Informal review: Zeiss ZM C-Biogon 21mm ƒ/4.5 Wide-angle Lens in Olympia (Oly 16)

21mm ƒ/4.5 Biogon lens with hood. The Leica M2 body is from 1967.

My New Biogon Lens

Dear Readers, once again, I failed to curb my GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). I bought a Zeiss ZM* 21mm ƒ/4.5 C Biogon lens for Leica M mount. 

Decades ago, I had a 20mm ƒ/5.6 Russar lens, a pioneering optical design from the Soviet Union. It worked well, but I sold it in the early-2000s when I was reducing my photography stuff. 

But I missed a really wide view for 35mm and had eyed this Biogon for a while. LensRentals sent an email about a 20% off sale and offered one of these lenses. That was too good to resist. The lens looked absolutely new, and, I assume, they seldom, if ever, rented this particular unit. After ordering a 21mm Leitz viewfinder from Tamarkin Camera, I was ready to go. (I recommend both LensRentals and Tamarkin Camera for good condition equipment and honest service.)

Zeiss made two 21mm lenses for the Leica M mount, this ƒ/4.5 C (Compact) model and an ƒ/2.8 version. The C lens is a compact gem and is intended for use on film cameras. It is almost distortion-free, meaning that straight lines remain straight. It takes 46mm filters, which are larger than the 39mm filters for my other Leitz lenses. The rectangle hood clips on the outside of the lens, and if you use filters, they must be the correct 46mm diameter to fit inside the hood.   

Finally, you need a 21mm external viewfinder to see what the lens covers. The built-in finder on my M2 camera has frame lines for 35mm, 50mm, 90mm, and 135mm lenses, but it is much too inaccurate to try to guess the coverage of a 21mm lens by looking at the edges of the viewfinder. The best external finders come from Leitz (Leica), Zeiss, and Voigtlander. The Leica unit was the only one with an offset shoe such that the mounted finder does not overhang the shutter speed dial (see the photo above). 

Kodak T400CN Examples, Olympia, Washington

One October morning with misty light, I walked around downtown Olympia. Here are some examples of how this 21mm lens can take in the big picture. Please click any photo to see it enlarged.

View south on Capital Way (21mm ƒ/4.5 Biogon lens, 1/15 sec.)

Capital Way sidewalk

Art alley parallel to 4th Avenue

Olympia Federal Savings parking lot (1/30 ƒ/5.6). Note the straight lines.

Mid-century architecture, Olympia Federal Savings bank

Olympia has a good selection of mid-century architecture. The city must have enjoyed a period of prosperity after the war, resulting in a burst of commercial construction. Some of this architecture has aged well, but some of it looks dismal.

Legion Way view west (1/30 ƒ/5.6)

Sylvester Park from Dancing Goats Coffee shop

Capital Way sidewalk

5th Avenue

Olympia's downtown core is grungy and dirty. I wish the city would do a serious cleaning, pressure wash the sidewalks, remove graffiti, remove the homeless, and install more effective street drains. It is disgraceful considering it is the state capital. 

Morning on East Bay

Many mornings, especially after a storm, the light on East Bay is just magic. This is my view during my morning coffee.

Fuji Acros 100 Film

Washington State Capitol (May 3, 2024)

State of Washington General Administration office building from Columbia Street SW

This 1956 office building is an example of International Style architecture, emphasizing horizontal lines and severe lack of external ornamentation. 

"The building was designed by prominent Tacoma architect, A. Gordon Lumm, in the International style distinctive for its horizontal cubical form and spare ornamentation. Its exterior minimalist appearance and interior architectural flexibility, including movable aluminum wall panels, demonstrate a growing aesthetic for modular space able to easily accommodate changing space and technology requirements."

This sounds like an early form of the cube farm. The building has been unoccupied since 2018 because the wiring, plumbing, and structure no longer meet building codes. Six years later, I do not see any work on demolition. Some planning documents state it will be replaced by a parking lot and restroom???

1970 (approx.) postcard of General Services Building.

This is a postcard from the University of Idaho's Northwest Historical Postcards Collection. The building did not look too bad back then. 

Summary

I am thrilled with my 21mm Biogon lens. It is high contrast and distortion-free. Resolution is remarkable on fine-grain film. It is compact enough to easily fit in a camera bag with the rest of the Leica kit. You need to be careful in framing to avoid converging lines, such as in the photograph of the General Services building. It is fine wide open at ƒ/4.5. You need the correct 46mm screw-in filters, but the mounts can be regular thickness (slim-mount not necessary). And you need the correct Zeiss rectangle hood. 

Summary: Highly-recommended!

* The Zeiss ZM lenses are made for use on Leica-M mount camera bodies. Most lenses are made in Japan, but a few are from Germany. Many reviewers state that the ZM lenses are as good optically as genuine Leica lenses but are much less expensive. The 21mm ƒ/4.5 Biogon that I bought is out of production, so if you want one, grab one now. 

The 50mm ƒ/1.5 Sonnar is a modern version of the classic large aperture Sonnar lens, first made a century ago. I already have one Sonnar lens, a 1962-vintage Soviet 50mm ƒ/2 Jupiter-8. These Sonnars produce a different "look" than most contemporary 50mm lenses. 

The Zeiss ZM 25mm Biogon lens has a superlative reputation. But I won't buy one, I promise...... 

(Coming soon: 21 mm scenes in Athens and Istanbul.)

Danger: More GAS and the Zeiss Ikon ZM Rangefinder Camera

Self-control Failure

Yes, I utterly failed GAS control again. I bought another rangefinder camera, a Zeiss Ikon ZM. I used Leica M3 and M2 cameras for 40 years. They did not have built-in light meters, and I wanted extra convenience in a busy setting, such as city photography (or when the relatives were impatient). What camera body would provide auto exposure with M-mount lenses? Choices in 2025 were limited.

1. Minolta CLE from the 1980s. No, too old.
2. Leica M7. The luxury option - tempting! Nice!
3. Zeiss Ikon ZM from 2005.
4. Bessa R2A or R3A. My friend in town said repairs were an ugly experience, and he thought they felt rather discount. And now they cost $1200+ from the Japanese vendors. No.
5. Konica Hexar RF. Rare and may not be totally compatible with Leica M lenses (a controversial topic among internet warriors). No.
6. Rollei 35RF "Classic Edition," 2002. Special edition of the Bessa R2 camera. Rare.  

In 2025, Glazer's Camera in Seattle, Washington, listed a clean ZM for an acceptable price. I drove north and bought it. 

Zeiss Ikon ZM with 21mm ƒ/4.5 Zeiss C-Biogon lens and Leica 21mm viewfinder

Zeiss Ikon ZM

Zeiss started selling the ZM in 2005-2006. The camera was about the same size as a Leica M but was a bit lighter. It has a brilliant clean viewfinder. The auto-exposure function allows quick field work. Cosina in Japan manufactured the body, but it was significantly different than the Bessa bodies that Cosina also built. I will not review the technical details of the ZM because they are available on sites such as at Camera-Wiki and Casual Photophile. 

Some users complained that the rangefinder patch blanked out if their eye was not directly centered in the finder. This seldom was a problem for me. 

Zeiss also introduced a series of ZM lenses in Leica M mount. Many reviewers say the ZM lenses offer similar performance to Leica lenses but at lower price. I have the Zeiss ZM 21mm ƒ/4.5 Biogon lens and love it. As of 2026, some of the ZM lenses are still available new. The 50mm ƒ/1.5 C-Sonnar is a modern update to the classic Sonnar formulation. 

Alas, despite the technical excellence, the ZM body did not sell well, and Zeiss ended production in 2012. Their timing was rough because the digital tsunami was overwhelming the photography world during the early 2000s. Very few new film cameras sold then, and the market was awash with used film cameras that people were clearing out from their homes and studios. (That was the time to buy great bargains.)

 

But today, the ZM appears to be selling well. It is an alternative to the much more expensive Leica M7. 

 

Zeiss Ikon body with 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens

Top view showing large shutter speed control

 

Incompatible M-mount Lenses 

The Zeiss Ikon body will accept most Leica M mount lenses as well as older thread-mount lenses with the appropriate LTM-M adapter. I have used mine with my 1950 5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens and a 1962 Soviet Юпитер-8 lens. In fact, the Summitar performs better on this ZM body than it does on my Leica IIIC body (the latter has some problem in its lens mount). 

Leica M bodies have a rangefinder base length (meaning the distance from the middle of the viewfinder window to the middle of the rangefinder window) of 69.25mm. Leitz set this in 1954, and all Leica M cameras since then have used 69.25mm. The ZM has a base length of 75mm. Therefore, Leica lenses with auxiliary goggles will not work properly because the goggles will not align with the ZM's windows:

• 35mm ƒ/3.5 Summaron-RF
• 35mm ƒ/2.8 Summaron-RF (6-element design with lanthanum glass)
• 35mm ƒ/2 Summicron-RF (the famous 8-element design)
• 135mm ƒ/2.8 Elmarit

From personal experience, I know that the 50mm ƒ/2 Summicron-DR (dual-range) lens will not mount correctly on the ZM body. That is my favorite 50mm lens. Instead, I can use the Type 4 Summicron.

 

The body of the ZM is about the same width and depth as a Leica M. But the ZM is a bit taller. The film rewind is on the bottom, so the left side of the ZM is smooth. A Pentax MX camera is smaller in all dimensions except for the hump of the prism. 

 

The Pentax MX really is a gem of compact engineering. (I like geeky pictures like this. But, of course, they have little to do with real photography out in the field.)

 

Minor Repair

 

The shutter speed control lost its click detents. I do not know what shutter speeds it set, and I ruined part of a roll of film. Fortunately, the technician at Camera Solutions in Portland, Oregon, was able to repair it. But this was a simple mechanical issue; what about a more major failure, such as the electronic shutter?? 

Film Examples

 

Here are samples from Oregon and western Washington with various lenses. Click any picture to enlarge it.

 

 

Gift store, Newport Beach, Oregon (35mm ƒ/2 Summicron lens)

Post office, Menlo, Washington (5cm ƒ/2 Summitar lens)

House with posters, Naselle, Washington (21mm ƒ/4.5 Zeiss Biogon-C lens)

Attack flamingos guarding the property, Central Street, Olympia (21mm Biogon-C lens)

Graffiti, below Henderson Park Lane, Olympia (21mm Biogon-C lens)

Rail line, Henderson Park Lane (90mm ƒ/4 Elmar-M lens)

Motel, 1st Street, Shelton (50mm ƒ/2 Summicron (Type IV) lens)

Alley off Broadway, Aberdeen (35mm ƒ/4 Summicron lens)

 Summary

 

This camera is fun. The Zeiss Ikon ZM is easy to use and is lighter than Leica M bodies. All my lenses focus correctly. The 1950 Summitar lens performs remarkably well when  mounted on this body. The auto exposure system seems foolproof. 

 

Final thought: Highly recommended so long as you can accept the fact that the ZM is an electronically controlled device. It does not seem to be as robust as Leica M film cameras. If the ZM breaks, possibly only Zeiss in Germany will repair it (and at quite a price). 

 

Kodak T400CN Film in Athens, Nov. 2024 (Abandoned Films 13c)

Here are some more examples of the long-discontinued Kodak T400CN black and white film in Athens, Greece (also see the previous article on using T400CN). Being long expired (the film, not me), I exposed it at Exposure Index 50 in my Leica M2 camera. It is a bit limiting in dark places, but I was careful to hold steadily, so even exposures of 1/30 or 1/60 of a second look fine.

Athenas Street with Monasteraki Square in the distance (Leica M2, 21mm ƒ/4.5 Zeiss Biogon lens)

Mrs. Poppy's souvenir store in the Plaka (21mm ƒ/4.5 Zeiss Biogon lens)

Anafiotika kitty (below the Acropolis) (35mm ƒ/2 Summicron lens)

Kitties in the twisty winding alleys below the Acropolis are a thing. I saw two photographers with big lenses concentrating on cat portraits.

Anafiotika artwork (21mm Biogon lens)

Anafiotika artwork (21mm Biogon lens)

First Cemetery, Athens (35mm ƒ/2 Summicron lens)

First Cemetery is the resting place for generations of prominent Athenian citizens, including politicians, poets, authors, and even Heinrich Schliemann.

Seattle Sonics having a coffee at carpo, Psychico 

Beetle in front of traditional villa, Psychico

I remember when Psychico was a quiet town of traditional 2-floor villas. My parents rented one in the 1950s. But now, and quickly, Psychico is becoming a suburb of apartment buildings. 

Northeast Photographic in Bath, Maine, processed the T400CN film in standard C-41 chemistry. I scanned the film with a Nikon Coolscan 5000ED scanner, controlled by NikonScan 4.03 software. The digital ICE system effectively cleans spots and blemishes.

Autumn in Olympia (Oly 27)

 

It is spring of 2026 in Olympia, and an amazing profusion of flowers and leaves are bursting forth. What a spectacular display of nature. But wait, how did winter zip by so quickly? And what about autumn? I did wander around in November and December of 2025. Therefore, Dear Readers, this time I will impose on you some "pretty" pictures. Enjoy the colors and patterns. 

 

Olympia

  

Percival Landing, Nov. 11, 2025

Rail line under Interstate 5, off Henderson Park Lane, Nov. 15, 2025 

(Zeiss Ikon ZM, 21mm ƒ/4,5 Zeiss Biogon-C lens)

View SW towards tunnel under Capitol Blvd. SE (90 mm ƒ/4 Elmar-M lens)

Along the Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail (21mm ƒ/4.5 Zeiss Biogon-C lens)

Sunset from my balcony, East Bay Drive NE (50mm ƒ/2 Summicron lens)

Former Reliable Steel shed, West Bay Drive (21mm ƒ/4.5 Zeiss Biogon-C lens)

Skeleton man on watch duty, Bethel Street (Leica M2, 35mm ƒ/2 Summicron lens)

  

Tumwater

 

Capitol Blvd. SE (historic Route 99), view north (50mm Summicron lens) 

Former Olympia Beer brewery (50mm ƒ/2 Jupiter-8 lens at ƒ/8)

 

The buildings that formerly housed the Olympia Beer ("It's the Water") brewery remain unused, an eyesore. The grounds are patrolled by a security guard. He and I wave to each other when I set up my tripod on the Capitol Blvd. bridge.

 

Seattle

 

Shed next to Connections Museum, Corson Avenue, Seattle

East Marginal Way South, view south (50mm Summicron lens)

In autumn, even East Marginal Way does not look too bad. Cancel that; it still looks very industrial and grungy.

I took these pictures with Kodak Ektar 100 film exposed at EI=80 using my Zeiss Ikon ZM camera with various lenses. The view of the Olympia brewery was with my 1962 50mm ƒ/2 Jupiter-8 lens from the Soviet Union. This is a Sonnar type of optic that is usually acclaimed as a portrait lens because of its pleasing signature. But stopped down to ƒ/5.6 or ƒ/8, my copy does exceptionally well with distant subjects.  

Northeast Photographic in Bath, Maine, developed the film and scanned it with a Noritsu system. The Noritsu colors tend to look very warm, and I adjusted color with Photoshop Elements 2024.

 

Zeiss Ikon ZM rangefinder camera with 21mm ƒ/4.5 C-Biogon ZM lens

 

Ugly Industrial Remains: the Olympia Brewery (Oly 15)

 

Olympia Brewing Company was a major industrial employer in Olympia and Tumwater for over 100 years. Leopold Schmidt founded the company in 1896 at the base of the Deschutes River, at the southern end of the West Bay inlet (now upriver from the southern end of Capitol Lake). The company survived Prohibition by making juice. After Prohibition ended, the company expanded to a more modern factory further upriver in the town of Tumwater. 

BreweryGems offers a summery of the company's early years. 

For over half a century, Olympia Beer was a popular regional brand. It was not exactly a gourmet product, but it sold well in the pre-micro-brew era. 

Trouble came in the 1980s. Various corporate buyouts and mergers ruined the company, and, in 2003, SABMiller closed the Tumwater facility permanently. A fire damaged part of the complex in 2018. Today, these ugly warehouses and buildings sit unused and partly vandalized.

Original Olympia brewhouse with the Deschutes River in the foreground
(Hasselblad 501 CM camera, 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens)

The former brewery occupies two locations. The old brick buildings from the original site are just north of Tumwater Falls facing the Deschutes River (see the first photograph). The site has access via only one road, whose the gate has ominous warning signs about video surveillance and trespassing. The only view now is from the Tumwater Historical Park across the river.

The second site is south of the falls on the flat floodplain of the Deschutes River. As you approach Olympia from southern Washington on Interstate 5, ugly tan block-like industrial buildings mar the view. These are the remains of the Tumwater part of the complex. The best view is from Capital Boulevard SE, which was formerly Rte 99. The bridge crosses over railroad tracks and walkways that once connected the buildings. The following photographs are from the bridge.

Warehouses with Deschutes River in foreground (Fuji Acros film, 21mm ƒ/4.5 Biogon lens)

Railroad tracks approached from the south to a long warehouse complex. It is unused now. 

Former power plant (21mm Biogon lens)

(Kodak T400CN film, Leica IIIC camera, 5 cm ƒ/2 Summiter lens)

View south, August 20, 2024 (Kodak Panatomic-X film,
Hasselblad 501CM, 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens, yellow filter)

Panatomic-X film, 250mm ƒ/5.6 Sonnar lens, YG filter

This mess of concrete, tracks, and sheds is the scene looking south from the Capital Blvd. bridge. Cross the busy roadway and look north, and you see office building and other parts of the former brewery. 

Semi-modern 1960s architecture. Capital Blvd. is to the right.

The Tumwater site is (marginally) secure and locked. A security guard in a silver car drove around the day I took these photographs. You can see his car in the photo above. We waved at each other. 

Rail line that leads to the lower brew buildings and on to Olympia

One day, I would like to take some ground level photos of the site. An employee of the city of Tumwater sent me a contact, but I have not called yet. This kind of industrial setting interests me and offers photographic opportunities with graphic patterns and shapes.

Most of the photographs above are on Fuji Acros film from my Leica M2. The light was harsh, and the negatives are too contrasty. I need to remember to avoid the harsh mid-summer sun. My new Zeiss 21mm ƒ/4.5 Biogon lens (for Leica M mount) provides superb resolution. With a lens this wide, you need to be careful to avoid converging vertical lines. I need more practice.