Configuring a Leica M3 kit

[dave lackey]

Please help me with this decision.
A Leica M3 is winging its way to Georgia. Minus any lenses, of course.:angel: Why no lens? Partly due to lack of cash on hand and partly because I am still deciding where I want my rangefinder photography to take me.

After selling the wonderful S3 2000, I miss the rangefinder experience with people photography, portraits, street shots, etc. Sports action, flash, studio work and similar photography is being left to the DSLR's. But, the M3....I am thinking about adding weddings, birthdays, political gatherings, and similar events to my services using the M3 and available light.

Ta, da! That brings me to choosing the lenses I will need. 😕

Anyone who has successfully used the M3 or similar M body for these types of events, please help me configure the kit I need to work toward! 😀

Thank you all in advance for your recommendations.

 

[Austerby]

An M3 with a 50mm lens is a wonderful combination. You don't have the wider framelines in the viewfinder, so the VC 25mm with external viewfinder and scale focussing is a good bet, or else just pop on a 35mm and guestimate the framing. A 90mm also goes well and that would give you a handy range of focal lengths.

Lots of choice for a 50mm depending on newness and your budget. 90mms are some of the best value second-hand lenses around and there are lots of them.

Enjoy - you made a good choice.

 

[kxl]

I'd start with a "normal" everyday lens -- basically, the lens you will use the most. For most people, this is a 35mm or 50mm. This is a personal preference; however, with the M3's framelines, a 50mm lens will be more convenient.

Your next question is: which 50mm? Many, many good options.

Good luck!

Keith

 

[drewbarb]

I use a pair of M3's for much of my shooting, including some weddings and other event work. The focal length that gets the most use for me is the 50mm. It's a great lens length, and really a prefect match with the M3. I have a few, and have developed favorites for certain applications, but for general shooting it's easy to recommend basically any Summicron, Summilux, the Zeiss Planar, Canon LTM f1.8 Serenar, etc. It's kind of hard to go wrong- although you'll have to find out which you like best, and for what specific uses.

The next most used focal lengths for me are 90mm and 24/25mm, not necessarily in that order. I also use a 135mm lens with the M3 more often than I would have thought- it's really nice with the M3 finder. 15mm and 21mm super wides get a fair amount of use, too, though I rarely carry both.

Get some LTM adapters; there are so many LTM lenses out there, and many can be had quite cheaply. This will add a huge number of very useful and affordable lenses to your kit potential.

Finally, don't be afraid of using flash with the M cameras where it's appropriate. Fill flash is about the nicest way to use flash in most of these types of shooting situations when there's not quite enough available light- so the slow sync speed isn't much of a problem, since you'll be dragging the shutter a bit. Find a flash unit that gives you low power settings so you can shoot at f2.8 or f4 at 1/15th or 1/30th of a second. With 400 speed film, this gets you nicely exposed shots with maybe a little motion blur around the edges, but crisp subjects and nice bright backgrounds. It also means that shooting many events, you can leave the SLR at home. Shooting an event with two M bodies, four lenses, a small flash and bunch of film in a small bag is very freeing- enjoy!

 

[Al Kaplan]

50mm f/1.4 Nikkor, 85mm f/2 Nikkor and (unfortunately) the goggled version of the first model (8 element) 35mm f/2 Summicron, and probably a 21mm f/3.4 Super Angulon. I think that for weddings you'll like the images of these older lenses better than the latest ultra-expensive aspherics. For political pictures it won't matter one bit. Then with all the money you'll save by using older lenses you can also afford to buy an M2 body, which has a frame line for the plain ungoggled version of the 35mm Summicron. I'd really suggest getting a 21mm lens BEFORE getting the 50. With a 35 and an 85 or 90 there's not much need for something in the middle.

Rangefinder cameras are IDEAL for flash photography. The continuous view through the finder assures you that the flash did indeed fire, and often you can notice if somebody blinks. A lot of people blink when they first hear an SLR's mirror going up. Their eyes are shut tight when the flash goes off and oft times open again by the time the mirror comes down. You never see the blink.

Try to travel light at political gatherings, at most a small bag for the flash, extra batteries, film, and a light meter. DO NOT dress like a newspaper photographer! Wear a nice conservative wool suit, white shirt, silk tie, and leather shoes if you're a guy. Carry your business cards in the jacket's breast pocket. You want to be dressed like "one of the guys", not a paparazzi. If you end up shooting a bunch of pictures of various people shaking the governor's hand ask if he or she would mind if you got in a picture also. Set the camera and hand it off to somebody nearby telling them "It's all set and ready to go!" It'll look great on your wall or website.

 

[icebear]

A 50 and the M3 are made for each other and the higher mag. viewfinder supports the use of a 90, which I didn't use a lot with my M6 but much more with my "new" M3 - currently sent to Don for CLA. - You might have to consider some service for your's too.

 

[ferider]

It depends what you want to do, Dave, and what your budget is. These kits come to mind immediately:

1) just a single lens, a nice 50mm, great for portraits, among others: ZM 50/1.5 or another older Sonnar, like Nikkor 50/1.4, Canon 50/1.5, or even a Jupiter 3.
2) Nikkor 50/1.4, Nikkor 85/2
3) 35 goggled Summaron or Summicron, 50 Summicron, 90 Summicron. 50/90 Versions depending on the contrast/weight/size compromise that you want.
4) The "Out of the box" solution: CV Nokton 40/1.4 and Summlux 75/1.4.

Note that 135 is very usable on the M3, as well. Nikkor 135/3.5 or Tele Elmar 135/4 are great and very affordable.

So many lenses, so little time 🙂

Roland.

 

[johannielscom]

A vote for the M-Hexanons, which are modern lenses, all built like a tank and (IMHO) the only lenses that truly belong on an M3, being made as tight as they were they match the feel of the M3 beautifully.

Ask anyone here that owns one about the build and optical quality and you can be sure to get songs of praise from them.

Best of all, most people seem to forget about them when scouring the big auction site, so they can be had for reasonable cash at the same time.

The people at Konica even made a 50mm 1.2 that'll leave you some room to move around when shooting available light... Get it while they last

 

[payasam]

Doing that kind of work I used my M3 almost exclusively with 50 and 35 lenses, and because of the latter a SBLOO finder resided in the accessory shoe.

 

[rxmd]

Rangefinder cameras are IDEAL for flash photography.

An M3 isn't, for me anyway. With pre-M5 Leicas I always ended up with the sync cable sticking in my face and the M3 doesn't have standard sync terminals. Flash on the M3 is borked. One really does appreciate a hot shoe eventually.

 

[JWW]

For my M3, I usually have the rigid 50mm summicron on it. Good lens plus this chrome lens looks great on the camera. In my small Domke bag, I pack a preasph 90mm summicron also. These are really reasonable on the used market and make great portraits at wide open. Of course in low light with the hi mag vf the M3 works great with the noctilux or the 50mm lux.

Jan

 

[drewbarb]

When I'm out shooting 35mm, most of the time my kit is this:
one or two M3's; a 50mm lens- most often the dual range 'cron, though sometimes it's a Canon f1.2; a wide like the 21mm or 25mm CV Skopars; a short tele like the 90mm Elmarit-M; occasionally a 135mm tele; a meter; film, sharpie, pen, pencil and paper; there's a spare softie in my bag somewhere; some tape for film ID's, and that's about it. Here's a snap of what I found in my bag today (minus the shot film).

EDIT: oh, and usually I have an Olympus XA hanging around somewhere too.

 

[vieri]

When I'm out shooting 35mm, most of the time my kit is this:
one or two M3's; a 50mm lens- most often the dual range 'cron, though sometimes it's a Canon f1.2; a wide like the 21mm or 25mm CV Skopars; a short tele like the 90mm Elmarit-M; occasionally a 135mm tele; a meter; film, sharpie, pen, pencil and paper; there's a spare softie in my bag somewhere; some tape for film ID's, and that's about it. Here's a snap of what I found in my bag today (minus the shot film).

EDIT: oh, and usually I have an Olympus XA hanging around somewhere too.

Very interestingly, my kit is basically the same as yours: MP, M2 (was 2 MPs, now one is gone replaced by 2 M2s... call me crazy!); 21 3.4 Super-Angulon, 2/35 v. IV (soon to be replaced by a 35 Lux pre-ASPH), a 50 (2.8 Elmar, Canon 1.4, Nocti, according to the occasion) and the 90 Cron pre-ASPH. Pen, pencil, paper, film, meter. And recently I got an XA which follow me everywhere. 😀

EDIT: I also sometimes lug a IIIc with a 3.5 35 mm on replacing the 2/35 & the XA. A great P&S, though it takes that little extra compared to the XA when it comes to meter 😉

 

[peterm1]

Here is one out of left field.

Paradoxically given the M3's lack of 35mm frame, I have used mine a lot in all types of photogrpahic settings, with an early Summaron 35mm f3.5 and a Canon 35mm accessory viewfinder.

While many do not like using accessory viewfinders there are a couple of advantages. First, good ones are very clear and give a great view of the subject even in dim condititons.

But the main thing is this, and I find it a remarkable advantage - by pre-setting the lens aperture and focusing distance it frees me from having to think about twiddling the rangefinder to make sure the subject is in focus. As you are not looking thru the camera's viewfinder you are not constantly worrying about the blasted rangefinder. Very liberating.

Of course if you prefer something newer in the way of lenses , there are any number of options to choose from. I also have the version iv Summicron 35mm as well and its wonderful (but have a personal love of the old lenses like the Summaron even though its a good deal slower. They have a nice signature and of course its cheap to buy.) Or of course you could go wider.......

I am only suggesting this as the sort of work you specified for your rangefinder (mainly close in and group work) lends itself to wider lenses rather than a 50.

 

[FrankS]

I totally agree that using an external finder and pre-focusing the lens (and pre-setting the exposure controls) makes for a very liberating shooting style.

 

[dave lackey]

Great suggestions so far!

One lens of interest is the Summarit 50mm 1.5 because of its rendering of bokeh....

And the price!

I am having some difficulty finding representative photo samples of images made with that lens. Does anyone have some good images they would like to share?😀

 

[ferider]

http://www.flickr.com/groups/86731438@N00/pool/tags/LeicaSummarit50mmf1.5

http://www.flickr.com/groups/86731438@N00/pool/tags/LeicaSummarit50mmf1.5LTM

Also, v1 Summilux is closely related:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/86731438@N00/pool/tags/LeicaSummilux50mmf1.4I

Best,

Roland.

 

[thomasw_]

...Why no lens? Partly due to lack of cash on hand and partly because I am still deciding where I want my rangefinder photography to take me.....But, the M3....I am thinking about adding weddings, birthdays, political gatherings, and similar events to my services using the M3 and available light.

The M3 and a 50mm is the cat's meow. For available light, OP, I'd recommend f1,4 or more if you can swing it.

1 canons 50/1,4 50/1,2 50/0.95 --> from least to most costly
2 nikkors 50/1,4 ...the f1,1 is out of this world costly, collected.
3 hexanons 50/1.2 60/1,2 - cost roughly the same as v2/3 summiluxes
4 summiluxes v2,3 ---> awesome rendition. the v2 focuses to 1m; v3 close focuses to .7m
5 asph 50 summilux ---> allround lens....the best 50 i have had the pleasure to use. but it costs a lung or a kidney 😉