Leica 21mm ƒ/3.4 Super-Elmar-M ASPH Examples in White Mountains

World’s best 21mm lens? Without a doubt. It’s a must-have gem for Leica M shooters.

Just published in my Guide to Leica are “snowy day” examples with the Leica 21mm ƒ/3.4 Super-Elmar-M ASPH on the Leica M9P. These images were shot in early November, 2011; I am just now catching up! At least with the 21/3.4 SEM.

Leica M shooters looking for a killer landscape kit (small, light, unbelievable performance) cannot go wrong with the 21/3.4 Super-Elmar-M ASPH, 24/3.8 Elmar-M ASPH, and 28/2.8 Elmarit-M ASPH, assuming one wants to cover the wide angle range through 28mm fully. The 18/3.8 is also superb (and the 35/1.4), but 18mm is frequently useful to me.

The 21/3.4 SEM performance is so good that I feel cheated in a way— I want a 36-megapixel Leica M10 (vs an 18MP M9P), because it is so obviously capable of delivering far more than the sensor can record. Why should I have to carry a bulky DSLR when the Leica M glass clearly could deliver into medium format territory. Leica? Well, I suppose sensor technology is the issue, what with the ray angle challenge.

Hoar-frosted ancient bristlecone
Leica M9P + 21mm f/3.4 Super-Elmar-M ASPH

Clearing storm over the White Mountains
Leica M9P + 21mm f/3.4 Super-Elmar-M ASPH

High above Patriarch Grove in the White Mountains
Leica M9P + 21mm f/3.4 Super-Elmar-M ASPH