The Leica Super-Elmar-M 18mm f/3.8 ASPH. ($3,250) is a compact lens that covers an ultra-wide field of view when paired with a full-frame rangefinder or mirrorless camera. It's expensive, but its compact design and sharp optics don't disappoint. There are some drawbacks, especially if you often use filters, but on a whole, it delivers the quality that you expect from a Leica lens. It's not the absolute best value in this focal length, as the Zeiss Distagon T* 4/18 ZM ($500.00 at Amazon) offers most of the performance at less than half the price. But the Zeiss lags behind the Leica in performance, especially at the edges of the frame. If you're willing to pay for it, the Super-Elmar-M is a solid wide-angle option. 

The lens measures 2.3 by 2.4 inches (HD) and weighs 10.9 ounces. It includes a compact lens hood, but you'll need to remove that to mount the optional filter holder ($99.95), and then use big 77mm filters. The reason for this is the curved front element of the lens; it extends too far from the ring around it to allow for a standard filter thread. The Zeiss 18mm is a bit bigger (2.8 by 2.6 inches, 12.3 ounces), but it uses smaller 58mm filters and doesn't require the use of an accessory to mount them.

The Super-Elmar-M can focus as close as 0.7 meter, but its narrow aperture and wide angle design give it sufficient depth of field to bring objects a bit closer than that into clear view. There's a printed depth of field scale, located directly behind the manual focus ring, with markings for f/3.8 and f/5.6 through f/16 at full-stop increments. The 18mm Zeiss Distagon focuses a bit closer, 0.5 meter, as does Leica's unique Tri-Elmar-M 16-18-21mm f/4 ASPH. lens.

The aperture ring supports half-stop adjustments through f/16. As you'd expect from an M lens, the construction is all metal—in this case black anodized aluminum. With frequent use the anodization will wear to show the natural silver color of the metal underneath, especially around the aperture ring. Images captured by the lens show no evidence of purple color fringing, even in situations where they are likely to occur. The Voigtlander Ultron 21mm F1.8 ($1,149.00 at Amazon) displayed noticeable purple artifcacts around the panes of the windows in an image shot inside Grand Central Terminal. Many lenses will show that type of chromatic aberration when shooting dark objects against bright light, but there's none to be seen with the Super-Elmar-M.

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I used Imatest to check the performance of the Super-Elmar-M when paired with the full-frame Leica M (Typ 240) ($2,969.00 at Amazon) . Distortion is a nonissue, and the lens is quite sharp. At f/3.8 it scores 2,681 lines per picture height on our center-weighted resolution test, which is much better than the 1,800 lines we use to mark an image as sharp. Edges are a bit weak, showing just 600 lines, but performance is strong through most of the frame. Stopping down to f/5.6 improves the center-weighted score to 2,927 lines, with edges that are still soft at 900 lines.

At f/8 the lens manages 3,038 lines with edges that are very acceptable (1,525 lines), and at f/11 the average score remains steady but edges top 1,900 lines. The Super-Elmar-M edges out the Zeiss Distagon 18mm in center-weighted sharpness at every tested aperture, and trounces it towards the edges of the frame. The Distagon's periphery is at its best at f/11, and only shows 1,300 lines at that aperture. The larger, pricier Tri-Elmar 16-18-21mm isn't quite as sharp at wider apertures, but its edges are sharper and it covers three focal lengths rather than one.

The Leica Super-Elmar-M 18mm f/3.8 ASPH. is one of the smaller lenses that you can buy that covers an ultra-wide angle, and its optics are excellent in all but the outer edges of the frame, but it's not flawless. It's expensive, especially when compared with the Zeiss Distagon 18mm, and it requires you to buy an accessory filter holder and big 77mm filters if you require them for your photography. Like any lens with the Leica name, the Super-Elmar-M is expensive when compared with the competition, but there's no questioning its quality.

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