Leica Elmar-M 24mm f/3.8 ASPH

***** Very comparable to the prior 24mm F2.8 Elmarit only its 70 grams lighter and accepts the more standard Leica filter size of 46mm instead of the unusual 55mm of its predecessor making it semi compact. The newer hood design is more compact also and obstructs the finder almost unnoticeably. If you like 35mm as your primary lens, 28mm is not a whole lot wider while 24 is a good bit wider and you may as well get some serious change if you are going to carry another lens and bother to change lenses. I also have on occasion encountered situations where 28mm is simply not wide enough. A similar issue comes up if you tend to carry a 21mm with 24 then not being hugely different. You can shoot the 24 fairly well without a secondary finder as more or less, particularly as you gain experience with a 24 you can use the entire finder to approximate what you expect to capture, while at 21 you really do need a finder if you want reasonable accuracy. 21 also introduces the challenges of serious wide lenses while 24mm is less demanding. I guess the point is you can choose to grab a 24mm and forget both 28mm and 21mm. You can pair it with a 35 a 50 or a 75 for a nice two lens setup or use it as a wide for a three lens kit. The best thing about 24mm is it accepts zone focusing quite well. This lens has fairly well damped smooth focusing and decently positive aperture ring indents typical of most of the Leica offerings from the recent past. I don’t see it as blisteringly sharp like the 35mm cron asph or the 50mm cron, but it is no slouch either, better than any of the older wider lenses. The color and contrast are typical Leica, excellent. The 3.8 speed is no huge deal with digital, although it would be nice had it remained a 2.8. Overall a good value, a solid good handling semi compact lens and a good choice to cover most of the wide end.