Essential Leicazeisslander

[presspass]

Essential? Pretty well anything that went into the bag today. Lenses I would rather not live without: 21 pre-asph Elmarit; 35 asph Summilux; 75 Summilux; 135 2.8 Elmarit. Not a light kit, but one that can do anything that doesn't need an extreme telephoto. Fast enough to use with Tri-X at 400; even better with Tri-X at 1600.

 

[Travis L.]

I wonder why everybody are so crazy about cron 35 v4?
it's made like a toy, it's hard to focus with it, it costs more than previous versions, his IQ doesn't seem to be obviously better

I've always wondered about this myself. I've owned two examples of this lens and didn't care for either of them.

Current favorites

21 f4 Super Angulon
50 collapsible Summicron
50 1.5 Summarit
35 2.5 PII Color Skopar

 

[OurManInTangier]

50mm Zeiss Planar and my 35mm Summicron as its small and very quick to focus. I also use a 28mm from time to time but haven't found a 'blue chip' 28 yet

 

[KoNickon]

I would be quite reluctant to part with my wartime Sonnar. Or any of the M-Hexanons.

 

[mfunnell]

I will never understand owning more than one lens of the same focal length.

How do I mount - let alone focus - my Canon EF 50mm on my Leica M3? My Elmar-M 50 somehow seems to work better for that...

...Mike

 

[sepiareverb]

A lens. Then another lens. Then another...

😀

I've got three M 50 lenses. I had five at one point. They were all are different, I decided that two of them were too different.

The Elmar-M and the Summilux ASPH are completely different on film, by chance the Summicron falls somewhere between the two. Differences are clear even at 8x10- tho I might be hard pressed to tell the Elmar-M from the Summicron at that size. At 16x20 many among us would likely see a difference.

Just realized I've had ten different M mount 50mm lenses and two screwmounts, plus the one on the 0 serie. Going back before M cameras I've had twenty different 50mm's.

 

[Roger Hicks]

, I decided that two of them were too different.

Or not different enough?

On the one hand: keep the REALLY good one.

On the other hand: keep the slightly better one...

Cheers,

R.

 

[Erik van Straten]

My essential lens is the Summicron 50mm f/2 rigid v1. All the other lenses are "special effect" lenses.

Erik.

 

[sepiareverb]

Or not different enough?

Perhaps you've found me out??? I actually got rid of the most different ones, and run my various films to minimize their differences these days...

On the one hand: keep the REALLY good one.

On the other hand: keep the slightly better one...

My hands are indeed full.😀

 

[kdemas]

These are the workers right now...

- 35 Cron ASPH
- 50 C-Sonnar
- 50 Cron (latest)
- 105/2.5 Nikkor LTM

If it really came down to it, any one of the 50's I have would do.

SLR Side would be the 24-70/2.8 Nikkor, awesome lens.

 

[canetsbe]

I find my favorite lens has changed for me over time. Some years it has been the 28mm or 35mm but more than any other, my "essential" lens is a fast 50. My Zeiss C-sonnar gets my vote. A close second is the 28mm elmarit.