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Thanks for those comments. What I've decided to do is buy one lens, the 35 Summilux FLE (which I found like new -- used once -- for $4600 shipped, a good deal IMHO) and wait on the new M to arrive. Then I might go for a tele down the road. I decided on the 35 over the 50 because I heard great things about the FLE and because I want to challenge myself to shoot with only one focal length for a while. That's ultimately what I'm shifting systems in the first place. I feel like I lost all the art and passion for photography once I started collecting Nikon stuff, and I want to get that back. My only concern, again, is portraiture, which I'm not convinced can be done with 35. But I'd love to be proved wrong about that...

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A cheap but impeccably sharp option of really good character for portraiture is the Voigtlander Color-Heliar 2.5/75 (with the appropriate adapter, available through Cameraquest). If you like it it is affordable enough (you won't want to sell it) to keep beside some other longer lens that takes your fancy.

 

As said before - in the Leica world, don't lose yourself in the idea of super-fast lenses. They are not better - only faster and draw differently. Only buy them if you need the wide aperture for artistic reasons. And you don't have to stop a Leica lens down for best quality. All perform excellently at maximum aperture. It is really different world you are entering.

Leica M cameras are superbly handholdable at long shutterspeeds and the M will have excellent high ISO, so lens speed is not really needed for reasonably low light

 

Look at the fingerprint of a lens, ask on this forum (we are willing to discuss the most minuscule differences in rendering ad nauseam;)) and then decide what you want.

Edited by jaapv
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Although other focal lengths certainly have their time and place (not to mention ardent proponents), 35 and 50 are at the sweet spot of M-system excellence. It's there that the rangefinder rules and from which Leica built its legendary reputation.

 

Your choice of the 35 Lux FLE is a fine one.

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