Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/08/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I had a M3 body and went through a lot of budget lenses. Some I still use, even though I have their Leica equivalents and have moved on to a M6. One of the biggest bargains around is a Jupiter 3 which is a 50mm f1.5 copy of the Zeiss Sonnar lens. Look for a later model black version of this. You won't be disappointed with the performance of this lens at all. Even cheaper is the collapsible Industar 50, which is the Soviet equivalent of the red scale Elmar. Also, keep an eye out for a good Canon 100mm f3.5, which is really a remarkable performer and works well enough with the 90mm framelines on the M6. All of these lenses are as good or better than many of their Leitz equivalents -- I'm assuming that you aren't going to spring for the latest versions of Leica lenses, which I'm leaving out of this comparison. The 35/2 Canon is also a great lens, but you can get a 35/2.8 Summaron for the same money, so I can't really say that this is a budget alternative. In Leica lenses, the 50/2 Summitar is a lot of lens for the money. Mark