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please advise: three lenses not to buy for the M9


geesbert

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What happens when you are getting older JAAP ´? Perhaps the OP was

written by someone who feels a LEICA + a 135mm lens is too heavy to

lug around and hold steady for a while .

 

Not to talk about eyes. Not about vision.

 

This photo is another splendid sample for your photographic skills,

great shot and thx for sharing.

 

 

Regards

 

GEORG

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If we were to treat the question seriously (which we probably shouldn't), then I'd say:

 

1. Any 24mm lens - since if you have to use an external finder you might as well go for a 21

2. Any 75mm lens - since it's a bit of a bastard-child focal length between 50 and 90

3. (Sorry jaapv), any 135mm lens - since using one of these on an M is 'like taking a shower in a raincoat' ;)

 

(disclosure - I have a 24 and a 75, and I've contemplated the goggled 135).

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The Sumicron was the first lens worldwide designed with the aid of a computer. It was a Zuse: shibumi � Blog Archive � Computer Zuse Z 25 (not sure, if the picture shows the actual type used by Leica.

 

OK, a poorly worded statement on my part. I was really thinking of modern CAD systems where a lens can be modelled virtually and its performance assessed without prototypes having to be made. This is undoubtedly why Leica has been able to introduce so many new designs recently, not just for the M but also the S2 and X1, as well as those it has produced for Panasonic, within a relatively short period of time.

 

The limited power of computers when the 50 Summicron was conceived would have speeded up the process by undertaking the complex calculations involved, but essentially there would still have been reliance on Walter Mandler's experience and intuition to create a successful design.

 

In other words, Mandler would have been following in the same footsteps of those such as Dennis Taylor (Cooke triplet) and Paul Rudolphe (Tessar) who created classic designs without the aid of computers. For me, this gives the lens a character that later Leica lenses, excellent as they are, cannot quite match. That the design is so long lived is also testament to Mandler's genius.

 

Regards

 

Mike

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If we were to treat the question seriously (which we probably shouldn't), then I'd say:

 

1. Any 24mm lens - since if you have to use an external finder you might as well go for a 21

2. Any 75mm lens - since it's a bit of a bastard-child focal length between 50 and 90

3. (Sorry jaapv), any 135mm lens - since using one of these on an M is 'like taking a shower in a raincoat' ;)

 

(disclosure - I have a 24 and a 75, and I've contemplated the goggled 135).

 

David: I totally have to disagree with 1.) and 2.)

 

the 24 is a jolly companion to the 35, the 21 is for my taste too far a gap. and the 24 reasonably well works without a viewfinder by guesstimating the additional real estate around the 28 frame.

the 21 is nice with a 28 and a 50.

 

although I currently don't own a 75 (it didn't work for me on the M8) it is high on my list, especially again in companionship with the 35. I always found 90 to bee too tight, I like to taste a bit of space around people's heads as I am goiing for portraits, not mug shots. 75 starts to give you a nice gulp of compression without the feeling of distance 90 would give.

 

I am with you on 3.)

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I definitely agree with Bill on this one. At the moment the 50 Summicron is my favourite M lens for the way that it renders the subject - it seems much less clinical than more recent designs developed with the aid of computers. The perspective offered by the standard focal length might make it more challenging to get a good composition, but then is that not one of the delights of photography in solving such issues to produce a pleasing image?

 

Regards

 

Mike

 

 

don't get me wrong: I think it is every photographers duty to shoot exclusively with a fifty for a while. I currently own three of them. my point is that the summicron is nothing special compared to the other Leica offerings. I agree it is a nicely performing lens, but I see a Lux pre-asph or an Elmar as a much more interesting lens.

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Great bar thread :D

 

Though you are completely wrong about (#2) - the Summicron. You are generalising, unfortunately. I have a Summicron DR and it is a gem. I wouldn't be seen without it.

 

Regards,

 

Bill

 

dito

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