The Leica Elmar 5cm/1:3.5 on the E-P1

Olympus first Digital Pen E-P1 with LEITZ ELMAR 5cm/1:3.5

Yes it was a bit quiet last weeks here but i had much to do and seldom i got the time to write for the blog. Now for nearly one week i use a post-war coated version of the old Ernst Leitz Elmar 5cm Screw Mount Lens on my E-P1. As some of you have seen in my last post here the photo was also taken by this lens at wide open. This lens is really fun to use and i will show some examples below.

hungry but careful | Leica Elmar 1:3,5/5cm

I am really surprised how this lens performs on the E-P1. It’s very sharp wide open. You didn’t have to stop it down and i have never seen any purple fringes. wow.

green leaves after winter | Leica Elmar 1:3,5/5cm

The “bokeh” of the Elmar is rendering nothing but beautiful and although it’s “only” a f-stop of 3,5. But it’s 3,5 on 100mm equiv. focal range on your Micro Four Thirds Body. The distance markings on the lens begin with 1m up to 20m. After 20m comes infinity. I figured out that it has to be carefully focused also at distances you normally define infinity! Focusing is widely very easy, thanks to the focus-lever. You can also lock the lever at infinity by pressing the knob on the lever. Before it locks there is a small graded resistance where you have to turn over the lever.

the “A” | Leica Elmar 1:3,5/5cm

Above photo. This was one of the situations where the right focus point is exactly in the position of the graded resistance. I focused on the “A” in the picture. This means you have to press the knob and search the focus while pressing it. Also for shutter release you have to hold the knob in it’s pressed position. [dear readers: I hope you understand  it, but it’s difficult with my “notsogoodenglish” to explain this technical issue] This is not a problem at all, you will get fastly familiar with it.

aesthetic blurring circles, some call it bokeh | Leica Elmar 1:3,5/5cm

The more aperture blades a lens have the more aesthatic is it’s bokeh. The Elmar 5cm has ten aperture blades which is very good for a soft rendering between your focus point and the areas out of focus.

a stump & bleached grass  | Leica Elmar 1:3,5/5cm

landscape with horse | Leica Elmar 1:3,5/5cm

Not every lens draws with an own character, the Ernst Leitz Elmar 5cm/1:3.5 does! It makes me stunning that such an old construction makes wonderfully photos, maybe because it’s from Leica ? ;)

I highly recommend it for Micro Four Thirds and it is a cheap way to dive into the world of Leica. You can get such a lens at roundabout 100€ at ebay or on the second hand market. Look for a coated version, the first versions made before WWII or in WWII didn’t have coatings. Leica has made many different versions over it’s 20 years of prodcution [for those who are interested to buy  one have a closer look into  the topic about on photo.net]. Then buy yourself a Leica M to MFT-Adapter (f.ex. Novoflex) and a Screw Mount to Leica M-Adapter. The Lens is collapsible but please don’t collapse it while on your Micro Four Thirds-Body. It will damage your Sensor! I have read on the www that there are some freaks out there who collapse it a bit and that they mark the tube of the lens to know the maximum slide-in. But i can’t recommend it, because when in your bag and it gets pressure you didn’t see your marking and so it’s better fixed in it’s right and stable position.

As always, all photographs seen in this post also available as a print.

XebastYan March 2010.