Leica R 35 Summicron on 5D mkII ?

I need a very good 35 for my 5D mk2 and I am thinking about the Leica R Summicron.

But I have the following doubts:

1) What is in your opinion the best Leica R adapter ?

2) How does the Summicron compare to the 35L at f/2 on the EOS mount ?

3) I can live without autofocus... but should I get also the high-precision viewfinder (Eg-S) ?

4) Price and max aperture apart, should I go for the 35L instead ? Any comment is appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help !

I hope I can answer your questions, I recently pondered about buying a new lens too for my 5dmk2. For me it boiled down to the 50 f1.4, 35L, or the 24-70L. I tried them all, but in the end, for me; I honestly wanted something just different. Don't get me wrong, the colors on the 35L are brilliant, they have a certain pop to them which is great.

But in the end, I got myself a Leica Summicron 50mm f2.

I bought it with a Made in China adapter with the AF Confirm chip attached.

The AF confirm chip adapter works well, but will not AF confirm all the time. Some instances are such as focusing on a low contrast object, or in low light conditions. But to me this is the same as what would happen if you had a lens with AF under these conditions too.

The colors on the Leica just did it for me, there's a 3D effect and quality to it. As if your subject is literally standing in the picture itself.

I should be shooting some pictures of the weekend, if you would like; I could post some samples.

If you're looking for the 35mm focal length, I also tried a Zeiss 35mm too. It was nice but I was not too excited about the focal length. In the end I went with the 50mm.

I think it all boils down to whether you can live without the AF. It's a big sacrifice but it really trains you as a photographer IMHO.

I personally feel though, I would still purchase the 35L sometime in the future...it never ends does it?

Christopher,

Thanks a lot for your help.
I would really like to see your pictures with the Summicron 50, please post some !

CheshireCat wrote in post #7784464
I need a very good 35 for my 5D mk2 and I am thinking about the Leica R Summicron.

But I have the following doubts:

1) What is in your opinion the best Leica R adapter ?

This one: http://haodascreen.com​/leica.aspx, or this one: http://www.fotodiox.co​m …_info.php?produ​cts_id=340. Another alternative is Novoflex, if you can get one.

Can't help you here, unfortunately.Try http://forum.manualfoc​us.org/ or http://www.fredmiranda​.com/forum/board/55

Yes. It does help tremendously because perceived DoF is very similar to true DoF, which does make focusing a lot easier.

I would, unless you are on a budget. Personally I would even get an EF 35 F/2, if I wanted or needed a 35 mm lens, as it is a very good performer on the 5D II. Only if you don't mind experimenting at all, and foregoing auto-everything, you should consider an older MF lens, or if you are very specifically looking for a certain type of rendering.

Kind regards, Wim

Wim,

Thanks for your hints and resources, those forums are great.
It's very hard to make a choice, and since the rendering is very important to me, I would really like to find a comparison between the Leica and the Canon.

However it is difficult to find good resources about 35mm lenses in general, it seems that this focal length is neglected by many photographers.

Instead I find my most interesting street shots are at 35mm.. seems that at 24 I tend to capture lots of stuff that is unnecessary and then needs to be cropped as if I had a 35 in the first place

CheshireCat wrote in post #8202331
Wim,

Thanks for your hints and resources, those forums are great.
It's very hard to make a choice, and since the rendering is very important to me, I would really like to find a comparison between the Leica and the Canon.

I understand . Been looking for similar things. Once you get to compare older MF lenses with Canon ones, you may get a surprise, however. Unless you are looking for specific types of rendering, those older ones may not be as good, optically, as they are claimed to be. Obviously there are exceptions, but generally speaking, they are not necessarily as good as modern lenses from an optical POV.

Many of the older ones predate the digital era, which may at least partly be the cause of this. There is another interesting site I forgot about: http://www.imx.nl/phot​o/ (Site of Erwin Puts). Do note that although he says he is not, he actually is a Leica fanboy.

Instead I find my most interesting street shots are at 35mm.. seems that at 24 I tend to capture lots of stuff that is unnecessary and then needs to be cropped as if I had a 35 in the first place

I have that with a 35 mm vs a 50 mm .

Kind regards, Wim

guys what are the usual prices for a used copy , i see varying prices on ebay on the Leica Summicron 35mm/f2.0

There's always the Zeiss 35/2 which is coming out for the EF mount soon

Yes , but I had my heart set for the Zeiss Distagon T* 21mm f/2.8 ZE , I was looking to get a affordable used Leica .

brownbugger wrote in post #8995594
guys what are the usual prices for a used copy , i see varying prices on ebay on the Leica Summicron 35mm/f2.0

Since this is now a collector's item, it depends also on how much abused the lens looks.

I've seen used copies of 35/2 on sale here in Italy (not ebay) from 400 to 700 euros. On ebay the price wildly varies.
I prefer to personally test the lens before buying one, so I wouldn't buy on ebay unless the price was much lower than that.

You also want a good adapter ring because the cheaper ones are too thick and prevent infinity focus.

If the 35 Summicron is half as good as my 35/2.8 Elmarit-R, you'll have one heck of a wide angle prime. Sharp across the entire frame, even deep into the corners, with beautiful color rendition. To give you an idea, I have a capture sharpening action for my 5D2 raw files that works really well with images taken with my Canon lenses. The Leica is so sharp, that after running the capture sharpening action, I have to back off the opacity of the sharpening layer all the way down to 20%...I can probably get away without using any capture sharpening at all, the files are that crisp. Granted, its only 2.8 as opposed to F/2, but its a great little lens in a very small package. You can pick one of these up for about $275 USD, the Summicron f/2 for about $600 USD, give or take. The Elmarit is a great lower-cost alternative to the Summicron, but if you need to have F/2, then it won't do you much good.

I use the Eg-S focusing screen in my 5D2, with a Happypagehk focus-confirm adapter. Matter of fact, all of my wide angle primes are older MF lenses from Leica, Olympus, and Zeiss. Wouldn't leave home without them. Here are a couple test pics taken with the Leica Elmarit-R 35 on my 5D2 (sorry about the tilted ones...was in a rush and didn't use a tripod):

Leica 35/2.8 Elmarit-R, F/8

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great shots argyle, Leica 35/2.8 Elmarit-R looks to be equally brilliant!

argyle, thanks for your feedback.
Do you find the Eg-S + confirmation adapters good enough to properly focus ? Do you really need both ? I've heard confirmation adapters are not reliable...

I haven't yet tried the Eg-S but the 5D2 standard screen is impossible to use, and Live View magnified is the only option (but it is a pain).

Before I consider adapting a Ec-A (microprisms) to the 5D2, I would like to hear some opinions.

CheshireCat wrote in post #9003813
argyle, thanks for your feedback.
Do you find the Eg-S + confirmation adapters good enough to properly focus ? Do you really need both ? I've heard confirmation adapters are not reliable...

I haven't yet tried the Eg-S but the 5D2 standard screen is impossible to use, and Live View magnified is the only option (but it is a pain).

Before I consider adapting a Ec-A (microprisms) to the 5D2, I would like to hear some opinions.

The Eg-S works just fine...no problem focusing. A lot of folks are worried about Canon's admonition that its not recommended for lenses slower than 2.8, but I've never had a problem. Using my MF lenses, I can get dead-on focus when stopped down, pretty much to f/8 but that's the absolute limit. As far as focus-confirm adapters go, I like them because they'll get me in the ballpark pretty quickly, then its just a matter of fine-tuning...I just don't rely on it solely for final focus.

argyle wrote in post #9004002
The Eg-S works just fine...no problem focusing. A lot of folks are worried about Canon's admonition that its not recommended for lenses slower than 2.8, but I've never had a problem. Using my MF lenses, I can get dead-on focus when stopped down, pretty much to f/8 but that's the absolute limit. As far as focus-confirm adapters go, I like them because they'll get me in the ballpark pretty quickly, then its just a matter of fine-tuning...I just don't rely on it solely for final focus.

Some people says focus confirm adapters are harmful for the body,do you agree this? or anyone experienced any dificulties with them?