1, 2 or more lenses?

1, 2 or more lenses?

  • One lens

    Votes: 40 36.0%

  • Two lenses

    Votes: 50 45.0%

  • Three or more lenses, or extra bodies and such

    Votes: 21 18.9%
  • Total voters
    111
  • Poll closed .
I'd go the route that to have 2 better quality lens for versatility, over one Super Quality Lens. With today's software, you can always push the IQ up a little, or, should I say perceived IQ by Post editing.
I did just that... I could of bought the M5 and one OEM Leitz lens, but, I decided on 3 Voigtlander Lenses that had a great reputations by past and present users. I'm not regretting it one bit!
 
The 35mm FOV is a 'must have' for me.
Distant second is either a 28 or a 50.
I voted for the two lens combo.
 
I shoot with two lenses: 35 Lux pre-asph & 21mm CV. 90% is shot with the 35; while the 21mm CV is mostly used on trips in places unusual to me.

On a tight budget, I would get one really good lens before I watered down the glass. If you buy glass below your "standards" eventually you'll sell and get into the buy/sell mode which is largely a waste of time.
 
I dunno, it kind of depends on what sort of budget we're talking about. If the ideal lens is, say, a 35/1.4 Summilux ASPH, I can get a lot of camera and glass for that kind of money.
 
maggieo,

That is actually about the kind of lens budget I had in mind ($5000) when writing the question , but I didn't want to set a lens into the minds of responders. I wanted to let everyone imagine what they would do in their own circumstances.

To be more specific, the lenses for the options were something like this (w/ an M9):

A) The new 35 Summilux ASPH

B) The Nokton 1.2, a 40 cron/rokkor or other small 35/40, and a 75 cron (This is why I amended the question in my second post to be more focal length specific--I consider a Nokton+small 35 combo to be a poor man's Summilux of sorts, and counted it as one lens. You could also just say 35 and 75 crons.)

C) The Nokton 1.2, small 35/40, 25 CV, 75 Heliar, M6TTL body, film scanner, Luigi cases...

I am in the A/B camp. If the Nokton did not exist, I would most likely be an A, but that is really only circumstantial. I break my own rule by relying on practice instead of theory.
 
After having dabbled with the RF camers for 3 years, I have converged to the ideal set up: two bodies, two lenses. For me the FL are 28 and 50, and since I wear glasses, the 2 bodies which best suit this set up are M7 0.58x and M7 0.85x, however under budget you could substitute them with the Bessas R4A and R3A.As for the lenses, they have to be fast and with no issues, so my choice is 28 Summicron and 50 Summilux pre ASPH. You could substitute these easily with the 28/2 or 28/1.9 Ultron and another fast 50mm of your choice.
The rationale behind two bodies each dedicated to one lens, is that when you are moving around, be it in town or in countryside, changing lenses in front of a fleeting photo opportunity is simply not an option, and for tripod work, larger format cameras are more indicated anyway.
 
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Well, with $5K I can buy a lot of film for my M2, with a 1st version 50 Summilux-M, a 90 Tele-Elmarit and a 1970's 35 Summicron.
 
The size of the budget really is key.
If you tell me I have $500 to spend, then I'm most likely getting one lens. If you tell me I have $2,000 to spend on lenses, then I can easily come up with a 2-3 lens kit that will produce awesome photos - or at least it would have the potential to do so.
 
Let the budget continue to float at whatever the best lens is for the focal length you prefer. I know this causes issues, as the favorite lens of some is not that expensive, but I am assuming that prices adjust by demand for the majority of users (at least us Americans know the price of everything and the value of nothing). If the 35 summilux pre-aspherical was more highly sought-after than the soon-to-be released 35 summilux, it should cost more since its supply is only decreasing.

I would think that the most used lenses (if they could be afforded) by most people would be 35 summilux or 50 noctilux, either in the ASPH or pre-aspherical forms. For a two lens kit, one would move to summicrons, summarits or non-Leica gear, most likely in one of these combinations: 21/35, 28/50, 28/75, 35/75, 35/50, or 50/90. When further splitting the assets, a greater number of much less costly lenses could be had. I do not mean to imply anything less than a summilux is inferior, but the Leica lenses of greatest light (or night light) seem to dominate the 'favorites' list.
 
Tim,

You are certainly correct. With a small enough budget, we are only talking about a functioning lens versus two broken ones. I should have specifically stated that we are talking about one expensive, most desired brass and glass bottle versus sacrificing that zenith for two or more ample or merely sufficient lenses.
 
rya said:
Tim,

You are certainly correct. With a small enough budget, we are only talking about a functioning lens versus two broken ones. I should have specifically stated that we are talking about one expensive, most desired brass and glass bottle versus sacrificing that zenith for two or more ample or merely sufficient lenses.
Click to expand...

I'd say that my line-up of glass, posted upthread, is in no way a compromise, but rather the best kit for my way of seeing. There's no doubt that current Leica glass is very good, but its way of drawing isn't for everyone and its price is, well, steep.
 
I thought I should interrupt the gear discussion with a picture to make this thread a bit more exciting:
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(Taken with a camera and lens worth less than $50.)
 
maggieo,

Then am I correct to assume you select option C? Otherwise, your budget is allowing you to in practice obtain your full kit, and I would ask you to pretend that you could only afford one of those lenses you have listed.
 
maggieo said:
I'd say that my line-up of glass, posted upthread, is in no way a compromise, but rather the best kit for my way of seeing. There's no doubt that current Leica glass is very good, but its way of drawing isn't for everyone and its price is, well, steep.
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+1
Every time I buy an ASPH lens (35 lux asph, 35 cron asph, 28 cron), I end up selling it and replacing it with what some would consider less than optimal glass.
Several of my own favorites (50 planar, 35 pre-asph lux, 21 Super Angulon) can be had for less than the cost of one of those flagship lenses.
Depending on your shooting preferences, that may not be anything close to a compromise.
 
tbarker13 said:
+1
Every time I buy an ASPH lens (35 lux asph, 35 cron asph, 28 cron), I end up selling it and replacing it with what some would consider less than optimal glass.
Several of my own favorites (50 planar, 35 pre-asph lux, 21 Super Angulon) can be had for less than the cost of one of those flagship lenses.
Depending on your shooting preferences, that may not be anything close to a compromise.
Click to expand...

LOL. I'm right there with you brother.
 
rya said:
maggieo,

Then am I correct to assume you select option C? Otherwise, your budget is allowing you to in practice obtain your full kit, and I would ask you to pretend that you could only afford one of those lenses you have listed.
Click to expand...

Then I dump the Summicron and go with a Summaron 35/2.8, which is actually my current rig!
 
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