M3 + 50/90/135

Austerby

Austerby

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I wonder how many people use this original Leica-M combination these days. I have a 50mm summicron, a 90mm tele-elmarit and the 135mm tele-elmar but I have not used them together as a set in the way the original M designers obviously intended.

There's so much talk about the use of Ms with lenses of 50mm and below that these three used together seems to be a neglected combination despite being the original concept for the M3.

I'm interested to hear about photographers who use 50mm and above, particularly in this trio.

I have a long weekend in the Greek islands coming up and I'm definitely thinking of taking this combination to see what different images it brings out in me.
 
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I use a 50mm and a 90mm almost exclusively with my M3; I have a 135mm but seldom use it unless I'm photographing a stage performance.

Unlike many other people, I find little use for a 35mm lens.
 
5cm Summicron or Summarit, 9cm F4 Collapsible Elmar, and 13.5cm Hektar. I also have the 9cm F2 Summicron, but prefer the Collapsible 9cm Elmar.

Also have the 35/2.8 Summaron with Eyes.
 
I would wonder why Leica didn't include the 35mm framelines with the M3.

But to add my experience, 50mm most of the time--I shoot just about everything with it. Never had a 90mm lens. I use the 135 for sports. Yep, I'm tired of my D700/80-200AFS combo and now shoot sports with my M3 and Nikkor 13.5cm.
 
The combo works if I think about the 135 as a 180 that came out too short ... I.e. prepare myself for a bit of cropping.

Then again, just 50 + 135 works well, too. As a kid, until I was older than 20, these were my only lenses.

Roland.
 
At the time, wasn't it the case that there were no SLR's with long lenses around (as competition for the M3), and that people were already accustomed to using wider (and longer) lenses with separate viewfinders ? The quoted selection of frames was soon followed by the M2 of course, with built-in 35mm, and losing the 135.
 
Austerby said:
I wonder how many people use this original Leica-M combination these days. I have a 50mm summicron, a 90mm tele-elmarit and the 135mm tele-elmar but I have not used them together as a set in the way the original M designers obviously intended.

There's so much talk about the use of Ms with lenses of 50mm and below that these three used together seems to be a neglected combination despite being the original concept for the M3.

I'm interested to hear about photographers who use 50mm and above, particularly in this trio.

I have a long weekend in the Greek islands coming up and I'm definitely thinking of taking this combination to see what different images it brings out in me.
Click to expand...


All you need for a really complete and versatile set is a nice Summaron 35f2.8 with goggles. 😉
 
wjlapier said:
I would wonder why Leica didn't include the 35mm framelines with the M3.
Click to expand...

With the high-magnification 0.92x finder, it would have flared too much. The M2 and all other Leica RF's that followed are less complicated designs and have lower magnification to accommodate wide-angle lenses. The M3 viewfinder is better for 50mm and longer lenses that any other Leica made.
 
I just picked up a 1959 90mm summicron, and very glad a did.
I very rarely use wide lenses any more, most of the time I use m 50 summicron. I feel like with the M3 its best used with 50mm and 90mm.
 
1-2.jpg


After messing around with this lens I am glad I bought the ML grip.
It helps with the weight of this beast.
 
I find I either have the 90 OR the 135 with me, I rarely bring both. The 50 I pretty much always have around w/ the M3 though, it's really the perfect lens for that camera.

And yup, I have a goggled summaron as well, as FrankS says, it makes a good complement.

50/135 or 35/90 tend to be the most useful combos for me with those 4 lenses.

-Brian
 
Wides were not as popular before the 1960's, for one thing they were challenging optical technology and very expensive for the time. However, that said, I don't know how long it was after the advent of the M3 that the Summaron with eye's came out, but it's a very effective and creative solution to the lack of 35mm frame lines on the M3. I have the 35/2.8 with eyes and it's a joy to use (on an M2 no less).
 
We should not forget that when the M3 came out, Leica photographers were used to the screw mount cameras which only had the 50mm frame... (The IIIg also had the four small markings for the 90mm lens field of view. But the IIIg was actually introduced AFTER the M3 was already in production and on the market - it was available from 1957 to 1960).

So the three frames finder of the M3 was naturally a great improvement!

In my opinion Leitz made a good decision then to go the 50/90/135 route. I think that it is easier to use a wide angle external finder than a 135 one. In those years, and in the 60's and 70's, 135 was also a more popular focal length than nowadays, and also relatively compact and light.

With the M3, I tend to use the 50mm Summicron (either rigid or collapsible) and the 90mm f2.8 Tele-Elmarit, which is a very good combination (often I combine that with a second body and the 35mm Summicron).

I also like to use occasionally the M3 with the 135mm f2.8 Elmarit, although I can also use it almost as conveniently with any other M because of the goggles.

Very often I keep the M3 also for wider lenses as the 21mm 3.4 Super-Angulon, or the 28mm f2.8 Elmarit, as I would have anyway to use an external finder (none of my M's shows the 28 frame...).

What bothers me the most on the M3 is the round corners of the 50mm frame.

Mine is double stroke from 1955, still in great shape!

Greetings,

Rui

AL-MOST-LY PHOTOGRAPHY
 
All four of my M mount lenses are these focal lengths.
50mm- Summicron and Summilux (60's vintage) One or the other is my typical walk around lens.
90mm Summicron, (same vintage) a beast to be sure, but a nice portrait lens.
135- Tele-Elmarit (f/2.8) Even larger than the summicron, and my least used focal length on any camera.

I've got wider screw mount lenses, but I use the IIIf (or now the IIIg) for those. All of the newer wide M-lenses are very nice looking, but far above my budget.

I'm rarely bothered by the rounded corners, I think that was for the slide mounts used back in the day.
 
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