I am considering the purchase of a 28mm lens for my M6 "Classic." Some time ago, I received a BAS Report on various Leica lenses (supplied by Leica). The 28 Elmarit was rated very highly (optical rating 96 compared with the 98 for the 35mm summilux 1.4 asph, the highest rated lens in that report). Although this report was printed in 1996, do the results still warrant a look at the Elmarit in comparison to the newer 28mm Summicron f2 asph? In other words, as money is a consideration, would the latest version of the Elmarit be a good bargain considering cost and performance? Are Elmarits still available new? I would appreciate any thoughts on this. Dennis

-- Dennis Buss (dbuss@rider.edu), March 17, 2002

Answers

As far as I know, the 28/2.8 Elmarit-M is still in production. Why shouldn't it be available new? The immediately previous version of the 28/2.8M (third version) is also very very good.

-- Eliot (erosen@lij.edu), March 17, 2002.

Dennis:

I purchased a 28 Elmarit M new in '98 and have been quite happy with it. I dream about the Summicron, but will probably not purchase one. The Elmarit is still in the catalog, but they may be old stock. There are various reviews comparing the two lenses, and the Summicron generally comes out ahead, but the Elmarit isn't a dog either. I don't feel I need the extra stop.

Good luck.

-- Mark A. Johnson (logical1@catholic.org), March 17, 2002.

People's faces towards the edges of the frame (or round objects) do not get as distorted as other makes (e.g Nikon), so it is very good for doing enviromental portraits, or shooting in crowded places like bazaars etc. It seems quite warm (straw - not red) compared to latest 50/2 and 90/2.8. If shooting in dull weather against the light, it can produce veiling flare and combined with the warm rendition can produce a muddy result. But overall I think it is a very nice lens to use and I do.

-- sait (akkirman@clear.net), March 18, 2002.

I have the Elmarit which I'm selling to pay towards the cost of the ASPH. As far as I understand the ASPH is marginally ahead of the Elmarit in terms of quality at all apertures but not so much that the ASPH blows the Elmarit away in every dept. For ordinary use the differances from what I have read are negligable. I'm only after the ASPH because I need the extra stop. I will however have to make do with an f16 instead of f22 on the Elmarit. Shooting at f22 with the Elmarit is great because of the DOF. If you want to see some Elmarit pics have a look at the following link. They were all taken with the Elmarit in Jan 02. Either lens will do the job but I guess the question is do you shoot a lot of low light?

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=190598

-- Stewart Weir (weirs99@aol.com), March 18, 2002.

Eliot, I was told a week or two ago that the Elmarit is, sadly no longer available.

-- Tim Franklin (tim_franklin@mac.com), March 18, 2002.

Thanks for the responses and especially to Stewart. Your photos of Afghanistan are quite inspiring and moving. When photographers like yourself produce such beautiful results on such a meaningful topic, I sometimes wonder why I agonize over which lens to buy! But I guess that is why this forum is so interesting. Dennis

-- Dennis Buss (dbuss@rider.edu), March 18, 2002.

I was never a big fan of the 28, always preferring the 24 for use with my SLR's. Then I got into the Leica M. And then I got a Tri- Elmar. And then I found I used the 28 setting a lot more than I thought I ever would. So, I picked up a slightly used 28asph at a good price. I have to admit, that since I've been using it, I am thinking that it and my 50 make a much better -- make that more usefull -- pair than my 35 and 50... To the point that like Stewart, I am not using my 35 much at all right now. I doubt that the 35 will be replaced by the 28, but I think the 28 will get a permanent slot in my bag, and perhaps even its own dedicated .58 body!

FWIW, performance-wise, the 28 'Cron asph is an AWESOME lens; on par with the 90 APO, and maybe even better...

:-),

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), March 18, 2002.

Tim. What is your source of the information that the 28/2.8 is discontinued?

-- Eliot (erosen@lij.edu), March 18, 2002.

The 28mm Elmarit (latest gen. before the f/2 asph) remains, in my opinion, an awesome lens! Wonderfully sharp at all apertures, flare is well controlled, great look and feel, etc. The MTF for the 2.8 is, for the technically demanding, equally stunning. The lens is also very useful at f/22. I also like this focal length so much that I'm going to hang onto this lens and try for the f/2 version also, so I can work quickly in B+W and color at the same time with two cameras.

-- John Layton (john.layton@valley.net), March 18, 2002.