Well, that is about it. Nothing more I can say about this great lens and again, I feel the proof is in the pudding and that is why I put so many photos up. It’s the real world stuff that matters!
Thanks for reading my review! Below are a few more samples from this wonderful lens! Just click any for a larger version! Feel free to leave comments below!
I THANK YOU!!
I thank you for reading my review and hope you enjoyed it. Running this free site costs me money, but my passion for for photography and gear has led me to create and share all of this info with fellow camera nuts. I work 7-10 hours a day on this site, as it consists of a lot more than writing these pages. When I am not writing, I am shooting with the lenses and cameras I write about, then going through the images and preparing them for the site. If you enjoy the site and find it useful, then you can help me to continue bringing these reviews and write-ups! How? Just click here to find out. Thanks! Also, I am now on facebook!
The 24 Elmarit build quality is typical Leica. Pretty much as good as it gets, and the focus is smooth and easy. The aperture dial rotates and clicks nicely. While Leica lenses are very expensive, you do get what you pay for with a beautiful, hand assembled lens that will last you a lifetime. I read stories all the time about guys who shoot with an old Leica lens that their father passed down to them. I will do the same to my son and one day when I am dead and gone he may just be out shooting with my Leica glass. That would be pretty cool.
So when you buy a Leica lens be assured you are getting the best glass IN THE WORLD and in recent years and investment in Leica glass WAS an investment as many have shot up in price in the last 5 years.
In my time short time with this 24 Elmarit I really did not find ANY negatives. I mean, yea it is a bit slow at 2.8 but I was even able to shoot INDOORS with low light and still get sharp, great looking images. Click any image below for the much better larger sized version.
So while a 24 Summilux 1.4 would be even better in low light, the 24 Elmarit held its own and did a great job with even my indoor shots. Still, if I had the funds the 24 Lux would be mine as I am a 1.4 man and 2.8 seems slow to me even though in reality it is all I need for 95% of my shots. It’s part of the lens lust disease I have :)
The bottom line is that the 24 Elmarit is a PHENOMENAL lens and in my honest opinion, one of the best I have ever shot with. The sharpness, the color, and the performance on the Leica M8/M8.2 is about as good as it gets. I used to own a Canon 24 L 1.4 lens when I shot with a Canon 5D. As much as I loved that lens, it is not in the same league as this Leica.
When shooting with the Leica I have not seen ANY chromatic aberrations, no barrel distortion, no real noticeable vignetting (any vignetting that you see in my images here was added in photoshop) that you normally get with most 24mm lenses, and its sharp from edge to edge. Just a stellar performer all the way around.
Leica recently introduced a new 24mm Lens, the 24 Elmar. The new Elmar is supposed to be as good or better than the Elmarit but it is a 3.8 lens and that is just too slow for my tastes as I like to use my 24 indoors as well. The new Elmar is less expensive though and I will be testing that lens as well as the 24 Summilux soon, so check back for those reviews!
So, the big question...did I enjoy my time with the 24 Elmarit? That would be a big YES! So much so that in fact I have put up my 28 Summicron up for sale! After shooting side by side for a few days I can say that I prefer the 24 Elmarit even though it is a 2.8 lens and not an F2.
As magical as the 28 Summicron is, I did end up liking the wider view of the 24mm more as well as the 3D images I was able to coax out of it. Makes me wonder if the 24 Summilux is as good at 2.8 because honestly, I can not imagine it getting better than this.
This 24 Elmarit put a spell on me for a while and if I can sell my 28 Summicron, this lens will be mine. It has some of that Leica magic for sure.
If you want one for yourself, you can buy them new with 3 year passport warranty here at B&H Photo. Another GREAT source for this lens at an even better price is Mr Ken Hansen in NY. IMO, the best Leica dealer I have found for pricing and service. Send him an e-mail here to ask about pricing or availability! He really will give you a great price on new or used Leica gear, and he is the one who rented out this 24 to me for this review!
THE LEICA 24 ELMARIT 2.8 LENS REVIEW
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
For a wider view on my M8.2 I am used to the 28 Summicron, so I was not sure if I would “bond” with this 24 Elmarit. But I must say that I have heard some pretty good things about this $3800 lens over the years. Terms such as “magical”, “3D” and “amazingly sharp” have been used to describe the way this lens draws and I was VERY excited to finally test one out for myself.
I had very high hopes for this lens and was curious to see if I would like it even better than my beloved Leica 28 Summicron. I own the Summicron because I love fast glass, and it was the fastest semi wide I could afford. This Elmarit is sort of slow by my standards at 2.8, but usually in a wide lens like this 1.4 or F2 is not always needed. Since you can handhold a wider lens at slower shutter speeds, so I told myself it would probably be fine.
Does this mean I do not lust after a Leica 24 Summilux? Hell no! The 24 Summilux 1.4 would be a dream lens for me but at $5995 it will remain a dream for a while! But this review is not about the 24 Summilux so let me get to it!
When I received this lens for testing I took it out of the package and checked it over. With the hood it is a little larger than the 28 Summicron. It is coded for the M8/M8.2 and it already had a Leica E55 UV/IR filter attached. I slapped it on my beautiful black paint M8.2 and as usual, out the door I went for a fun day of shooting!
About one minute after I walk out the door a thunderstorm hits and it was back in the house. Damn! I wanted to test this lens out and with the grey, dreary clouds and heavy rain I had to find a subject in the house. Hmmmmmm, my wife was home! Ha ha.
I stood on my front porch and called her over to the screen door. I said “Look at those clouds”! I asked her to put her hands up on the screen and hold the look. I snapped the shutter and it was my first image with the Leica 24 Elmarit. After opening the file in Photoshop and adjusting the contrast and colors I knew right then and there I was going to like this lens. Really, I was hoping I would hate it as when I like these lenses I WANT them :) That leads to trouble most of the time, and you KNOW what I mean! BTW, this shot below was inspired by THIS image.
As most of you know by now my reviews are laid back, easy to read and I try to make them fun. I stay away from too much technical bullshit. In the real world when taking pictures when do we shoot focus charts, resolution charts, and things that have NOTHING to do with REAL photography? NEVER! Yes, many people out there love the technical stuff, but me, I want to see how a lens performs in the way it was INTENDED to be used. By taking real photographs.
Too many people these days get caught up in these technical reviews and they spend more time testing lenses by shooting newspaper text and pencils than they do taking real photos. I have been guilty of that myself in the past but these days I prefer to do my lens testing by getting out there and shooting. I mean, how are you going to know if you like a lens if you are shooting newspaper text all day?
In some of my lens reviews I do shoot a clock on my wall to show sharpness at each aperture. But this 24 Elmarit is INSANELY SHARP at ALL apertures and in my shooting I have found 2.8 just as sharp as F5.6, and even F8 so this review WILL NOT contain a shot at each aperture with crops. Just this one shot below with crop to show you just how sharp this lens is, and man oh man is this lens sharp :)
100% CROP
As you can see, the 24 Elmarit at 2.8, wide open, is about as sharp as anyone could EVER ask for. It’s almost TOO sharp as you can see in the crop above. Also, this lens stays sharp all the way to the edges of the frame. As for sharpness, this is the sharpest lens I have EVER used or owned and it literally KILLS the Canon 24L when both lenses are shot at 2.8. Amazing.
Now, let me get to what REALLY amazed me with this lens. Besides the crazy sharpness this lens does indeed have a 3D look to its images sometimes. The reason you get this 3D look is due to to the sharpness and micro contrast of the lens. This lens delivers the 3D look many of us crave. Yes, I said CRAVE! Some people CRAVE White Castle burgers but me, I crave that 3D look in my images!
I have to admit, when I was shooting this lens for the first time out in the field I was not sure about it. To frame the shot you must use the ENTIRE M8 viewfinder, and I am used to having some area around the frames which to me, makes it easy to frame the perfect shot with the M8.2.
Using the full VF was a bit tricky at first as its not that easy to see the ENTIRE frame unless you really push your eye up to it. After a few days I got used to it and now I really enjoy it. Any wider than 24 would require an external viewfinder or just a good estimation of the scene.
