What to Buy? First time Leica user...

[blake_dennis1]

I know a similar question to this was asked earlier this week, but I would like to know what

lens to buy first if I have a Leica M6 TTL 0.58? First, I only want to buy a Leica made lens.

Second, I am a med student and photography is a hobby for me; a lens below $1500 is

preferred. Third, I will be shooting street photography, so nothing above a 50mm. I have

looked at the Leica Normal 50mm f/2.8 Elmarit because of its price, but I feel like I may

not get the full experience of Leica optics with this lens. Am I correct? Does this lens

compare to the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8? Last, I am looking to experience Leica cameras and

optics to a maximum without "breaking the bank."

 

I have never shot with a rangefinder camera I have only used SLRs. I currently own a Nikon

D1h, F100, and old Nikormat. I am excited to shoot b&w and slide film. Is Leica the right

choice?

 

Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time

[markwilkins]

I don't have personal experience with that particular lens, but I've heard the 50mm Elmarit is quite good.

 

However, your budget would definitely include a new 50mm f/2 Summicron, which is by all accounts one of the best 35mm format lenses ever made.

 

Honestly, speaking from the point of view of owning both, I doubt you'd see that huge an optical difference in practice between the Summicron and the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8, even though they are somewhat different lenses in design. What the Summicron-M gives you is compactness, much better mechanical feel, and rangefinder focusing, which I find very helpful in low light.

 

-- Mark

[peter_n1664876959]

Since you got a cam with a 0.58 mag viewfinder then I would suggest a moderate wide-angle such as one of the excellent Leica 35mm lenses, such as an f2 Summicron. That will definitely give you the Leica experience.

[blake_dennis1]

Thanks for the comments already posted.... I welcome many more...

[john_shriver]

If you bought the 0.58, you indeed should consider starting with a 35mm.

 

http://www.kevincameras.com has a used Summilux 35/1.4, with slight cleaning marks, for $950. He's reliable by all reports, and user-quality lenses there are at mostly reasonable prices. (His prices on "collectibles" are another issue.) He has a user Summicron 35/2.0 for less than that.

 

For new Leica 35mm lenses, you just don't have the budget...

 

The 50/2.8 Elmar is not going to look like the Nikkor 50/1.8. Not a bad lens, but a very different formula and goals. It may be heretical in this forum, but the Nikkor probably looks somewhat similar to the Summicron 50/2.0, presuming that the Nikkor is a Double-Gauss design. But Nikon and Leica put different values on resolution, contrast, and acutance.

[eliot_rosen1]

First, you should learn a little about the Leica system. For example, the 50/2.8 is called an "Elmar" not an "Elmarit". Next, I would think a 35 mm lens would be the best choice. Probably the fourth version 35/2 Summicron. The 35/2 Summicron-M ASPH (current) lens is a little better but also more expensive.

[john_layton]

If you only want to buy a Leica made lens, then I'd say just go for a 35mm Summicron -

either a generation 4 or the latest Asph. model. Although prices are climbing for these,

each is still available in excellent or better condition, within your stated price range, if you

shop smart.

 

You could also go for a 50 instead - and for this I'd recommend the most recent

Summicron. Its a great all around lens - well balanced in its "character" and a recent

example, either new or used but in good shape will likely be available for well within your

price range. You also might want to check out the latest "pre-asph" version of the

Summilux.

 

The 50mm is a very powerful and versatile lens - but I'll stick my neck out and suggest

that if you go with the 50, then you'll soon want another focal length (perhaps a 28) to

compliment this.

 

So I'll stick with my initial suggestion and suggest that you start with a 35mm, live with

this for awhile and learn it well. Hmmm - I'll bet that if a poll were conducted among M-

users, most would indicate that they started with a 35mm lens. Comments?

 

And since you're a med student, I must tell you this. I had a student a few years back here

at Dartmouth who was also a med student. He got so interested in photography that he

eventually enrolled in an MFA program at Chicago, and did his residency there at the same

time. Talk about a receipe for sleep deprivation! Any way, he chose to specialize in non-

emergency reconstructive surgery, specifically because he would then be free to set his

own schedule for accepting patients - leaving him adequate time to do his photography.

Very smart guy!

 

I saw some work of his in the New Yorker awhile back - a nice essay, with photographs, on

twins. He had lost a twin brother at birth, an event which had apparently left him with a

sense of loss which he could never explain, until his folks finally told him about this much

later. This moved him to seek out other twins and do the New Yorker piece - both the

article and photos I might add.

[Jochen_S]

Look around and grab what's in your reach and fits your needs and the camera. - Yes I wish I had a 35mm not made in the FSU...

 

I'd keep my hands away from 50mm f2.8. It's somehow really too slow and 'crons are affordable. - I wouldn't like owning a M and having to dig out Nikons for 50mm available light shots.

[julian_koplen]

Firstly, no need to purchase a new lens. A good used one with really clean glass will serve you just as well and save you many bucks. Your pictures will not suffer one iota. Many fine Leica photographers shop almost exclusively in the used market.

 

Considering your 0.58 finder and your street interests, I think the 35mm f/2 Summicron, 4th version, used, is your baby. And it is a honey of a lens.

 

 

Best of luck.

[blake_dennis1]

Thanks for all of the comments and suggestions so far. Sorry, for the error..."Elmar" not

"Elmarit ". The story of the former med student was very interesting to me... I hope I can

be as successful. Keep the information coming...

[torben_daltoft]

And if you buy a 35mm f/2 Summicron, 4th version, used (wonderful lens), you could even afford the Elmar 50 mm (highly underrated lens!I have one LN for sale @ 450 USD) :-)

[david11]

Blake, I have an M6 TTL .58 camera that I bought to use with my 28 Summicron (my other cameras are .85 viewfinder M6 TTLs). The .58 works great with the 28 Summicron, but I find that I favor this camera with my 35 Summicron ASPH lens. The 35 frame lines in the .58 camera are alone - not intruded upon by other frame lines. I can use all of my lenses with this camera, but believe that this camera is tailor made for use with a 35mm lens. All of the Leica 35s of any vintage are good lenses; most would agree that the "best" are the current ASPH lenses. But, if you can come across a good deal on a used vintage lens, by all means you should consider it. With a budget of $1500, you should be able to get a new/like new 35 Summicron ASPH lens. With proper care, this camera/lens combination should serve you well for many years.

[michael j hoffman]

For an 0.58x viewfinder wider is better, and the suggestions you've gotten thus far are good ones.

 

Empirically speaking, there is nothing at all "wrong" with the 50/2.8 Elmar. It is the only lens I use on my M4. It is high contrast and it has its own signature look. It is very sharp, and I am thoroughly pleased with the lens. It imparts a tonality which is harsher than any other lens I've used before, and there is no perceptible distortion even at the closest focus distance.

 

Photos on-line at http://leitz-camera-action.blogspot.com/ .

 

Michael J Hoffman

[Alex_Es]

Easy. Get a 'cron pre-aspherical 35/2. Below "1500, good optics, well made, ergonomically

splendid.

[nzdavid]

Definitely either a 50/2 or 35/2 Summicron. Later, you will probably want both. As a med

student, I hope you find time to enjoy your hobby to the max - those long hours seem

crazy!

[david_clark4]

I would not under estimate the Elmar, even a 3.5 version. Also, for street use I have had good luck with a 40mm F2 M-Rokkor which I think has a Leica sister.

[peter_evans4]

<p><em>I only want to buy a Leica made lens. . . . I will be shooting street photography. . . . I have looked at the Leica Normal 50mm f/2.8 Elmarit because of its price, but I feel like I may not get the full experience of Leica optics with this lens. . . . I have never shot with a rangefinder camera I have only used SLRs. . . . Is Leica the right choice?</em></p><p>Hard though this is, I'll presume for a moment that yours is a serious question.</p><p>You might very well be better off with a Hexar (AF).</p><p>For "street photography", the brand and the minuscule differences of quality won't mean a thing.</p><p>Differences between models of a given focal length are likely to be trivial compared with differences between lengths, so forget the Leica brand silliness and get something that's good and (by Leica standards) cheap. If you later find you don't like the length so much, you can easily replace it.</p><p>I tentatively suggest a Cosina ("Voigtländer") 35/2.5 "P" or "C"; these are particularly cheap because they were cheap when new, because there are a lot of them, and because of the popular misconception that they're inferior to the later "P2" (<em>pace</em> Stephen Gandy, but they're optically identical).</p>

[leslie_cheung]

Get a cv 28mm ultron and a hexar AF buy a plane ticket to whereever;p

[paul_neuthaler]

a 35mm Summicron asph. will give you a great street view, a fine, modern Leica lense -- all for app. $1,200 in clean, used condition. Don't forget the shade!

[john_boyle3]

The above suggestions to get a 35mm Summicron are quite sound, for this lens would go well with your 0.58 viewfinder. You should be able to find one in excellent condition for a good price. Get the best you can afford - you will have more money later on so get a lens that you will want to keep. The 50mm 2.8 Elmar in an excellent lens and those of us that have one are quite happy with it. Just get a lens and start taking pictures - you will soon find what additional lenses you will want.

 

We all have our opinions on cameras and lenses and mine would be to stick with Leitz/Leica lenses. If your main interest is black & white You will probably want to get some filters. Many Leica lenses take the E39 or E46 filter size so you may want to get lenses that take the same filter.

[mukul_dube]

If viewfinder magnification is the main criterion, which seems all wrong to me, then a 35 mm. If you want versatility, then a 50 mm. You can get landscapes as well as portraits with it. I do not think that the 50/2.8 Elmar will be too slow: but then I spent years with only a Rolleicord (f/3.5 Xenar), and none of my present wide and medium long lenses (both Leica thread and Canon FD) is faster than f/2.8.

[nee_sung]

I recommend a used Minilux. It has a 40mm Leica lens. If you think I am ignorant or inexperienced:

 

This is my 26th year of using Leica.

 

M lenses I have owned/used: 28/2.8, 35/1.4, 35/2, 50/1.0, 50/1.5, 50/1.4 Asph, 50/2 (many versions, including DR), 50/2.8, 50/3.5, 75/2 Asph, 90/2, 90/2.8, 90/4, 135/4, 135/4.5, 200/4 (can't remember exact max aperture)

 

R lenses I have owned/used: 24/2.8, 35/2.8, 50/2, 60/2.8, 80/1.4, 180/3.4(Apo)

 

The 40mm lens is closer to the "real" normal lens than the 50mm. (The "real" normal focal length is 43mm, which is the diagonal of the 135 film). Its distortion is lower than the 50/2, in my personal experience.

 

I have used/owned the Minilux, I loved it so much I bought a CM. But I don't really think the CM lens is better than the Minilux. The lenses have different design priorities. And I think the Minilux lens is more "truthful". In fact, this is another instance when the saying "never sell a Leica" has once again been proved true. Now I want both the Minilux and CM!

 

This may dormantise your M6, but with Leica's it's a lifetime thing, and you're still a student; so what's the rush? You can always buy "proper" lenses when you have money. Besides, the Minilux synchronises flash up to 1/400s. In fact, either the lens or flash capability alone is worth the price of the whole camera. I think you can still get brand new ones, but you don't really need to. The titanium shell is very robust.

[mig_mig]

Blake,

 

You're a med student, for G*d's sake... when are you going to find time to go out and shoot street photography?

 

Just kidding (not).

 

FWIW, you already own nice cameras, why the need for a Leica (outside of the usual obsessing over expensive items that you will not be able to justify spending all the money over)?

 

Signed,

 

A Minolta Shooter

[mig_mig]

Summicron. Summilux. Elmar. Summicron. Summicron. Elmar.

 

Summilux. Elmar. More than money is worth. Summicron. Summicron. Elmar. Expensive. Elmar. Summicron. Street photography. More Elmar. More Summicron. Summicron. Summicron.

 

My hero.

My hero.

My hero.

 

 

There. See? Now this thread is like all the others on the Leica forums. Just a rehashing of relevent Leica vocabulary. Pointless reviews of lenses that even an idiot who can't spell "c-a-m-e-r-a" will tell you are great. What don't we already know that this thread is going to teach us?

[markwilkins]

In defense of the original poster's (and my) reference to the 50mm f/2.8 "Elmarit," it's mistakenly listed that way on B&H's website. Reference to the Leica site confirms that it's an "Elmar."

 

-- Mark