I have the perfect pair of lenses now for my M Leicas. Just two of them. But just right. One is the Voigtlander 50mm f2.0 APO and yesterday it was finally joined by the Voigtlander 35mm f2.0 APO. And both of the lenses are wonderful. I've installed each one on its own Leica M rangefinder camera.
I don't have much experience yet with the 35mm but have owned the 50mm since 2023 and have many great photographs from it. I've done some preliminary shooting with the 35mm and it seems just as good, wide open, as the 50mm.
Why the Voigtlander APOs? They are both made for M mount cameras and as such are direct competitors with fabled Leica M lenses of the same speeds and focal lengths. There have been many reviews written about both of the VM lenses since their introduction and the through line in nearly every review is the assertion that the Voigtlander lenses deliver as good or better performance in the real world than their Leica competitors and usually at something like 1/6th or even 1/10th the price.
I get called a "Leica snob" from time to time but I'm still rational enough to know a very, very good value proposition when I see one. The Leica 50mm M APO comes in around $10,000 USD. The Leica 35mm M APO comes in at around $9,000. And while I am sure they represent the "state of the art" for rangefinder lenses I'm equally sure that spending $1,100 each on the VMs and getting 99.5% of the juicy goodness on offer is a legit bargain.
One thing I am reasonably sure of is this: If you spend $10,000 on a lens for your camera you won't ever lose it...accidentally.
I have two different 28mm lenses for the M cameras but I don't enjoy using them on that camera system. I use them instead with a Leica adapter on an SL2-S or SL2 camera body. They work just fine on those cameras and composition is much, much easier. Same with 90mm lenses that are made for rangefinder cameras; they are just much easier to focus and compose with on the mirrorless cameras. So why do I have the 35mm and 50mm lenses in M mount? Because when I look at all the photographs I've taken since I started re-buying M cameras a couple of years ago the vast majority of the images were done with 35 and 50mm lenses.
I've tried out and still own the Zeiss 50mm and Zeiss 35mm lenses for the Ms and they are very, very good performers but the Voigtlanders have a nicer look to the files. A fuller look. Richer looking? I also have the 35mm f1.4 Nokton Voigtlander for the M system but while I like the extra speed there's really nothing very special about that lens. It's surely not bad but in the range of f2.0 to f5.6, where I like to shoot, the Zeiss is better and the VM is better still.
While the M cameras and lenses are good they are neither quick nor so much more stellar than other systems that they are "must have" lenses for working photographers or advanced hobbyists. Civilian artists.
When I give people who ask for my advice about cameras my two cents worth I generally tell them that they will have a higher hit rate and more success with the best stuff from Canon, Nikon and Sony. Why? Because rangefinder focusing is an acquired taste. Because people raised on comprehensive automation find mostly manual cameras a bit vexing and because most current applications for which people buy and use cameras don't require ultra expensive stuff to do the actual work well.
So why do I buy them? It's mostly nostalgia. I bought my first rangefinder Leica in 1979 along with a 50mm Elmar f3.5 collapsible lens. My next Leica, purchased a few years later was an M3. I shot a lot of Tri-X with those two. And there's a lot of sentiment and fond memory tied up in the images from them. About 46 year's worth...
I used a progression of Leicas throughout the film days but usually as a secondary or fun adjunct to my more regular photo tools. I even made a run at going fully over to Leica SLRs with a pair of R8 cameras and a selection of R lenses. But now I know I could have done the same work, and the same quality of work, with the Nikons and Canons that seem to have rotated through the studio.
But I buy the M digitals now because it reminds me of where I started and how much fun it all was at the time. Our kid is through all the college years. We paid for college. The house is paid for. The cars are paid for. There is no reason I can think of not to buy and play with the cameras from the company that brought me into my love of photography in the first place. And these two lenses seem just right for me.
What a nice, trim travel package. Two matching rangefinder bodies. The two lenses I use almost exclusively with that system. It's so well sorted. At least in my mind. Today.
B. Leica M9 with 35mm f1.4 Aspherical.
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