I thought I'd made a mature decision ...

[mreddington]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

... after following the M8 saga since it was released I intended waiting until the dust had settled and then in August think about whether I would treat myself for my 60th birthday. Wrong! A few weeks ago I went into my local dealer for something quite different and opened my big mouth: "You don't happen to have a black M8 in stock?" Well, the answer was that they had just received one and I left the shop with a big hole in my bank account.

 

I wouldn't have taken this step without all the outstanding advice on this forum so thanks to all. I am now putting together a lens collection and started with the 35 cron. This was really just to get me started and was one of only very few lenses the dealer had and I think it might have been a wrong decision. In the meantime, thanks to you all and especially Sean Reid's hands-on reviews, I also have the CV15, CV75 and Zeiss 50, all superb lenses and I find the FOV of the 35 a bit boring. I intend getting the 28/2.8 as soon as they become available again and might then get rid of the 35 (although being anal I suspect I will hang on to it - it really does have outstanding quality).

 

So this is just to say hello and to thank everyone for such excellent support and information. The Leica community seems to be very civilized compared to some and I am really looking forward to rediscovering the rangefinder experience!

 

Cheers

Martin

[jonoslack]

Congratulations Martin

I hope you'll be very happy together!

And a big welcome of course

[carstenw]

Hello Martin, and welcome. I am wondering if you are talking about the 35 Cron Asph, or the older version? I have the latter and don't find it boring, but then if you just mean the FoV, then this is very personal. I would keep it for now and see how you get along with it for street photography, and perhaps for shooting friends and family in casual settings, or walking about in the forest.

[mreddington]

Hi Jono and Carsten,

 

Thanks for responding. It's the 35 cron Asph and as you said, Carsten, it is the FoV that I find less interesting at the moment. I have been using a 5D for some time with the 24-105 as my walk-about lens and looking through the exif data I seem to use it either fully wide, which would be consistent with the cv15, around 35 mm (which makes the 28 attractive) and occasionally at full tele (now the cv75). I rarely found I needed anything longer.

 

You are right, though. With family or friends I tended to use the 50/1.4 or the 35/2 on the 5D so I won't do anything rash about the 35 cron yet. In the long haul I expect either the 35 or the 50 will become redundant but we'll see. My first impression is that they do have slightly different characteristics.

 

Martin

[scott kirkpatrick]

I just got a 35/2 cron asph and have been shooting only with it for a few days to get used to it. When I was mostly using an Olympus E-1 I found my 11-22 zoom spent all its time at either 11 (22 mm eff) or 22 (44 mm eff) and this (the 35/2.0) is close to the latter (ZD 22), which was the weaker end of that lens, but useful. So far I have shot over a hundred exposures at a family event and a comparable amount on a project to show how Jerusalem is changing. Very different settings, but it brings something interesting out in each. See here for examples from the second set. See how you like the different geometries of the different CV focal lengths -- then you can torment yourself with wondering how the different variants of your favorite focal length will draw, produce tone and texture, etc.

 

scott

[mreddington]

The way you've used the CV50 is pretty much how I imagine I will be using the Zeiss 50. You've got some excellent family shots with the 24/2.8. I agree I will be tormenting myself. It's already beginning to happen and I feel I'm on a slippery slope to a minimalist bank balance!

 

Martin

[carstenw]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

The way you've used the CV50 is pretty much how I imagine I will be using the Zeiss 50. You've got some excellent family shots with the 24/2.8. I agree I will be tormenting myself. It's already beginning to happen and I feel I'm on a slippery slope to a minimalist bank balance!

 

Martin

A minimalist bank balance is vastly preferable to a maximalist loan setup, which is more or less where I have ended up

[mreddington]

A minimalist bank balance is vastly preferable to a maximalist loan setup, which is more or less where I have ended up

 

Been there, done that, when I got into computers. Jumped on a Compaq 386 when it first came out and ended up in the hands of the loan sharks (aka Deutsche Bank). Took me years to recover.

[dcoombs]

Rumour has it that those who sell their Leica lenses, for whatever reason, end up regretting it.

 

I find that my 35 cron (an older version, 1969) is my default lens on the M8 when going out. But then I used a 50mm most often on my film Leica.

 

Enjoy the M8 with whatever you choose. It is an outstanding instrument.

 

Doug

[Fotogo]

Welcome to the club. Your bank account will heal..and I recommend you keep your 35. For me, the M8 has had a more positive influence on my photogrpahy, than any camera I have owned, other M series included. Have fun with yours.

[chris_tribble]

If I'm travelling really light and take one lens, it's often my old 35 cron. Body and lens it in the pocket and the 45mm approx FoV catches most things. If I've made the decision to carry two lenses it's the 28 Asph + a 50 Lux. Every dog seems to have it's day.

 

Welcome and enjoy...

[mreddington]

Well, time will tell. Sounds reasonable that it will depend how many lenses I want to have with me. With the 5D I have often just had the 24-105 unless I was using single focal lengths when I often had both the 50 and 35 with me.

 

Thanks for all your welcoming comments.

 

Martin

[carstenw]

You may want to consider another two-lens kit, at least as a Gedankenexperiment: WATE and TE. You get the following focal lengths: 16, 18, 21, 28, 35, 50. This is equivalent to 21, 24, 28, 35, 50, 67. Add a 90 Macro and you've got quite a flexible kit, although not very fast.

[mreddington]

You may want to consider another two-lens kit, at least as a Gedankenexperiment: WATE and TE. You get the following focal lengths: 16, 18, 21, 28, 35, 50. This is equivalent to 21, 24, 28, 35, 50, 67. Add a 90 Macro and you've got quite a flexible kit, although not very fast.

 

I am afraid I would then join you in the maximalist loan club! Seriously, I had thought of the WATE, but decided on a range of single focal lengths partly due to cost, but also to have faster lenses.

 

I can see myself ending up with a 21 and 24 as well but should probably get a 28 first and then see what I miss.

 

Martin

[jonoslack]

You may want to consider another two-lens kit, at least as a Gedankenexperiment: WATE and TE. You get the following focal lengths: 16, 18, 21, 28, 35, 50. This is equivalent to 21, 24, 28, 35, 50, 67. Add a 90 Macro and you've got quite a flexible kit, although not very fast.

Hi Carsten

I used this setup on a recent trip to Greece (with two bodies), and it really is excellent for travelling - the f4 is fine for most circumstances. It all fits neatly into a small Hadley bag.

[geoffreyg]

Another way to do the lenses is whether you want to change lenses or not:

 

for no-lens change, and as a walk-around, the 28 2.8 is just fine for me - great FOV, with enough wide to get usually most subjects. The 'cron version is just a bit bigger in size, and 2.8 seems pretty good. I'd like the extra stop sometimes tho!

 

I've got a small waist bag for a point and shoot, and stick in it two small lenses - a CV15 and 40 1.4, as this covers both wide, and a wee tele with great low light. This approach seems to work very nicely, its unobtrusive, and gives a fair amount of flexibility.

 

The Tri-E (28/35/50) is just a bit big for walk around, as it skews the balance point on the camera, and f4, well, isn't quite fun for the darker areas.

 

Curiously, another approach for walking in a tight city (such as in Italy) the 15 CV is a great walk-around lens. Great depth of field, set it at 5.6 and everything is in focus, and its pretty small.

 

But with a small waist bag, its pretty easy to carry some cards, a battery and a couple of small lenses. Rules out any teles tho, except for maybe the macro 90.

[mreddington]

Another way to do the lenses is whether you want to change lenses or not

 

I tend to be lazy and prefer not to change lenses too often. That's why I would like to identify the best one for me to use as a default lens. Good point about the CV15 being good in narrow streets. In the long run it will be a matter of having a range of options and taking different combinations for different situations (and resisting the temptation to take everything, thus negating the advantage of a small, compact system).