Iceland focal lengths

[LocalHero1953]

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I guess most people who go to Iceland are thinking of landscape, not people. I certainly was when I went with my M. And a 90, 35, 28. No regrets either.

Edit: who (other than @letitz) said that Leica Ms were really designed for people photography?

Edited April 3 by LocalHero1953

[timo01]

35 and 90

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[KFo]

2 hours ago, letitz said:

Well the rangefinder is more innacurate the longer the lens. So the visoflex was there to be used with long lenses for those who use them. 

Leica produces many things. What I was saying was it is up to you to discover how you shoot the world around you. For some it may be a 28mm lens. For others a 90mm lens. Erwitt and Kertesz for examplss sometimes used 90mm. Mostly Kertesz. But he used many other cameras. 

So far if we add up all the answers here he'll have to buy a plane ticket for his camera gear bag. 

Maybe an M is just the wrong tool? Maybe trying to fit a square peg into a round hole is a bit too much. Get the SL camera with a couple of zooms. This camera is more a modern general purpose camera. 

Can you bring a plane full of lenses and visoflexes and shoot with the M? Sure. 

Amen.

It really is understanding what you shoot and how you shoot it.  Then choice is very simple.  As you say, grab what you normally use and use it.

So many uninteresting photos of things where the fingerprints of the maker are nowhere to be seen.  Nice church, car, glacier, etc.  Zzzzzzz.

[jaapv]

Umm, the Ur Leica was designed as an exposure meter for movie film. The camera idea came later. The first lens was the Anastigmat, followed by the Elmax and only then the Elmar. The M3 was not a specific Barnack design, although he probably was consulted.
About the use: in 1954 there were no cameras that could beat the M3 in versatility. Leica has attempted to keep it as universal as possible over time. That was needed to keep off the onslaught of Japanese SLRs, to the point of abandoning the M series after the M5. Only strong customer pressure led to the M4-2 and M6. So no, Leica always attempted to keep their cameras as universal as possible. You vision is fed by the deification of the M by a nostalgic subgroup of owners. 

[LocalHero1953]

After examining @letitz’s arguments carefully from all sides, I shall edge around them, and move on, without looking back. 

[satijntje]

I was last year in Iceland with my family and shot 98% of all images with an SL2-s + 24-90mm SL Zoom lens.
The remaining 2% with the 70-200 Panasonic f4.
But now with the SL3 I would leave the 70-200 at home and crop the images to my need.

[Stuart Richardson]

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I live here, my main camera is the SL2, but I use my M cameras all the time. They are great landscape cameras because they are sharp edge to edge and landscape generally means you are not shooting wide open so absolutely critical focus is usually covered by DOF anyway. There is a pretty big difference in bulk and size between an M10M and 135mm and an SL2 and 90-280...if I am just living my normal life I will not hesitate to bring the M, but the SL2 stays home (or in the car). If I am working out of the car, the SL2 is generally the one I reach for.

I agree that the M is best with the 35mm and 50mm in general, but it does very well with wider lenses or 75 or 90mm lenses as well. The framing gets a touch harder with 90 and 135, but they are still easily manageable, particularly for landscape. The EVF makes it even easier. I don't think it is really much different from using an EVF with a 21mm for example, just instead of using it for framing, you can use it for framing and focusing.

Here are some I took with the M and 50, 90 and 135mm lenses the other day on my way to the grocery store:

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[Einst_Stein]

Unless you shoot landscape with wide aperture, a zoom would be the first choice. 
For me, switching lens outdoors is always a pain. The worst is to find out a lot of dust on the sky after back home. I always regret why bother to switching. 

Of course a nice and portable zoom is ideal, but I find even a clumsy zoom like SL 24-90mm is better than the primes combo such as 25/35/50/90.  Actually, my convenient pack that contains Leica X Vario + Leica X-U works almost perfect for me. The water proof X-U is particularly useful in Iceland when weather and water fall are relentlessly. The weather sealed SL and M should be good enough too, but better to carry with you a camera rain coat to be safe. 

I have used the weather sealed LUMIX super zoom FZ300 (24-600mm, half inch sensor) and very happy with it. To go again, I might chang it to Vlux (24-400mm, 1” sensor) though Vlux is not weather sealed. In brief, don’t be shy to carry a super zoom P&S. 
 

In summary, the first choice I would go is SL 24-90mm, next would be XV + XU. I would also add either FZ300 or Vlux as back-up. 
 

Anything that requires switching lens on the go is not recommended. But if you have two cameras, each with a fixed lens is another story.

[Stuart Richardson]

I totally disagree. I have used prime lenses almost exclusively here, largely with non sealed cameras (Mamiya 7II, view cameras, analog and digital M's), and never had a single issue with water damage in nearly twenty years of living here. Obviously don't use a unsealed camera in driving rain, but typically there is not all that much you can get in weather that bad anyway. Snow does not really find its way into the camera unless it is really wet snow and the camera is warm. Mostly it just gives it some superficial drops. If I want to change a lens in bad weather, I typically just face away from the wind and point the lens mount downwards and change the lens. If it is really bad weather than I either do it inside my jacket or inside the bag. If it is truly horrendous weather then I do it inside (a house or car). If dust is blowing around then yes, you are going to want to use common sense. But that is not particularly common here unless you are way up by the glaciers in dry, windy weather.

 

[jplomley]

10 hours ago, Stuart Richardson said:

I live here, my main camera is the SL2, but I use my M cameras all the time. They are great landscape cameras because they are sharp edge to edge and landscape generally means you are not shooting wide open so absolutely critical focus is usually covered by DOF anyway. There is a pretty big difference in bulk and size between an M10M and 135mm and an SL2 and 90-280...if I am just living my normal life I will not hesitate to bring the M, but the SL2 stays home (or in the car). If I am working out of the car, the SL2 is generally the one I reach for.

I agree that the M is best with the 35mm and 50mm in general, but it does very well with wider lenses or 75 or 90mm lenses as well. The framing gets a touch harder with 90 and 135, but they are still easily manageable, particularly for landscape. The EVF makes it even easier. I don't think it is really much different from using an EVF with a 21mm for example, just instead of using it for framing, you can use it for framing and focusing.

Here are some I took with the M and 50, 90 and 135mm lenses the other day on my way to the grocery store:

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Fantastic images! M10 Monochrom?

[Stuart Richardson]

57 minutes ago, jplomley said:

Fantastic images! M10 Monochrom?

Thank you, yes! 50mm Voigtlander APO, 90mm APO Summicron and 135mm tele elmar.

[JRWhite]

The M10R in action at Aldeyjarfoss.

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