Dilemma 35mm / 50mm

[George Stoichev]

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On 10/16/2021 at 11:16 PM, Jean-Michel said:

Hi,

I was in София in 2019, very pleasant visit.

Are you planning to keep your Contax and 45 mm? If yes, getting a 50 Summicron for your M6 sort of duplicates what you now have, so why bother. You write that 35 is too wide  for what you do, so perhaps carrying your Contax and M6 with similar lenses would let you load different films in each camera (b&w in one, colour in the other, or…). For what it's worth, a 90 Macro-Elmar is a fine a small lens that works nicely on any M body.

Jean-Michel 

 

Hi,

I never go out shooting with more than one camera and I’d like to go out with one lens.

Don’t plan to sell my Contax G2, it is at 600 shots, almost new  Brilliant camera.

[George Stoichev]

On 10/18/2021 at 12:02 AM, pippy said:

From reading your preferences I'd say that a 40mm f1.4 Voigtlander Nokton would be my #1 choice (and, FWIW, it usually is my #1 on a day-to-day basis) especially for use with a film body. Otherwise the 40mm f2 Summicron / Rokkor if you can find a good copy (both of which lenses Arnaud mentions in post #4).

All three of these lenses can be bought for around the same price-point. The Voigtlander can be bought new. The Summicron / Rokkor can only be found on the used market as the Leica CL was discontinued in the late '70s and the Minolta CLE - the cameras for which these two lenses were created - was culled back in '85.

Best of luck!

P.

Having Leica body and using non leica lens is like having Porsche 911 and put engine from Audi, not bad, I personally drive Audi, but if you buy Leica camera you want leica lens or at least I want Leica lens

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[George Stoichev]

On 10/18/2021 at 1:50 AM, Peter Kilmister said:

With greater megapixels available, and if undecided, maybe use a 35mm and crop?

This is exactly what I never do and dislike 

[pippy]

1 hour ago, George Stoichev said:

Having Leica body and using non leica lens is like having Porsche 911 and put engine from Audi, not bad, I personally drive Audi, but if you buy Leica camera you want leica lens or at least I want Leica lens

Fair point, George(*) and, obviously, it's completely up to you.

This narrows your 40mm choice down to the Summicron (f2) introduced for the CL or the very rare Elmarit (f2.8) which was not introduced at all - but there were some pre-production(?) examples made which do turn up for sale from time to time. A few of the members here have them and their comments can easily be found through the 'search' feature.

Good luck!

Philip.

* On a tangential subject what are your thoughts about the Porsche 356? 912? 914? 924? 944? 968?

But yes, I agree; a 911 should have a flat-six air-cooled boxer engine.............otherwise it's not a 911. Not really.

 

Edited October 19, 2021 by pippy

[George Stoichev]

38 minutes ago, pippy said:

Fair point, George(*) and, obviously, it's completely up to you.

This narrows your 40mm choice down to the Summicron (f2) introduced for the CL or the very rare Elmarit (f2.8) which was not introduced at all - but there were some pre-production(?) examples made which do turn up for sale from time to time. A few of the members here have them and their comments can easily be found through the 'search' feature.

Good luck!

Philip.

* On a tangential subject what are your thoughts about the Porsche 356? 912? 914? 924? 944? 968?

But yes, I agree; a 911 should have a flat-six air-cooled boxer engine.............otherwise it's not a 911. Not really.

 

Pippy, I want my first lens for my first Leica M to be Leica.After that probably would buy Zeiss f/1.4 35mm, just to have one 35mm for just in case when shoot landscape, but my main lens for street and portrait I prefer to be Leica.

[lct]

So you prefer a Leica lens, you don't want a 35 or a 50 and  you would like something in between if i understand well. Sounds like the Summicron-C 40/2 is made for you then. As Pippy suggested above the Elmarit-C 40/2.8 is a collectible. It is rather expensive and its main advantage is its pancake size compared to the Summicron. Unless you modify its flange, any 40mm lens will bring up 50mm frame lines on your M6, as you know, so i would try it in person if you can as some people like that and others don't at all. 

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Edited October 19, 2021 by lct

[trickness]

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On 10/16/2021 at 2:20 PM, George Stoichev said:

Too wide man, I never crop my photos

Try stepping forward a few feet

[Lelmer]

Get both, try both...and take your pick...personally, I keep both 😀

[TheBestSLIsALeicaflex]

On 10/16/2021 at 2:16 PM, George Stoichev said:

Hi,

I recently bought Leica M6, only body.

Now I neet to buy lenses and I’m impatient to make first shots with it.

I’m confused, at first I wanted to buy 50mm Summicron, because I use Contax G2 with 45mm Planar and this is my perfect focal length. When change the button of the camera to see the ilumination of different foca lenghts 50mm seems a bit narrower thann my test, but 35mm is too wide.

 

When Leica introduced the 28mm frame line into their 0.72 cameras, they shrunk down the existing frame lines to make the new lines fit.  They justified it at the time by saying that with slide film there's a loss of edging due to the plastic holder.  As a result though, for the distances I normally shoot, the 50mm frame lines on a M4-P and later is more like 60mm and the 35mm is more like 40mm.  Those frame lines on earlier M's are wider (because they have no 28mm lines) and in my mind, more accurate, at least at the distances I normally shoot.  One reason why I shoot the earlier cameras.  

Lots of folks favor a 35mm lens for a 0.72 M as their do it all, universal lens.  If you find it too wide, just take a step or two closer.  The wider focal length is a little harder to use, because it doesn't match your true vision as much as a 50mm lens, but another trick is to use the wider lens exclusively for 6 or so months.  At the end of that time, most will find they adjusted to it.

Rangefinder users tend to be one or the other -- 50 or 35, as a main lens.  I started out favoring the 50 because it was easier to get better shots, but then gravitated over the years to the 35.  No right answer.  Fro my use, I believe a 35 can do mist of what a 50 does but has a few additional tricks up its' sleeve.  Very individual though, depends how you'll use the lenses.