cknobel
Newbie
thinking of getting myself a wideangle; which one shall I go for, the super-elmar-m 1:3,8/18mm ASPH or the elmarit-m 1:2,8/21mm ASPH?
which leica wideangle?
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cknobel
Newbie
got a m6 and ordered the m9......
payasam
a.k.a. Mukul Dube
I'd recommend starting with a 35mm or a 28mm. You will soon know if you get on with wide angles and whether you need something wider.
cknobel
Newbie
ok, thanks guys....
Welcome to RFF, dknobel, and congrats on the forthcoming new M9! Having shot 15mm, 18mm, 21mm, 25, 28, 35 etc etc on both film and M8 crop, it's my view that the 90° angle of view (21mm on film/M9) is right on the edge... On the borderline between a reasonable carry-around lens versus a carry-in-the-bag superwide for special purposes.
The 21 takes attention and extra skill to use in such a way it doesn't scream WIDE in every shot. As an example of this skill, I'm in mind of a wonderful series shot in Istanbul by Alan Soon entirely with 21mm... see it here: http://photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=322503
Both the 18mm Super-Elmar and 21mm Elmarit-Asph are outstanding optics but I think they're "exploratory" lenses best to supplement something less extreme. I'll second Payasam's suggestion, as I find the 28mm and 35mm very useful for general purposes, and 40mm as well but not often 50mm or longer. That's certainly a matter to suit one's own preferences in photography. I do quite a bit of "environmental portrait" and travel shooting so 28 and 35 are mainstream for me. And 35 is a traditional do-it-all focal length for Leicas, often a sensible choice, and it's what I got with my first M body.
The 21 takes attention and extra skill to use in such a way it doesn't scream WIDE in every shot. As an example of this skill, I'm in mind of a wonderful series shot in Istanbul by Alan Soon entirely with 21mm... see it here: http://photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=322503
Both the 18mm Super-Elmar and 21mm Elmarit-Asph are outstanding optics but I think they're "exploratory" lenses best to supplement something less extreme. I'll second Payasam's suggestion, as I find the 28mm and 35mm very useful for general purposes, and 40mm as well but not often 50mm or longer. That's certainly a matter to suit one's own preferences in photography. I do quite a bit of "environmental portrait" and travel shooting so 28 and 35 are mainstream for me. And 35 is a traditional do-it-all focal length for Leicas, often a sensible choice, and it's what I got with my first M body.
robklurfield
eclipse
try a cv 15/4.5. it's cheap enough that you can still afford a 21, 28 or 35. personally, if I had to live with only two lenses, I could get by very nicely with a 28/2.8 elmarit and the cv 15. the two together will cost less than either the 18 or 21. if money is not an object, you can better advice from other folks here than me.
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