Looking to transition to the Leica M system

[LanceR]

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Hi!

I am looking to transition to the Leica M system and I am very excited.  I am struggling a bit with deciding on focal lengths for my kit.

The vast majority of my photography is travel, landscape, family lifestyle, and creative or artistic shots.  I do not shoot professionally, although at some point I can imagine publishing some of my ongoing projects.

So here is the core of my struggle.  I have used a standard zoom as my primary lens for the last 15+ years.  For the last eight years I have shot on the Fuji X system and my two primary lenses were the 18mm-55mm zoom and a 50mm prime.  Of course the 35mm equivalent for those lenses are 27mm - 82.5mm for the zoom and 75mm for the prime.  I used the zoom for all of my travels and the 50mm for family portraits and close in work.  I have other lenses, but just did not use them as often.  The zoom has been around the world, at least one time.  

When I travel or I am in the field, I 100% want small and easy.  That is why I moved from Canon to Fuji eights years ago.  What I liked about the zoom is that it covered everything I ever needed, so I had one camera and one lens when I travelled.  That zoom lens is smaller than some of the Canon primes and it is reasonably fast.

I have done a of review and analysis of my photos.  I shoot pretty much throughout the zoom range as my philosophy was to always frame what I wanted when I took the picture. (otherwise why carry a zoom?)

I understand this is a highly subjective question, but I am really struggling to figure out how to translate this into a kit that covers what I need in the Leica M system, yet remains small and easy for travel.

I am not asking about specific lenses, rather, I am looking for insight as it relates to the system as I assemble my kit.

My initial inclination was to build a 28mm, 50mm, and 90mm kit to cover my historical range of shooting.  The 50mm would be my primary and the wider or longer lenses would be special purpose for me.  I would probably only travel with the 28mm and the 50mm though, as I do not see the 50mm as wide enough for travel on its own.  I understand I could stitch, but that really is not my style.  Having said that, I was surprised at how many of the travel shots were at the longer end of my zoom lens, which means if I am not taking something longer than 50mm I won't be able to capture some of what I captured historically.

That leads me towards a two lens kit with a 35mm and 75mm, which gives me similar coverage to what I have shot before.  I will lose a bit on both ends in terms of focal length, but I will have less to carry.   I also imagine I would change lenses less frequently in the field.  Shooting with the 35mm probably means more cropping in post than I have historically done, or perhaps my sense of what I want to frame will adjust or I will be able to adequately compose using my feet.

I do understand that moving from a zoom to primes means zooming with my feet and working harder to compose my shot.  I am fine with that.  As part of my preparation for this transition, I have actually been shooting exclusively on my Xpro with the optical view finder and a 35mm prime lens for the last few months.  (35mm is 50mm equivalent).  I have really enjoyed the subject isolation on the 50mm, but I definitely have felt limited on the field of view at times.  I have not had a sense of, "wow, I really missed a shot," because of it, but I have also not travelled to unique destinations during this practice time.

I am fortunate to live just a few miles from a Leica store.  They let me mount all of the focal lengths in question and shoot with an M10R.  I am comfortable with all of the focal lengths on a Leica M camera, although 90mm can get a little tricky just using the optical view finder.  I did also shoot with the electronic view finder with the 90mm.

All things considered, my inclination at the moment is to go for the 35mm and 75mm kit.  Of course there is no life long commitment, so if that ends up not working, I can always adjust.

I suppose my real question is to those that have travelled somewhat extensively with their Leica M kits.  What have you found that works for a two to three lens kit?  Based in your experiences, what do you consider your ideal travel kit?

Thank you for your thoughts and considerations!

 

 

 

 

[jaapv]

The traditional kit for this kind of use is 35-50-90. although some who are happy with a wider FOV will use  24-35-75.  I would advise you to buy just the 35 mm initially - possibly a 75 as second lens if you feel for it and see what works best for you.  Personally, and I have used M cameras for travel and landscape for decades and 28 mm and 90 never worked really for me.  In the end you will end up with a collection of lenses anyway...

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[Al Brown]

I would go for 24-35-75.  That's what I use most, but I do own a 50 as well. All summilux for easier decisions on f-stops. But as @jaapv said, do start with the 35.
If I had to live with only one lens to do it all, it would most likely be a 28.

Edited January 10, 2022 by Al Brown

[Knipsknecht]

I second what Jaap an Al told before! Just start with a 35mm and shoot a lot. Sooner or later you will develop a feeling if there is a certain focal length missing or not. Some people need just a 35mm and that’s it. But you have to find out for yourself which focal length suits you best😉.

[laowai_]

When I transitioned to the M system I noticed something strange: I tended to grab wider focal length than with my DSLRs. 
Where I used a 35 mm lens I now use a 28 mm lens, the 100 mm lens has become a 75 mm lens, etc.

I am not quite sure why this is. Maybe because the Summicrons, especially the wide angle ones, are so amazingly small. Maybe the M makes it easy to get close because nobody feels threatened when you get close to the action with an M (Keep in mind that the perspective depends only on the subject distance, not on the focal length). Or maybe it is so easy to crop if you have to, given the high resolution of both camera and lenses. 
The thing I am still struggling with though is the relative long MFD of the M lenses.

 

[spydrxx]

I've said before, I lived with a 35mm lens as my only lens, travel and family shots, for many years. Occasionally I used other focal length  lenses for special projects, but didn't keep them. Eventually I became a 50mm fan, having used that fl on my slr bodies a lot. Today I principally use 50m, but always have the 35 handy. 28 ws never a big appeal to me, and 24 didn't work either. Currently I keep in reserve, but don't often use a diminutive 21 on the short end, and a 90 and 135 on the long end, with the 90 use much more often than the 135. As others mentioned...find a "base" lens and then expand from there if you find your base just doesn't do it all. And congrats on learning to zoom with your feet...seems to be a lost art for many.

[Hans-Dieter Gülicher]

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I have the 10-R, the 28 mm, 35 mm and 75 mm Summicron. But take only the new 35 mm Summicron plus Visoflex and you will see you need no more.

Regards Hans

 

Edited January 10, 2022 by Hans-Dieter Gülicher

[KFo]

Test shooting with a 35 only for awhile is a good dry run.  For me I tend to imagine in terms of the lens I have along.  If I've mounted a 28 (my most comfortable and familiar focal length) I don't look at something and think: "...if I'd only brought a 50..."  

For travel, given no push-pull from a special factor, I always grab a 28.  For two lens, I go 28, 50 or 21, 35.  I look for combos where each lens brings something unique to the party.  If I had to carry a three lens kit (and this seldom happens), I'd just add my Elmarit Macro-M 90 to either of the combos.

BTW, I left Fuji X to move into Leica several years ago.  I had specific reasons for leaving Fuji (and all consumer digitals for that matter).  What is pushing you?

 

 

 

[Lelmer]

My preferred focal length is 50, no doubt. But, as I don't like to keep on changing lenses, for travelling, my go to lens is the Summilux 35. I very rarely feel the need for 28 or 90.

[Hans-Dieter Gülicher]

vor 2 Minuten schrieb Lelmer:

My preferred focal length is 50, no doubt. But, as I don't like to keep on changing lenses, for travelling, my go to lens is the Summilux 35. I very rarely feel the need for 28 or 90.

In general I agree. But the 35 mm Summicron should be the better way. You can take a crop if needed. Furthermore think at shorter distances > 30 mm.

Regards Hans

[rpsawin]

Lance..log onto this site https://lfi-online.de/ceemes/ and look at the topics of interest to you. Select M camera model/select focal length/then select lens. This should help with your decisions.

 

Best of luck,

[LanceR]

I really appreciate everyone's thoughtful replies!  Very helpful indeed.

In the fall of last year, I rented a Q2 for a couple of weeks.  I really enjoyed the camera, but learned a couple of things.  I found that I was cropping more in post to get the composition I wanted.  I don't have an issue with that, but it does suggest to me that my natural tendency is for shots with a tighter composition.  The other thing I found is that I really do want a longer focal length, like 75mm, for some of my other shots, especially of people.

What I learned by restricting myself to the 50mm equivalent on my Fuji is that it simply cannot go as wide as I need at times because of the physical constraints of where I am shooting.  As you all know, you can only zoom so much with your feet!

Many of you rightly I identified, the real my dilemma here is which lens to start with in my Leica M journey.  I actually wrote that in my original post, but removed it as I was well beyond a TLDR; point.  I was not in the space of just buying all of the lenses up front.

@KFo you ask a great question and there is not a simple answer.  The short version is enjoyment and learning.  I learned a lot when I moved from my Canon to kit to my Fuji kit.  I am already learning more, just by entertaining the idea of moving to Leica.  (e.g. I configured my Fuji to display depth of field and have done some zone focusing practice)  I am driving enthusiast and I choose a car that is manual.  When I go to the track, I am not the fastest car, but it is thoroughly engaging to me.  A lot of the drivers just leave their cars in 100% automatic.  That is fine for them, but something is lost for me.  That same essence translates to photography.  Photography is not a commercial or professional pursuit for me, so I want to slow down and maximize my enjoyment.  I also deeply appreciate craftsmanship and great design.

Because so much of my photography is travel, I am hearing the consensus is 35mm is probably the right place to for my first Leica lens.

 

 

[jaapv]

Don't rely on zone focusing too much;  losing your plane of focus is not conductive to technically flawless photographs (regardless of the all-important content). One of the things that Leica M lenses can do for you is create a 3D effect, which is dependent on precise focus.

Check this post before starting out:

 

[Lelmer]

19 minutes ago, LanceR said:

......

Because so much of my photography is travel, I am hearing the consensus is 35mm is probably the right place to for my first Leica lens.

 

 

You can't be wrong with this first choice...and you'll buy more afterwards anyway, don't worry. 🙂

Welcome to the fantastic M world, and enjoy 

[rtai]

Another big fan of 35mm here. For a particular application like street photography I might choose a 21mm or 28mm, or 75/90 for portrait etc but the 35mm can do all of that though not a perfect match but it can if you use your feet. I look at the 35mm as a “short 50mm” or a “long 28mm”. 

[KFo]

1 hour ago, LanceR said:

....

@KFo you ask a great question and there is not a simple answer.  The short version is enjoyment and learning.  I learned a lot when I moved from my Canon to kit to my Fuji kit.  I am already learning more, just by entertaining the idea of moving to Leica.  (e.g. I configured my Fuji to display depth of field and have done some zone focusing practice)  I am driving enthusiast and I choose a car that is manual.  When I go to the track, I am not the fastest car, but it is thoroughly engaging to me.  A lot of the drivers just leave their cars in 100% automatic.  That is fine for them, but something is lost for me.  That same essence translates to photography.  Photography is not a commercial or professional pursuit for me, so I want to slow down and maximize my enjoyment.  I also deeply appreciate craftsmanship and great design

....

 

I totally get it!  Likewise a driving enthusiast here...I always have selected machines that I control exclusively as well.  

I found that my switch from FujiX to Leica happened SO QUICKLY once I started working with the Leica.  I had my entire Fuji system sold off within a month.  No comparison...

[LanceR]

@jaapv thank you for the pointer!  When I was at the Leica shop and trying out all of the lenses, I was critically focusing each shot with the focus patch.  I was primarily using the broken line method.  I look forward to understanding and practicing the the other focus approaches mentioned in the FAQ.

I would really only use zone focusing to quickly capture something on the street, especially while traveling since I don't live in an urban environment.  In the vast majority of cases, I have time to compose, adjust the camera, and focus critically.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Yes. I have traveled with M, both digital and film. 

I used one and only lens. And I didn't have any problems, limitations.

Mostly 35, rarely 50.

Tele is just a waste on M, IMO. But 75 is not bad at all.

Also, be prepared for spot like metering with M, here is no average like with modern mirrorless.

And here is no dust reduction in any digital M. So, one lens is advisable on travels. 

Edited January 10, 2022 by Ko.Fe.

[LanceR]

@rpsawin thank you for the pointer.  I have spent a lot of time looking through photos taken with various Leica lenses to get an understanding of their character, etc.  This is a whole new source for me to review before I make my decision.

@KFothat is fantastic and not surprising at the same time, that the philosophy would be shared by others for both cars and cameras.  I feel fortunate that I do not have to sell my Fuji system to make the transition, but I suspect like you, I will find that I fully switchover very quickly.  I already shoot in a way that is very consistent with a Leica M.  Aside from the aforementioned composing with my feet, the main difference is that I use back-button auto focusing on my Fuji because I find manual focus with the electronic step motors to be a chore.  The mechanical focus with the short throw on the Leica M lenses is amazing!  The tactile experience of shooting with an M is remarkable.

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[Sailronin]

I always carried the classic set (35, 50, 90 Summicrons) when traveling.  I didn't use the 90mm a lot but it was very handy when it was needed (probably less then 10%), sometimes you can't use "foot zoom" to get closer to a subject.  If I was going out street shooting I'd usually just mount the 35mm and leave the others in a hotel safe.

Good luck and enjoy the M

Edited January 10, 2022 by Sailronin