I have a M6 TTL (x72) with 35/1.4 and 90/2 lenses. I love them both. The 90 is great for portraits and the 35mm is my default lense. Of late I have had two photographic desires one is to have my Leica with me more often and the other is to create some more dramatic images through using a wider perspecive. So now I am considering get myself the collapsable 50/2.8 so that I can keep the camera with more often at a wide angle lense something between 21 and 28mm. I not too keen on having to use a clip on a viewfinder to my x72 body however (are these devices a pain?). The catch is, to afford the wideangle and the 50mm lense I would need to sell my 35/1.4 - I am not certain about this decision. I am keen to have a set of different lense perspectives available but feel it to be a bit indulgent to have all 4 lenses. Could you give me your opinion. I am interested in landscape, portrait and street

-- Matthew (mat@theeto.com), February 02, 2002

Answers

Experiment as much as you will, turn your equipement around as much as you want, but if you are requiring feedback from other users, mine will be : stop right there !

Your current setup allows you to do what the M is best at doing. The 35 f1.4 is your perfect always ready, any condition, any time, any place companion. Even more so if it is a current asph version. The 90 brings that occasional reach and tele perspective when you need it.

If you really want that wider touch, go to the 15mm cosina. You will not break the bank (4 times cheaper than the 21/24mm leica) , and you will have something that is very hard to find in any other system: high quality ultra wide angle in a small, light and affordable package. Keep it in your pocket, it will come handy in narrow streets and in near/far landscape compositions.

The 50mm f2.8 is a cute little thingy, but 4 times slower than your 35. That means you can forget indoor shots unless you load up with the fastest of films. And even then, forget atmospheric low light situations... You'd be wasting your M.

-- Jacques (jacquesbalthazar@hotmail.com), February 02, 2002.

Yes, you surely must keep the 35. I agree with Jacques regarding the Voigtlander 15mm, it is incredibly useful, superb optically and a veritible bargain. I have just photographed an entire house interior and without this lens it is impossible.

Why not sell the 90 and buy a Voigtlander 75? - I feel the 90 is a bit too long for the M and the 50 is (IMO) just too close to the 35. With the 75 you can shoot excellent portraits, it will also be fine for the street, anything longer is getting away from the intimacy of this style of shooting.

The 35 will do anything the 28 or 50 can do, just take a few paces back or forward. Sell the 90, buy a 15 and 75, this would give you a great spread on lenses and a REAL change in perspectives and have change in your pocket for more film!

-- Giles Poilu (giles@monpoilu.icom43.net), February 02, 2002.

Buy a mint v.1 Tri-Elmar (around $1100). You can then keep the Leica with you more often and have 3 focal lengths in one lens: the 35 you claim as your "default", the wider focal length you can use (barely) without a separate finder, and the 50 you're now missing. You'll still have the 35/1.4 for low-light, and the 90/2. If you get some more spare cash, go for the 15 or 21 Voigtlander (or both), which are decent lenses, mall and light, and most economical for lengths you'll probably not use that often.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), February 02, 2002.

I normally carry 35, 50, and if I need a third it is the Voightlander 25mm, f 4.0 without the finder. I find that I can judge the edges of the lens close enough with the edges of the finder on my 0.72 M6. Although it is a slower lens, I shoot Ilford XP-2 Plus at ISO 320, and Superia 400 or 800 for the existing light photography I enjoy. The cost of this lens is substantially les than Leica glass, but I have been very happy with the results even with some 100 slide material. The lens is also very, very small and light making it easy to through in a pocket.

-- Michael Rivers (mrivers@mac.com), February 02, 2002.

Here's another plug for keeping what you got and adding a tiny Voigtlander 21 or 25 for those wider angle opportunities that present themselves.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), February 02, 2002.

If your 35 f/1.4 is pre-aspheric, then it is already very compact. I don't think the collapsible 50 will make the Leica all that much more portable. I think you should keep everything and pick up an affordable wideangle, as others said. You already have a use for what you have. If you sell anything, you'll be sorry. I feel that the 28mm is sufficiently wider than a 35 to be worth having, and you won't need an aux finder.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), February 02, 2002.

I second Jacques suggestion, your set up is already ideal..think Leica strong point as an available light camera. And also, having two/three lenses is a maximum for me; think more on capturing the image rather confuse in lens choice.

Regards,

-- Andy Wijono (andywijono@hotmail.com), February 02, 2002.