I am a 45/50mm guy. Love it for (environmental) portraits, as a daily carry, and my best work is done with a 50mm. It’s more intimate than a 35mm and that’s why I like it when shooting people. Somehow the Q never worked for me, as it is too wide, though I do love the 28mm summaron for landscapes. Some photographers I admire (fe Peter Turner) use mostly a 35mm. But then, looking at their photos, I personally would take it tighter. Recently I bought a cron 35 asph v2 from a member here. Thought it could be my daily lens. Four months later, I am still not convinced: the lens doesn’t render as nic ..read more

I’ve been looking for a 28mm that has a rendering like an old 35 Summaron or early Summicron, or my Super Angulon 3.4. I have not an opportunity to try an old Elmarit other than the v4, which I found a little modern for my taste. How is the v2 relative to the lenses I mentioned? Similar or is there a closer option ..read more

My question ist will a collapsible be transported collapsed or at full length? And will there be special rear lenscaps? Iam just waiting for an Elmar 50mm 2.8 and the question pops on how to store the lens in my bag. Thanks for any advise ..read more

Has anyone found a replacement for the poorly designed metal cap that came with the APO 35mm Summicron M? I was hoping someone would manufacture a cap similar to what Match Technical has done for the Q series as well as for some wide angle M lenses. I can throw the soft caps into my camera bag and they won’t scratch anything thrown on top of them. When shooting quickly and changing lenses, metal caps are a distraction when they have to be carefully put away so as to do no harm ..read more

My wife has a significant birthday and we’re off on a series of consecutive cruises that will include the usual 1 or 2 days in    NYC Iceland Scottish Highlands and Islands  Venice  Yugoslavia Malta Italy (Amalfi coast, Rome and Pompeii) Three days in Singapore en route home to NZ    In all, we’ll be travelling for six weeks.    I’ll be taking my M11, my 35 Apo and my 75 Apo.    I could cover the entire trip with that if need be. However I have a small (in Leica terms!) budget I could use to expand a bit.  Looking at what is available in N ..read more

I happened to stumble upon this f2 Summicron for too good of a deal to pass up.  I knew there were element issues and have rectified all the others with a thorough cleaning of each lens surface save this chip/gouge in the second element from the front (its deeper than a scratch, but far less than a crack in the element).  The question I have is whether anyone thinks this will have any appreciable impact on image quality?  I've hi-lighted the spot in the image attached.  Part of me feels like it's probably no more detrimental than some of the older Zeiss and Kodak Commercial ..read more

I am planning another trip to Japan this year and am still deciding which lenses to take. I prefer to travel light, but this is not about weight as much as about avoiding lens-swapping anxiety.  Previously, I'd take my 35mm and 50mm Summilux-M to Japan and always returned with great pictures, but I found that 35mm is a bit too narrow for pictures indoors. I've traveled with 50mm Summilux-M and 21mm Voigtlander Color-Skopar f/3.5 in the past several months. It is a great combo, and I was delighted with the pictures from the Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, and Las Vegas. But I found 21mm a b ..read more

Had to do a few quick & dirty street tests with both lenses side by side- the "regular" Summilux 50 ASPH (my version is 11892) and the "Black Chrome" special-edition-becoming-regular-edition Summilux 50 ASPH (11688). Rumor out there in several forums has it, the latter (Black Chrome rehoused) lens is somehow sharper, although even Leica themselves claim both have exactly the same glass. All comparisons were done WIDE OPEN, where the true resolving character of the lens is nested to show differences. All tests done on M10-P Reporter. TL;DR: The lenses are EXACTLY the same, identical sharpn ..read more

Can anyone tell me if the adapters are interchangeable between Bellows I and II. I have a bellows I that is in very good condition and it has the M39 front adapter but I need the functionality of the bellows II for use with adapted Leica L camera mount.  I have a line on Bellows II that has no adapters and pinholes in the bellows itself. Can the bellows be removed from my bellows I and fitted into a Bellows II ? A newly purchased 1955 13.5cm f4.5 Hector will arrive next week.  Is the 16558 Bellows adapter the correct one for the Hector head on a Bellows II? My Minolta Auto bellows IV ..read more

Just jumped into my first Summilux lens of any focal length. I tend to be a fast/candid f8 street + rural/urban landscape shooter but I had to satisfy my craving (portraits will ensue..). KEH BGN listing, which has always been great, however this lens's aperture ring is a bit loose, and the aperture dot doesn't line up with the f stops - I was surprised to see that the front element completely unscrews. Is this normal for this lens? (my 50 cron does not unscrew easily by hand as far as I know). It's hard to tell but maybe the tiny screw is missing. So if I cranked the element down tightly it ..read more