Wow, in the space of a week, I doubled my number of M mount lenses from two to four. And here I am, wondering how the heck did that happen. Anyway, what’s done is done.
The first lens that I got, the one that I actually planned to get, was the Carl Zeiss 25mm F2.8 Biogon. As mentioned in an earlier post, travelling with a 50mm and 35mm lens, I found the focal lengths too similar, and wanted something wider than the 35mm. The prime* candidate was something 28mm, since there are 28mm framelines on my Leica M. But as I started to think about it a bit more and do my research on available lenses, I came across the Zeiss 25/2.8. 28mm was still kinda close to 35mm, and even though there are no 25mm framelines on my Leica M, I figured that could probably just use the full viewfinder frame to act as my frameline. The particular copy I got also came with a Carl Zeiss lens hood, and those things aren’t cheap; I tend to use generic ebay screw in vented lens hoods.
The other lens was one of those things that just happened, and was the Carl Zeiss 50mm F1.5 C Sonnar. My first experience with a Sonnar lens was using a Jupiter-3 50/1.5, which is a Russian version of the Zeiss lens. I wasn’t too taken with the physical properties of the Jupiter-3, but the results that the lens produced drew me in. There was just something about them, and they lacked the clinical feel of some of my other lenses, but instead had a distinct classic Sonnar look. I already have a M mount 50, the Zeiss 50/2 Planar, so a Sonnar or even the Jupiter-3 was never really high on my list. Even when I came across this copy at a good price, I ummed and ahhed for a few days before making the decision.
All my m-mount lenses are now Carl Zeiss lenses, even though I hadn’t originally planned for it to be this way and I like the resulting consistency, in terms of the physical, mechanical layout and operation of the lenses, as well as the resulting, coherent “Zeiss colours” produced by these lenses.
*lame pun not deliberate, but hehe, I like it.
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