The dream set of lenses versus the actual

[james.liam]

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12 minutes ago, pgk said:

It handles very well and I prefer it to the 75mm Summicron. Stopped down it produces a subtly 'smoother' image than the Summicron too.

Also find achieving correct focus wide-open easier on the Summilux than the Summicron

[derleicaman]

On 4/24/2020 at 5:51 PM, steve 1959 said:

I am already living the dream in photography.

When at 60 years old a pension came about i was able to fulfil my dream of a leica [ m262] and 3 lens [summarit 35 and 50 and zeiss 28mm.

Don't want any fast lenses or hyper expensive lenses or any sort of telephoto because they do not fit in with how i enjoy using the rangefinder camera.

I have gone bonkers and purchased a zeiss 25mm f2.8 today to cheer me up with all this virus stuff going on,really looking forward to trying it out so in a way its my dream lens.

You will love the Zeiss 25 ZM

it is one of my favorites

[adan]

I've been watching and thinking about this thread, and what are my dream Leica-M lenses.

The process has reconfirmed what first drew me to Leica M over other compact viewfinder cameras in 2001 - the color rendering and moderate contrast of the Leitz Canada/Mandler lenses (especially from the "class of 1980"). "Ya dance with the one what brung ya."

Combined with a sunny-day shoot 10 days ago, where the "Zeissy" high contrast and magenta-blue color rendering of my modern Leica lenses drove me absolutely crazy, with compressed shadows or highlights and (to my taste) distorted color that simply could not be post-processed to match what the Mandler-Canadian magic can do straight out of the camera.

Serendipitously, I visited a used-gear site today, and there I found early versions of the 1980 90 Summicron-M v.3 (E49, retracted hood covers aperture ring) and 28 Elmarit-M v.3 (E49, tiger-claw focus tab), which combined with my 1983 21 Elmarit-M and 135 Tele-Elmar, cover 85% of my dream set.

They arrive tomorrow. So I'll have what a well-equipped M user would have worn (or would have appeared in an M4-P catalog) ca. 1985.

The only thing missing is a 35 Summicron v.4 or 35 Summilux pre-ASPH, and for the moment I can live with my "Mandler copy" Voigtlander 35 Nokton f/1.4 (v.1, M.C.)

(NB: I will retain one modern lens - 75 ASMA - for its unique combination of tight framing at 0.7m, and FLE close-up IQ. A dream for studio use.)

 

[otto.f]

If it’s like football, a dreamteam is not always the most successful. That’s what happened with Real Madrid a few years ago. I have my dreamteam, sort of, and have nothing to wish, only my 28 Summicron seems a little redundant sometimes. I have the range:

15VC iii*, 24Elmarit*, 28cron, 35cron iv, 35fle, 50elmar*, 75lux*, 90saa*, 135tele-elmar*.

* won’t ever sell. I might replace the 35cron iv once for a newer wetzlar version, but I will never leave this legend of a lens. 

[AndreasG]

My range of M lenses is similar to otto.f:

15VC i, 18 Zeiss Distagon, 21 Elmarit, 28 Elmarit ASPH, 35 LUX iii, 50 Summicron iv, 50 APO Summicron, 90 Tele-Elmarit.

I could sell the old 50 Summicron, but it was my first M lens 35 years ago, so I want to keep it, and it is still a top performer! What I consider to buy eventually is a 75mm lens, most probably a used Summarit. On the road I usually carry only two lenses with me, 28 - my favorite lens - and a 50. For evening and low light conditions I replace the 28 with the 35 Lux, and for narrow streets and buildings I prefer the 18 though its largest aperture is only 4 over the 21. The 15VC, well, that is just a fun lens.

[evikne]

2 hours ago, adan said:

The only thing missing is a 35 Summicron v.4 or 35 Summilux pre-ASPH, and for the moment I can live with my "Mandler copy" Voigtlander 35 Nokton f/1.4 (v.1, M.C.)

I've had both 35 Summicron v.4 and 35 Summilux pre-ASPH, but the one was missing f/1.4 and the other was missing 0.7m close focus. It drives me crazy that Leica doesn't have a classic rendering 35mm lens with both these things!

So I've ordered a CV Nokton 35/1.4 MC II to see if it can replace a Leica lens. If not, I'll probably go back to the 35 Summicron v.4, which I loved a lot. 

Edited April 28, 2020 by evikne

[Stein K S]

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Truth is... I have all I need, and more. But there are obviously still some ¨wants¨ out there even if the ¨needs¨ are gone (own quite a few Elmarits and Crons (and one 35 Lux) from 21 through 90).

 

A couple of ¨wants¨ are:

The New 28 Summaron 5,6… not neccessarily for the size, but for the drawing...

A Noct 50 (F1,0)… or a 75 Lux for that extreme separation...

 

But my ¨wants list¨ pretty much stops here.

 

PS: Aesthetically, however, the 50 lux Limited MP3 edition in silver would probably wave all wants & needs & credit card limits 😉 

Edited April 28, 2020 by Stein K S

[Per P.]

I very often dream of returning from 35 and 50 Summilux Asph to Summicrons for the more compact weight and size. In return I have promised myself to sell the 24mm Elmar Asph when I am able to ship it to a buyer again 🙂 This would leave me with Summicron from 28mm to 75mm plus my late version Tele-elmar 90mm. A very practical no-nonsense set IMO.

[otto.f]

5 hours ago, Per P. said:

dream

Me too, sort of: sell my Summilux 35 FLE to buy a Wetzlar Summicron 35 iv as recent as possible. They are ridiculously expensive today, prices went up in five years with around 1000€ or $. But I want to go back to what Leica M represented: compact high quality. I have made fantastic travel photography with the FLE, colors are great. But compactness gives extra chances for decisive moments and can make the difference between a plain tourist photo and an interesting moment/composition serendipity. 

Edited April 28, 2020 by otto.f

[fotografr]

After many years of acquiring M lenses for their signature look (think Noctilux) I realized what I was doing was trying to let my lenses do my work for me to make my photographs interesting and appealing rather than having them be content driven. I've finally come to appreciate a lens that gets out of the way and isn't the first thing someone notices in my images. I prefer a lens that just does it's job well---corner to corner sharpness, good contrast, low or no distortion, minimal flare, no CA and which doesn't have such a distinctive draw that images made with it are immediately recognizable. The only M lens I'm aware of that meets these criteria is the 50mm APO Summicron. So that's both my dream kit and my reality. I have a black chrome version attached to my M10M which quite possibly will never be removed except for occasional cleaning.

[lm_user]

I agree with Fotogrfr.   I have more lenses than I need.   I mostly shoot with M6 and 50mm Summicron with BW film.   Not sure I really need everything else...

[evikne]

On 5/8/2020 at 6:04 PM, fotografr said:

After many years of acquiring M lenses for their signature look (think Noctilux) I realized what I was doing was trying to let my lenses do my work for me to make my photographs interesting and appealing rather than having them be content driven. I've finally come to appreciate a lens that gets out of the way and isn't the first thing someone notices in my images. I prefer a lens that just does it's job well---corner to corner sharpness, good contrast, low or no distortion, minimal flare, no CA and which doesn't have such a distinctive draw that images made with it are immediately recognizable. The only M lens I'm aware of that meets these criteria is the 50mm APO Summicron. So that's both my dream kit and my reality. I have a black chrome version attached to my M10M which quite possibly will never be removed except for occasional cleaning.

I'm a little jealous of you, because I've always wanted to have only one lens too. Now I think I have too many. But I'll probably always need at least two: namely the 50mm Summilux in old and new version. Because sometimes I prefer the one look, and sometimes the other.

I still need the lenses to do some of the job for me. 

Edited May 9, 2020 by evikne

[fotografr]

1 hour ago, evikne said:

I'm a little jealous of you, because I've always wanted to have only one lens too. Now I think I have too many. But I'll probably always need at least two: namely the 50mm Summilux in old and new version. Because sometimes I prefer the one look, and sometimes the other.

I still need the lenses to do some of the job for me. 

I still have others (28, 50 Noct, 90), but they are just sitting unused.