around with the lens.
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- Location
- Switzerland
- Name
- Matt
I took the Atoll out today and was, once more, pleasantly surprised. It's a pretty big and quirky lens (smooth aperture ring, focus ring very close to the camera ...), but optically, it can hold its own. It's a shame the light was very dull today - the lens is sharp wide open, with surprisingly smooth transitions, and good rendering. The most astonishing thing about it is that in many cases, images look almost mundane because the lens is so well behaved - not "Lomo" in any way, but also, not as spectacular as one might think.
I was about half a step away from the lowest step, and even though the angles are exaggerated, lines are pretty straight where they should be ...
While it's not a super-cheap lens (and big!), I think it's ridiculously good for its price. And, as mentioned, it comes with a usable viewfinder that's surprisingly accurate.
M.
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I was about half a step away from the lowest step, and even though the angles are exaggerated, lines are pretty straight where they should be ...
While it's not a super-cheap lens (and big!), I think it's ridiculously good for its price. And, as mentioned, it comes with a usable viewfinder that's surprisingly accurate.
M.
- Location
- Central Ohio, USA
- Name
- Andrew
I think it looks pretty good.
- Location
- Central Ohio, USA
- Name
- Andrew
Alright - not to cross post - I started a showcase for the Mitakon 28mm f/5.6.
cameraderie.org
I will post some impressions after a few hours of use.
Looking forward to anyone else's thoughts on the images.
Leica Showcase - ZY Optics Mitakon 28mm f/5.6 m-mount
OK, here you go!! If you want to see what the Mitakon 28mm f/5.6 is capable of producing...here you go! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
cameraderie.org
I will post some impressions after a few hours of use.
- Feels just about as easy to use as the other m-mount lenses
- I don't mind the post for focusing
- I do wish the focus ring was a bit more dampened. It took some adjusting to get used to not overshoot the focus a little bit
- Sharpness seems good. It is not as sharp as the Zeiss lenses I have, but it seemed to do pretty good
- I had no issues, like I thought I might with the aperture ring. It stayed where I wanted it until I moved it
- The hood never got in the way
Looking forward to anyone else's thoughts on the images.
William Lewis
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Eau Claire, Wisconsin
- Name
- William Lewis
Looks like a good lens, I just wonder if I would find myself missing the 1.5 ~ 2 stops to get to f/3.5 or f/2.8. I've been considering the similar but more classical looking TTArtisans 28/5.6 but the speed has held me back.
I'll have to watch how yours works for you and perhaps break down in the end ...
Forgot the link: TTArtisan M 28mm F5.6-Full Frame Lenses-TTArtisan Official Website
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I'll have to watch how yours works for you and perhaps break down in the end ...
Forgot the link: TTArtisan M 28mm F5.6-Full Frame Lenses-TTArtisan Official Website
- Location
- Central Ohio, USA
- Name
- Andrew
The TT is definitely smaller for the f/5.6 aperture than the ZY Optics. Only time will tell if they are equivalent in IQ or one is better than the other. The TT is pretty popular, so it does have that going for it.
- Location
- FT Worth, TX
I have the black paint version of the TT and love it. Combine it with the similarly sized Voigtlander 40mm f2.8 VM and you have a very compact but capable kit. Daytime 5.6 is plenty fast enough and I bring my Voigtlander 28/2 for night time. Camera Quest has a used one right now for $399, a steal IMHO.Looks like a good lens, I just wonder if I would find myself missing the 1.5 ~ 2 stops to get to f/3.5 or f/2.8. I've been considering the similar but more classical looking TTArtisans 28/5.6 but the speed has held me back.
View attachment 379254
I'll have to watch how yours works for you and perhaps break down in the end ...
Forgot the link: TTArtisan M 28mm F5.6-Full Frame Lenses-TTArtisan Official Website
- Location
- Switzerland
- Name
- Matt
I also own the TTArtisan (the silver one) and really like the rendering; as for IQ, in spite of some reporting generally mediocre sharpness, I can't say I get the same impression.
Nature - Trees
A different kind of snow ... more colorful. See I told you winter would be gone soon.
cameraderie.org
Here it is ...
M.
My impression was that the reports on it from RF users were rather good, with the only people not liking it being those in awe of the badge. No matter; 28mm options are pretty good these days!I also own the TTArtisan (the silver one) and really like the rendering; as for IQ, in spite of some reporting generally mediocre sharpness, I can't say I get the same impression.
Nature - Trees
A different kind of snow ... more colorful. See I told you winter would be gone soon.
Here it is ...
M.
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William Lewis
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Eau Claire, Wisconsin
- Name
- William Lewis
That is a gorgeous image. You just moved the TT lens up to #2 after the Color Skopar on my list, I thinkI also own the TTArtisan (the silver one) and really like the rendering; as for IQ, in spite of some reporting generally mediocre sharpness, I can't say I get the same impression.
Nature - Trees
A different kind of snow ... more colorful. See I told you winter would be gone soon.
Here it is ...
M.
- Location
- Central Ohio, USA
- Name
- Andrew
Found a good deal on the m-mount 135mm f/4 Elmar. $60USD from Japan shipped. Cosmetically, the casing is a little beat - but the glass looks good.
It seems a lot more difficult to focus than my other lenses. Will also need to test it to see if it has proper infinity focus on the rangefinder. Although at this point for $60, even if it doesn't infinity focus on the M240, i'll keep it and use it adapted on the Fuji X-Pro2 or even on the Nikon Z (until Nikon releases a native 135mm in Z mount).
It seems a lot more difficult to focus than my other lenses. Will also need to test it to see if it has proper infinity focus on the rangefinder. Although at this point for $60, even if it doesn't infinity focus on the M240, i'll keep it and use it adapted on the Fuji X-Pro2 or even on the Nikon Z (until Nikon releases a native 135mm in Z mount).
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- Location
- Central Ohio, USA
- Name
- Andrew
Messing some more with the 135/4…
The focus throw is too long for me to be able to believe I would be happy to shoot with it as a street lens. I’ll leave that to the 90/4 and wider lenses.
Focus throw again, the stiffest out of all the lenses I have.
Optically it seems good, especially at close distances. Need to test more with more distant focusing closer to infinity focus.
The focus throw is too long for me to be able to believe I would be happy to shoot with it as a street lens. I’ll leave that to the 90/4 and wider lenses.
Focus throw again, the stiffest out of all the lenses I have.
Optically it seems good, especially at close distances. Need to test more with more distant focusing closer to infinity focus.
William Lewis
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Eau Claire, Wisconsin
- Name
- William Lewis
Quite humorously, to me, I did end up with a slightly different 28mm lens instead of either of these. I've known of the Kobalux for a long time, just never seen one in the wild for an affordable price till now. I have a post over in the latest acquisitions threadThat is a gorgeous image. You just moved the TT lens up to #2 after the Color Skopar on my list, I think
A clean and lube is propably required. $60 for the lens is very cheap.
- Location
- Central Ohio, USA
- Name
- Andrew
Yeah, I’ll be looking for some place to do that here soon
- Location
- Central Ohio, USA
- Name
- Andrew
I went back to the Ohio Supreme Court Building and took the M240 and the Voigtlander 12mm f/5.6.
It did well.
hand held and processed from DNG
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It did well.
hand held and processed from DNG
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- Location
- Switzerland
- Name
- Matt
William Lewis
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Eau Claire, Wisconsin
- Name
- William Lewis
Very cool stuff, indeed! I should find some indoors place like that to play with my Kobalux
