Indispensable Lens

[Lelmer]

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On 2/27/2023 at 8:12 PM, Al Brown said:

Old Delft Minor 35mm/3.5, the quintessential, prerequisite, all-important connoisseur version of Leica worthy character lens.

Nice discovery, thanks. Never heard of that before.

[Ko.Fe.]

Most use from Color Skopar 35 2.5. All three versions. Longest in use was M version PII. I used it so often and long enough to have it failing apart. Loose lens block and focus tab.

I used those because they were most reasonably priced non-vintage lenses.

Once I got little more money I switched to last affordable lens from LCAG, Summarit-M 35 2.5. It has correct ergonomics and great rendering. It went with me everywhere as the only lens on M4-2 as the only camera. 

[lct]

Ontological question. Can a lens be indispensable if it is not my most used lens? My favorite lens? But i have one in each focal length more or less. I guess my empirical definition would be a lens that i feel the need to replace immediately if i break it or lose it for whatever reason. In that sense, i have not one but two indispensable lenses. On full frame, Elmar-M 50/2.8 and on APS, Tessar 35/3.5. Two triplets, compact size, sharp but not harsh, high contrast, little flare and CA, smooth bokeh. Simplicity, efficiency but also, first of all, modesty. Just all me

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[rtai]

For film it has to be a 35mm Summilux of any vintage. For M digital I would say 28mm preferably but wider will also do.

[IzelPhotography]

For me it would be the 35mm Summilux ASPH FLE for general use. Although the 28mm Elmarit that I use a lot for landscape, mountain work would be a close second. Great little lens that.

And then there's..... I've just accepted the fact that I can never have just one lens, they're all indispensable!

[pgk]

1 hour ago, lct said:

I guess my empirical definition would be a lens that i feel the need to replace immediately if i break it or lose it for whatever reason.

Sums up my intent quite well. And 'favourite' may well not be a lens which is used much. My 'favourite' is probably the 21 SEM but I don't use it anywhere near as much as the 35.😊

Edited March 1, 2023 by pgk

[grahamc]

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Another vote for the 35:1.4 v2 here.    If reluctantly I had to reduce to just 1 lens, this would almost certainly be it .

I have the v1 but use it a little more gingerly due to the value these days.

 

[Michael Hiles]

I would vote for the 50mm Summicron V5. 

[ELAN]

The 28 Summilux f/1.4 is my indispensable lens and I use it often despite its size and weight. 

For everyday use it's the 35 Summicron v4 or the 35 Summilux asph pre-FLE.

[Stein K S]

A sidenote… am I the only one getting a blend of german and english… not in comments, but in other info like date of posting, status of contributor etc… goes for all threads on my iPad… can live with it, but still strange 😉

Edited March 3, 2023 by Stein K S

[Stein K S]

15 hours ago, Stein K S said:

A sidenote… am I the only one getting a blend of german and english… not in comments, but in other info like date of posting, status of contributor etc… goes for all threads on my iPad… can live with it, but still strange 😉

Now… THAT was stupid! Sooorry 😉

Edited March 4, 2023 by Stein K S