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M lenses advice for travel: only 2


Mikewest

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Hello,

I'm going to travel in NYC and would like some advice for the M lens that I will take with me (with my leica SL). 

I have a 21 mm super-elmar, summilux 35 FLE, and Noctilux f1. I would like to bring with me only 2 of them. Which one would you recommend?

I usually like street photography.

Thank's for the advices ;)

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The street views of NYC people can be up close, or quite far away (for a wide angle lens).  

In my 7 visits to NYC, I used focal lengths from 28 to 90mm.

 

Mostly the streets are big, really BIG ( big is BIG ) and the only time I felt an ultrawide lens might be useful is trying to capture the scale of

the billboards and lights in Times Square, or the NYSE on Wall St, or Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center.

 

If you think you might want to capture people shots in the subways, a fast lens will be most useful.

 

Now a days, I prefer the simpleness of having only one lens on my M240.  It can be for me, quite tiresome being out all day in NYC with heavy camera gear (your SL/Nocti is not for me)

My last few visits to NYC, I carried either a 35FLE or a 50APO only, for the whole trip, and did not feel that either was incomplete.

 

But if this is your 1st visit to NYC bring all 3 of your mentioned lenses and then chose the lens for each day's destinations.

 

Edited by dugby
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I visited NYC for the first time this September. I didn't want to think about gear much so I opted to only take my M4 and 35mm Summicron. I didn't miss any other lens the entire week. If I had brought another lens it would have most likely been a 50mm. 

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Last time in NYC for leisure I brought 21, 35, 50 and 90 and left 3 of 4 in the hotel safe each day before setting out. I used all 4, mostly 35 and 50 but had fun with the 21 and 90 on occasion, glad I brought them all. Here's an example of the 21 and 90 from same rooftop vantage point. 

 

Hmm, having trouble attaching images ...

Edited by SunnySixteen
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The first time I was in NewYork it was also the first time I started with photography. I did everything with a 50mm, which brought me beautifull results. The need for a wideangle in NewYork is overrated. You’ll get that skyscraper impressions just as well from more normal lenses. I could do with the FLE alone in your case but if you want to add something special for people in the streets I’d bring the F1. The pictures you’ll make with the 21mm might become nice but not very special: the wellknown overviews from the Empire State Building that everyone has from their own trips to NYC, etc. Unless perhaps, the 21mm is the only lens you have there

Edited by otto.f
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1 hour ago, otto.f said:

The first time I was in NewYork it was also the first time I started with photography. I did everything with a 50mm, which brought me beautifull results. The need for a wideangle in NewYork is overrated. You’ll get that skyscraper impressions just as well from more normal lenses. I could do with the FLE alone in your case but if you want to add something special for people in the streets I’d bring the F1. The pictures you’ll make with the 21mm might become nice but not very special: the wellknown overviews from the Empire State Building that everyone has from their own trips to NYC, etc. Unless perhaps, the 21mm is the only lens you have there

I can't imagine anything more restrictive than only using a 50mm lens in NYC. Your style of photography may differ but the opportunities that a 21mm lens brings are significant.

Ernst

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Based on the need to ask the question and the proliferation of differing advices, maybe you would be better off with a sketch pad and pencil. That way you can emulate any focal length! 😁

Seriously though, consider your own style of photography. What lenses do you mostly use wherever you go. That is what you must take. Restricting your self to a limited range of lenses is just that. A restriction. Suffer for your craft or miss some opportunities. Those who say they don't miss their other lenses are deliberately using blinkered vision to validate their decision. No offense intended, just my POV.

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