M10 to Venice - 28mm or 21mm or both?

[Raid Amin]

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Summilux 35/1.4 Sienna Italy

 

Edited May 6, 2022 by Raid Amin

[Raid Amin]

Zeiss Jena 5cm 1.5 Sonnar on basic m 4/3 camera

Camogli, Italy

[Raid Amin]

A complete "outlier" was my newly bought Zeiss Hologon 16mm/8 (which I added to my 35&50 combo)

 

Denmark

 

[Raid Amin]

5cm 1.5 Sonnar with cheap m 4/3

France

 

[roydonian]

I've been to Venice six times, and found that for street scenes, the 35mm was often OK, but sometimes the 28mm was needed. I did an article on Venice afrer Dark for the LHSA 'Viewfinder' magazine in 2014, and this was all done with the 35mm Summilux ASPH

[roydonian]

Why is there no obvious way of deleting a posting that was made in error?

Edited May 6, 2022 by roydonian
message sent to the wrong thread

[Ouroboros]

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28 & 75 summicrons with one M body  would be my choice for a holiday in Venice. You'll be doing a lot of walking around, often in popular crowded tourist areas and it can be hot and humid, so I'd keep it small and simple.

[Raid Amin]

43 minutes ago, Ouroboros said:

28 & 75 summicrons with one M body  would be my choice for a holiday in Venice. You'll be doing a lot of walking around, often in popular crowded tourist areas and it can be hot and humid, so I'd keep it small and simple.

My Zeiss Jena 50/1.5 (1938) is light and sharp and gives pastel color images.

The pre-asph Summilux is small too.

Small and simple.

[Chazphoto]

Dear Leicaphiles,

Thank you and apologies for being so long in the reply.  Robert Kresa's Day in Venice is unexpectedly grungy in style & content, so thank you for the alternative inspiration.  I read a few other threads on lens choice in Venice and came across the reference to Alex Maioli in the Leica M system book published when the M9 came out.  Also this excellent set from "Rick_Leica" (if you're still around, there's lots to like in this) https://www.flickr.com/photos/rickleica/3822216376.  

I think that two or three key points emerge from the advice: first is whether one is photographing wide & high with limited room to back up.  Two prime examples are exteriors and interiors; as my thinking about the time I have in Venice develops, I don't think that I want to spend much time inside the marvellous churches and civic buildings, so I'm not going to be trying for those shots.  My concern over 21 v 28 was to do with photographing the exteriors where space to back-up was limited, but I take heart form the 28mm and equiv examples in this thread.

I have the SEM 21 and it would be no hardship to take it for those occasions on which I could do something dramatic with it.  Like some of you, I have no problem walking around with four lenses - particularly not in Leica terms (having done that with DSLRs for many years) and switching from time to time.  I completely agree with the comments about staying with one lens for a while and I suspect the starting point will be the 28mm, with the 21mm coming out when needed and switching to the 50mm Lux for the evening.  As to which 50mm, I'm suffering from GAS and will start a separate thread!

Thank you all for the good wishes and great advice.  My name's on several gelatos already!

Cheers

 

Chazphoto 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LocalHero1953]

16 minutes ago, Chazphoto said:

Dear Leicaphiles,

Thank you and apologies for being so long in the reply.  Robert Kresa's Day in Venice is unexpectedly grungy in style & content, so thank you for the alternative inspiration.  I read a few other threads on lens choice in Venice and came across the reference to Alex Maioli in the Leica M system book published when the M9 came out.  Also this excellent set from "Rick_Leica" (if you're still around, there's lots to like in this) https://www.flickr.com/photos/rickleica/3822216376.  

I think that two or three key points emerge from the advice: first is whether one is photographing wide & high with limited room to back up.  Two prime examples are exteriors and interiors; as my thinking about the time I have in Venice develops, I don't think that I want to spend much time inside the marvellous churches and civic buildings, so I'm not going to be trying for those shots.  My concern over 21 v 28 was to do with photographing the exteriors where space to back-up was limited, but I take heart form the 28mm and equiv examples in this thread.

I have the SEM 21 and it would be no hardship to take it for those occasions on which I could do something dramatic with it.  Like some of you, I have no problem walking around with four lenses - particularly not in Leica terms (having done that with DSLRs for many years) and switching from time to time.  I completely agree with the comments about staying with one lens for a while and I suspect the starting point will be the 28mm, with the 21mm coming out when needed and switching to the 50mm Lux for the evening.  As to which 50mm, I'm suffering from GAS and will start a separate thread!

Thank you all for the good wishes and great advice.  My name's on several gelatos already!

Cheers

 

Chazphoto 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So..... 21, 28, 50.....what's your fourth?🙂

[satijntje]

Before departing to Venice for a 5 days holiday I repacked my Photobag at least 4 times.
SL2 in, SL2 out, M10 in and so on…..
In the end I only took my Q2 in my smallest photobag and had no regrets. 
So a 28mm lens will do the job easily.
Do not carry to much weight with you as you will be the whole day on your feet 🙂
Enjoy Venice!

[Chazphoto]

@LocalHero1953 90mm Elmarit, which I had coded by Leica during the first year of lock-down - a process in which the London Leica shop were very helpful, but where the effects of leaving the EU on the postal system were truly awful!

On previous trips to various cities (primarily New York and Milan) the 90mm has proven very useful for isolating a face in a crowd or photographing a neon sign against the darkening sky.  Of the four lenses, only the 50mm Summilux (a pre-ASPH from the 1970s, I think) is >250g... actually, the Elmarit is 410g, I have just checked the specs.  Doesn't seem to weigh that much.

Chazphoto

[Herr Barnack]

On 5/1/2022 at 9:45 AM, Chazphoto said:

Hi,

I've booked a short trip to Venice, which will be my first time there.   Any recommendations for which wide-angle, given relative building height to narrowness of street issues?  The 50mm Summuilux and 90mm Elmarit will come along for sure and I could always take both wides, but advice/experience gratefully received.

thanks

Chazphoto

You have 21mm, 28mm, 50mm and 90mm.  I can't see a reason not to take them all.  Four lenses is not that many to carry.  if your camera bag gets to be too heavy, you can put a couple of lenses in the pockets of your cargo pants or photographer's vest to lighten it up.

[Chazphoto]

Dear Herr Barnack

indeed I will take all four.  Some years ago in my pre Leica days, I roamed Rome with a Nikon and some large heavy lenses, so the rangefinder system is a pleasure in comparison.   Particularly since I’m built more like a ballerina than a boxer.  
 

Chazphoto

[MarkP]

...and you don't have to take all four out with you on each daily excursion. There's always the room safe.

[a.noctilux]

Two stages ...exactly.

@Chazphoto

I don't know in which hotel you plan to stay in Venice.

If the hotel is safe(or offer a safe in room), I'd take most of I want then choose the combo I need in particular day of staying.

One lens or two for the day, then other lenses stay at hotel.

Venice is not that big, when you need another set of lens(es), returning to hotel for swapping sets can be done easily.

Edited May 18, 2022 by a.noctilux

[idusidusi]

3 minutes ago, a.noctilux said:

Two stages ...exactly.

@Chazphoto

I don't know in which hotel you plan to stay in Venice.

If the hotel is safe(or offer a safe in room), I'd take most of I want then choose the combo I need in particular day of staying.

One lens or two for the day, then other lenses stay at hotel.

Exactly.

[Boojay]

First, just have a wonderful time, for anyone into photography it's a real treat.  

I was lucky enough to do two five day solo trips, just me and my camera.  Even using my waterbus pass several times a day, I walked between 25 and 30,000 steps a day, and there is a photo op around every corner😊.  I tended to be up with or before the sun in the morning, when St Marks Square is free of large crowds, just a few posing with the pigeons.  It's also the time to watch the hotels bars and shops being re-stocked, the waterways full of working boats not gondolas.

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Because I'm not a fan of changing lenses when I'm out and about, two cameras have always worked best for me, I guess if you are a phone camera user that could work too.  So I did my trips with an M10 and a CL.   Taking a 35/50 Summilux, 90 Cron, and 15 Voigtlander, for the CL the 18-56 zoom. Given your question, the near 28mm equivalent of the little zoom was wide enough for me, the 50mm Summilux was my most used lens, but then that is always the case for me.  The 35 on the M and the 50 on the CL (75mm equiv) in the evenings was a good combination.  

I mostly just carried one camera in a small (Billingham Hadley Digital) shoulder bag, big enough for my phone, wallet (lipstick - you might not need that), and a spare battery for each camera, and the other camera on cross body strap with chosen lens.  On the days I visited the islands I had a lightweight backpack for a little more gear.   

Anyway, whatever you take, have a great time and please share some photographs when you get back, I never tire of looking at images of La Serenissima.

 

 

 

Edited May 18, 2022 by Boojay

[a.noctilux]

As side note...

Don't forget visiting Burano AND Murano ...

We had "better" pictures opportunities there than inside Venice.

 

Rule-of-thumb...

Balance between light small gear and pictures taking is so individual that one must try/experiment the right balance for planning pictures.

 

 

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Leicaiste]

And Sant’Erasmo, the vegetable garden of Venice. A very different aspect of Venice. 

Take the vapotetto from “Venezia Fondamente Nove” to “Sant’Erasmo Capannone”. The linea 13.

https://avm.avmspa.it/sites/default/files/avm/navigazione/Actv_nav_linea_13.pdf

You can rent bicycles at the hotel “Il Lato Azzurro” within walking distance from the vaporetto.

And have a pizza at “Al Bacan”, a very simple restaurant on the South Beach facing the Lido pass. Nice for lunch. 

Or at “Ape Verde Pistacchio”, a small Piaggio food truck in a field in front of the small road leading to the “Sant’Erasmo Capannone” vaporetto stop. Nice at sunset before going back to Venice.