M-lenses you bought, don't use, yet keep

[Arrow]

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I assume, many here have purchased the one or other M mount lens (various manufacturers) for a very particular reason, that nonetheless ended up getting very little to no use over time. What lenses are these? Why are they not used? Why do you still keep them?

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[Arrow]

Right, here is one:

Voigtländer 35 Norton Classic 1.4 single coated.

I got it right after it came out. The reasons, I bought it were compactness, oldish style black and white rendering due to the single coating and thus flare effects.

At the time, I was shooting an M8, so that the 35mm gave me roughly 50mm aspect ratio on the crop sensor camera.. 

The Nocton is a fine lens. However, I found it a bit too compact and thus fiddly to use. I also got a Zeiss Biogon 35/2 ZM, that sits on my M8 ever since. 

On full frame rangefinders, I hardly use 35mm. Unless I shoot 50mm, I go directly down to 28mm. However, I need a particular reason to go wide angle. 

So, why did I not part with the Nocton? It might sound silly, but it perfectly serves as a decorative body cap for ma M3 🤪

Edited April 9, 2020 by Arrow

[Per P.]

I have done my best to sell lenses if they don't fit in, or if I buy another with the same focal length. The 21mm Elmarit Asph and 135mm Tele-Elmar were victims of this policy.

So I have only two lenses at risk of getting sold: The 24mm Elmar Asph and the 75mm Summicron Asph. I have kept them, because they are amazing lenses. But I really don't use a 24mm, and the 75mm framelines drive me crazy. So they should go when the world opens up again. I also might replace my 35mm Summilux with a Summicron because of the smaller size.

My Girlfriend more or less forced me to write a document where I explain my rationale behind every purchase or sale of a camera or lens. So before I am allowed to sell I must cross-check why I bought the item, and confirm if my reasons are no longer valid. Similarly, if I were to start talking about buying a 21mm again ... out comes the document 🙂

 

[Arrow]

29 minutes ago, Per P. said:

I have done my best to sell lenses if they don't fit in, or if I buy another with the same focal length. The 21mm Elmarit Asph and 135mm Tele-Elmar were victims of this policy.

So I have only two lenses at risk of getting sold: The 24mm Elmar Asph and the 75mm Summicron Asph. I have kept them, because they are amazing lenses. But I really don't use a 24mm, and the 75mm framelines drive me crazy. So they should go when the world opens up again. I also might replace my 35mm Summilux with a Summicron because of the smaller size.

My Girlfriend more or less forced me to write a document where I explain my rationale behind every purchase or sale of a camera or lens. So before I am allowed to sell I must cross-check why I bought the item, and confirm if my reasons are no longer valid. Similarly, if I were to start talking about buying a 21mm again ... out comes the document 🙂

 

Do you have particular qualitative criteria for positive or negative selection? 

[Ecar]

51 minutes ago, Per P. said:

My Girlfriend more or less forced me to write a document where I explain my rationale behind every purchase or sale of a camera or lens.

Oh, that would be a very easy one for me:

G.A.S.

G.A.S.

....

G.A.S.

😄

Edited April 9, 2020 by Ecar

[Per P.]

No it's very subjective and far from rational. Despite my preference for compact lenses on the M10 I bought a 28mm Summicron Asph instead of the Elmarit Asph. And the 35mm Summilux FLE instead of the Summicron Asph. And the 75mm Summicron replaced a Summarit. Curiosity and consistently excellent reviews were the main reasons.

I will probably end up with a set of the 28mm Summicron, one of the 35mm, the 50mm Summilux, and my old 90mm Elmarit. For my uses this will be enough versatility, more than good enough quality, and still reasonably compact.

[Phil_P]

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1 hour ago, Per P. said:

.....write a document where I explain my rationale behind every purchase or sale of a camera or lens.

What a good but frightening idea   .... might save me from the impulsive local auction site purchases!  Have a 90mm elmarit I have barely used but some how can't part with it.  Initially got the current version 35mm Summicron ASPH, picked  up an FLE so sold the Summicron....then wanted a more compact 35 to compliment it so got a V4 Summicron. Very happy with the choice of those two added to a Summaron 28 and Summilux 50 is all I need. That just leaves a few outside of that I really MUST sell....one day!

[lct]

Lenses i did not use on Ms work fine on mirrorless so i'm glad i did not sell them. I don't sell Leica lenses anyway, at the exception of my first one in the seventies, a gorgeous Summicron 50/2 v3 i always regretted parting with. 

[pippy]

I picked up a Voigtlander 28mm f2 Ultron to use on my M8.2 where it was effectively a 35mm. Lovely lens. I wasn't much of a 28 shooter so when I bought my M9-P it stayed at home quite a bit until holiday-time when it was put in the bag. I started to shoot 28 more and more and, having tried out an Elmarit 28mm ASPH I decided to buy one. Ever since then I can envisage no situation where I would choose the VC over the Elmarit so, once again, it stays at home.

The other one which gets no use nowadays is my 90mm f2.8 'Thin' Tele-Elmarit which I've had since 'the old days' but which has now been superceeded by a 90mm f2.5 Summarit which is better in every respect bar weight - though at a mere 345g the Summarit's hardly a boat-anchor itself.

As far as why I still keep them goes? Well, they're not exactly 'High-Ticket' sought-after items and are hardly going to bring in much money on the s/h market. I still have the original caps, hoods and boxes for both so I might, at some future point, get around to either trading them in or putting them on the 'bay but at the moment there's nothing I really want, so......

P.

[wattsy]

For the last three years I have used only two lenses (28 Summaron-M and 90 Macro Elmar-M) for 95%+ of what I photograph. I have also used a Thambar-M for a few photos (though not last year). My others lenses – 35 Summicron-M ASPH, 35 Summilux-M ASPH and 50 Summarit-M – are no longer used. I could easily live with just the 28/5.6 and 90/4.

Edited April 9, 2020 by wattsy

[a.noctilux]

Too many to declare, here 😇.

[TomB_tx]

I've never sold a Leica lens - or body. But I also went about 30 years of not buying any - lust using the ones I had. Now retired I have more time to fiddle and collect. As an engineer, I think of these things as "functional art" in their own right - not just as "tools" to another end. (But then I collect old tools too...) I've also seen friends too quick to buy, sell, trade items, buying another of what they had, losing money in the process. Once I first want a lens or such, I usually think it over for 2 or 3 years before actin on that desire. These years that saves me a lot, as I can't remember what it was I wanted...

[pgk]

Far too many, and the time is fast approaching for a cull. The trouble is that I think that I will sell off a lens, try it for one last time and keep it because I like it. Then it gets put away again .....

[horosu]

3 hours ago, Ecar said:

Oh, that would be a very easy one for me:

G.A.S.

G.A.S.

....

G.A.S.

😄

Gas, Gas, Gas....

[ckuwajima]

41 minutes ago, TomB_tx said:

I've never sold a Leica lens - or body. But I also went about 30 years of not buying any - lust using the ones I had. Now retired I have more time to fiddle and collect. As an engineer, I think of these things as "functional art" in their own right - not just as "tools" to another end. (But then I collect old tools too...) I've also seen friends too quick to buy, sell, trade items, buying another of what they had, losing money in the process. Once I first want a lens or such, I usually think it over for 2 or 3 years before actin on that desire. These years that saves me a lot, as I can't remember what it was I wanted...

Totally agree ... rationally, but more than a few times I slipped and bought lenses much before 2 or 3 years: a seldom available (in my country) Summilux-M 75mm, at a decent price, and a APO Summicron-M 90mm ASPH and a WATE, both at a great prices.

[shirubadanieru]

I’ve bought and sold too many lenses...lol reasoning is:

1) I don’t want to collect lenses so I feel bad for keeping a lot of lenses that I don’t actually use
2) that being said, there’s so many Leica lenses I want to try to try them out that I end up buying them just in case I like them a lot and want to keep them

In the end I have kept 4 lenses (for two bodies) and hope I can settle down with these ones after trying pretty much all 35/50mm lenses : ) There were only very few lenses I tried and sold and regretted. Those ended up becoming the only lens I have now:

Summicron 35 8 elements
Nikkor 35 f1.8 
Summicron 50 collapsible
Elmar 50mm f2.8

(I still have a lux 50mm v1 that I love but will prob sell as it’s just too heavy compared to the other two 50s)

Anyway good luck with your lens collection, regardless of how many you keep just make sure to use them. Otherwise sell them so others can                                                         

[luigi bertolotti]

2 hours ago, a.noctilux said:

Too many to declare, here 😇.

+ 1 😁

 

[J.Nordvik]

Zeiss Biogon 2,8/28mm. It was my second lens for M8 after my old 50mm. Relatively cheap and in silver.

I send it to Oberkochen for adjustment, so it is as good as it can be. Still I am not satisfied with the sharpness in the corners or edges at infinity on full frame. I think a Elmarit Asph would give better results, but not much. An Elmarit is also much smaller. But it makes little sense economically to pay the extra money. If I liked 28mm that much I would rather buy a Leica Q.

And I have a problem with 28mm being the same angle of view as most mobile phones. Yes, I know this is irrational.

Still, It is nice to have. It is silver and look good on silver M cameras.

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Hallo,

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[adan]

I've never kept a lens (or a camera for that matter) for any length of time if I am not actively using it. One obvious exception being the current crisis, where none of my gear is getting much use (my work depends a lot on travel, or crowds, or locales that are closed for the duration). Another being an SLR with a long lens for what the M system cannot handle (currently Canon 5DII with 100-400 zoom) - such a combo may sit for 6 months to a year if I don't have a sports or wildlife project in progress.

I just have no interest in tying up capital. Something that is not getting used gets sold or traded for something that better meets my needs. I have no emotional attachment to gear  - they are just chunks of glass and metal that cannot be hung on a wall (but do produce emotionally-charged works that can be hung on a wall).

I have bought lenses for some unique feature - but always there are other reasons to use that lens. One example being the M 75s that frame extra-tightly for studio work, but at f/1.4 or f/2 are also good low-light lenses, and/or good "subject-separation" lenses.

[Per P.]

3 hours ago, pgk said:

Far too many, and the time is fast approaching for a cull. The trouble is that I think that I will sell off a lens, try it for one last time and keep it because I like it. Then it gets put away again .....

Yes ... I took the 75 Summicron out for some fresh air to see if framing really is such a big deal. And at close distances it certainly is. But otherwise there is a lot to like so it has been taken off the "for sale" list again. I agree with Adan and Shiru that there is no point hanging on to stuff that will see no use. Which now, in my case, is reduced to the 24mm Elmar Asph 🙂