eef
Established
My travel kit these days is M8 plus VC15 (if you are going wide, why not all the way?) plus 90mmf4 (light weight tele) & macro adapter (sometimes I like to take pictures of leaves or rusty bolts) plus the V4 35mm Summicron that stays on the camera almost all the time (I was a 50mm shooter in the days of film, so it seems most natural to me). F2 is usually fast enough, especially since you can kick up the ISO at will.
The V4 Summicron is a lovely lens. Compact and takes great pictures. All the rest of the equipment is still pretty light too.
The V4 Summicron is a lovely lens. Compact and takes great pictures. All the rest of the equipment is still pretty light too.
Roger Hicks
Veteran
_goodtimez
Well-known
I would start with a 35 and keep shooting with this only . Both the 1.4 and the 2.0 are great lenses.
figfoto
figfoto
M8 - 24mm 50 Lux For 2 Lens Set Up
M8 - 35m Cron Or 24mm For Very Lite.
I Have Been Using The 24mm - 75mm Cron Combo Lately.
75mm Is Great For Portraits And Detail - The 24mm For Everything Else, It Is Very Sharp And Handles Distortion Well, So I Can Crop If Needed.
M8 - 35m Cron Or 24mm For Very Lite.
I Have Been Using The 24mm - 75mm Cron Combo Lately.
75mm Is Great For Portraits And Detail - The 24mm For Everything Else, It Is Very Sharp And Handles Distortion Well, So I Can Crop If Needed.
danhefner
Newbie
If you want two lenses, I'd recommend the Elmarit 28 f2.8 and the Summilux 50 f1.4.
A combo of 28+50 is my favorite. 28 is wide enough for a street scene or even some architecture (not skyscrapers!) without a lot of distortion. Also, the tiny f2.8 Elmarit "pancake" is the most compact M lens that Leica makes, which makes it very stealthy for candid shots and also adds the least heft to the camera generally. It's main drawback to some people is its contrast, but this is an advantage in diffuse light, and others like high contrast. At "only" $1700, you get a lot of bang for the buck with this lens. If you pack a 28mm, an obvious pairing is a 50mm, and the f1.4 'lux is probably the best 50mm ASPH rangefinder lens ever produced (some like the pre-ASPH version better). It's a truly excellent portrait lens.
Another part of the question is the difference between f2.8 and f2 as a maximum aperture. There is a clear difference, and also a big difference going down to f1.4. This is part of the reason for my recommendations as well. Frankly, I've never been comfortable with f2.0 as my fastest lens unless I know what lighting conditions I'll be facing. When traveling, I am never certain what I will face. I figure that when traveling I'll be taking lots of shots out of doors during the day, and for this, the maximum aperture of the lens isn't a limit (usually, I stop down to f5.6 or so anyway). So, an ultra small, realatively cheap lens like the 28 f2.8 Elmarit makes tons of sense. However, if you find yourself faced with twilight, or dim interiors, you'll really like having an f1.4 around.
If you really plan on relying on wider angles (architecture, wide interior shots), I'd consider a fast/slow combo with wider lenses: 21 or 24 f2.8 Elmarit (possibly 24 f3.8 Elmar) coupled with 35 f1.4 summilux would be a nice combo. The new lenses also offer an interesting possible combo of a fast wide angle (21 or 24 f1.4 Summilux) and a slower, more compact lens for walking around (e.g., 35 f2.5 summarit)
A combo of 28+50 is my favorite. 28 is wide enough for a street scene or even some architecture (not skyscrapers!) without a lot of distortion. Also, the tiny f2.8 Elmarit "pancake" is the most compact M lens that Leica makes, which makes it very stealthy for candid shots and also adds the least heft to the camera generally. It's main drawback to some people is its contrast, but this is an advantage in diffuse light, and others like high contrast. At "only" $1700, you get a lot of bang for the buck with this lens. If you pack a 28mm, an obvious pairing is a 50mm, and the f1.4 'lux is probably the best 50mm ASPH rangefinder lens ever produced (some like the pre-ASPH version better). It's a truly excellent portrait lens.
Another part of the question is the difference between f2.8 and f2 as a maximum aperture. There is a clear difference, and also a big difference going down to f1.4. This is part of the reason for my recommendations as well. Frankly, I've never been comfortable with f2.0 as my fastest lens unless I know what lighting conditions I'll be facing. When traveling, I am never certain what I will face. I figure that when traveling I'll be taking lots of shots out of doors during the day, and for this, the maximum aperture of the lens isn't a limit (usually, I stop down to f5.6 or so anyway). So, an ultra small, realatively cheap lens like the 28 f2.8 Elmarit makes tons of sense. However, if you find yourself faced with twilight, or dim interiors, you'll really like having an f1.4 around.
If you really plan on relying on wider angles (architecture, wide interior shots), I'd consider a fast/slow combo with wider lenses: 21 or 24 f2.8 Elmarit (possibly 24 f3.8 Elmar) coupled with 35 f1.4 summilux would be a nice combo. The new lenses also offer an interesting possible combo of a fast wide angle (21 or 24 f1.4 Summilux) and a slower, more compact lens for walking around (e.g., 35 f2.5 summarit)