M Photography: 35 mm or 50 mm?

[Narsuitus]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

1 hour ago, rramesh said:

Choice of lens is all about your point of view.

... or your angle-of-view.

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[Bangrossi]

People who started leica M kit with 50mm as a first lens, love to pair it with 28mm for very good reason. I'm wearing glasses, with leica digital (0.68 or 0.73x) I cannot comfortably see the 28mm frameline. So if you wear glases like me, I think starting with 35mm is better bet. 35mm also easier to nail focus than with 50mm at same aperture. 35mm also give you greater DOF if you gonna use zone focusing. If you need another lens to pair with, you can add 75mm or 90mm or 21mm. Personally I end up with both 50mm + 35mm. In my oppinion, digital leica M finder are designed to be the best when paired with 35mm (0.73x). For analog M with 0.91 or 0.85x finder, 50mm is the best focal length to begin with.

 

[kaspart]

If you're not sure, start with a 50mm.

They're cheaper than the 35mm lenses with the same max. aperture.......

[evikne]

My first Leica lens was a 50mm. Then I got a 35mm. The 35mm is more versatile, but it cannot fully replace a 50mm if you want portraits with shallow DOF. 

[T25UFO]

I often use a combination of 28mm (Q2) and 50mm (M10M) or 28mm (Q2M) and 75mm (SL2) so I'm carrying two cameras.  A little heavier but it saves changing lenses 🙂

For a one camera, one lens, I would choose a 35mm APO on the M10M because you can crop to 50mm without any noticeable loss of resolution; but if you start at 50mm, you can't go wider to 35mm.  Well, I suppose you could, in theory, stack two 50mm images, but that's a lot more hassle.

So . . . one camera, one lens = 35mm.  Preferably with the APO lens and a high resolution (10R or 10M) sensor.  Sorted!

[cirke]

43mm

[grahamc]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

15 hours ago, evikne said:

My first Leica lens was a 50mm. Then I got a 35mm. The 35mm is more versatile, but it cannot fully replace a 50mm if you want portraits with shallow DOF. 

Yup! 

[rramesh]

On 10/11/2021 at 11:09 AM, Narsuitus said:

... or your angle-of-view.

Actually with a rangefinder and fixed focal length lenses, you will need to work your feet to get the right composition. Many users of zoom lenses forget this.

[kinch123]

OP: Do you wear specs? Do you like seeing your frame lines? Choose accordingly

[erniethemilk]

3 hours ago, blackpaint-R said:

why not both? 🤷🏻‍♂️

I have both and shoot both! 

[52K]

I love 50mm and would not be without one, but have extensively travelled the world, 1 camera / 1 lens using 35mm. If you want to photograph the place as well as people, then 35 is a little more flexible in my opinion. 
 

In truth, I’d carry both. 

[Torpille]

For me 35mm FLE, great lens for everything.

Day/Night
Nature, Street, Envirenmental Portraits, Portraits.

Then no 50mm, but 75mm if it should be a second lens.

 

Edited October 16, 2021 by Torpille

[TomB_tx]

I shot mainly 50 on my film Ms for 4 decades, with 35 much less. The M10 completely flipped that, as I now use a 35 Summarit 2.5 90% of the time. For my use with M10 a 35 image cropped to 50 or 75 view is very acceptable - quite different than with film.

[Photoworks]

Deserted island lens. 35mm 1.4 FLE

Lern to get closer. 50 Lux is quite nice too, it would be my 2nd choice. In 50mm range there are many other great option from voiglander. 

[Ouroboros]

On 10/10/2021 at 9:58 AM, Viv said:

After an absence of some years, I am thinking of re-entering the world of Leica M, either with an M10 or an M11.

For a one-lens system, should I opt for 35 mm or 50 mm?

Go with a 50mm lens initially.  You’ll probably want to add a 28mm lens at some point and a 28-50mm pair is far more versatile than only having a 35mm lens.

 I cannot understand why anyone would want to restrict their options to a single lens on a Leica M.

[Pixeleater]

3 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

Go with a 50mm lens initially.  You’ll probably want to add a 28mm lens at some point and a 28-50mm pair is far more versatile than only having a 35mm lens.

 I cannot understand why anyone would want to restrict their options to a single lens on a Leica M.

I went this route as well. The form factor makes it easy to bring a second lens.

[Tailwagger]

All the added pixels these days afford the ability to skip a focal length without much cost either in IQ or DoF.  Were I looking to pair M with Q,  no question, 50mm on the M. 

That said... is your intent to build a more complete M system eventually or are you planning on a lifetime of monogamy? If you ultimately expect to have a set of lenses for use, you really should consider which ones you expect to add next.  ie. My standard kit includes the WATE, 28 and 50 luxes.  That gives me pretty much full coverage from 16-75mm with the 10R.  But there are times when I carry a fourth lens, 90 or 135 or simply want to change it up and go out with  a 21, 35 and 75 instead.