How many lenses do you own? Do you carry and do you double up?

Tom, enjoy your trip ! If you have any plans visiting Sapporo, sent me an email !

My setup:

21/3.4
35 Summilux pre-ASPH
Noctilux
90 TE thin

Canon 35/2 (black) and Summitar 50/2 for the IIIf. On my last trip, I brought the 21, 35, and Noctilux and used them equivalent often (brought only the M4-P). Either the M4-P or M3 or IIIf goes every day with me (with only one lens).

Cheers,

maddoc
 
CV 15mm (with Cosina branding)
CV 21mm/4.0 (LTM)
CV 28mm Ultron
CV 35mm Skopar (LTM)
Leica Summicron 35mm v3
CV 40mm Nokton
CV 50mm Heliar Classic collapsible
Leica Summicron 50mm (current)
Leica Summitar 50mm (coated)
Leica Elmarit-M 90mm
Canon 135mm/3.5

I try to only carry one camera and two lenses when I go out shooting (sometimes I weaken and carry three). 75% or more of my shooting is done with 35, 50 or 90mm lengths.
 
35mm Summaron with balsam separation on rear doublet (so not worth selling but works fine)
35mm Summilux pre-asph
40mm Summicron (hardly used)
50mm rigid Summicron
50mm Summilux 2nd
75mm Summilux
90mm Summicron last pre-asph
135mm Tele-elmarit.

Recently I tried the minimalist approach in Verona with 1 body and just 35 and 50mm luxes - on a few occasions I missed the 90. In Venice this February I tried 35-50-75-90 and 2 bodies and ended up not using the 75mm at all in 6 rolls of film. Trouble is if I sold it I could never afford another one & for indoor portraits it's unique. The other lenses I have but don't use much I wouldn't get much for if I sold them anyway. I'd like a 21mm, ideally the f3,4 SA but I'm not so keen on the prices and would really only be using it for interiors anyway.

Makes you realise Leica were onto something with the M2+35/50/90 combination; 50 years on and it's still a great outfit.
 
1-12, 2-15's, 1-17, 3-21's, WATE, 1-28, TE, 2-35's, 6-50's, 2-75's, 2-90's, 2-135's, plus numerous Viso items.

Sometimes I go out with just one lens; with the M8 usually something like the 28/2 or 35 or the TE if it's quite bright. With two lenses, it's often the 28 and 75/2's. Sometimes I go out with 5 lenses, but that's pretty much the limit, and then never with doubled up focal lengths, unless the TE is in the mix. On a trip I sometimes carry an extra lens or two for special situations.

With film I usually go out with at least two cameras. Combinations such as 21 and 35 or 35 and 90 would be common. Sometimes 12, 21 and 35. I probably don't go out with as many different lenses for the film cameras as for the M8.

When I shot 'chromes on a trip I would usually take a couple of SLR bodies with 15, 28PC, macro and a teles or tele zoom plus a couple of M's with 21, 35 and 90. Depends of course, where I was going. Now I don't usually take as much but I still take a similar focal length range with at least 2 cameras.

Henning
 
Roger Hicks said:
Dear Jon,

Ah, there's the clue.

I've been using Leicas since I was 19 in 1969 and I never had any kids. Across 4 decades you can get together quite an outfit...

Cheers,

R.
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Indeed.

I have offspring - he's 15 and now taller than I am (and I am 6'3"...) but in my defence I have built up my collection over about 17 years. Some get much more use than others, but all are there for a reason, and all will get used over a 12 month period. Sometimes I am in a 15mm mood, others a 135mm spirit inhabits me, but anything that doesn't get used gets weeded out in time. It's also worth bearing in mind that the lenses that get least use in my lineup are usually the cheapest - if I was a serious 35mm person, I would have a Summicron IV or a Summilux, for instance. If I was a serious 135mm user, I'd have a 3.4 APO, rather than a Canon that cost me less than £35.00.

Also, I have learned the hard way, Leica Law #1: Any lens you sell you eventually miss, and buy again for more than you sold it for in the first place.

Regards,

Bill
 
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I typically own one lens per focal length.

25mm f2.8 Biogon
35mm f2.0 Summicron
40mm f1.4 Nokton
50mm f1.4 Summilux
75mm f1.4 Summilux


I had a 35mm f1.2 Nokton that I sold.
I also have a 50mm f2 LTM Summitar that I haven't yet gotten around to posting for sale. It just sits there in the cabinet.

Whenever I go out I usually carry 2-3 lenses with me in a bag. If it's a quick trip for the day. Just the camera itself and one lens on a strap.
 
I have 21/4 Voigtlander Skopar, 35/2 Summicron, 50/2 Summicron, 90/4 Elmar-C that I regularly carry with me. I also have a 1947 13.5cm f/4 Hektor that is full of fungus and pieces of things I don't want to know about--I don't use it. There's also several LTM lenses made in the FSU around the house. They don't get much use either. I do have a 35/2.5 Voigtlander Skopar that I like but don't use much. It's around in case the 35 Summicron has an accident.
 
...I do have a 35/2.5 Voigtlander Skopar that I like but don't use much. It's around in case the 35 Summicron has an accident...

i wonder how many of us also do this? maybe it's no accidient that the 35mm focal length is my favourite and i seem to have 3 of them, and a 40!

joe
 
maddoc said:
Tom, enjoy your trip ! If you have any plans visiting Sapporo, sent me an email .

Wont make it Sapporo, but I will promise to drink the beer with that name in Tokyo,Nakano and Kobe/Osaka. I am looking forward to the trip. We both enjoy Japan and feel that it is time to get of Vancouver for a couple of weeks and shoot something different!
Click to expand...
 
pvdhaar said:
I doubt that there's a single person on RFF who's got more kids than lenses.. 😛
Click to expand...

True enough! I have one kid (and she's a good one!)

I have 8 lenses:

CV 28/3.5 skopar
CV 35/2.5 skopar classic
CV 35/1.7 ultron
Elmar 50/3.5
Canon 50/1.5
Canon 50/1.8
CV 50/1.5 Nokton
Canon 100/3.5

Not a single M-mount among 'em. And I don't care. They're better lenses than I am a photographer. These days, when I go out, it's a 50 and a 35, maybe the 100 in the bag. I think I'm done... for now.

BTW, I have two cats, but that's another story....
 
Roger Hicks said:
'Essence' of the Leica?

Why do they make other lenses then?

Some people NEED other lenses to illustrate things. Interiors with a 35 or maybe a 50? No thanks. I'll go for a 21, 18, 15 or 12 (or a Tri-Elmar 16-18-21). Not all, but at least one. A picture of HH Dalai Lama on the roof of the temple at Losar with a 35 or 50? No thanks: much rather have a 90 or 135.

......

I have nothing against anyone who is so ultra-purist that they use only one camera and one lens. But I lost track many years ago of the number of pics I've had published, so I'd suggest that there may be other ways to do things.

Cheers,

R.
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With all due respect my friend, I have one name for you: Cartier-Bresson.


{With all the gear chances your probably a "technical" shooter. my regards to Frances. Love your pix.}
 
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50/2 Summicron and a Nokton Classic 35/1.4 arriving tomorrow (fingers crossed).

I would never dream of doubling a focal length. It's a waste of money and I am not the nostalgic kind, that crave the old lenses. I think I am set for a while with this pair. Maybe down the line, i'll add a 75.

I believe in the simple setup - one body, one lens. I don't want to change lenses every five minutes because the 50 might be better here and then the 35 better there.
 
35mmdelux said:
With all due respect my friend, I have one name for you: Cartier-Bresson.


{With all the gear chances your probably a "technical" shooter. my regards to Frances. Love your pix.}
Click to expand...
You really think he used one camera and one lens? I've seen pics of him with a 90mm, for a start. And he'd have been extremely rash if he took only one camera with him when he was shooting abroad: as I say, it's cheap insurance.

Not sure what you mean by a 'technical' shooter. For pleasure, I use 35/75 on film. For illustration -- which was not what HCB did -- I use what I need. The Civil War book is the best example: for ante-bellum interiors, you simply need ultra-wides, for example.

All I'm saying is that you use the right tool for the job. HCB was doing one job; I do another. No, I'm nothing like as good a photographer; but for me, as I suspect it was for HCB, the essence of the Leica is that it's small, light, quiet, reliable and delivers excellent quality.

Frances sends her regards back, and thanks for the kind words about the pics.

Cheers,

R.
 
erm...

erm...

LTM
1x15mm (4.5)
2x50mm (1.5, 3.5)
1x85 (2, just bought!)
1x135 (4)
M
2x50mm (1.4, 2)
1x90 (2)
1x135 (2.8)

So... eight.

There are 1 or two more LTM lenses I may get eventually, but this kit more than covers my needs.

There have been a few times where I wished I had a different lens with me, but not very often. I very rarely take more than one lens at a time, usually a 50. If I'm being cautious, I'll take the 15 as well.
 
CV 21/4 Small, sweet but a surprise lens because I don't have framelines for it on my ZI
CV 25/4 Quite nice
CV 35/1.7 My go to lens
ZM 50/1.5 Always a favourite
CV 90/3.5 Be patient and its sharp as a tack.

Looking for a ZM 25 and a Leica 75
 
CV 21/4, Hex M 28, 50 and 90's, Hex 35UC and CV 75 2.5. Am seriously thinking about the Zeiss 18/4 Distagon but no Leica's yet. I tend to use my lenses in pairs and rarely venture out with more than 2. The 35 UC would see the most use with the 50 a close second.
 
In M/L39, I've got a 50mm Summicron, 35mm UC-Hexanon, 50mm Nikkor f1.4, a 21mm L39 Voigtlander, and a 15mm Voigtlander SL that I can use on Leica with the adaptor.

I don't think I've ever gone anywhere with more than the lens mounted in the camera, though maybe if I were on holiday I might take the 21mm as well as the Summicron just because its so tiny.
 
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