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What are the must have 2 lenses with the M10?


thedwp

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I've been in love with my Q for over a year now, and am ready to make the leap to the M10. I shoot mostly street and some candid/portrait but no in studio work. I love the lens on the Q....so my initial thoughts were a 28mm and a 50mm....

 

Like many, I came from a Canon 5D system, went to the Fuji system (owned pretty much every lens fuji made), then discovered the Q....now I'm drinking the cool-aid like it's the last drink I'll ever consume!

 

For those of you Leica lens veterans, do you have any advice for me? lux or cron? anything to look out for? 

 

I'm not opposed to buying used.

 

My plan is to sell or trade my Q for at least one of the lenses. 

 

any advice would be greatly appreciated! 

Edited by thedwp
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Oscar Barnack understood the importance of compactness, this was the very reason he created the Leica. He worked very hard with Berek and Zuhlcke to design a truly compact lens suitable for the Leica which was sharp into the corners even at wide aperture. Given this history, surely the only reasonable choice for a 50 is a 5cm/3.5 Elmar LTM  :). Pair this with a Summaron 28/5.6 or a CV 28/3.5 for those rare extreme angle shots and you have a wonderfully compact system, just like Herr Barnack intended...

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you may ask yourself

how often did you crop the pix from the q,

how often did you shoot wide open,

how often did you need the af....

 

this will give you the information you need to make your own decision.

 

I use a compact 35mm  and fast 50mm.

 

lambda.

Edited by Guest
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It is remarkable, that (almost) nobody mentions lenses of 75mm or longer!

I mostly use 50mm and 17mm lenses. Me too.  :D

 

But sometimes the 135mm, 180mm, 280mm or 500mm come out of the cupboard.

Jan

Edited by jankap
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That is a very difficult question. First of all the Q ist a great camera with great focal length (I could test it during a Wetzlar visit). As a matter of fact the 28 Cron was my first lens on the M10. The weight of the Cron seemed to me to be acceptable: It is light. If I were in your shoes I would NOT go for 2 cameras. Unless you are a photographer who has hanging a lot of equipment arount the shoulders. But you came from bulky (Canon) then you switched to smart (Fuji) and now you reached the handcrafted excellence beauty (Leica). I could NOT imagine myself carrying a Q plus an M. That is me. I don‘t like such kind of compromises. In your situation you are looking for additional focal lengths: Think first if you could be without the Autofocus. If you shoot many moving things then it gets difficult without the AF. But you know that many experienced Leica shooters here claim to be faster or as fast or almost as fast as the AF. I am slower (still). And now you look for a second lens. What did I do? I choose then the 50mm. And it was the Summilux in silver. The silver was a mistake as it has an additional weight of roughly 130g (I dis not know this at the time) and the M10 is not balanced any more (it falls over when standing on a flat surface as the lens is too heavy). But I am very happy with the open aperture of 1.4. Plus it has the same filter diameter as the 28 Cron (46mm). Then it went on and I looked for something longer and I got the 75mm Cron that I use for street but manly when travelling (lanscapes and atchitecture) alternatively to my 28mm (often in this combination whereas the 50mm is in the hotel room). Then during last christmas I had the impression that in houses (christmas parties) the 28mm was too wide and the 50mm too narrow and I just bought the 35mm in order to close the gap. I discussed the matter in the Leica store and now I got the Lux as I am going to use it a lot inside where f/1.4 will be usefull. On top the 35mm Lux has again the same filter diameter of 46mm as the already existing 28 and 50mm. So it fits. The 35 Cron would have a different diameter. That is how I sold the Lux to myself. And it is still light compared to the silver 50mm Lux. The 35mm is in silver as well so all my Lux lenses are silver and the others are black.

 

Now on my whish list I still have a super wide angle like a 21mm SEM and a 90mm like the Makro Elmar M. That is then enough GAS.

Edited by Alex U.
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I have a Q and will keep it... I added a M10 with a 50lux, with both I do almost everything.

The Q is great to macro and shooting completely unoticed...

I think both are complementary.

I went on a trip to the Faroe only with both Leicas and never felt restrained by my choice.

I've kept my D800 with a prime for birdwatch, two other lenses for extreme macros and a 15mm zeiss for architecture shots.

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I have the leica Q and M10 with 50 lux.

I will happily carry both cameras and the Q offers versatility in macro and Af.

I bought 24/35/90 for my m10 but selling them as they aren't getting the use vs 28/50.

I will be keeping Sl with both zooms so that I can manage (semi) professional work.

If I got a second M lens it might be the 21 sem , the 28 5.6 is appealing for street but I have the Q for that.

Edited by dancook
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Perhaps a little irony that someone who "owned pretty much every lens fuji made" wants forum members to choose 2

 

You will always doubt your decision or the forum's consensus must-haves and think you've got the wrong lens with you when the opposite is true 

 

The most important lens is the one mounted to your camera; it's up to you to use it to your advantage or not 

Edited by hollisd
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Keep the Q. Why do you want to be rid of full frame, f 1.7, autofocus?

 

Get a 50 Summicron for the M10.

 

This is a popular combination, and not least because it’s one lens per camera.

 

Cheers

 

J :)

 

My reaction too. Keep the Q! But maybe 50 Summilux ASPH for the M – only a little more obviously heavy than 50 Summicron.

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You could say that there are two possibilities:

 

1. You can buy lenses of the focal lengths that you like and apertures that you know you will use, or

 

2. You can buy lenses which you like the look and feel of (ergonomics) and learn to appreciate them.

 

Either way works in my experience. I like some lenses because their field of view and aperture suit my way of taking photographs. I like others because of the way I interact with the camera and lens when using them - this is often an underestimated quality. If you have moved from a Canon dSLR then 2 may have significant sway with your decision making.

 

Lastly, beware of buying too many lenses too soon. If you go through the forum you will find advocates for virtually every/any Leica M lens produced. See if you can go and try a few at a dealer's and buy what you like, enjoy it and then look at others. Leica Ms have a learning curve which is part of the pleasure of owning and using them. Sometimes putting a lens aside then returning to it can remind you of its qualities. Using a Leica M can be an interesting and great experience but IMO it needs time to appreciate.

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You're no stranger to photography and should by now know the focal lengths that suit your shooting style.

Shooting with the M may alter the style you've had before, only you can answer that.

 

From my own perspective I chose 3 focal lengths to meet my needs 21, 35 & 75.

A few paces forward or back can fill in the focal length gaps without investing heavily in more Leica glass.

Naturally your milage may differ.

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