Slimming down the lens choices...

[idusidusi]

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1 minute ago, a.noctilux said:

👍 Roger Hicks for his 35/50/90 advice.

I followed this "trio" Summicron-M  kit for many decades.

Now getting older, I-just-follow-my-own-finding below

...

ONE LENS only, the rest is waiting somewhere to be used.

I am usually out with one or two lenses, chosen before going out as lenses I probably will need for the said purpose on that day.

[a.noctilux]

1 minute ago, idusidusi said:

I am usually out with one or two lenses, chosen before going out as lenses I probably will need for the said purpose on that day.

Stephen, we are "nice", no ?

see my post #10

 

[Erato]

My constant is duet.

[Guest]

This year I have gone through my collection of M lenses and let many of them go, ( Leica and Voigtlander ), by utilizing the "wardrobe selection test".............and that is if something hasn't been worn / used for a year then I should get rid of it. So some really good lenses went away in trade towards upgrading the few focal lengths I use with my M cameras, film and digital. Old Leica lenses traded up for new, plus a Voigtlander Heliar 40mm and a TTA 28mm 5.6 ( both more than excellent lenses  by the way ).

The new Leica lenses are 35mm/50mm Summilux and Summicron and a new 28mm Elmarit 2.8. The "closet" lost eleven lenses and gained six new replacements. With the trade-ins the financial hurt wasn't too bad either. I am more than happy with the thinning out of what I'd accumulated over the decades and the upgrading of my most used focal length choices......A surprise was how well the older Leica glass held and a few lenses even increased their value when I came to trade.

[phototrope]

I mostly use 50mm, and in that focal length currently own the following lenses:
Noctilux f/1.0 E58
summilux asph
5cm summicron collapsible
dual-range summicron
APO summicron

After getting the APO a few months ago, I am seriously considering selling all of them and just keeping the APO. It literally does everything just right. The hardest lens to let go of would be the noctilux E58, but even that I am considering.

Part of the argument that goes through my head to keep them all is that "each lens is like a different paint brush" - which is true in the case of these lenses. However, there is definitely some charm in the simplicity having only one lens for one focal length - consistency of look in your work being not the least of them.

Edited August 17, 2022 by phototrope

[lct]

I would keep a 50 gentle for portraits.

[phototrope]

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2 hours ago, lct said:

I would keep a 50 gentle for portraits.

The APO 50 can be very gentle in gentle light, but without losing any detail. Thats the amazing thing about it. 

Johno Slack said it best in his article about APO lenses:
"I think that this rapid fall-off of contrast confers a special look on the Leica APO lenses, which are very detailed when in focus, but with a quick roll-off into gentle bokeh: Indeed, I think the whole look is 'gentle', the in-focus area, although showing a lot of detail doesn't have that 'crunchy' look that many older lenses have when stopped down."

https://www.slack.co.uk/leica-apo-m-lenses.html

Edited August 17, 2022 by phototrope

[lct]

1 hour ago, phototrope said:

The APO 50 can be very gentle in gentle light, but without losing any detail. Thats the amazing thing about it.

Matter of tastes. I own one. Definitely too sharp for me. YMMV.

[smkoush]

I thought I was not a 35mm user until I tried the 35mm summilux pre-asph few years back...now I feel slimming down the lens choices is necessary as I drive myself crazy having to decide which one to use, so something must go but don't know what. The pre-asph summilux is so characterful, the apo-summicron is in a league of its own, the FLE is more similar to the Apo than not, and has an extra stop for when is necessary...can't make up my mind! 

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[graphlex]

8 hours ago, lct said:

I would keep a 50 gentle for portraits.

Does the 50mm Summilux ASPH do well for this? Wide open, that is. 

Edited August 18, 2022 by graphlex
Clarify

[lct]

1 hour ago, graphlex said:

Does the 50mm Summilux ASPH do well for this? Wide open, that is. 

You know it is a matter of tastes. Personally i find most asph and apo lenses too sharp for less than perfect skins so i much prefer lenses like Summilux 50/1.4 v2 or v3, Sonnar 50/1.5 or Summicron 50/2 v4 or v5 for that. YMMV.

[phototrope]

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A quick snap of someone with "less than perfect skin" taken with the APO 50, straight out of camera.

[lct]

28 minutes ago, phototrope said:

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A quick snap of someone with "less than perfect skin" taken with the APO 50, straight out of camera.

Nice pic and sharp moustache indeed. You may wish to try the same with your mother at law .

[Lelmer]

18 hours ago, lct said:

Nice pic and sharp moustache indeed. You may wish to try the same with your mother at law .

Who wants to photograph her mother in law? 🤣

[jakontil]

4 hours ago, Lelmer said:

Who wants to photograph her mother in law? 🤣

Oh my …. 
 

i did last month…i had to 

[phototrope]

On 8/18/2022 at 1:35 PM, lct said:

Nice pic and sharp moustache indeed. You may wish to try the same with your mother at law .

Thankfully I no longer have a mother in law. But if I did, I doubt if an unsharp moustache would make it look any better 🙄