Lomo Loves Leica: Minitar 32/2.8 Leica M Lens

Nice shot Sug! Where do u get mimosas and eggs in San Fran? So I know for my next visit.

We've got a few places in the city (we start early ;)) but I definitely recommend Chez Maman, especially the one in Potrero Hill that I took that photo at. (http://chezmamansf.com/)

fad gadget,
I'm enjoying this lens a little more than I should. :) It's so tiny and it lets me be extra lazy with my shooting. I just guesstimate things and shoot from hip or chest.

Another one from the weekend.


Wine & Cheese x Black & White by Suguru Nishioka, on Flickr
 
Nice! Is this lens RF coupled or scale focusing?

Hahaha. Huss, you win! I wish I kept my MDa. Maybe an MD-2 is in my future.

From the same roll as my last post. M4-P, Tri-X in Diafine, minimum focus distance, wide open, no crop or distortion correction.

Before painting the eyes.
32313618383_717e05124b_c.jpg


After.
33129310205_2a5bec45df_c.jpg
 
Yep, got RF coupling done by a plate moving back and forth rather than traditional sloped ridge. Also the focusing tab has clicking stops for 3m and 1.5m. They are not deep enough to interfere with RF focusing. You have to get used to the location of focus tab which is rather unconventional for LTM/M mount, but I find the focusing in general to be surprisingly fast.
 
Well, I didn't fare as well as you guys with my particular copy of the Minitar.
The one I received was very soft on the right side of the frame, anything slightly off dead centre to the edge of the frame.
It almost looked as if you smeared vaseline on half the lens.
Needless to say I returned it when I got back from my trip, they were very good about the timing on return policy, as I emailed them that I was in the UK and would have been difficult to return from there.

The good news is, I found a mint copy of the 3.5cm, f3.5 Elmar.
A coated one from 1946, looks like it just came out of the box!
Almost exactly the same size, which was what I was after in the first place.
The image quality is very good, doesn't have the saturated colours that the Minitar has, but that can always be done in post. Very sharp centre, softening as you get to the edges, but no distortion to correct. It was 2 1/2 times the price mind you, so that should be expected...

I had my LC-A 120 with me, and got some wonderful results from the 38mm Minigon XL to keep me happy.
 
That's a shame that you got a defective one. This happens with all mfgs. The only lens mfg that has pretty much zero defective ones is Zeiss with the Otus line. I've known plenty of peeps that exchanged their Nikon/Leica/Sigma etc etc lenses because the one they got was decentered.
The Voigtlander Nokton 50 1.1 that I have now is excellent - but it took 3 attempts to get one that was!
Glad you found a lens that you like.

fyi on stevehuffphoto there is someone selling a Minitar 32 2.8 in the classifieds.

https://stevehuffphoto.discussion.community/post/minitar1-art-lens-2-832-m-275-8439014
 
Hi Huss,

Yes, that happens. I had the same problem with a 50mm f2.5 when they first came out, got a great one now as well.

Thanks for the link, I've sent him a message and I'll keep you posted!

cheers/ken.
 
Lomo loaned me a Minitar 1 lens to try out.

I thought it would be an overpriced piece of junk, but it's a sturdy lens with better than expected optics.

It's all metal--like actual brass and aluminum. The only plastic is the tip of the aperture lever. The lens is multcoated glass.

It uses both the Lomo LCA/LCA+ "zone focus" AND the Leica M coupled rangefinder, which makes it lightning fast.

It has a metal, screw-in lens cap.
 

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