Should I simply give up?

[Olaf_ZG]

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I am a 45/50mm guy. Love it for (environmental) portraits, as a daily carry, and my best work is done with a 50mm. It’s more intimate than a 35mm and that’s why I like it when shooting people.

Somehow the Q never worked for me, as it is too wide, though I do love the 28mm summaron for landscapes.

Some photographers I admire (fe Peter Turner) use mostly a 35mm. But then, looking at their photos, I personally would take it tighter.

Recently I bought a cron 35 asph v2 from a member here. Thought it could be my daily lens. Four months later, I am still not convinced: the lens doesn’t render as nice as my 50mm summilux or the summaron. I still crop a lot in post too…

Should I simply give up and sell it? A 28/50 combo on the M will be enough, and money spared can be used towards another lens for the SL.

at current, the m I use is a monochrom.

[Olaf_ZG]

Ofcourse you will, but then, you are comparing same lenses but different iterations: silver vs bc lux for example.

Looks like you have even more doubts than I do, so you could be your first client…

[RexGig0]

So, wider than 50mm, but, narrower than 35mm…

45mm Chiyoko Minolta Super Rokkor? I tried to post a link, without success. Houston Camera Exchange dot com has one listed. Actually, what little I found, on-line, indicated that it may be not a very good lens, on digital cameras. 

There is the Leica Summicron 40mm. I have no experience with this one.

Rollei made a 40mm with Leica threaded mount, that is well-regarded.

Cosina/Voigtlander market several 40mm lenses, with threaded and M mounts.

At least one reviewer found that the Voigtlander 50mm APO Lanthar is a bit wider-angle than the Leica M lenses he had available, for comparison. I teckoned that this one would be a good “modern” 50mm lens to complement my Leica Summilux-M 50mm ASPH. I have not yet shot brick walls, with the camera on a tripod, to verify any difference in focal length.
 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2024 by RexGig0

[ianforber]

If you prefer 50mm, I’d just stick with that focal length. I’m a massive fan of cropping so I have no compunction in cropping 35mm to 50mm, even though I have a 50mm Summicron. If you already have the 28mm, the 35mm would be superfluous for me. 

[fil-m]

Never give up.

I took me years to reconsider my previous approach of "one focal, one lens" (and that was a 50mm), until I've started learning and exploring all the way from 21mm to 90mm.

Tough but rewarding. 

It forces you to reconsider the way you "look at things" and widen your photographic style, enrich it. For me it is totally different experience to go on the street with a 35mm even when compared to a 50mm - whether I crop or not at the end, who cares? I also removed this "don't crop" law that I imposed on myself for no known reason. 

I encourage you to persist, and looking at your photos, there is so much potential! Even if the "circle" brings you back to where you started, ie 50mm, what matters is the path  

[lct]

Something i've been learning in half a century there are people who see in 50mm, others in 35mm. If you're a 50mm guy, forget 35 if you don't have the money for it and try 28, 24, 21 or... nothing instead. 50mm guy with a dozen 35mm lenses speaking 😄

 

[spydrxx]

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I don't know why you bother to ask. You said the 35 doesn't work for you, so dump it, and don't listen to those who encourage you to live with it and learn. You like the 28, so stick with it and your 50. No brainer! The 35 isn't going to turn you into a better photographer if you favor the 28/50 combo.

[Mute-on]

@Olaf_ZG apparently the 35/2.8 Summaron renders beautifully in black and white.  Perhaps the 35 Summicron is simply too modern in its rendering to give you a look that you find appealing. If you are inclined to make a last-ditch effort with 35, consider replacing the Summicron with the Summaron, or an older Summicron.

Having said that, unless you are prepared to modify some element of your approach to accommodate a wider field of view, the fact you still crop 35 a lot in post suggests 35 is really not how you ‘see’.

Personally, I find 35 very natural. I hardly notice there is a frame in front of my eye when composing. On the other hand, to me a 50 seems like looking through a porthole from two metres. Great if I deliberately want to focus on a small part of a scene, but far too tight to capture the “story” as I tend to see it. Sounds like the opposite may be true for you.  

Edited April 26, 2024 by Mute-on

[jaeger]

You should give up.  It's about how far between you and the subject.

[pippy]

If 35mm doesn't work for you then I'd suggest you give it a rest for a while. Try once more when coming back to the f/length might seem a bit 'fresh' and then see how you feel. If it still doesn't work - and you don't think it ever will - then there's little point (IMO) in trying to force yourself to like it.

Many folks love the 21mm f/length. I have used one on-and-off (mostly off) ever since I acquired it and the reality is that I am just not a 21mm photographer.

Such Is Life. Forget the 35 and use stuff which does work for you.

Philip.

[GFW2-SCUSA]

Olaf, looking over your Instagram page I would say you are a 50mm guy without a doubt. Why would you use a lens that doesn't give you what you want? Sell the 35mm, go out for a nice dinner with the proceeds and stick with the focal lenght that is right for you. Becuse a photographer you admire uses a different focal lenght means nothing for you. You do lovely work with what you have, stick to it! 

[Sandokan]

Eventhough 35 was my first lens on both M (Summicron) and R (Summilux), I have never really felt the love. Recently, I started making use of a 35 Summilux on the M and I may be beginning to like it. Just "maybe" so far - wait for after my trip to Cologne where I will be taking a Nikon SP with 35mm and a FM3a with an 85mm, and of course the Q (and maybe TL2 for the companion so she doesnt get too bored)

[MaticB]

10 hours ago, Al Brown said:

I am opening a photographer counseling service, Reddit at r/leica will be my main target audience but I am considering accepting customers from this forum as well.
My praxis will consist of addressing the following burning questions:

- Convince me not to buy X/Y lens or body
- Did I do the right decision buying X/Y lens or body
- Stop me from selling X/Y lens or body
- What X/Y lens or body should I buy
- Mad at Leica, should I dump the system?
- Is X/Y lens or body right for me?
- Should I give up rangefinder photography?

...and similar issues only solvable by my future clients themselves, yet for those willing to spend $1200 an hour plus tax plus tip I can possibly solve them.

My office will have large images of Cartier-Bresson and other much quoted photographers so the clients will be able to relax. I will also offer a cozy leather Chesterfield for ultimate decompression during therapy. No photo gear except service cameras* will be allowed into the office.

*with certification on qualifying condition to have a service camera.

Finally...!

[250swb]

For many of my early years doing photography a 35mm was my standard lens, but over time ideas change and now I rarely use one despite having seven of various makes. So follow your ideas, don't use a lens because 'it forces you to see...', use a lens to connect your brain to the subject with as little force or persuasion as possible. 

Besides which the difference between your 50mm and a 35mm isn't great enough that your feet can't be used to bridge the gap, but the difference between your 50mm and a 28mm is big enough to make the focal length jump useful. This is not to say you shouldn't have a 35mm lens, or a 135mm lens, or any that can refresh your ideas or have fun with.

[dpitt]

I can relate, I tried 28mm on FF, which is much too wide for me, then 35mm which works but I still crop more than not. And I always come back to my trusted Summicron 40C. It is the perfect compromise for me. Just wide enough that I do not get into trouble with large buildings and structures, and enough reach for smaller objects and people. Occasionally I stitch a panorama when I need to go much wider than 40mm (more like 21mm because in that case maybe even 28mm would not be wide enough). The C1P auto stitching is almost perfect, even if you throw pictures shot out of hand and with auto white balance and auto exposure to it, even moving people and objects like cars are never an issue.

On other occasions it serves as my 75-90mm with heavy cropping.

I can get by with the 50mm more than with a 35mm, but I would need more panorama shots in that case. If you are into the subtle differences in rendering of vintage lenses 50mm is the most interesting FL, because there are so many variants out there.

Because of the iPhone and camera's like the Q series, it feels like 50mm is very old fashioned and I would almost feel embarrassed to admit that I still use it.
Well...  to all those croppers out there... A cropped 28mm is not the same! What is the point of buying a fast lens for its character and then cropping it to death? A Summilux 50mm is very different wide open and it can be cropped to a fast 75 or 90 mm too. That is still not as far fetched as cropping the 28mm Q to 50 or 75 mm.

[KFo]

It's about proximity to the protagonist 😎  I like to work close (28).  Except when I don't want to then I back off to a 35 or 50 but it doesn't happen often.

I have never suffered for a lens though.  Either I figure out how it works for me, or I give up.  Life is too short...

[Danner]

In my experience, 28/35/50/90 is the do-all M-kit.  I suggest gradually building toward that combination, buying versions of each focal length that please your vision.

Edited April 27, 2024 by Danner

[patrickcolpron]

22 hours ago, Olaf_ZG said:

Should I simply give up?

Short answer, yes. You found what works for you and it's a 50. 

Long answer, I exclusively used a 50 for about 20 years, then used a variety of primes and zoom lenses for about 20 years, then again mostly the 50 for about 4 years combined with a smartphone (don't judge)  and the last couple of years I re-discovered the 35 which was my favorite in terms of rendering with a Nikon F6 and a 35 AI-S and Portra 400 in the early 2000's and now I am mostly using either a Steel Rim or an APO 35. 

I guess you have the wrong 35, a 35 forces me to get closer. This said I can get similar results with a 50 which gives me a shallower depth of field at f/4 than a 35 would. 
 

You use a 50 Lux, I'd recommend you find a 35 Lux and try it for an year exclusively. It will change how you see the 35, as much as I love a 50, I could never live with just one 50 as my lens ever again, but I can live with just a 35.

The 28 is ... well, not a focal length I ever really appreciated and I have two 28, but I have four Leica 50 lenses and four Leica 35... I mostly use the 35 lenses. 
 

 

Edited April 27, 2024 by patrickcolpron

[hansvons]

If 35mm doesn't work for you, don't force you to use it. But I wouldn't sell the lens if you don't have to.

There will be a time when you might try it again because 35mm is like 50mm the closest you can get for a natural perspective. 35mm pretty much covers our field of view whilst 50mm feels a bit too narrow but renders distances like our human vision. Plus, the Summicron ASPH is a sharp character lens, Leica’s pinnacle 35mm design from the film era.

35mm, BTW, is the most used lens in filmmaking and for many famous directors and DoPs their preferred lens (in S-35mm that would be roughly 25mm). However, you must use your feet more than with a 50mm and the shots won't have that expressionist feel of 28mm. 35mm is boring, not fish nor meat. And that's its beauty. It's demanding but rewarding. 

I shoot 98% of my stuff on 35mm, but I do own a 50mm Summicron v4 for those rare, classic portraits and like the lens' subtle character. I dislike wide-angle lenses, 28mm and shorter because their rendering always looks cool (you must be blind not to succeed) and give a wrong impression of what's in front of them. They are loud and not delicate. 

And finally an experience from the field: I hate changing lenses when I photograph. It steals time and kills opportunities. That's why 2 cameras are better than one and why I don't own a full set besides the fact that I only need a 35mm lens.

Edited April 27, 2024 by hansvons

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[IkarusJohn]

I’d stick with it, but not because it is inherently good or “what works for you”, but because it makes you think.

It’s easy to say “I’m a wide guy” or “50 works for me”, but I do think that is a cop-out.  My first Leica lens was the 35 Summicron ASPH - a lens loved by many.  I found it a bit meh.  I wasn’t sure why.  Rendering?  Composition?  Why was it so boring?  I then felt I needed to come to grips with that focal length.  I set it as a challenge.  First was to get a lens I liked - no point using a lens with a rendering you just don’t like (35 Summilux ASPH (FLE), I’m looking at you).  Then I realised that I wasn’t thinking at all about the composition that worked for me with that lens.

So, here’s the challenge - look at your 35mm shots and try to work out why they don’t do it for you.  My guess is - taken at head height, subject not filling the image, or not providing the balance or drama you want.  I suspect it’s all about composition, and not setting up the shot which works best for that focal length.

50mm is relatively easy, particularly with an M camera where the tendency is to put the subject in the middle of the frame.  You get little context, and the subject is well presented, and probably taken wide open.  28mm provides drama - provided you actually have a subject (not just random images of trees or scrub) and you consider the surroundings, then it is easy to get interesting images (iPhones notwithstanding).

But with the 35, it is so close to your visual framing (43mm being standard), you need to work harder to get the shot you were probably thinking of.  Move closer, crouch down, put your subject off centre, think about the background, or step back to get more context.  For me, this has been an interesting exercise which has broken some lazy habits.

Then think about selling!