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this was an interesting video for me- especially so as years ago I traveled to bangkok - on that trip I had the exact same camera as the man in the video- an M8- and I had the exact same lens on it- the Ultron 28mm. A near perfect combination. I took a lot of photos on that trip. Many were not so great of course- but I did take some really nice images that I am still very happy with today. I agree 100% that the camera one uses is largely irrelevant as to if you will take any good photos. I now have so many M lenses- a huge collection. It doesn't help my photography at all. The part of me that collected all those lenses is NOT a photographer... a collector at best- a hoarder at worst.  I never ever look at a photo I like and wonder what type of camera or lens it was taken with. Here are a few images from that trip, they are nothing special but I had them loaded on this forum already:

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Edited by jaques
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Only one lens? Wow... :)

Back then, before consumerism, one camera, one lens was normal for millions. Well, now some recognized photographers are using nothing but mobile phone. One mobile phone with 28mm lens equivalent.   

But those are photographers. Not lens collectors. :) . 

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1 hour ago, evikne said:

I really wish I could live with only one lens, I would have felt it very liberating

You are your only limitation... But I like your four lenses 😂

 

 

Edited by Dennis
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14 hours ago, Dennis said:

 My Dear Leica,

Please design a new 40 Summicron f/2 (Asph or Apo) and enable a-la-carte frame lines for all M cameras. And I'll buy it tomorrow ... (after selling something. 🤣)

Imagine using only an M10 camera (or P or M or R) with 40mm frame lines to use it w/ 40mm FL ... wow.

Please support my Leica wish 🙏 

It would also help the SL line, which is commonly seen as being too bulky, if there was a 40/2 SL native lens ; maybe not a pancake, but at least half the length of the current standardized size Summicrons.

In one of the SL2-S introduction videos Andreas Kaufmann opens with the 23/2 TL series lens on the SL2-S ; he clearly prefers compact lenses.

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23 hours ago, Steven said:

I could live with this for the rest of life if necessary. 35mm is my deserted island focal length.

You may have said the same about 18mm when you were a teenager 😅 — if you get what I mean.

I assume the preferred focal length changes over time. When we get older, we likely become calmer. You might get back to your 50mm.

I’m also a 35mm guy. I often try to convince myself I‘m ready for 50mm and have already bought too many 50mms. But I always go back to my 35mms. Maybe I’m not yet old enough.

FWIW: 35-50mm is not the human‘s field of view (that’s much wider, I can see almost 170 degrees), it’s the in-focus attention span in the field of view (actually it’s 42mm or 55 degrees).

Is there any senior photographer that shoots preferably wide-angle?

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On 1/2/2021 at 12:07 PM, Steven said:

I think the best objective one lens setup is a 35mm. Close to the human field of view. Good for people, good for environmental portraiture, good for fashion, good for street photography, good for landscape. Very versatile. Some even have macro modes. It can be replaced easily by a 28mm if you're a little more into landscapes and citiscapes than faces. For faces, I recommend a 35. 

The only scenarios that are not doable with a 35 are the niche specialities, such as architecture, sports, etc... But for everyday, 35 is king. I personally have been shooting 99% of my photos for the past 12 years on a 35 focal length. Some are very different than others, and there's many im very proud of. I think I master the FL, for stills and video, and never have the need for anything else to create my best art. 

Doesn't mean I don't like to switch things up for fun sometimes of course. But id be happy for the rest of my life with a 35. 

The closest thing to the way a pair (key word there) of human eyes sees that I have found has been my dearly departed Hasselblad XPAN II with the 45mm f/4 lens mounted on it.

Edited by Herr Barnack
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1 hour ago, raphael said:

 

FWIW: 35-50mm is not the human‘s field of view (that’s much wider, I can see almost 170 degrees), it’s the in-focus attention span in the field of view (actually it’s 42mm or 55 degrees).

Is there any senior photographer that shoots preferably wide-angle?

To be more precise or just nitpicking, 43.26mm is the diagonal measurement of the 35mm frame.

If by senior photographer you mean by age,  I do.  My preference in 3:2 ratio (35mm & 6x9cm) is 28mm and 65mm respectively for much of what I do.

Why do you think age is relevant?

Edited by Ouroboros
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On 1/2/2021 at 5:49 PM, Steven said:

For example, the excellent photographer Alan Schaller only uses a 24mm. https://www.instagram.com/alan_schaller/?hl=en

I found this interesting as I'm close to picking up an XCD 30/3.5 (24mm equiv), and clicked thru to his web site. It says: "What camera do you use? Leica M Cameras. Mostly the Monochrom Typ 246. I also use the Leica M10-P. I use a vareity of Leica M lenses." (emphasis mine) Great pics in any case!

 

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This is a great discussion! 

I think it's not so much whether you are in the 1 lens camp, the "surely you can't have just 1 lens" camp, or the "1 lens per day depending on the situation camp" or any I have missed - it's down to your output - how happy and satisfied you are with the results and also how you feel when shooting.   If having more than 1 lens on 1 body makes you think more about "Oh I wish it was the other lens mounted now" then that might be a warning signal.

When I go out for quick shooting, it's almost always 35 FLE. If I want a specific look, then I might pick another lens. When I travel, usually it's with 2 lenses, sometimes even 3 but never more. The whole kit has to fit in a very small day carry and the 35 will be the 80% + lens while the other 2 would be for special situations - usually a 21 for architecture or some landscape and then a tiny 90 would come out as well.  I'm also been known to "cheat" by just using a dual focal length 21-35 Konica Hexanon - M :)

Peter Turnley has only 1 lens on his M10 - the 35 FLE and that's all he shoots with these days on the streets of Paris and New York - but when he was a photojournalist, he would have the usual 3 cameras and 3 different lenses in him.  He says that when you shoot for a project  or a related series, having 1 lens makes it coherent and having more than 1 lens makes the project seem like using a different writing style in different paragraphs when writing a book - I actually understand and appreciate that!

 

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3 minutes ago, g2van said:

This is a great discussion! 

way to go

3 minutes ago, g2van said:

When I go out for quick shooting, it's almost always 35 FLE.

Awesome. That's why I believe that a Rangefinder system, especially the Leica M, is optimized for one or maximum two FL kit ... 

4 minutes ago, g2van said:

Peter Turnley has only 1 lens on his M10 - the 35 FLE and He says that when you shoot for a project  or a related series, having 1 lens makes it coherent and having more than 1 lens makes the project seem like using a different writing style in different paragraphs when writing a book - I actually understand and appreciate that!

I agree in part with that, but it makes sense.

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2 hours ago, g2van said:

...Peter Turnley has only 1 lens on his M10 - the 35 FLE and that's all he shoots with these days on the streets of Paris and New York - but when he was a photojournalist, he would have the usual 3 cameras and 3 different lenses in him.  He says that when you shoot for a project  or a related series, having 1 lens makes it coherent and having more than 1 lens makes the project seem like using a different writing style in different paragraphs when writing a book - I actually understand and appreciate that!

 

 

The 35 FLE is certainly a good choice as a do it all street/documentary lens - hard to go wrong with that lens. 

I can't disagree with Mr. Turnley about how using only one lens for a project will give it a visual cohesiveness.  When I read his comments above, the Q2 and Q2 Mono came to mind...

 

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I realized I am also really a one camera one lens kinda guy although it’s more like 5 x (1cam+1lens) I might often carry 5 cameras and 5 lenses attached to their independent bodies with no switching on the field.. 

typically it’s 

Leica SL2+VE24-90

GFX 100+250mm f4 or 110 f2

Sony a9+200-600mm

Sony a7sII+28-135mm power zoom for video only

Canon R6+28-70 f2

and my latest addition S2 + 70mm (on the way) 😌

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Guest Nowhereman

Mostly I shoot with 28, 35 and 50mm lenses, but I wouldn't limit myself to any  of them — I prefer to shoot in "binges" of a month or two with one lens. Even so, I go out with one lens on the camera (now the M10) and another one in the pocket; but rarely actually change the lens that is on the camera. Going through my images, though, I find shots with the Elmarit-21 ASPH that I like. Whenever I've gone out with this lens I've almost always come back with some images that I like a lot. When this plague is over, I'll have to get the 21 back into my rotation of binges, for I haven't shot with it for a couple or years. Here's a selection with the  Elmarit- 21 ASPH showing how versatile a 21mm lens can be. 

M6 | Elmarit- 21 ASPH | Tri-X | ISO 400 | f/5.6 | 1/250 sec | Bangkok

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M-Monochrom | Elmarit- 21 ASPH | ISO 640 | f/11 | 1/350 sec | Chiang Mai

 

M-Monochrom | Elmarit- 21 ASPH | ISO 320 | f/8 | 1/125 sec | Colombo


M-Monochrom | Elmarit- 21 ASPH | ISO 1250 | f/5.6 | 1/125 sec | Chiang Mai


M9-P | Elmarit-21 ASPH | ISO 640 | f/8 | 1/350 sec | Paris


M9-P | Elmarit-21 ASPH | ISO 160 | f/4 | 1/750 sec | Pak Nam Pran


M9-P | Elmarit-21 ASPH | ISO 640 | f/2.8 | 1/60 sec | Bangkok


M9-P | Elmarit-21 ASPH | ISO 640 | f/2.8 | 1/45 sec | Bangkok


M9-P | Elmarit-21 ASPH | ISO 640 | f/4 | 1/60 sec | Pak Nam Pran________________________
Frog Leaping photobook

Edited by Nowhereman
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5 hours ago, Steven said:

 

And how's your back ? 😭😂😂

Lol.. so far I’ve only been shooting from the trunk of my car and haven’t gone on a walk about or anything.. if I am going to be walking the streets a lot then it would just be the SL2+VE24-90, voigtlander 40 f1.2 cuz it takes up very little space 

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How about if we look at this topic from a different angle: if you were going on a hiking trip through the country side but will also pass some towns and small cities and had to carry everything on your backpack (clothes, toiletries, etc) and it was for more than 2 weeks, what camera kit would you take along and how heavy would it be?

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3 minutes ago, g2van said:

How about if we look at this topic from a different angle: if you were going on a hiking trip through the country side but will also pass some towns and small cities and had to carry everything on your backpack (clothes, toiletries, etc) and it was for more than 2 weeks, what camera kit would you take along and how heavy would it be?

Probably an M10 + VM 35/1.7, but I'd seriously consider taking just a Ricoh GR III.

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