Old Leica glass on MFT?

[apicius9]

Hi,

I know some of you are using older Leica glass on the MFTs, and I was wondering what your experiences are. I am thinking about older 50/1.5 Summarits or collapsible 50/2 Summitars, but also about older Elmars like the 90 or 135. Some of the older ones occasionally seem to go for reasonable prices on ebay, but I was wondering what to pay attention to - besides looking for a really good copy. What do I have to expect? Are some better than others? I have seen a few examples here on getdpi but was hoping to bundle your experiences in one thread... So far, I am only using a Summicron 50 from the 80s (and love it), but I have a 1937 Hektor in the mail from servicing. I just like the look of the older collapsible ones, including the 90mm Elmar. Anything I should stay away from? And - oh, the blasphemy - what about some of the Russian copies?

Thanks,

Stefan

 

[Devon Shaw]

Not exactly a Leica lens, but I've been using a Canon 85mm f/2.0 Serenar in Leica Thread Mount for my senior portrait gigs and it's shown excellent performance. Very hefty little lens, but the chrome finish looks like it was made to go on the E-P1.

I also spent a week shooting with a thread mount 35mm f/3.5 Leica and was disappointed by it's lack of contrast and sharpness, though that could just be the example I had.

Here's a shot from the Canon

 

[petermcwerner]

And - oh, the blasphemy - what about some of the Russian copies?

Hi Stefan,

I have used a 85mm/2 Jupiter 9 lens. It had good sharpness on the G1 although it was unusable on a Leica because the rangefinder coupling was off.

Jupiter-9 - 85mm/2 - G1 - ISO=100 1/250s @ f/2.0
Developed in RAW Therapee - Resized for Web in gimp
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Cheers
Peter

 

[petermcwerner]

G1 - Leica Hektor 73mm @ f/1.9 - RAW Therapee + gimp​

 

[petermcwerner]

Very nice picture, Devon.

I also spent a week shooting with a thread mount 35mm f/3.5 Leica and was disappointed by it's lack of contrast and sharpness, though that could just be the example I had.

RF lenses below approx. 50mm have problems with off-center sharpness ("smearing") and vignetting. There are various threads about this on the forum.

Cheers
Peter

 

[petermcwerner]

Zenitar 16mm/2.8 on G1 - ISO=100 - RAW Therapee + gimp

Not basically a LTM lens, but I have used it on an M8 as well with an adapter. DOF is enough to use Zone Focusing.
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