"HERECTIC" Leica M user- are you?

I use CV, Canon, and vintage Leica, as that's what I can afford.

I did recently buy an M4-P, to finally use M-mount glass, but also with the goal of eventually buying an Tri-Elmar for a daylight "vacation" lens.
 
M4-P is for sure a decent camera to use M-mount glass, has all the necessary frame-lines and is pure mechanical. The Tri-Elmar is an interesting design, three focal length in one lens. I only find the maximum aperture of f/4.0 limiting ... and they are not so cheap ... :( Wasn't there also a Konica Hexanon 28/35 bi-focal lens design ? As I remember Dante Stellar uses this lens ?
 
It's cool to emphasize that one uses 'non-Leitz' lenses with a Leica camera. It suggests that one is not a Leica snob and therefore potentially more of a photographer than the person who uses only Leica equipment. Of course, the term 'non-Leitz' is an anachronism and suggests an unfamiliarity with the products being discussed, but paradoxically it sounds ever so cool and very much in the know.

I have four Leitz lenses, two Leica lenses, one Rokkor, and one CV, which I use with (among other cameras) an M2. My Leitz lenses are among the least expensive, and it seems rather nonsensical to associate them with anything resembling Leica snobbery.

Anyhow, I use mostly Rollei cameras, so maybe I'm a Rollei snob. :D
 
In my brown Domke F2 camera bag, I carry the following:

-Minolta Autometer II Incident Meter
-Leica M2 user body, Hot-Rodded
-Leica M5 user body, for metered shooting
-Canon 50mm f1.2 LTM
-Leitz 50mm f2.8 Elmar
-Leitz 50mm f2 Summicron V2
-Jupiter 9 85mm f2 LTM
-Industar 50mm f3.5 LTM
-Jupiter 12 35mm f2.8 LTM
-FED 50mm f3.5 Silver Collapsible LTM
-CV 21mm f4 with square hood LTM
-CV 35mm f2.5 LTM
-"Big Bertha" 90mm f2 Leitz V2 M-mount (coming back from Sherrie Krauter!)
-Adapters, film, cellphone, spare eyeglasses, filters, etc

-USPS Post Office Domke Shoulder Pad for the F2 Bag!:D:D:D
 
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In my brown Domke F2 camera bag, I carry the following:

-Minolta Autometer II Incident Meter
-Leica M2 user body, souped-up
-Canon 50mm f1.2 LTM
-Leitz 50mm f2.8 Elmar
-Leitz 50mm f2 Summicron V2
-Jupiter 9 85mm f2 LTM
-Industar 50mm f3.5 LTM
-Jupiter 12 35mm f2.8 LTM
-FED 50mm f3.5 Silver Collapsible LTM
-CV 21mm f4 with square hood LTM
-CV 35mm f2.5 LTM
-"Big Bertha" 90mm f2 Leitz M-mount (coming back from Sherrie Krauter!)
-Leica M-5, Backup Body to M2 (arriving from the Netherlands)
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You carry *five* fifties around with you? What on earth for?
 
Yes I do. Use them all, at certain times. Most of them are smallish, and don't take up as much room or weight in the bag.
 
I sometimes carry with me four 50mm lenses. They are small, and I have sixteen 50mm lenses to choose from. They are beautiful lenses.
 
... :( Wasn't there also a Konica Hexanon 28/35 bi-focal lens design ? As I remember Dante Stellar uses this lens ?[/QUOTE]

There was a Dual Range 21/35 Hexanon for a while. I had one for a couple of years but a/it was huge -62mm front filter! and b/a 21/3.4 was OK (i think it was either 3.4 or f4) but the 35 setting was also slow (f4.0 I think). I passed it on to a friend who is now using it, but he is also using a Nikon D3 so size is relative!
The initial Tri Elmar was a good idea, but, again, too slow for my taste. The 35/50 settings are OK, but the 28 wide open was not that good (and it is surprising how often you find yourself at f4!).
It also has the worst ergonomics of any Leica lens. The focal length selector is where the focus should be!! I kept changing FL instead of focus. The 2nd version of the TriElmar was better @28 mm, but still with the idiotic focal length selector position.
The WATE 16/18/21 is a better idea, but it is priced totally nuts! For the same money you can get a ZM Distagon 18/4, a ZM 21f2.8 or 4.5 and a Heliar 15f4.5 AND a spare M6 body (or two M2's) and have lots of money left over film (or SD cards in case of the M8).
 
as for the original question, yes, i am heretically using non-epson lenses on my epson, non-voigtländer lenses on my R2C, and non-zeiss lenses on my ZI.
so what?
(maybe i misunderstood the intention of the TO?)
 
Rokkor 90 M (ok, it's actually a Leica, but it says Minolta) - one of the best lenses I have ever used. Recently got a Canon 100 3.5 and it looks like a high quality lens and is very small and light. Been lurking on ebay looking at the inexpensive Russian glass, or maybe a Nikkor 5cm 2.0.
 
BigSteveG said:
No one is mentioning the Hexanon line. Sweet optics. 1st rate build (better, I suspect then the current Zeiss crop).
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Well I have and use the M-Hexanon 28, 35 and 50 as well as the UC Hexanon 35. Wonderful lenses all. Somehow, despite other intentions (eg. the Zeiss 35) I keep ending up with Konica lenses - and loving them. Not that there's anything wrong with Leica: my Summilux 75 is probably my favourite RF lens of all (bought when they were affordable).

...Mike
 
Well, as Mike and a few others might back me up on, if you're going to be a "heretic' you might as well go all the way...

hexduo.jpg



Par of this move was practical (i.e. for the price of a new M body and a used Summicron of undetermined vintage) I could have a pair of HRF bodies, a trio of M-Hex glass and small flash. The gorgeous thing is that Konica "don't do bad glass (90% of the time, anyway), and the trio of Konica glass I've been using these six-plus years hasn't disappointed yet.

Wouldn't mind an M7 body to go along with all this, but, as I said elsewhere, it looks like a ZI is going to be Body Number Three.


- Barrett
 
Chriscrawfordphoto said:
Considering that 95% of photojournalists use either Nikon or Canon, I'd say that those two Japanese makers are the industrial caliber glass and mounts.

Leica hasn't been a serious professional camera since the Nikon F came out in 1959 and took away most of Leica's customers. I know the worshippers will start shrieking the names of people like HCB and Salgado. They represent a handful among the tens of thousands of professional photojournalists in the world. Most today use either Canon or Nikon digital SLRs.
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Hi!
To my best knowledge Nikon took over much later around 1970- 72, , when it had become evident, that exchangeable component design was much preferred against the "one-box" Leicaflex.
At least here in Germany there had been a short period, when suddenly Leica-M-Equipment was flooding the 2nd-hand market around 1972 for very little money. It was no problem to buy a large Benser case stuffed with for example 2 well-used M4`s, Visoflex and half a dozen lenses from 21 to 200 for about 500 Dollars (1500 DM) current exchange rate then.
I know, because I had seen a lot of batches like that coming in my ususal photoshop hang-out, being traded in by professionals for a Nikon F or F2,
best regards Wolfhard
 
I use a FED lens on my IIIc and an Ultron on my M4-P, my only genuine Leica lens is an old beat-up Summar. Heretic? no, just practical. :)
 
I use FSU lenses (most preferred: Jupiter-12 and Jupiter-8) on my Leica M4 body and love the results.

It is not heretic for me, as I can not afford the Leica lenses yet, being a university student.
 
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