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Zeiss 15/2.8 on M9?

fotografz

Well-known member
Okay, I have the need, the need for speed. 15/2.8 interests me.

Any thoughts as to the use of this lens on the M9?

Anyone used it on any M camera ... especially the M9 or M8?

Thanks,

-Marc
 

cam

Active member
wow! talk about a wet dream...

i remember seeing a bit on this lens on LL (first lens discussed) and drooling, anxious to buy.

then i saw the price :rolleyes:

i understand that you have professional demands and can only say that this lens looks super cool! i am with you on the whole speed thing!

oh, and i believe that people have bought a mount for the WATE to code it for the digital M bodies.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Okay, I have the need, the need for speed. 15/2.8 interests me.

Any thoughts as to the use of this lens on the M9?

Anyone used it on any M camera ... especially the M9 or M8?

Thanks,

-Marc
Pass bud. Been there done that and actually think there 18mm is the better lens. The 15mm is not sharp all the way to the corners either and on a M9 I have my doubts about it. Test one first before spending the money. I would buy the 18mm blindly but not the 15mm.
 

fotografz

Well-known member
I'm sure it is great, but not being RF coupled may not be so easy to use it, in particular at f 1:2.8.
Cheers,
Ario
Oh, I forgot about that. That's a deal breaker for me. This lens focuses down to 11" and at f/2.8 to throw out the background and use the 10 blade aperture is a focusing crap shoot ... been there, done that.

Now to look at the Leica 18mm ... I had the WATE and hated the Frankenfinder contraption, I just need a wide to replace the 14-24 Nikon I am selling.

Thanks for the feed back.

-Marc
 

cam

Active member
i agree with Guy. i got to test the 18mm Leica and, whilst slower than you may like, i was quite stunned by the amount of light it was able to bring in. it also had a very Leicaish look, which i honestly didn't expect on something that wide.
 

glenerrolrd

Workshop Member
Marc

I have the WATE and the Zeiss 18/4. I like the WATE rendering a lot and its easy to use (the f4 issue aside). On the M8 I used the Zeiss 21 finder and always used the lens at 16mm. With the M9 I am trying to decide if I should get a Zeiss 18mm finder or maybe the VC 15mm.

The zeiss 18/4 is an exceptional lens but it is bittingly sharp and has high contrast....not what I would want for weddings.

If the Leica 18mm follows the standard formula it should have a better balance between color,contrast and resolution. So if I was buying and had a pick among the three it would be the 18mm leica version and the zeiss 18mm finder.

You will have a hard time throwing the background out of focus with any of the three..but you know that from the 14-24/2.8 .

Popflash had good price on a mint leica 18 awhile back looked like consignment.

There have also been some threads about the 18 having some infinity focus problems but thats not much of an issue for weddings.
 

jonoslack

Active member
Now to look at the Leica 18mm ... I had the WATE and hated the Frankenfinder contraption, I just need a wide to replace the 14-24 Nikon I am selling.

Thanks for the feed back.

-Marc
I think I'd want to be sure about testing a non-leica lens before buying, to make sure that one of the leica settings works with the vignetting compensation.

Don't write off the WATE - it was an intolerable bore with the M8, but with the M9 you don't need to fiddle in menus, and somehow the difference between changing two things (focal length and finder) and three things (focal length and finder and menu) is pretty immense.

The frankenfinder is really accurate, and using the WATE you'll get a 21mm as well as your ultra wide.
 
My experience in using the M9 in-camera compensation with non Leica ultra wides (CV12, CV15 and ZM18) is not encouraging.
Fortunately with the latest release of CornerFix I've been able to correct vignetting and asymmetrical color shift with very good results.
Cheers,
Ario
 

Sully

New member
I love the WATE on the M 9, but didn't love the Leica finder. I use a Zeiss 15mm and 21mm finder on a Thumbs-Up double shoe device and a Zeiss 25/28 finder for the Summilux 24mm. Even withe the old Leica finder, I never seemed to shoot the 18mm setting on the WATE. So, two finders work well for me.

I have also hauled out of retirement the Leitz bright line 90mm and 135mm finders. The old finders have a parallax adjustment. For quick shots with the 90mm or the 135mm, the M 9 viewfinder is fine (with the 1.4x mag device) But once you have locked focus and want to do a series of shots (portraits), those old, very bright, one-to- one finders are great. You can really see little changes in facial expression with those finders.

Ciao, Sully
 

D&A

Well-known member
I Concur with what most have said regarding Zeiss 15mm (which I used with M8) and my observations of using WATE and the two 18's (Zeiss & Leica) with M8/M9 for a short bit of time. Most of what's expressed below has been observed by many others *** Keep in mind the one issue I denoted at the end of this post!

Using zone focusing with the 15mm at close range was often hit or miss although through most of its range its optical performance was good and quite sharp except some softness seen in the corners at mid and close distance, as Guy observed. At infinity, it did much better. Only used this one on the M8, so I suppose it will be worse on the M9 and to what effect coding will have, and any possible issues is hard to say.

Of the three remaining lenses it's a toss up and depends on what characteristics is of primary importance although there is one current issue with the M9 and at least one of the lenses.

The Zeiss and Leica 18's had best resistance to flair when shooting into the light, more so than the WATE which was no slouch. As for sharpness across the frame it was close and two samples of the Zeiss I tried, one was sharper than the other, so as it is often with ultra wide angle lenses, proper centering of all those elements can come into play. I did find the one Zeiss ever so slighting sharper in the center of the frame than the Leica...but ever so slight, when pixel peeping, but the slight edge would be given to the Lecia in the corners. The Wate in the center was again ever so slightly behind the other two in the center of the frame, but it's corners slightly beat out the Zeiss. Again one would have to be looking at a 100% crop.

As all others pointed out, the Leica 18 definitely had a warmer rendition that the Zeiss, which is somewhat neutral-clinical, depending on the light. The WATE a very close second (to the Leica 18) in terms of warmth. Of course the versatility (what many find) of the WATE, if so desired, can't be matched by the other two.

I almost got to try a Zeiss 16mm "fixed" f8 (in M mount) with the M8, as someome offered it to me to try, but unfortunately I didn't...although I suppose zone focusing would have also been an issue. Tiny lens!

One cannot beat the Zeiss 18 for price/performance....it's an incredible lens (and value) in my opinion, especially if an 18mm is not a mainstay for the work you do....but Leica as usual upped the ante.

Except for a few short tests with the Wate, I can't say much but Jono and others have sung its praise and new life on the M9 and from images I've seen...impressive!

***Here though is one situation that I'm sure others have heard about and of concern (and please correct me if I am wrong in any way). With the Lecia M9 and Leica 18mm, some have reported magenta infiltration, most notably on the left side and left edge of the frame (much more so than the right, if any). Cause unknown but supposedly will require a firmware fix. Maybe would happen with a Zeiss 18 coded as a Leica 18...but don't know nor heard anything so far. This phenominon not reported on any M8's that I know of. Interestingly on three consecutive frames I shot about 6 months ago using a friends M8.2, I thought I saw something similar using the Zeiss 18 (coded as a WATE & set as an 18mm) with moderate magenta on left side of the frame and didn't think much of it at the time. Now I'm wondering but have no explanation...different lens and different camera, but I remember those frames well, ever since noticing them!

Dave (D&A)
 
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