28mm or 35mm

[David Freeman Photography]

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Hi All

 

Only had my M9 a few months and have a 50 Summ 1.4 with it , i was thinking of getting another wider lens, but unsure of either a 28 or 35..any help appreciated..

 

Thx

[Fgcm]

It depends on you.

35 is an easy length

28 requires some learning.

 

35 is the natural choice with the 0,68 finder.

Composition is more complex with 28, but you get closer to the action.

If you cover a rally of protesters or a strike with the 28, you feel inside the action.

 

A very very good 28 is the little Elmarit-M 2,8 - 28 Asph.

 

All current 35 are very good lenses.

If you can, get a Summilux Asph FLE.

If you prefer a better value for money, Summarit 35 is a great lens.

Many would suggest to go for Summicron 35 Asph, but in my opinion, Summarit is even better because it's flare-free.

Summicron gives a different signature

 

Franco

[Walt Calahan]

Depends how you see.

 

I like skipping focal lengths. I use a 24, 35 and 75 on my Leica M6 TTL.

 

If I had a 50mm, I'd probably get a 20, 28, and a 90.

 

But that's just me.

 

If you can rent the two, I recommend trying both lenses to see which works for your esthetic.

[skinnfell]

You have to ask yourself WHY you need another lens.

What is it the 50 can not do for you?

 

It depends on your shooting style and wether you plan to buy other lenses in the future. Are you planning an even wider lens down the road?

Common sense would have you get the 28, since it is the widest lens which does not require an accessory finder.

 

My tip: since you have a M9 with a frameline preview lever, start using it. Every time you think "now my 50 is not enough", flip the preview between 28 and 35, and you will develop a feel for what you need. If you find that you just want something slightly wider, while still having the natural look of the 50, then obviously 35 is the way to go.

If you use glasses then 28 might be harder to use.

 

As regards of choice of lenses, ALL current leica lenses are exellent. They all run circles around the big japanese names at comparable parameters (execpt price of course).

 

A lot of people on this forum poo-poo the 35/2 Asph. I think this is quite undeserved. The 35/2 asph is very small and my fastest focusing lens as well as the best balanced of all my four leica lenses. While my 28/2 asph is marginally sharper it also has more distortion and more fall-off. But they are both beautiful.

[tomasis7]

if your 50m is main lens, go for 24 mm and call for day :

 

my setup is 50 and 24. (i dont have 24mm yet

 

Forget 35mm , it is way too close to 50mm. you can take a few steps back voila you get picture with 50mm. 24-28 is different. 21 is a bit extreme.

 

Having 2 wide angles is too much so I feel that 24 or 28 is good compromise!

[Tonki-M]

i myself use a 35 and 50 setup. 35 will give u a decent wide angle w/o any wide angle distortion. i would switch to 35 when i am in a confined space or want a wider view. they are both distortion free, and hard to tell any diff when u crop the 35 (aside from the DoF). if this is not what you're looking for, perhaps the 28 might be a better choice. it all really depends on what you will use it for. if you want a wide angle to go with a 50, perhaps the 24 or 21 may appeal to you. they are all great lens

[lars_bergquist]

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+1. Last autumn I spent a week with friends away from home. In my bag was a 90mm Elmarit-M, a 50mm Summilux ASPH and the current ('FLE') 35mm Summilux ASPH.

 

I did not use the 90mm once! I made half my exposures with the 50, half with the 35. In all cases I knew why I did choose the lens I used. The 50 mainly out of doors, the 35 indoors, and often wide open (late September is when it starts to get dark in Sweden). I did not find either lens superfluous. They are quite different optics and deserve to be used for what they are.

 

And I don't own a 28mm lens. There are two reasons why: I would never forgo my 35, and a real wide angle lens is the practical next step. I have settled on 21mm as my mainstay. To me, a 28mm lens is something of a betwixt-and-between: It is not a real wide angle lens, but it does force you to work like you were using one. A standard lens – a long one like the 50, a short one like the 35 – needs a different composition than a wide angle lens, and the 28 falls between them.

 

Also, I wear glasses and cannot see the 28mm finder frame. When I used 28mm lenses I had to use an accessory finder, so why not use something really wide?

 

Below is a picture from that autumn trip – the 35 as a 'conversation lens'. ISO 500, 1/30, wide open.

 

The old man from the Kodachrome Age

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[philipus]

Hi All

 

Only had my M9 a few months and have a 50 Summ 1.4 with it , i was thinking of getting another wider lens, but unsure of either a 28 or 35..any help appreciated..

 

Thx

 

Before you got the M9 what camera and, more importantly, focal lengths, did you use then?

[LucisPictor]

With the M8 my fav FL is 28mm, so I would get a 35mm for an M9.

[earleygallery]

You have to ask yourself WHY you need another lens.

What is it the 50 can not do for you?

 

+1

 

No one can give you any meaningful advice on this question, they can only tell you what they would choose.

 

Is a 35mm too close to a 50mm? I don't think so, but then that's my opinion. If you need a wideangle lens is 28mm wide enough?

 

Sorry but you really do need to make the decision for yourself, and getting back to the quote above, if you actually NEED a wider lens you will know what that need is!

[Guest MarcRF]

I had the same decision. 35 vs 28. after all I had the X100 and a 50 1.4 asph.

 

I got the 0.58 viewfinder so precise framing is no problem even with glasses on.. then I looked at the possibilities and the price range.

 

28 elmarit 1700€

28 cron 4000€

 

35 summarit 1450€

35 cron 2400€

35 lux asph fle 4000€

 

(I wanted to buy it new...)

 

since I got the 50 as the main lens I didnt need another premium lens. 35 and 50 are considered standards so my decision was that I only need 1 of those. the other thoughts were weight, size and performance... and the elmarit 28 asph won clearly. definitely got the 2 lenses that I wished for on my first 2 buys...

 

the angle of view is similar but I took the 28 focal length because precise framing is possible without an external viewfinder thus being the widest option I had.. didnt want to use an external finder yet.. still have to bond with my M and the 2 lenses to get something else

 

performance of the small thingy is huge. flare free, sharp everywhere even wide open, distortion-free wide angle...

 

choosing lenses is a very subjective thing to do... I'm glad if I can help you with my post but don't take anything as the ultimate truth

[philipus]

One thing to consider is that the field which a 35 captures is just some steps away from a 50. Likewise a 28's field is just several steps from a 35. While such composing using ones feet is sometimes an option, I do bring the 35 to use in situations where I wouldn't have that possibility with my 50, such as indoors or in otherwise cramped locations. I do have a 2,8cm lens but find that it is not very useful when I have the 35. The 28, unless I am entirely mistaken, does not distort as the even wider lenses do so ultimately your choice may depend on how willing and able (depending on geography) you are to move about. The minimum focusing distance of all 28s and 35/2s and also the 35/1.4s (except v1 and v2) is 0.7m (Summarit is 0.8) so this is of little concern to the equation.

[250swb]

Hi All

 

Only had my M9 a few months and have a 50 Summ 1.4 with it , i was thinking of getting another wider lens, but unsure of either a 28 or 35..any help appreciated..

 

Thx

 

Both 28mm and 35mm Summicron's are fine lenses but you shouldn't try to overthink what you want. Go on gut instinct and previous experience, have a look at other photographers that you like and see how they handle wider lenses, but don't pay attention to the rules people make up about what you should have just yet. Having your 50mm as the mid-point and one jump down you get the 35mm, or two jumps the 28mm, is a fine idea in theory, but some way down the road you may decide that it is the 50mm Summilux that is the odd one out. A lot of people use a 35mm as their 'standard' lens and build the rest around that. And yes it is an expensive decision, but you can never know until you have a go. And of course for the price of one Summicron you could get two Zeiss ZM lenses

 

Steve

[tomasis7]

some call 35mm lens as normal lens?

 

in the case, having two normal lenses seems waste of money IMO

 

If 35mm is true wide angle , then it is fine for me so 50mm is only normal FL lens

[lars_bergquist]

Tomasis, the classical definition of a standard lens is one with a focal length that just about equals the diagonal of the film/sensor format. This is why 75mm was standard for a 6x6cm (55x55mm) camera, and a 6x9 roll film folder took a 10.5cm lens. And 13.5cm was standard for 9x12cm cut film.

 

But the diagonal of the 24x36mm frame is 43.2mm.

 

So you see that 50mm (actually, c. 52mm) and 35mm are both the nearest approximations to a standard lens for this format. I see them as a long and a short standard lens, respectively. And I find them so different from each other that I not only own both, I do actually carry both in my bag sometimes!

 

The old man from the Kodachrome Age

[Pecorty]

I use 35 and 50, both of them are crons, I like more the 35, the way you can use the hipper focal makes it easier to use than 50, the ability of quick focus is superior in 35 too. By the other way with the 50 for me, it's more easy to make a good composition. The 28 its more for landscapes or photografy in wich people are not the main reason of the photograf, they are secondary objects. But all what I said its only mi idea. If you can, try both of them. More soon than late you will have all the set.

 

And excuses for my poor English, I'm from Spain.

[sblitz]

I have the 28 and 35 having traded the 21 for the 28. Also 50 and 75 and 135. I didn't like the distortion with the 21 and find there is a real difference with 28 vs 35. 28 makes the m9 a fast point and shoot with hyper focal focus. Great inside and when touring. Can capture buildings and street scenes. One mans opinion. Have the elmarit 28. And it is a great lens

[IkarusJohn]

I have had a 50 mm lens on my camera for some months, and I like to cary a second lens in my bag, though in truth, I'm not using the second lens that much (a different issue).

 

For me, the better match for the 50 is a 28, as it gives a very nice alternative field of view. I like to use the 28 in close as the field of view is quite different to the 35, and you get just a bit more drama.

 

Having said all that, I often can't make up my mind - I have a 28 and 35 on a back-to-back lens cap in my bag, just in case.

[Chuck Albertson]

Whatever you do, don't get rid of that 50.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[sblitz]

+1 !!!!!!!