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I like 35 + 75.  50 is admitted quite a different focal length from 35, but I get lazy changing between those two focal lengths. 75 offers enough of a spread and is for me the best focal length for portraits.   

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My favourite is the 28-50. But I have also used these: 21-28, 21-50, 28-90 quite successfully. Even when I travel with 2 lenses, I rarely change lenses in the field as you can always take pictures with what you have. 

 

Frankly there is no ideal 2 kit lens.

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With an M9 or M240 if I were limited (that being the operative word) to 1 other lens besides a 35/2, I would have to go with my 15 CV. The reason being that the sensors in those two bodies would allow me to crop the 35 to a 50, 75 or even (if the end use wasn't a large print) 90 FOV.  However for me 35 is not wide enough for my travel photography.  I could crop a 15 to 21, 24, and 28 FOV if needed.  If the hypothetical included only Leica-brand lenses, then I would use my 21 Elmarit.

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Hello Everybody,

 

A 35mm lens & a 90mm lens are the traditional 2 lens set because in the beginning of 35mm photography there was often only the camera & a 50mm lens. A 50mm lens being a compromise "normal" lens in 24mm X 36mm photography. Theoretically a "normal" lens is the lens that is the most useful in the greatest number of situations.

 

As lens lines expanded 35mm & 90mm were the lenses often (not always) provided as the next interval away from a "normal" lens. These focal lengths expanded the coverage of the "normal" lens as well as providing a significant (but not complete) degree of overlap with a 50mm lens. This allowed many photographers to dispense with a 50mm lens as redundant in many (not all) situations.

 

I learned photography with a 90mm lens. It was my only lens for years. A 90mm lens is a good teaching lens to learn photography with since by removing a significant amount of the foreground & limiting the sides & top it makes you concentrate on what is most essential while pretty much retaining a reasonable perspective.  I later realized I could benefit additionally by adding a somewhat wider angle of view to complement the angle of coverage that the 90mm lens was providing. After considering various angle of coverage I figured out that a 35mm lens provided the best angle of coverage for me.

 

After using a 35mm lens along with a 90mm lens for years I realized that a 90mm lens was too wide of an angle of coverage for me keeping in mind that I used (and still use) a 35mm lens for about 90% of my photos. So I replaced the 90mm lens with a 135mm lens approximately 1,000 years ago & have been happy as a clam with the 64 degree & 18 degree angles of coverage ever since.*

 

* Yes, I have used other focal lengths. Including a Version 1 mechanical, Version 2 optical 50mm Summilux.**

 

** For me: Anything a 50mm Summilux could do a 35mm Summicron could do better, faster & easier.***

 

***Don't forget that a 35mm Summicron hand held @ 1/8 of a second is no more or less shaky than a 50mm Summilux hand held @ 1/15 of a second.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

Edited by Michael Geschlecht
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Currently 28 & 75, partly because they are the small 28 Elmarit Asph and the 75 Apo-Summicron, which I value for (among other reasons) their small size.

At other times in my life I have had 35 & 90, and 50 & 135.

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I don't really have a favorite kit but I just came back from a short visit to Copenhagen where I used a 35+75 combination that I was very pleased with for some mixed street and tourist photography. I can think of many other combinations to use but if one of the lenses must be 35 then I feel a 75 is a very good complement. My two favorite focal length's though would be 50 and 35 so one of them would always be in a kit.

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