Is a 50 redundant if you have a 35?

[TheEyesHaveIt]

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A controversial title perhaps -  but wanted to grab your attention  

I currently have a 35 1.4 and a lot of folks recommend a 75 as a good pairing for it. However, my worry with the 75 is that it would remain in my bag (or worse, at home) 90% of the time since it seems a bit "specialized" for what I tend to shoot (travel, urban landscape, street). So I was wondering if a 50 would be a more useful lens - in that, I could even make it my primary from time to time just to get a different perspective / force me to frame differently. However, with an M11, I have a large degree of cropping ability given the 60mp sensor, so then I worry that I would not be getting anything particularly different compared to my 35.

Thoughts? Advice?

[Herr Barnack]

No.  Not at all.

If the 35 is considered a normal focal length as many think of it, the 50 can be thought of as the 35's short tele companion.  IMHO, 35mm 50mm and 75mm would be a great three lens kit.

JMHO.

 

 

Edited November 11, 2022 by Herr Barnack

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[Jeff S]

Perspective changes result from moving your feet - camera to subject distance - not from change in focal length or from cropping.

These are personal decisions based on style and preferences.  I have had a 35 and 50mm M lens since the 80’s (and a 28mm not long after).  YMMV.

Jeff

[pippy]

This is something which you will simply have to find out for yourself.

My main lens these days is a 35mm and if carrying others (which is the norm) the other two lenses I will always grab first are a 28mm and a 50mm. Although there might not appear to be much of a difference between  28 / 35 / 50 in practice I've found that that there is sufficient difference for the way I shoot.

I do love the 75mm f/l but the reality has proven to be that if I carry a 75 it will be used for fewer than 5% of a typical day's snapping.

Best of luck!

Philip.

Edited November 12, 2022 by pippy

[Crem]

You can easily crop a 35 on the M11 to be a 50. It won't look the same due to compression and the rendering characteristics of the lens, but only you can decide if that matters. I skipped the 75 and a went for the Macro Elmar 90 F4. It's very small and makes a great travel companion for those "I wish I had a really sharp telephoto" moments when traveling and taking outdoor photos. I don't bother using the hood with it. My advice is to spend some time cropping your 35 to 50, 75, 90. You can also use the frame-line selector to get a feel for the different focal lengths and when you might want to use them (with M bodies).

Edited November 12, 2022 by Crem

[trickness]

With respect, you're not asking the whole question.

It's not just about focal length - it's also about how the lens renders. A 35 Cron will render very differently than a 50 Lux 1.4 ASPH. That is just as important as the field of view focal length gives you. It might not make sense to get both a current version 35 and 50 Cron - but it would make a lot of sense to get the 35 Cron and a 50 Nocti.

They're all paintbrushes. What do you want to paint?

 

[Anbaric]

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16 minutes ago, TheEyesHaveIt said:

A controversial title perhaps -  but wanted to grab your attention  

I currently have a 35 1.4 and a lot of folks recommend a 75 as a good pairing for it. However, my worry with the 75 is that it would remain in my bag (or worse, at home) 90% of the time since it seems a bit "specialized" for what I tend to shoot (travel, urban landscape, street). So I was wondering if a 50 would be a more useful lens - in that, I could even make it my primary from time to time just to get a different perspective / force me to frame differently. However, with an M11, I have a large degree of cropping ability given the 60mp sensor, so then I worry that I would not be getting anything particularly different compared to my 35.

Thoughts? Advice?

You should sell the 35 and get a 28 and a 50 🙂

Seriously, everyone is different and you should get what you prefer. Personally, I think there's a good reason why the classic trio of the 35, 50 and 90 have been so popular since the M2, but the 28 and the 75 have many fans. It might be worth thinking about how many lenses you want to end up with and if, for example, you eventually get the 90 (many travel photographers find a longer lens useful), whether you'd then consider the 75 redundant, etc. If you use other cameras, particularly one with a zoom, you might want to check which focal lengths you use most often (digitals generally record this in the metadata).

[pippy]

4 minutes ago, Crem said:

You can easily crop a 35 on the M11 to be a 50. It won't look the same due to compression...

Yes it will look the same.

When cropping a 50mm image-area from an image shot on a 35mm lens the 'compression' will look exactly the same. 'Compression' will only change if the relative positions of photographer to subject matter change. See first line in Jeff S's post above (#4).

Philip.

[Ouroboros]

40 minutes ago, TheEyesHaveIt said:

A controversial title perhaps -  but wanted to grab your attention  

I currently have a 35 1.4 and a lot of folks recommend a 75 as a good pairing for it. However, my worry with the 75 is that it would remain in my bag (or worse, at home) 90% of the time since it seems a bit "specialized" for what I tend to shoot (travel, urban landscape, street). So I was wondering if a 50 would be a more useful lens - in that, I could even make it my primary from time to time just to get a different perspective / force me to frame differently. However, with an M11, I have a large degree of cropping ability given the 60mp sensor, so then I worry that I would not be getting anything particularly different compared to my 35.

Thoughts? Advice?

Here's a little exercise for you:  assuming you used a dslr or something with a zoom lens before your migration to Leica, take a good look through your travel,urban, landscape and street photography archive and see which focal lengths you used the most.  You may well be surprised.

I know for a fact that my most used aov range is mainly at either end of 28-90mm.  A 35mmm & 75mm pair  also works perfectly well for me, but I also would not be without a 50mm lens.  My usual travel set is 28, 50 & 90mm summicrons which does not leave me wanting.

It's a mistake to think that cropping a 35mm lens angle of view will always give the same perspective as a 50mm, it won't always work, if you find yourself doing that, then you need a 50mm lens.  Why would you go to all the expense of a 60mp sensor simply to throw resolution away by cropping in an attempt to replicate a different focal length?  It makes no sense.

Buy a 50mm to work out your preference of focal length/aov between 35mm & 50mm, they are a useful pair in their own right and take it from there.

Edited November 12, 2022 by Ouroboros

[lct]

You will probably receive one different answer per member here but here is my take for what it's worth. 1. Forget those cropping things to begin with. When you compose you don't do it with cropping in mind or if you do it you have all my congrats as i am totally unable to fo that. 2. Ask yourself the focal length you feel better with. If it is 35, as i seem to understand it, 75 is generally considered the better complement but it is a matter of tastes so if you feel better with 50 get a 50 and let cropping to pixel peepers. Just my 2 cents. 

[RexGig0]

I do not believe that a 50mm is redundant, if I have a 35mm. I may carry one of each, as my only two lenses, for a day of shooting. I started Leica M shooting with a Summilux-M 50mm ASPH, that I found pre-owned, at a nearby camera store. If I recall correctly, my next M-mount lens purchase was a Summaron-M 3.5cm f/3.5. The large, “fast” 50mm and the compact, “slow” 35mm were not only different focal lengths, but far different in size and visual signature. Later, I added an f/1.4 35mm, though Zeiss, rather than Leica, so, even my 35mm lenses are different tools for different tasks. I could have stopped, at this point, and been relatively well-equipped, for most of what I actually do with Leica cameras.

Of course, I did not stop with the 50mm and 35mm lenses. I see no redundancy in having 21mm, 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 75mm, and 90mm M-mount lenses. Each has its usefulness. This does not mean that I carry the whole set! One or two are normally enough, for a day of shooting. I may travel with only three lenses.

 

[Mute-on]

Get a 50. You can always crop to 75 or even 90mm with 60mp. 
 

Personally I think the three must have focal lengths for any Leica M are 28, 35 and 50 (given rangefinder base length and magnification). With 60mp you can easily crop to anything longer. 

Edited November 12, 2022 by Mute-on

[rramesh]

It really depends on your type of photography. If 35 is your only lens, I would consider sizing 2 up/down. Maybe get a 75 or a 24, or 21. 

Edited November 12, 2022 by rramesh

[kengai]

I agree that the 50mm must be in the equipment, as I have the 35mm Summicron and the 75, which 50mm do you recommend?

[shirubadanieru]

50 & 35 are the ideal focal lenghts for a rangefinder. Followed by 28/90 probably. I use 35 for street since at F11 I can pre focus and shoot as a point&shoot camera & the 50 for portraits mostly. I find the rendering & use cases to be quite different between then.

As for 75mm, 75 lux is a great lens but way too large & heavy to be enjoyable so really depends how often you'd want to use it & in which scenarios. Most other 75 are heavier/larger even. Lastly, the 75 framelines are awful to frame.

[mediumformula]

I never understood the cropping thing because different focal lengths render objects and space and their relation to each other differently.  As others have said it is not just about the field of view, it is about how a 50 renders the image.  The 50mm offers the closest depiction as we see with our human eye.  Lenses wider or longer than 50mm are inherently distorted with respect to the 50mm image rendering.  That's not to say they are bad, just different, and simply cropping in doesn't give you the same result as different glass which captures light differently.

[Stein K S]

Absolutely not!

I define myself as a 35 guy and have two of those. 
However, there are currently three 50s in my bag as well…

And all will for sure stay.

Time to redefine myself? 😉

[pegelli]

I think the term "redundant lens" is an oxymoron

[01af]

It's a commonplace notion that carrying lenses with adjacent focal lengths such as 28+35, 35+50, 50+75, etc made no sense. It was better to make wider steps such as 21+35+90, for example, to cover more ground with as few lenses as possible.

While this is a valid idea and makes sense especially for, say, travel photography, it's not true for everybody. I, for one, often carry (and use!) 35 and 50 mm as a two-lens kit. Sometimes I carry more lenses and still just use 35 and 50 mm. So no—a 50 mm lens is definitely not redundant when you already have a 35 mm.

If you feel you don't need a 50 mm lens because you already have a good 35 mm and you'd rather have a 75 or 90 mm to go with 35 then that's fine. If you feel you want a 50 mm to go with 35 then that's equally fine. So if someone suggests you should better buy anything but a 50 mm because that would be redundant then don't pay attention. What's good for someone else is not necessarily good for you (and vice versa).

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[pippy]

4 hours ago, shirubadanieru said:

...As for 75mm, 75 lux is a great lens but way too large & heavy to be enjoyable......Most other 75 are heavier/larger even. Lastly, the 75 framelines are awful to frame...

Apart from not having the faster apertures of f1.4 / f2 (obviously) the 75mm f2.5 / f2.4 Summarit lenses are fantastic performers and are both considerably lighter and smaller than any version of the Summilux. If a 75 is sought more for general shooting (for want of a better term) than Boke they can be highly recommended.

Framing is a personal thing; I find no problems with framing apart from remembering to use the correct frame-lines!

Philip.