When you think of Leica, you might think of a prestigious product in German history that is renowned for producing the best cameras ever made. Or you might hear the name of the red dot giant and think that they are extremely overpriced for what they are.
Well, I've found a way to enjoy my Leica cameras (I currently own two) without spending an absolute fortune in the process. This includes the initial purchase of the camera body or bodies, in my case, lenses, which is another massive investment that often gets overlooked when wanting to buy the best Leica cameras.
So your favorite focal length can cost you the same, sometimes more than an actual Leica camera, which isn't great when you're on a 'budget'. I've always wanted to buy the Leica 50mm Summilux-M f/1.4 ASPH but it's $4,495 / £4,000 - I've also wanted the 21mm Summlimux-M f/1.4 ASPH, but again that's a HUGE $8,995 / £6,850.
We're talking $13,490 / £10,850 just in lenses alone, which is heartbreaking—but what if I told you I got both of these focal lengths with fast f/1.4 or f/1.5 apertures that perform just as well as the Leica ones from TTArtisan—and they only cost me $780 / £618 for BOTH!
Yep, you read that right the 21mm cost me £348.99 (approx. $440), and the 50mm a mere £269 (approx. $340) on eBay, brand new shipped to my door, and I have to say I've been blown away by their build and image quality for such cheap Leica M-mount lenses.
In fact, I have used these two focal lengths exclusively for the past two years and I have never been disappointed with the overall image quality from either of them. Do I still lust for Leica glass, yes I do, but do I NEED Leica glass - absolutely not!
I've been very lucky to try out some of the best Leica-M lenses on the market from the brilliant Leica 28mm Summilux-M f/1.4 ASPH to the outstanding Leica 50mm APO Summicron-M f/2 ASPH and while I do notice a slight loss of contrast in my TTArtisan lenses, its not enough to make me want to sell them off and go head first into the Leica pool of debt to own the Leica lens equivalents.
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Each lens was delivered to me in a nice white presentation box with red velvet inside, also with a lens hood, spare thumb tab, and in the 21 mm case, another circular lens hood that allows you to attach 62mm filers too - which I thought was a nice touch seeing these lenses both cost the equivalent to a new Voigtlander lens.
But the only thing they say makes these lenses Chinese lenses cheaper than the rest is that they are not calibrated out of the box, so some DIY is required - you are provided a little screwdriver and an instruction book, along with a focus chart to get you going. While I'm not the biggest of DIYers I found this process to be very simple - just slightly unscrew the three screws on the lens mount and move slightly left or right for front or back focus adjustment - take a picture on the chart, once in focus your good to go.
I would say the 50mm took me 20 minutes to get just right and the 21mm took 5 minutes and that was it, I was good to go shooting and shooting with them I have been for two years now across my digital Leica M-E and my film cmaera, the Leica M2.
On the street or in the countryside these lenses have overperformed massively to my expectations, and they are a real steal for the price! I've shot pictures of my dogs, landscapes, portraits, street - you name it, I've shot it with these lenses and they are fantastic and a worthwhile investment if you want to save a little on your Leica journey.
While I understand that gatekeepers out there will tell me 'You should be using Leica glass on that camera' ( they have actually said that to my face on two occasions) for the price to performance these lenses are stellar!
However, it's not like I don't own Leica glass to compare these two - I actually own the Leica Elmar-M 135mm f/2.8 and that lens is an utter triumph, I do notice how much better it captures the tonality of scenes and gives much better contrast than the TTArtisan lenses.
But, contrast you can add in Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Lightroom, and to me, it's about how the lens and camera make you feel when out and about taking images, and I do have in the back of my mind that if something were to happen; the camera drops etc my only real investment is my Leica Rangefinders - they lenses I can pick up again and again if I needed too - not something I could say if I was walking about with the Leica 50mm Summilux-M f/1.4 ASPH and that happened to take a tumble.
At the end of the day, you go out and shoot with what makes you happy, and these lenses do that for me, am I missing out on the 'full' Leica experience, possibly - but do I care? not one bit, these Chinese lenses, and the Chinese lens industry in general has improved leaps and bounds from a decade ago, and they really should be given a chance. They might surprise you as they did me.
