Noob ~35mm lens choice help

[waileong]

If you're really a noob, it doesn't matter which lens you choose. You may not know enough to see the differences between lenses, let alone whether the 35mm view is for you.

So pick anything in your budget, try it out and shoot till you understand what you like/dislike about the lens.

Then you can come back and ask opinions for your next lens.

 

[35mmdelux]

If you're really a noob, it doesn't matter which lens you choose. You may not know enough to see the differences between lenses, let alone whether the 35mm view is for you.

OooUUUCcH!

 

[wlewisiii]

Given what you describe as what you want to do combined with what you're able to pay, you're in a spot much like mine - FUBAR. 😉 That said, you'll either have to break either in favor of speed or in favor or cost.

Frankly a 40/2 is probably your best bet. I'd use the 50 framelines with it and be happy. They are sometimes found in your budget range.

Canon 35's are da*n good as well. The 35/1.8 is insanely good and not quite as expensive as some other options.

The ultimate cheap lens, the Jupiter 12 35/2.8 isn't as fast as you'd like but it's silly cheap & optically it's a rip off of the best which the FSU did some of their best work on.

How fixed are you on the 35mm FOV? If you open yourself up to the 50mm FOV that the vast majority of the classic RF shooters used, then it's blown all the way open. The LTM Canon 50/1.8 is probably the single best bang for buck lens in existance. For any mount. Yes, it really is that good. Just do yourself a favor and get one. You may decide to sell it if the 50mm FOV doesn't suit you, but it is one of the top ten lenses in history.

Probably enough babbling for tonight. Enjoy!

William

 

[Bingley]

My two (actually three) cents:

1) I have yet to pay more than $300 US for any rf lens, so I'm in same market you're in.

2) I can attest to the fact that the Canon 35/2.8 and Minolta Rokkor-M 40/2 are both excellent for street photography. They're both outstanding optically (albeit w/ different characteristics), very small, and discreet. They make any M-mount pocketable. The CV 35/2.5 skopar classic is also outstanding if you want a more "modern," contrasty look that is especially good w/ color film; optically the same as the pancake version, but probably more readily available and cheaper used.

3) I agree w/ William regarding the Canon 50/1.8, except that I think he grossly underestimates its qualities. 🙂 Seriously, he's right when he says it's the best bang for the buck out there. Check out Dante Stella's review of this lens in the article on Canon lenses for Leica on his website, if you want further confirmation.

 

[matt352]

Thanks again for your advice, and for the welcome, too.

I've been looking around flikr, as well as at a number of comparisons and digging deeper into the RFF archives--particularly to Raid's big comparison test of '07. This has helped, but I've yet to find a comparitive review (especially in B&W) that shows shading and rendering of human skin tones and facial features.

Perusing flikr has helped, but because of the different conditions involved with each image and the process involved with the image getting to my computer screen, I feel like I'm comparing apples and oranges most of the time.

Th@fred on flikr has quite a number of nice street pictures made using the Summicron-C and TriX. Here's one http://flickr.com/photos/57493810@N00/1083724331/in/set-72157606418910792/

Could anyone suggest a Nokton/TriX user's gallery for comparison? Other ideas?

 

[matt352]

Frankly a 40/2 is probably your best bet. I'd use the 50 framelines with it and be happy.
William

I'm a glasses-wearer and can't see all of the 35mm lines at the same time, anyhow.