Does anyone have hands-on experience of this lens?

It falls nicely between my 35mm 'cron and my zany CV 12mm. Is it as good as many seem to say it is?

-- Paul Hart (paulhart@blueyonder.co.uk), June 06, 2002

Answers

I've only had mine for a couple of weeks and haven't done any objective testing, but it's a very sharp lens. I'm very happy with it. I WILL say that the 21/24/28mm finder is NOT kind to those of us who wear glasses despite whatever Leica may say. I also have a 35 'cron and thought that a 28mm lens would not be dramatically wider than the 35. Sometime down the road I might buy a CV 15mm.

Dale

-- Dale Griffith (dgrif55@aol.com), June 06, 2002.

I've got a CV 15mm and if you can tolerate the vignetting it is just fine. But the finder is tricky: you can see more than then lens actually covers.

-- Jack Matlock (jfmatlo@attglobal.net), June 06, 2002.

I had one. It's a terrific lens, as rob appleby will no doubt attest. It's much better than any 24 Nikkor I ever used - sharp, flare-resistant, good into the corners wide open, yada yada. It's as good as a 24 can get in this day and age. That said, I no longer have it - mainly because I don't like external finders, but also because it was too wide for me. As you use a 12, this will not be a problem for you :-)

If you're looking for something wider than a 35 but not crazy wide, this lens fills the bill.

BTW, I took a look at the 21/34/28 finder at a Leica day recently, and was severely underwhelmed. If you get this lens, find the single focal-length 24mm plastic finder or maybe the Cosina one from the 25 Skopar.

-- Paul Chefurka (paul@chefurka.com), June 06, 2002.

I've had the 24 for almost three years now and I consider it my second favorite lens, after the 50 DR. That makes it the best of the four "modern" lenes I have.

Sharp and contrasty sure, but was initially and still continue to be impressed with lack of distortion in normal shooting. Sure you can stick it in someones face if you like to make noses look big, but in shots with normal composition, there just doesn't appear to be the distortion one would expect with a 24mm focal length.

I don't put a lupe to my slides and negs, but I don't see any fall off in the corners either.

Like most on this forum I'd like to have one lens each in all of the available focal lengths, but don't think I'd ever be able to rationalize either a 21 or a 28 now that I have the 24.

Possible improvement? f/2, but that's the only thing I'd let it go for. I have the finder and recommend it. Wish it was metal and made to the standards of 40 years ago, but it works and has never fallen off.

I can't imagine anyone not liking the results with this lens.

Best,

Jerry

-- Jerry Pfile (Jerry Pfile@MSN.com), June 06, 2002.

Yes, I think it lives up to its reputation. I've had mine for a few months, and couldn't be more pleased with the lens. It provides the extra that is often needed, but avoids much of the edge distortion typical of many super-wides. You can see a number of examples on my Leica-Gallery pages.

-- Ralph Barker (rbarker@pacbell.net), June 06, 2002.

I got this lens about a month ago, and have been very happy with the results... optically it is amazing! I couldn’t be happier with the optical performance. But, the ergonomics of using a separate viewfinder bother me to no end (I have the bright line finder - which is a decent view finder)… I just can’t seem to get used to using two separate ones... even when shooting hyper-focally – focus doesn’t matter much then, but it is bothersome to double check exposure in mixed light sun where you need to change to compensate for shadows, etc... I can normally guess pretty well, but it is nice to be able to double check easily while taking a picture – without having to consciously choose to do so. Also, at f2.8 at close distances focus is reasonably important and having to look through two different viewfinders takes way too much time (for me)... by the time I have done this the moment is gone.

That said, it is amazing optically... I am just going through learning pains to get used to it ergonomically. Since you already have experience with a serperate viewfinder lens (your 12mm) - you may know you will not have a problem with these things...

-- Matthew Geddert (geddert@yahoo.com), June 07, 2002.

I guess the pain of having to use a separate viewfinder is a small trade off as extreme wide angles for rangefinders are usually very compact and light compared to the equivalents of SLRs.

-- Karl Yik (karl.yik@dk.com), June 07, 2002.