Wide angle help

skopar steve

skopar steve

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Hello Forum,

I have a bit of a dilemma concerning wide angle lens needs. The widest lens for my M4-2 is the 35mm Summicron. Along with a 50mm Summicron and a 90mm 2.8 Tele elmarit is my walk around go everywhere kit. I have 28mm for both my slr kits as well as a 24mm 2.0 Zuiko for my Oly kit. Since I would need a finder for a 28mm on my Leica, I thought about a 21mm 3.4 Super Angulon. A 21mm and 35mm lens would make a great kit for my kind of shooting. Finally saved up for a nice one. Not being a Dentist, it took me a long time and working a lot of overtime.

The problem is two years ago I picked up a mint(truly) Hasselblad 503 CW with 80mm Planar. It sits in a bag never being used because it's clunky to use. Perhaps if I got a 50mm lens I could use it for Fine Art Photography which was the point of buying the Hassy in the first place. So my options are :

Buy the 21mm leica lens and save for the Hassy lens.

Buy the 50mm Hassy lens and perhaps a Voigtlander 28mm.

Buy the 21 mm leica lens and trade the Hassy for a Rollie tlr.

I'm working with around $1500. What say you?

Thanks
Steve
 
You can use the entire finder in your M4-2 with a 28. The 21 4.0 Voigtlander is one of my favorites but you will need a finder. They are easy to find second hand at reasonable prices. There is both the older LTM version and one in M mount. Sell the Hasselblad and look for a nice 3.5 Rolleiflex. Light and quiet, more likely to be used.
 
Being that your name is Skopar Steve, the only real solution here is to get a CV 21mm Color Skopar to fill out your rangefinder kit.

It is a wonderful little lens. I often carried mine in my bag together with a 35 and 90, which is the best set of RF lenses for travel IMHO.
 
WJJ3 said:
Being that your name is Skopar Steve, the only real solution here is to get a CV 21mm Color Skopar to fill out your rangefinder kit.

It is a wonderful little lens. I often carried mine in my bag together with a 35 and 90, which is the best set of RF lenses for travel IMHO.
Click to expand...

I would propose this also. It may leave you enough left over for the Hassy 50mm. I have the Nikon S mount version for my Contax iia, and love it. It almost the perfect lens for my shooting (Just got a CZ 35mm f2.8 Biogon, and will see if that is a better all around or not. 50mm f2 Sonnar is a bit too narrow). It was about the same price as the Leica version, but included a viewfinder.
 
skopar steve said:
"The widest lens for my M4-2 is the 35mm Summicron. Along with a 50mm Summicron and a 90mm 2.8 Tele elmarit is my walk around go everywhere kit."

"... I picked up a mint(truly) Hasselblad 503 CW with 80mm Planar. It sits in a bag never being used because it's clunky to use. Perhaps if I got a 50mm lens I could use it for Fine Art Photography which was the point of buying the Hassy in the first place."

"I'm working with around $1500. What say you?"
Click to expand...

On my M6, I use a 21mm, 35mm, and 90mm as my walk-around go-everywhere kit.

I also use a 90mm normal and a 50mm wide angle in a medium format kit.

I say buy the 21mm and save for the 50.


Rangefinder Kit by Narsuitus, on Flickr


Medium Format Kit by Narsuitus, on Flickr
 
skopar steve said:
Hello Forum,

I have a bit of a dilemma concerning wide angle lens needs. The widest lens for my M4-2 is the 35mm Summicron. Along with a 50mm Summicron and a 90mm 2.8 Tele elmarit is my walk around go everywhere kit. I have 28mm for both my slr kits as well as a 24mm 2.0 Zuiko for my Oly kit. Since I would need a finder for a 28mm on my Leica, I thought about a 21mm 3.4 Super Angulon. A 21mm and 35mm lens would make a great kit for my kind of shooting. Finally saved up for a nice one. Not being a Dentist, it took me a long time and working a lot of overtime.

The problem is two years ago I picked up a mint(truly) Hasselblad 503 CW with 80mm Planar. It sits in a bag never being used because it's clunky to use. Perhaps if I got a 50mm lens I could use it for Fine Art Photography which was the point of buying the Hassy in the first place. So my options are :

Buy the 21mm leica lens and save for the Hassy lens.

Buy the 50mm Hassy lens and perhaps a Voigtlander 28mm.

Buy the 21 mm leica lens and trade the Hassy for a Rollie tlr.

I'm working with around $1500. What say you?

Thanks
Steve
Click to expand...
You will not find any sort of usable Rollei Wide for $1500. A wide angle Mutar for a 3.5 or 2.8 possibly (I'd suggest the 3.5 Xenotar or Planar, its 75mm lens is wider to begin with). Maybe if you found a good user 3.5E you could add a Mutar to that within your budget. They vary in price, but occasional bargains are out there.

How do you use the Hasselblad when you photograph with it? You've said "fine art". Is it on a tripod? A Hasselblad on a tripod can be equally as smooth as a Rolleiflex. It's called the pre-release. All you need to add is a cable or (if you're using C lenses) the self timer and T switch. Once you've flipped up the mirror and rear shutter of a Hassy, 5xx series, the lens shutter is pretty much as smooth as a Rollei, they are, after all, similar shutters made by the same company, the most significant difference being one is a reflex version, the other simply a conventional lens shutter. With a little practice and steady hand, you can even use the pre-release hand held if you really have to set Eg a 1/30 or 1/15 shutter speed. A sports finder may help with that, and they can be found very cheaply, I acquired one a couple of months ago which looks new in box for little more than AUD $20.

C 50mm Distagons are still one of the reasonably affordable Hasselblad lenses. Unlike some people, I actually prefer the C series lenses. There are still main springs for them out there, and other parts if you know where to look. And I rate the presence of the self timer. It's saved the day a number of times when I forgot/lost/broke my cable release. CF and later lenses don't have one, so you can't use it.

I would at least give the Hasselblad another chance. Yes, it is a medium format SLR with a 6x6 mirror however it is no worse or even, better, than some other MF SLRs. If it is too clunky for you it is probably not Hasselblad that is the problem, rather, the class of cameras it is a member of.
Cheers,
Brett
 
For 1500$ here is long list of 21 lenses.

Here is 50mm Hasselblad lens for 700$ with warranty and for another 700$ Color Skopar with VF is not a problem even new.

Skopar is nothing wrong on film from what I have seen.
 
Thanks for the insights. I had not thought of the Color Skopar as it has been my habit to run Leica glass on Leica cameras, but it looks like I won't have to give up IQ with the little Voigtlander. And since it won't stay mounted to my M4-2 and only be used occasionally it is more practical to get the color scopar and have enough money for a Zeiss 50mm for my Hasselblad. If I take the time to use it and learn it, I might enjoy using it more. Part of me would prefer a Rollie for my style of shooting, but the versatility of the Hassy would become a regret if I traded it away.

madNbad suggested I use a 28mm lens on my M4-2 by using the entire viewfinder to compose. Does that actually work? Or is it a somewhat close approximation of what the lens will deliver on a frame of film? In other words has anyone here tried it?
 
skopar steve said:
madNbad suggested I use a 28mm lens on my M4-2 by using the entire viewfinder to compose. Does that actually work? Or is it a somewhat close approximation of what the lens will deliver on a frame of film? In other words has anyone here tried it?
Click to expand...
Well, it works ok on my M-D 262 but on my M2 I can't even see the whole 35mm frames all at once, so you'd want to test that issue. Or maybe someone else has an M4 specific experience.
 
I have used an M4P and have an M5, both with 28mm frame lines. You are hunting around the periphery to see the whole frame. Depends what you use it for but if you want fast street shooting accept you may get bits in the periphery you didn't see.

Frankly I'd rather use an SLR for wider than 35mm.
 
Buy the color skopar f4 and sell the hasselblad and get a plaubel 67W
 
The Hasselblad sits "unused"!
Adding a lens, not all that wide, will not make you use it..
I went down that path with Pentax 6x7 and 75mm.
I used friends 55mm (?) Pentax 6x7 and way preferred pix with Spotmatic and 28mm.
Sell the Hassie, get a wide angle like 28mm.
The 21mm, i've had Nikon-F, Super-Angulon for Leica-m never were what i needed.
The 28mm very geometric, less distort than 24mm or 21mm.
I kept Rolleiflex Automat and it sits almost unused..
 
Yeah, if you sell the Hasselblad cheap, some lucky person like myself will have another one ... LOL!

49613307198_1dc80d9792_b.jpg

OP:
Decide what you're trying to get to, decide what you want to do, and do it. Asking other people to make the decision for you means you don't really want to do anything just now, at which point save your money until you have more clarity about what you want to do.

There are lots of excellent ways to go on this stuff. If you won't carry the Hasselblad and use it now, think it's clunky and heavy, with the relatively small and light Planar 80mm fitted, a Distagon 50mm isn't going to make it any less clunky and heavy. Personally, I think the Hassy is a delight to work with, have both lenses, and use both. I just bought another 500CM body, and have the new Hasselblad 907x coming in two days. Love these cameras.

But I also have both Leica M4-2 and Leica CL cameras as well. And I have a selection of lenses in focal lengths 10, 15, 19, 28, 35, 50, 75, 90, 100, 135, and 180 mm to use with them. What of these do I carry the most? The Leica CL with the 10mm and the 35mm; the Leica M4-2 with the Color Skopar 28mm and the Summicron 50mm. An ultra wide or wide plus normal lens on 3:2 format is a nice combination.

What do I use them for? Well, that depends on my mood and what camera I'm carrying at the moment.

You have to figure this stuff out. You can use any M-mount lens you want on a Leica M4-2 ... who says you have to have a viewfinder that matches it? Silly ... Just know what the lens will see and estimate it with your mind. I've done a bit of shooting with the 10mm lens on the M4-2 and no accessory viewfinder at all: just point it in the general direction of what I want to capture and press the shutter release. I'll get the picture. Because I know what the 10mm lens will see ... EVERYTHING.

Think, meditate on what you want to do and with what. Then go do it. It sounds to me like you already have enough equipment to be doing some awesome Photography ... Concentrate on that first.

G
 
If the Hasselblad seems clunky now, it might feel even clunkier with a 50. But not necessarily. I can shoot with my 500CM with the 50mm, the compendium shade, and the PME finder, and not find it clunky. The secret is to get rid of the neck strap and use a hand strap instead. I caught on to this a few years ago when I noticed a picture of Victor Hasselblad walking with a 50 on his camera; the chimney finder; and a hand strap. That way, the camera is a lot more, well, handier. You wanted the Hassie for fine art work, and you believe the 50 is what you need to accomplish that.

Another thing is that extreme focal lengths tend to see less use than more moderate ones. A 21 has its uses, of course. But it takes practice to learn to compose with an extreme wide angle. A 24 or 25 is easier to start with. A 28 is even easier. You could pick up a CV 25 or 28 to play with and learn on, and have the 50 Distagon right away, as well.
 
Rob-F said:
...
Another thing is that extreme focal lengths tend to see less use than more moderate ones. A 21 has its uses, of course. But it takes practice to learn to compose with an extreme wide angle. A 24 or 25 is easier to start with. ...
Click to expand...

I agree with the bolded portion. HOWEVER, the rest is not necessarily true. I see with wide much more easily with a 20mm ultra wide (35mm format) than I do with a 24 or 28mm. The additional field of view moves my eye into a different visual space entirely, where the longer focal lengths are, to me, in a slightly uncomfortable middle ground below the 35-60mm normal range.

This is all differences that come down to personal vision, predilection, and intent. I resist suggesting that someone else will see the way I do, or respond to what I respond to with whatever specific equipment.

48072913143_866417fa63_b.jpg

Leica CL + Voigtländer 10mm, cropped square​

G
 
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