lars_bergquist Posted December 3, 2009 Share #41 Posted December 3, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) I kept my 50 'lux ASPH because I reckoned there would be a full frame M soon, and I was right! It is quite possibly the best 50mm lens for the '35mm' format ever designed, and it is wonderful to have it back in full service. This said, If I had to take just one lens on a voyage around the world, the choice between 35 and 50mm would be determined by the environments I would visit: Mostly urban, or mostly rural? The old man from the Brass Age Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 3, 2009 Posted December 3, 2009 Hi lars_bergquist, Take a look here Only one lens for M9. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
batmobile Posted December 3, 2009 Share #42 Posted December 3, 2009 One lens on the M9 = 50 lux ASPH. In my opinion, this should be a no brainer unless you truly do not have the money for this lens or absolutely must have a different focal length. You make it sound as if anyone going for another lens, when they could afford the 50 asph, is somehow crazy! As for 'absolutely must have another FL' , that makes it sound like FL is about whim and performance the real decider! I have always assumed that people choose FL first and then lens performance second, but maybe I am wrong... Why would someone go to another FL to get higher tech specs rather than shoot the best of the FL the prefer? FL affects your entire interaction with your subject and resultant image. I'd rather work with a 35 Pancake II as the only lens I could ever use than a 50 lux asph, for example. An F2 would be preferable but if push came to shove, FL would be the deciding factor, then specs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbaron Posted December 3, 2009 Share #43 Posted December 3, 2009 WTF is FL? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adli Posted December 3, 2009 Share #44 Posted December 3, 2009 Focal Length Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blatent liar Posted December 5, 2009 Share #45 Posted December 5, 2009 35 Lux Asph. Absolutely and without equivocation you can glue it to my M9. ...(at least this year). If and when I am too frightened to get close enough to get the picture, I suppose I'll get a 50 Lux Asph. I do miss my Nocti, but it was a heavy slow turning beastie. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
twf Posted December 5, 2009 Share #46 Posted December 5, 2009 I believe that Henry Catier Bresson who used a M Leica used just one lens and that was a 50mm. I sure wish I could take photographs like he did. One of the great photographers of our time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jager Posted December 5, 2009 Share #47 Posted December 5, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Another vote for the 50 Lux ASPH. Easy call. Though the 35 Lux ASPH is right up there. If the much-rumored new version of the 35 comes out next year it'll be a horse race for sure. And I'm finding my not-much-used-in-recent-years 50 Cron to be spending some serious time on my M9, both because of its ease of focus compared to the 50 Lux ASPH and because I've fallen in love again with its signature. We're fortunate to have such a surfeit of riches among Leica's lineup of glass... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamriman Posted January 2, 2010 Share #48 Posted January 2, 2010 50 APSH lux LHSA black paint. Exquisite on my black paint M9. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James R Posted January 2, 2010 Share #49 Posted January 2, 2010 I've been shooting with the M9 for a couple weeks and find myself using the 35 Cron more than the 50 Lux. I'm really loving the 35. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scc Posted January 2, 2010 Share #50 Posted January 2, 2010 For me its the 35 cron asph, no questions. I have a black paint one which is beautiful. I love it for its drawing, the 35 FOV and also its very compact size. I've often thought about a 35 lux asph but the well documented focus shift issues make me resist. Perhaps in the future.. I'd love that 24 lux though, wow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tategoi Posted January 2, 2010 Author Share #51 Posted January 2, 2010 Well, sometimes what you wish may not be what you get. I wanted a 50 Lux, but unfortunately its out of stock in my area, and throughout the world as I can see. I've got myself a 35 Cron to go with my M9. I am greedy, M9 is not a one-lens camera. Whats next? 50 Lux I shall wait. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
innerimager Posted January 2, 2010 Share #52 Posted January 2, 2010 As much as I love my 50 lux asph, and pre-asph noctilux on the M9, when I go out with one lens it's the 35 lux asph. It covers more situations and renders extremely well on the M9. I shoot with critical focus at all apertures between 1.4 and 8, focus shift has never been a problem in real images. I use 1.4 often in my style of shooting, and can hand hold this lens down to 1/15 which is harder on the 50. Because I need the extra stop so often I haven't been too tempted by the wonderful 35 cron asph or the V4 pre-asph. I did try a 35 summarit in a store and found my lux outperformed it at 2.8, and 4, and it wasn't so much smaller than the lux to be an advantage in handling. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpleica Posted January 2, 2010 Share #53 Posted January 2, 2010 I'll add my two cents here. I received my M9 at the end of October, coming back to Leica after retiring my M3 20 years ago for a pair of Fujica 6x9s. I had no lenses. So I read a lot of what has been posted on this forum, and Erwin Puts' writings on the Tao of Leica, and settled on the 24 Elmar, 28 Elmarit, 35 Summicron, and 50 Summilux, all ASPH. I wanted tack sharp lenses, edge to edge, throughout their entire range of apertures. Erwin's tests and comments really helped me choose between the options available - plus, the smaller size of the 28 Elmarit and 35 cron makes it such that they don't completely obliterate the entire lower right corner of the viewfinder when you're using them (which the luxes in these lenses do to a greater degree). All of this having been said, and with 6000+ shots taken with the M9 to date, I'd say each lens has its niche, certainly, but if needing to choose, I'd give up the 24 without hesitation (anyone want to buy a new lens - it really needs the external viewfinder to be useful if you want to know precisely what's in the frame before taking the photograph), the 28 requires you to press your eye tightly to the viewfinder to SEE the framelines (very frustrating...nothing like what I expected), the 35 is a gem and a pleasure to use and seems to fit my personal "standard" vision, as Lars well qualified, and this lens is on my M9 75% of the time. And finally the 50 lux is just beautiful to use and the way it renders the image, a person, a tree, a fence, is simply incredible in every way and I use it about 20% of the time and I expect to use it more - especially for night work wide open (anyone have LHSA black version of this lens to sell?). As has been mentioned, all of these comments come down to what fits your subject matter and your style of shooting. I bought all four lenses at one time because I knew what I was after, but didn't know which lens would work best for me on the M9 - as the camera itself can influence the subject matter you choose and the style with which you approach that subject matter. Like Lars, I can think in any one of my four lenses' angle of view, and I can adapt my shooting accordingly. 38 years of shooting will do that for you if you pay attention to your surroundings and know your equipment. So re-introducing myself to the Leica M with these four lenses all at the same time just helped me to find what I was looking for quickly. Frankly, I thought I was going to like the 28 best (as two of my mentors are Garry Winogrand and Lee Friedlander), but the difficulty in seeing the framelines in the M9 has put me off from using this lens much - as I DO like to see what's precisely in the frame when I take a shot. One last point that has not been mentioned much and that is weight. Again, another reason for the smaller lenses if you like to carry a camera and lens on your shoulder that feels like a feather compared to a Nikon D3. Geoffrey Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted January 2, 2010 Share #54 Posted January 2, 2010 In general, and with very few exceptions (the Summicron 28mm for instance), the lenses with external finish in Silver, Titanium and Black Paint have also the main barrel built in solid brass, while the Black Crome versions have the barrel buiti in Aluminum. In fact there is a substantial difference in weight which is also reported in the data sheets.The Summicron's 50mm, current model, weight respectively 335 g (silver) vs 240g (black crome). Cheers, Ario Yes, outer, visible parts were brass, because it has been difficult to put a good silver chrome finish on aluminum. But this seems to be changing, probably because of new types of priming. (You are yourself quoting a good example.) And even 'brass' lenses had lots of aluminum inside, after the 1950's -- when people actually did complain about the excessive weight of Canon and Nikon lenses. You will find that both companies did soon reduce the weights quite a bit, long before the plastic era! Leica lenses did change from brass to anodized aluminum during the 1960's of course. There were some holdovers, like the old style mount 135mm Tele-Elmar. It feels like a brass cannon, bcause it is a brass cannon! The old man from the Brass Age Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted January 2, 2010 Share #55 Posted January 2, 2010 I believe that Henry Catier Bresson who used a M Leica used just one lens and that was a 50mm. I sure wish I could take photographs like he did. One of the great photographers of our time. It is a fact that HCB did occasionally use 35mm, especially in the U.S.A. But what the hell, I've seen a picture of Ansel Adams holding a Contax and looking smug ... The old man from the Brass Age Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raizans Posted January 2, 2010 Share #56 Posted January 2, 2010 i'd like to have the 28mm elmarit asph, 35mm summicron asph, and 50mm summilux asph. oh, wait. what was the question? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggits Posted January 2, 2010 Share #57 Posted January 2, 2010 Never had a Leica - nor any M lenses before 23/12. At first I placed an order for Summilux 1.4/35 - but on date for shipment I change my order to Lux 1.4/50. I have not regret that in a moment. It works for me indoor as well as outdoor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cityman Posted January 5, 2010 Share #58 Posted January 5, 2010 WTF is FL? That's a good one!! I was wondering the same... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DFV Posted January 5, 2010 Share #59 Posted January 5, 2010 If I only had one lens for the M9? 21 f/2.8. A fast 21 was the only thing I was missing in using the M8. it was the whole point of dropping $7K for the M9. Gotta dance with the one that brought you... Second - 75. Third - 35...and so on. My reason for the upgrade to the M9. Since my M6 back in 88 my favorite lens has been without a doubt the Elmarit 21. First the non-Asph and later the Asph. Regarding the focal length I would suggest the 50mm for overall photography. Although I still would like somebody to give me their impressions of the combination of the Summilux 50 at f1,4 with an M9. I am having very poor results that could be due to a defect in my lens. If you like more nature/abstract/reportage than I suggest the 35mm or even 28mm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elmo Posted January 5, 2010 Share #60 Posted January 5, 2010 20+ years with an M6 I had a 35F2.8 mounted 95% of the time. I had a 50mm [rarely used] and a 90f2.8 used the other 5%. For my M9 I ordered the 35f2.0 asph. Later, I expect to get a 75 or 90 summarit [f2.5] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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