Geoff Smith
Member
OK, I know this is an enabling sort of post, and it's one of my first (if not my first) here (but I've benefitted enormously from the discussions, recommendations and observations I've read here so far -- thanks all!), but I think I need (really want) a 35mm lens. I've been building up a Leica system for the last 6 mos.-1 yr., first a collapsable 50mm Summicron (very early sn., 109xxxx, but in nice shape and good price, love the 'fingerprint') on an M6 classic. I shot with just this combo for about 3-4 mos. to get used to rangefinder photography in general (had been an Olympus OM-10 and later Canon EOS user only prior).
Then some music/concert projects came my way and I picked up a nice ostensibly "used" 90mm 'cron, pre-ASPH, from KEH (they rated it only EX but I'm darned if I can find any reason why it shouldn't be mint). This worked great for head and shoulders portraits and life was good. Since then I've also picked up a Summilux (again, last pre-ASPH version) for lower-light/night stuff (usually w/ Fuji Neopan 1600 -- a great match!) and, on somewhat of a whim, a Voigtlander 28mm f/1.7 so I can do the Winogrand thing when I want to.
Now. The 28 is nice, but I'm left-eyed (us poor sods) and big-nosed to boot (I know -- a double whammy, but I'm dealing with it). What this means, to me (never mind what the women I've known have said), is that I have trouble seeing all of the 28mm frameset at once and so find it hard to compose in this focal length (sort of like an eyeglass wearer would with a .72x finder, I guess). I've taken to manually selecting the 35mm framelines for composition and then cropping after the fact. This is not good, esp. with higher speed film. I think it's time to face facts and pick up a real 35. The ultimate "environmental portrait" and wide-normal lens? (the 28 honestly doesn't see that much use because of the above issue and the fact that it tends to take in so much of the scene that contrast ratio becomes a problem for me).
Am I nuts? If not, then which one? I like small, the pocketable nature of the old, collapsable 'cron keeps it on the camera more than perhaps its ultimate image quality would dictate (though it's a great look). I'm thinking 4th version f/2 Summicron for a 35mm (I tend to prefer the slightly softer, more nostalgic -- if it can be put that way -- character of the penultimate lenses). Am I close? Any reason not to? This would be my, as I said, environmental portrait lens and my wide lens when I don't want to take in a street scene from head to toe/tip to tail.
Whew! I could probably have said this in a lot fewer words, but (and I hope I haven't inconvenienced anyone) I thought it would be a good Idea to put some context around this request for recommendation (an RFR as we would say in the consulting industry). Anyway, thanks again for all the great threads I've read through, hope my first real attempt at participation doesn't leave anyone saying "use the search, dummy." 🙂
Then some music/concert projects came my way and I picked up a nice ostensibly "used" 90mm 'cron, pre-ASPH, from KEH (they rated it only EX but I'm darned if I can find any reason why it shouldn't be mint). This worked great for head and shoulders portraits and life was good. Since then I've also picked up a Summilux (again, last pre-ASPH version) for lower-light/night stuff (usually w/ Fuji Neopan 1600 -- a great match!) and, on somewhat of a whim, a Voigtlander 28mm f/1.7 so I can do the Winogrand thing when I want to.
Now. The 28 is nice, but I'm left-eyed (us poor sods) and big-nosed to boot (I know -- a double whammy, but I'm dealing with it). What this means, to me (never mind what the women I've known have said), is that I have trouble seeing all of the 28mm frameset at once and so find it hard to compose in this focal length (sort of like an eyeglass wearer would with a .72x finder, I guess). I've taken to manually selecting the 35mm framelines for composition and then cropping after the fact. This is not good, esp. with higher speed film. I think it's time to face facts and pick up a real 35. The ultimate "environmental portrait" and wide-normal lens? (the 28 honestly doesn't see that much use because of the above issue and the fact that it tends to take in so much of the scene that contrast ratio becomes a problem for me).
Am I nuts? If not, then which one? I like small, the pocketable nature of the old, collapsable 'cron keeps it on the camera more than perhaps its ultimate image quality would dictate (though it's a great look). I'm thinking 4th version f/2 Summicron for a 35mm (I tend to prefer the slightly softer, more nostalgic -- if it can be put that way -- character of the penultimate lenses). Am I close? Any reason not to? This would be my, as I said, environmental portrait lens and my wide lens when I don't want to take in a street scene from head to toe/tip to tail.
Whew! I could probably have said this in a lot fewer words, but (and I hope I haven't inconvenienced anyone) I thought it would be a good Idea to put some context around this request for recommendation (an RFR as we would say in the consulting industry). Anyway, thanks again for all the great threads I've read through, hope my first real attempt at participation doesn't leave anyone saying "use the search, dummy." 🙂
