glass advice?

[JoeFriday]

I don't know how to say this, so I'll just say it.. I don't own a rangefinder

whew.. I'm glad to get that off my chest

anyway, I'm planning to buy a Yashica GSN in the very near future, having seen what awesome results Natalie has been getting.. and that will take care of my immediate needs.. but I'm still planning to pick up a M6 this spring.. as soon as I see a mint body for under $800

(and yes, that was a joke.. at least the part about the price)

however, it occurred to me that the body alone wasn't likely to give me excellent results.. I've read a lot of comments here that suggest getting a lens, too

as I'm not employed by the U.N. and don't have access to unlimited funds, price will be a factor.. so we're talking glass under $800.. I will probably be shooting Provia 100F handheld, for the most part

what would be your recommendation for a first or second choice in either 35mm or 50mm?

 

[RML]

BTW, just so you know, Borghesia also has very nice Electro shots....

 

[Huck Finn]

Depends on your shooting style.

I'm happy with my latest version Leica 50/2 Summicron, available on ebay for about $600 . . . give or take.

 

[JoeFriday]

yeah, I know there are a lot of variables and preferences involved here.. I'm just so overwhelmed with choices that I don't even know where to start looking

the Summicron 50/2 is about the only one I've actually read up on.. looks like a potential winner.. I'd just like a laundry list of other options to consider

 

[furcafe]

Re: glass advice?

A nice thing about Leicas is that there is literally a world of good lenses available for them, especially in a popular, & easily manufactured, focal length like 50mm. Leitz/Leica glass is excellent, of course, but don't discount other manufacturers. E.g., if you want a modern 50, a good economical choice would be the Konica 50/2 M-Hexanon. It's a great lens, both in optical performance & build quality, & you should be able to pick 1 up for < $400 on the 'Bay. For extra speed, I like the Cosina Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, although it is a definite step down from the Hexanon in build quality.

If you lean towards old 50s, there are dozens of excellent choices, ranging from the various Summicrons, Summiluxes, & Elmars, to dozens of thread-mount lenses from Canon, Nikon, WWII & post-WWII Carl Zeiss Jena, Yashica, Minolta, etc. All should be well under $800, but I consider the later black Canon 50/1.8 to be a bargain, as it can be found for <$200 in the U.S.

IMHO, I think your threshold question should be, "what focal length?" 2nd should be "how fast?" And last should be "old (classic) or new (modern)?"

(BTW, do folks who work for the UN really get paid that much? They're not like the guys on Wall St, etc.)

. . .

as I'm not employed by the U.N. and don't have access to unlimited funds, price will be a factor.. so we're talking glass under $800.. I will probably be shooting Provia 100F handheld, for the most part

what would be your recommendation for a first or second choice in either 35mm or 50mm?

 

[JoeFriday]

thanks for the thoughts, furcafe.. I had almost forgotten about the Nokton, and hadn't checked out the Hex yet

Borghesia has some incredible shots, too! but it doesn't seem to matter what camera is in his hands

(the UN reference was an allusion to the Oil For Food scandal where top level officials were receiving 'oil vouchers' from Hussein which they were selling on the black market for billions of dollars)

 

[Huck Finn]

Actually, Joe, I think that your best strategy would be to use the GSN a whole lot before you decide to buy anything else. Find out what limits the 45/1.7 imposes on you. & whether you're satisfied with the picture quality. Not wide enough? Not long enough? Do you ever shoot at f/1.7 or f/2? This may help to narrow the field of choices.

Then, yes you do have a myriad of choice. Want to buy old or modern? Used or new? You've identified your price point, so that leaves out all of the new Zeiss & Leicas, but it does leave Voigtlanders, Konicas, & Rollei. Used? No recent Zeiss, but the others are out there. Old? Leica & the Canons, Nikkors, & Zeiss that were made in M-mount. And then there are the Russian lenses.

Besides Cameraquest, interesting lens articles out there on www.dantestella.com , www.davidde.com , www.photoetnography.com

Cheers . . .

 

[That Guy]

I think I've got something that'll help both of us out, Joe. I've got a Minolta Hi-Matic 9 just lying around that I haven't used yet. It's in good condition and has both manual and auto exposure, it just needs batteries. Since you're in Brat Capital, if you want to meet sometime, I'll loan you the Hi-Matic for a while if you'd like. All you have to do is provide the batteries and tell me how well it works. It takes a Zinc-Air with the correct 1.35V level. I've even got a busted GSN with battery adapter you can have if you'd like.

Send me a PM if that sounds good to you. I'm in the Milwaukee area. Maybe we could make a larger meet out of it.

 

[MikeLeFevre]

The Russian glass is very very good in 50mm m39 especially the Industar 61 and Jupiter 8. You can get the I61 for US$15 plus p&p, and the J8's not that much dearer.
I think if you did a bang for bucks analysis they'd win out hands down over any of the alternatives and you wouldn't be getting substandard bang either. It sometimes strikes me how related this field is to audio i.e. you'll get the audio/leicaphiles who'll spend $100s/$1000s to get an extra 3% performance that sometimes they're the only ones who can hear/see it (well they do sometimes use their special 40x magnifying loupes- so maybe they do see things the rest of us don't)
M.

 

[RObert Budding]

Another option is a Contax IIa or IIIa. You can get a camera body and lense, with overhaul, for $800. And the Zeiss glass is excellent. I bought my IIIa from Henry Scherer - he selected the camera, at no additional charge for the service, and I paid for an amazingly thorough overhaul. Take a look at his site for more info.

http://www.zeisscamera.com/

Robert

 

[back alley]

rover has a nice r2 for sale.

add a cv 35/2.5 and you're laughin'

joe

 

[JoeFriday]

I was looking over rover's Groundhog Day sale pretty carefully.. that option hasn't been forgotten yet

I'm not that familiar with Jupiter glass.. but I plan to check into it.. same with the Contax stuff.. very intriguing.. I'm really fighting the urge to become a camera pack rat

and thanks for the offer, That Guy.. I'm curious about the Hi-Matic.. I'll get in touch