Seeking Advice: Options for Manual Focus M Mount-glass

bcc1955 · Sep 18, 2013

For some time now I have has a couple M-mount lenses in search of a digital camera body. Those lenses are a Zeiss Sonnar C 50mm Portrait lens, and a Voightlander 35mm Color Skopar.

Initially I was looking for Ricoh to upgrade their VF2 viewfinder for the GXR A12. More recently, thinking that Ricoh has given up on it all I have been hoping that Fuji will update their XE-1 to an XE-2 with a manual focusing aid such as their recent simulated split image system as previewed in their X100S.

Anyone have any input on all this at this stage in these product lines?

Tom Caldwell · Sep 18, 2013

bcc1955 said:
bcc1955 wrote:

For some time now I have has a couple M-mount lenses in search of a digital camera body. Those lenses are a Zeiss Sonnar C 50mm Portrait lens, and a Voightlander 35mm Color Skopar.

Initially I was looking for Ricoh to upgrade their VF2 viewfinder for the GXR A12. More recently, thinking that Ricoh has given up on it all I have been hoping that Fuji will update their XE-1 to an XE-2 with a manual focusing aid such as their recent simulated split image system as previewed in their X100S.

Anyone have any input on all this at this stage in these product lines?

I think that to get good focus peaking you need quite high resolution lcd screens. As far as I know the Fuji lcd screens have been too low to be really good for focus peaking. Vide: the Pentax Q which sports a version of the GXR Mode1 but after 2x magnification it gets pretty academic.

Godfrey · Sep 18, 2013

bcc1955 said:
bcc1955 wrote:

For some time now I have has a couple M-mount lenses in search of a digital camera body. Those lenses are a Zeiss Sonnar C 50mm Portrait lens, and a Voightlander 35mm Color Skopar.

Initially I was looking for Ricoh to upgrade their VF2 viewfinder for the GXR A12. More recently, thinking that Ricoh has given up on it all I have been hoping that Fuji will update their XE-1 to an XE-2 with a manual focusing aid such as their recent simulated split image system as previewed in their X100S.

Anyone have any input on all this at this stage in these product lines?

If a Leica M8 or M9 is either unappealing to you or too much for your budget, after the GXR the next best digital body for those lenses is the Sony NEX 6. Excellent sensor, excellent EVF, small and light, reasonably priced.

I've tested the NEX 6 with the Color Skopar 35 and it does a beautiful job. It also does a beautiful job with my Nokton 50mm f/1.5 ASPH; sorry I don't have a Sonnar C 50mm to work with but there's no reason it wouldn't do the same thing with that one.

I still think the GXR is the best in class for M-mount lenses, but they are becoming older and more scarce if you want to buy new, and the EVF is now well behind the times if you want state of the art.

The Fuji X cameras don't send me for a variety of reasons. I think they do best with the Fuji lenses, and I'm leery of processing issues with their sensor. Many people love them, however; this is my personal bias.

Zagato · Sep 19, 2013

Godfrey said:
Godfrey wrote:

Godfrey said:

bcc1955 wrote:

For some time now I have has a couple M-mount lenses in search of a digital camera body. Those lenses are a Zeiss Sonnar C 50mm Portrait lens, and a Voightlander 35mm Color Skopar.

Initially I was looking for Ricoh to upgrade their VF2 viewfinder for the GXR A12. More recently, thinking that Ricoh has given up on it all I have been hoping that Fuji will update their XE-1 to an XE-2 with a manual focusing aid such as their recent simulated split image system as previewed in their X100S.

Anyone have any input on all this at this stage in these product lines?

Click to expand...

If a Leica M8 or M9 is either unappealing to you or too much for your budget, after the GXR the next best digital body for those lenses is the Sony NEX 6. Excellent sensor, excellent EVF, small and light, reasonably priced.

I've tested the NEX 6 with the Color Skopar 35 and it does a beautiful job. It also does a beautiful job with my Nokton 50mm f/1.5 ASPH; sorry I don't have a Sonnar C 50mm to work with but there's no reason it wouldn't do the same thing with that one.

I still think the GXR is the best in class for M-mount lenses, but they are becoming older and more scarce if you want to buy new, and the EVF is now well behind the times if you want state of the art.

The Fuji X cameras don't send me for a variety of reasons. I think they do best with the Fuji lenses, and I'm leery of processing issues with their sensor. Many people love them, however; this is my personal bias.

you-ve-got-mail · Sep 22, 2013

hello michael,

are there any shops in vienna which sell m mount lenses ?
the leica store near the railways station is VERY expensive ...

i am looking for a nice 90mm oder 135 mm m mount lens.
regards,
Ulrich

Zagato · Sep 22, 2013

you-ve-got-mail said:
you-ve-got-mail wrote:

hello michael,
are there any shops in vienna which sell m mount lenses ?
the leica store near the railways station is VERY expensive ...

i am looking for a nice 90mm oder 135 mm m mount lens.
regards,
Ulrich

Hallo Ulrich,

to be honest I haven't seen any moderate priced m mount lenses here in Vienna. Slightly cheaper than the Leica store is Photoböese (www.photoboerse.at/), Lerchenfelderstrasse, and they also have a huge homepage in which you can search mf lenses by brand. Unfortunately not many shops here in Vienna do have a webpage for secondhand articles. Another shop where I have bought some CZJ (Exakta) and M42 lenses is Foto Eder on Josefstädterstrasse. They have moderate prices but I'm not sure whether they also sell straight m mount lenses.

I actually work with adapters for the various mounts, the only real m lens I own is a Voigtländer Heliar 15mm/f4.5.

Brgds
Michael (Vienna)

ThomasB · Sep 26, 2013

you-ve-got-mail said:
you-ve-got-mail wrote:

hello michael,
are there any shops in vienna which sell m mount lenses ?
the leica store near the railways station is VERY expensive ...

i am looking for a nice 90mm oder 135 mm m mount lens.
regards,
Ulrich

Hi Ulrich,

Being also Viennese, although living next to lake Neusiedl right now, I would not recommend to buy M-lenses in Vienna. The shops in Vienna are far too expensive for such things.

Having some M-glass from Voigtländer (12/5.6, 15/4.5, 21/4.0, 25/4.0, 28/1.9, 35/1.7, 50/1.5 and 75/2.8) and Leitz (50/2.0, 90/2.8 and 135/4.0) for my 2 GXRs I can tell you that I didn't buy a single lens in Vienna. My preferred shopping method is online mostly internationally and sometimes domestic (willhaben.at) as I don't like to spend more money than necessary.

Good luck!

Regards, Thomas

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ThomasB · Sep 26, 2013

bcc1955 said:
bcc1955 wrote:

For some time now I have has a couple M-mount lenses in search of a digital camera body. Those lenses are a Zeiss Sonnar C 50mm Portrait lens, and a Voightlander 35mm Color Skopar.

If you are looking for a M-mount digital camera body then so far there are only the Leica's and the Ricoh GXR available. Assuming that the Leica is out of budget then you are still limited to the GXR. It is the only camera with a sensor made especially for manual focus m-mount lenses and the focus aids are also still unbeaten.

Yes, there are other cameras where manual lenses can be attached with diffenent kind of adapters and the results are sometimes not so bad either. But non of them beats the GXR up to now.

I have besides my 2 GXRs a Sony NEX and a Panasonic GF-1. So I know a little bit how the lenses perform on those cameras.

However, many users are satisfied with such performances. So it mainly depends on your needs and quality requirements.

Regards, Thomas

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