Three (3) Masterpiece Lenses to Own ?

[alexz]

3 lens kit for RF ? Pretty simple for me - just what I have:
35mm 'Cron ASPH
50mm 'Cron (current)
90mm Elmarit (current)

Nearly perfect coverage for my needs, no question quality. No need for wider neither for longer.
For a regular street shot: take Elmarit to the sidelines, 35mm and 50mm Crons make perfect 2 lens setup to go on my M6 (35mm 'Cron) and M3 (50mm 'Cron).
Tuned for a dedicated portaiture ? Got 1 lens kit:
90mm Elmarit on M3

Planning a trip ? A complete general kit is comprised out of all 3 lenses with M3 serving both 50mm 'Cron and 90mm Elmarit as needed, while M6 gets ready to teh auction instantly with 35mm 'Cron "welded" to it.

I'd say I'm set...(at leats for a while... )

 

[Mean Panda]

Many Leica Lens are great. My favourites:
1. NOCTILUX 50
2. Summicron 35 IV / Summilux 35mm pre-ASPH
3. Summicron 50 Rigid

I normally use my leica gears for black and white Photo. These three lens are my favourites for this particular purpose. Summilux 35mm pre-ASPH (brought it for 1200+) and Summicron 35mm IV (USD700+) are both great. But Summicron IV are overpriced now(in my opinion), I sold mine(1300+ ), and keep my summilux 35mm. But it seems like the price of summilux 35mm has also gone up .

 

[TJV]

28 cron
35 lux asph
50 lux asph

looks like the new sumarit 75 is going to be great if you're into good size and weight. the lux 75 is way too big and I've never seen a 75 cron so can't comment. Anyway, in my world tele lenses are the devil.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Roland, I am curious how do you deal with the front/back focusing "feature" of the Sonnar? I've been thinking of trying that lens but that apparent issue has stopped me so far.

Dear Andy,

Very easy. When I picked one up at Oberkochen, Dr. Nasse told me that the easiest thing is to treat all d-o-f as being behind the focused point. Current Sonnars are set to focus correctly at 1,5 (early ones were smaller -- 5,6, I think, but can be adjusted). As you stop down, d-o-f grows at the normal rate but is behind the point of focus.

To borrow a brilliant visual analogy from another thread, taking [] as the focused point and __________ as d-o-f,

a lens without focus shift is

_____[]_______

and a Sonnar is

[]____________

I've been using the lens a lot since May and with this rule of thumb, focus shift has simply not been a problem for me.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[varjag]

ZM C-Sonnar and CV 35/1.2. That's two lenses, can't think of the third at the moment

I use a 50 most of the time, and it occurred that my use pattern for 35 is largely poor light and action scenes. Then Nokton's bulk isn't really big penalty, and guess that lens close enough to masterpiece

 

[akptc]

... To borrow a brilliant visual analogy from another thread, taking [] as the focused point and __________ as d-o-f,

a lens without focus shift is

_____[]_______

and a Sonnar is

[]____________

... Roger

Dear Roger, thank you for this clear and intuitive explanation, with that the Sonnar does not look so difficult to use. Btw, I've enjoyed reading your "Rangefinder: Equipment, History, Techniques" book and use it frequently as a handy reference in my GAS adventures.

 

[gavinlg]

If I may, the three most desired lenses ever for me (realistically)
1. Noctilux
2. The Zeiss c-sonnar 50 1.5
3. Biogon 35 f2

 

[tomasis]

21mm f3.4 Super-Angulon-M
35mm Summilux pre-ASPH
50mm Noctilux or 50mm Summilux pre-ASPH

If I can add two lenses: 75 lux and 90 cron pre-ASPH

I love Mandler cakes

 

[35mmdelux]

Holy mackrel, we have the cream of the crop responding here, with some remarkable alternative combinations.

Here I was estatic with my 50mm Summicron and someone writes how bout a c-Sonnar? Talk about getting tripped up.

My D200 sports a 25mm/2.8 Biogon and a 50/1.4 Planar, so I know the c-Sonnar is a lens to reckon with. I love the 28mm/2.8 Asph but the 28 /1.9 VC is nothing to sneeze at.

Thanks for your perspectives - semper fi --

 

[BillP]

For M, 35mm Summicron V4, 50mm Elmar-M and 75mm Summicron or if 2 lenses, I'd go for 40mm Nokton and 90mm Elmarit-M

For LTM, 28mm VC Skopar, 50mm 3.5 Elmar and 75mm VC

Regards,

Bill

 

[Ben Z]

In your opinion, which are the three best to own?

Which is the best two lens kit?

What say ye?

I once went to a lecture by John Shaw (if anyone doens't know who he is, he's a nature photographer who has written several books, and a really nice guy to boot). He said about lenses "If you own it, then by definition it's good." I immediately adopted that philosophy and it's saved me from myself many a time

At present my favorite Leica lenses are the 35 Summicron IV, 50 Summilux pre-ASPH, 90 Summicron pre-ASPH, and 135 Tele-Elmar. Plus the 15 Voitlander, though not a Leica lens. I often travel with lighter versions of 50 and 90, but if push came to shove I'd keep the faster but heavier ones. Since the M8 I don't use the 35 much, so I'm getting to like the 28 Elmarit IV instead.

In the past I've owned 21-ASPH, 35 Cron-ASPH, 35 Lux-ASPH, 75 Lux, and 135 APO, all of which I sold because for me their so-called optical superiority didn't equate to their difference in cost. I sincerely regret selling all those lenses when I did, because I could've doubled or tripled my money if I sold them today, but I don't miss them.

 

[35mmdelux]

I once went to a lecture by John Shaw (if anyone doens't know who he is, he's a nature photographer who has written several books, and a really nice guy to boot). He said about lenses "If you own it, then by definition it's good." I immediately adopted that philosophy and it's saved me from myself many a time .

Ben Z

Others have said the best lens is the one you took the picture with or simply the one you hit the street with. There is truth ...

Do you have any opinions on the latest Zeiss ZM offerings, such as the c- Sonnar?

Paul

 

[mfogiel]

For me a masterpiece lens ha to be in a class of its own, and should not have any serious weak point. So far in the RF world I've only seen two lenses of this kind: the C Biogon 21/4.5 and the Biogon 25/2.8. The Planar 50 comes close, the Biogon 35 comes close, the C Sonnar is a masterpiece, but with the focus shft it has to be left out, the Nokton 35/1.2 comes close as well. I am pretty sure the Sonnar 85/2 is there too, but there's been no time to evaluate this lens yet.

 

[foto_fool]

I love it - "the ones I own" (or why would I have bought them?) or "the one I hit the street with" - certainly that is the "best" lens at that moment or why would I bother?

"Best" is an imprecise concept - best in what context? Best constructed? The one that makes me feel the best? That said, there are five lenses I use more than the rest: Konica 35/2 UC-Hexanon, 50/1.4 Nikkor S.C., 50/1.5 ZM Sonnar C, 50/1.4 Summilux and 75/1.4 Summilux. Each has its strengths and drawbacks in use. But I also love the Zeiss Planar G for its perfect sharpness, and the Avenon 21 for its compactness and signature. And so on.

If I kept just one lens, it would probably be the pre-asph 50mm Summilux - it qualifies as a "masterpiece". It gathers all the light I need, it is sharp enough wide-open and very sharp indeed stopped down, it has a beautiful OOF rendition, and I don't have to think about and compensate for any quirks. Really the only small knocks I have against it are that I could wish it to be smaller, and that the focus throw were less than 180°.

- John

 

[ferider]

Dear Andy,

Very easy. When I picked one up at Oberkochen, Dr. Nasse told me that the easiest thing is to treat all d-o-f as being behind the focused point. Current Sonnars are set to focus correctly at 1,5 (early ones were smaller -- 5,6, I think, but can be adjusted). As you stop down, d-o-f grows at the normal rate but is behind the point of focus.

To borrow a brilliant visual analogy from another thread, taking [] as the focused point and __________ as d-o-f,

a lens without focus shift is

_____[]_______

and a Sonnar is

[]____________

I've been using the lens a lot since May and with this rule of thumb, focus shift has simply not been a problem for me.

Cheers,

Roger

Exactly. And for the older ones optimized for f2.8 (like mine) you do use half the DOF like this:

Below 2.8:

_________[]___

Above 2.8:

__[]__________

Or use half of the M[23] f5.6 mark in the RF patch. This corresponds to
about 6cm close up and wide open.

Best,

Roland.

 

[raid]

If I had to choose only three lenses that I already own, they would be:

35mm/2 eight element Summicron
50mm/2 rigid Summicron
90mm/2 Summicron.


Basic -- Excellent -- Classy

It's a vintage group of exellent lenses that give me the look that I like.

 

[topoxforddoc]

My current 3 lens shooting kit is
15 CV. 35 pre-asph luc, 75 lux

If money were no object, then
15CV, 35 asph lux and the 75 lux

I like the 35/75 2 lens outfit. It covers most of what I want. Personally i prefer the slight glow of the 75 lux to the more modern 75 cron.

Charlie

 

[peter_n]

My vote's for the 35 Summicron ASPH, 50 Summilux ASPH, 75 Summicron AA.

For my kit, though, I'm considering replacing the 75 Summicron AA with the 90 Summicron AA.

Similar, mine are 35 Summilux ASPH, 50 Summilux ASPH, 75 Summicron AA. A two lens kit would be the 35 & 75, or closer in; a 28 M-Hexanon & 50. Keep the 75.

 

[Rico]

For RF, my choice lenses are decent performers, and light. I have the ideal set of three already: Summaron 35/2.8, Elmar 50/2.8, 3E Elmar 90. Along with an M4, these make a pretty chrome package from the Wetzlar '60s.

The modern RF era holds less interest to me, but I could live with a 21/4.5 ZM, Nokton 35 and 'cron 75 ASPH. Alternatively, the Elmarit 28 ASPH, 'lux 50 ASPH and Elmar 90 Makro. With issues of weight, cost and Solms quality, it won't happen for me. Energy is needed elsewhere: digital, studio lighting, printing. Oh, and taking pictures.

 

[Hacker]

28mm summicron asph
50mm summilux asph
75mm summicron asph

i'd say the best two lens kit is the 28/50 pair because you use both of them a lot. people that like 35/75 seem to use the 35mm much more than the 75mm.

My exact same kit.