andalus Posted December 19, 2007 Share #1 Posted December 19, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) I have a lovely black paint MP and two lenses, the 28 Cron and the 75 Cron, both without coding and all three items are in mint condition but for some slight evidence of brass on the MP body. I have no interest in the M8. I love shooting Velvia slides and scanning them with a Nikon scanner. However, I want to simplify even more, and I wonder: the 1.4 Summilux gets rave reviews and I am thinking maybe I should just have one lens, just one, and maybe that one. Of course the 28 Cron and 75 Cron are excellent, but neither could, I don't think, be consider best if one is determined to have just one lens. Also, I figure I could get maybe 5k for the Crons and buy the Lux for 3k and put 2k or so in the bank. So I'd wind up with this great MP and the Lux, to keep forever and pass along to my son, and maybe on the side check out the Nikon D3 with a zoom eventually, say in the next year, and ultimately have that great Leica and also, to get in to the digital mode, the Nikon, on the side. I am not convinced the M8 is the best way to go digital. Maybe if Leica comes out with an improved full frame version, but all the tales of problems with the M8 have scared me off. Any ideas, comments re this plan most appreciated. Fior example, are the numbers I have suggested reasonable for the mint but uncoded Crons? SAm I making any sense here. Of course, I'll never part with the MP. I have owned Leicas for 40 years and used nothing else so far. I wish I still had the SL2 I bounght new in the 70s, but economics prevent me from owning too much equipment and to be frank, I don't shoot more than say 30 rolls a year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 19, 2007 Posted December 19, 2007 Hi andalus, Take a look here Need Advice. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
j. white Posted December 19, 2007 Share #2 Posted December 19, 2007 Hi Martin, Your plan for simplifying sounds utterly reasonable, (although I will not comment on prices for the lenses). However rather than advice, I have a couple of questions for you: Have you shot with a 50 before? - you've shot Leica's for 40 years, but make no mention of which lenses. While it sits respectably between the 28 and 75, it replaces neither of them. Rather, it would be a different way of relating visually to the world altogether. If you've used the 28/75 combo for some time, the transition could be jarring. (The 50 is likely my desert island focal length, but I'm glad I'm not stranded on a desert island.) Do you have a strong desire to shoot digitally? This comes across as secondary to the desire for a minimalist kit, and to some degree your desire for an SL2. And would adding a D3 to your stable really simplify things? It sounds as though you might simply need to clarify your goals. (As an aside, be careful about how loudly you speak of your concerns with the M8 around here. That can be a risky business. <g>) -J. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted December 19, 2007 Share #3 Posted December 19, 2007 What are you looking to do here, make pictures or provide some heirloom which will gather dust on a shelf? "Oh yes, that's Dad's old camera, can't get the film any more". In the meantime, you could be using an M8 to make many more images than you do and if you look all around here, you'll see fine examples of images taken with it. Look at William Palank's images of India and tell me the M8 isn't the way for you to go digital. The M8 is probably the most un-digital digital camera there is. Both your Summicrons will shine on the M8. If you need to trim to just one lens, the 28mm Summicron is the one. Whatever you do, there's no point waiting for something you think is better to turn up. We are all, as they say, a long time dead. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lct Posted December 19, 2007 Share #4 Posted December 19, 2007 You've owned Leicas for 40 years and used nothing else and you want big things like the D3 and the 75/1.4? The 28/2 and 75/2 are probably the best lenses you can have in those focal lengths so far then i'd suggest you don't sell anything right now, buy a second hand 50mm, shoot a couple of rolls with it and tell us how you feel. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andalus Posted December 19, 2007 Author Share #5 Posted December 19, 2007 Thanks so much for the feedback. I guess the more I think about it I should not try to unload the Crons as they are great lenses. It was just a fantasy of having an extremely simply situation with one lens. Put it in the tank bag on the motorcycle and have the Leica handy on the go. But in fact I probably would miss the 75 and 28...well, you have gotten me to reconsider. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lars_bergquist Posted December 19, 2007 Share #6 Posted December 19, 2007 One thing that I would like to emphasize here is what one previous poster wrote – that different focal lengths are different ways to relate to reality. They are also different ways to relate to different realities. An MP with just one lens, no matter which focal length, is to me just a very luxurious hairshirt, or even a velvet straitjacket. You make different pictures of different subjects with different lenses. One single lens is limiting. You may well be satisfied within this limitation. But different people have different requirements for elbow room. Now I would admit that if I had to live with an MP and one lens, that lens would definitely be the Summilux 50mm/1.4 ASPH (which I own). Similarly, with an M8, it would be the Summilux 35mm/1.4 ASPH. (I own both.) But why should I restrict myself in this manner? I am an old man. For me, time is the grand restriction. I intend to live as intensely and widely as I can, while I can. The old man from the Age of Box Cameras Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leitz_not_leica Posted December 19, 2007 Share #7 Posted December 19, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) If I were to have ONE lens, it would be the 35/1.4 ASPH. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xjr Posted December 19, 2007 Share #8 Posted December 19, 2007 You've owned Leicas for 40 years and used nothing else and you want big things like the D3 and the 75/1.4?The 28/2 and 75/2 are probably the best lenses you can have in those focal lengths...etc There is nothing that can come anywhere near these two lenses for these focal lengths.End of. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted December 20, 2007 Share #9 Posted December 20, 2007 If you are well accustomed to 28 & 75 pair, I think is NOT a good idea to go single with a 50... it's next to 75 and, as a reknown Italian Poet wrote : "se non hai il teleobiettivo ingrandisci il negativo" (trans.: "if you haven't a tele, crop and enlarge the neg") But on film 28 is QUITE a different shooting than 50... is a REAL WA... you take all another kind of view, whichever is the subject. So, my advices , without entering your considerations about possible "digital approachs": 1) An economic way and reasonable to go single : out 28&75, in a used and fine Summicron 35 non asph (price depends on version, but always interesting) 2) Alternative, more costly : same with Summilux 35 Asph 3) Logical and not easy way to go single : out 28&75, in a used Tri Elmar 28-35-50 : you'll obtain a combo that really will be a valuable heritage... Not easy for Tri Elmars are scarce. 4) Want anyway a 50 ? Find a used Summicron or buy a CV Nokton. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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