Leica lenses are pretty fabulous but they are also pretty expensive. Part of the joy of using Leicas is looking for cheaper non-Leica lenses that offer their own little bit of magic.
Before Canon made single lens reflex cameras, the company made a range of Leica-inspired cameras and lenses that were of excellent quality. Happily for us Leica users, Canon chose to mount their lenses to their camera bodies with the same screw thread mount that Leica used - the 'LTM' (Leica Thread Mount)
Canon with 50mm f1.2
...And some of these lenses are wonderful. 'Bokeh' is the word you hear most often talked about with these lenses, because, along with the remarkable sharpness of these old lenses it's those sensational out of focus areas that give these Canon lenses such a fanatical following. The 50mm f1.2 that we have in stock is amazingly sharp and produces glorious bokeh at full aperture-
Josh - photographed with the 50mm 1.2 Canon at full aperture. Wonderful background 'bokeh'
High sharpness and a lovely 'glow' define the gorgeous quality of this lens.
From 1946 to 1964, Canon produced nearly sixty different types of lenses for their rangefinder cameras and with the right adapter, they are pretty much all usable not only on Leica digital but also other cameras like the Sony AR7 series.
We have just taken into stock a lovely collection of these lenses. And they are selling fast. After trying out the Canon 50mm f1.2, I put the Canon 100mm f.2 on my Leica Monochrom - and photographed William at work with a Graflex camera.
The 100mm has fabulous sharpness and excellent flare control - this was shot at f4
Section of the same photo demonstrates the excellent sharpness
...We also have the 85mm f1.9 in stock; not quite as sharp and contrasty as the 100mm - but still a hugely characterful lens.
Luna, TLI's resident pooch, was scampering about as usual - waiting for her moment. Using another of the Canon lenses, I turned my attention to her -
Luna - photographed at f2 using the 50mm f1.5 Canon. Stunningly sharp!
Another shot with the 50mm 1.5 - beautiful bokeh and high sharpness at f4
...Now back to the 100mm; another image taken at f4 - lovely tones and excellent sharpness
What is really striking about these Canon lenses is how consistently they perform across the different focal lengths.
They are 'dream lenses' indeed - especially at such wonderfully low prices!