jhapeman wrote:
If you really want good information on lenses to help you with a purchase decision, you should subscribe to Sean Reid's site. Sean has been shooting with RF's for years and has a very thorough and objective approach to testing.
Jeff
+1 for Sean Reid review site. His photographs and essays are also excellent.
A dark horse fast 50 is the Voigtländer 50/1.5 Nokton, which has been discontinued, but can still be found. It's extremely sharp and has a very nice rendering, IMO. It's quite popular as a result.
I'm ashamed to say, that this is what my travel bag(s) looked this summer:
Add to this a laptop, an ipad, ten or so batteries a bunch of CF cards, filters etc etc
This was actually traveling light. On my previous trip I shot video so I had one more bag with just video stuff - dolly, steadicam, external monitor etc
I gave up on video and switched to photography only because of the sheer weight of the gear. I suppose DSLR->Rangefinder is a similar transition.
To be fair Makten, that was fairly extreme for me as well. I had help carrying the gear though - I was traveling with a friend who is very interested in photography but can't afford the good stuff. So he helped and used the equipment as well.
When I go out to actually shoot I take the smaller bag, one camera, 4 lenses + tripod (and almost always the very light Gitzo 1541T).
Another even smaller configuration, that I used with great success this spring in South Africa (safari) was two lenses and two cameras (5DII - FF, 7D 1.6 crop and Canon 16-35/2.8 II and Canon 70-200/2.8 IS II). It allowed me to cover 16-320mm (in 35mm equivalent) with just those two cameras and lenses and only with a small gap around 60mm. The lenses and cameras are weather sealed which was important as well.
denoir wrote:
I gave up on video and switched to photography only because of the sheer weight of the gear. I suppose DSLR->Rangefinder is a similar transition.
I used to have a bag that looked exactly like this. In fact, I had the same bag. However, now my bag looks like Joe's that he posted above (except I take only one camera 4-5 lenses). My shoulder thanks me, and my images have actually never been better.
So suppose I..eh..I mean a friend of mine was interested in an M9 and was looking for a light travel kit with say three lenses. Compactness of the lenses would be a big plus and at least one of the lenses should be fast <=f/1.4. What would you recommend.. eh for him?
Classic Leica rangefinder 3 lens kit if you ask around the Leica community is 28, 50, 90
So 50Lux Asph is lens #1 and that covers the f1.4. As for lens #2 and 3 it depends. I think your friend likes to shoot landscapes around Stockholm? So maybe he/she need a superwide?
Think you need to ask your friend what focal lengths are needed for the remaining lenses, then its easier to answer.
Zeiss: 21/2.8
Leica: 35 Lux ASPH or 50 Lux ASPH, depending on taste
Leica: 90AA or if too big, 90 Elmarit
If 35 is your focal length rather than 50, you could go with the Zeiss 35/2 as well. However, the Zeiss lenses are a bit high contrast for general travel use. Sweden, okay, Egypt, nope IMO.
If you wanted to keep the price down a bit, Zeiss 21/2.8, 35/2, Leica 90 Cron pre-ASPH. If you prefer 50 over 35, add a 50 Lux pre-ASPH.
But Luka, Leica Ms are not for everyone. You should definitely do something more modest before sinking serious cash into this, unless you are really independently wealthy, a-la HCB.
I think everyone in the world should own a Leica M, but I would never advocate starting there, nor starting at the deep end of a very long, slippery, expensive slope. Leica M kits are more commonly built up over a lifetime, or at least a decade or two.
Carsten, that's a good recommendation. His friend could also substitute 21 ZM for 25/2.8 ZM. The 35 or 50 FL - that's difficult to choose, both the among the best out there, I'll say go for 35 Lux Asph and add a 50 Lux pre-Asph or a cheaper Nokton 50/1.5.
You normally start slow and steady with the Leica M, its a very expensive and slippery slope because there are so many lenses to choose from and they are not cheap. Many Leica shooters start of with a few CV lenses to find a focal length they like, then later upgrade to a Leica glass.
The thing with the M system is that the lenses are small and compact, you can easily carry more than 3 lenses without needing Thinktank Airport bags
I unfortunately don't have any experience with any Voigtländer lenses, other than the 15/4.5 which is nice, but a tad soft until maybe f/8, and needs a complicated colour correction when used with an IR filter on the M8. Therefore I don't recommend any. There are apparently some very good ones (35/2.5?) and some less good ones (40/1.4?) but it all hinges on taste and expectation. I would say that in general for someone who likes the high-contrast Zeiss lenses, Voigtländer might not be the right brand, being on the far side of Leica for contrast, in general.
There are different approaches. I only recommend the 21/35/90 spacing because of my familiarity with Luka's shots. I have a similar spacing in some of my lens kits (Nikon D3, Contax 645, Hasselblad 2000FC/M, Linhof Master Technika), but have a closer spacing for my Leica kit, which admittedly is missing a super-wide at the moment: 28/2, 35/1.4A-I, 50/1.4A, 75/1.4, 90/2A (aka 90AA). I mainly have the 35 and 75 because I have the M8. Should I get an M9 or M10, I would probably have 21/28/50/90, adding the 21 Lux or 21 Elmarit ASPH to my existing lenses.
The 50 Lux ASPH is a phenomenally good lens, perhaps the best lens I have ever used. The 90AA is similar to (but not quite the same as) the 100MP, except without the close focus, and less CA.
From what I've heard 90mm is borderline problematic for focusing as the the are covered by the frame lines becomes very small.
My eh..friend likes 35mm as a general FL but likes ultra wides so a 21/2.8 Zeiss would probably be a good choice.
Carsten, I don't know why you are giving me warnings - I'm a known Leica skeptic, I'm asking for a um..friend
I have the feeling that he would like to get a convincing start with glass that can compete with his collection of Zeiss ZE lenses. I think he'd be comfortable spending up to say €10,000 ($15,000) on a start kit but probably not €20,000. So probably no Noctilux to start with. Also there is no real rush, I think he is pretty happy with the DSLR + Zeiss glass he has now and winter is not far away where the opportunities for photography will be rapidly falling. So I'm..eh.. I mean he is in no hurry and hasn't made any decisions - he's just exploring the options.
Speaking of Zeiss lenses - from what I've heard the camera needs the lenses to be Leica coded in order for the camera to produce proper EXIF and in camera corrections. Is that correct?
You can code them physically (permanently) or temporarily (with markers) but with the M9, your friend could select the lens profile manually and it will show up in the EXIF. Unfortunately, it will show the Leica equivalent, not Zeiss.
Yes, but Leica doesn't have to code them. I think at this point both Zeiss and Voigtländer lenses have a groove on the bayonet where you can code with a Sharpie or Edding. Leica lenses can be coded by Leica or by a competent third-party. New Leica lenses come with the code since 2006. Somewhere I have a page with almost all the codes... only a few of the newest lenses are missing, like the new 35 Lux ASPH II...
denoir wrote:
Carsten, I don't know why you are giving me warnings - I'm a known Leica skeptic, I'm asking for a um..friend
I have the feeling that he would like to get a convincing start with glass that can compete with his collection of Zeiss ZE lenses. I think he'd be comfortable spending up to say €10,000 ($15,000) on a start kit but probably not €20,000. So probably no Noctilux to start with. Also there is no real rush, I think he is pretty happy with the DSLR + Zeiss glass he has now and winter is not far away where the opportunities for photography will be rapidly falling. So I'm..eh.. I mean he is in no hurry and hasn't made any decisions - he's just exploring the options. ...Show more →
Yes, yes, I mean, friends tend to think alike
10000 is a pretty decent sum for a good kit, as long as it doesn't include too many new Leica lenses. The Zeiss 85/2 is very pricy, btw. Zeiss 21/35/85 is one way to go, but really, why replicate a DSLR look, and not experiment with something new? I go for a different look with my various kits. Each has their strengths, play to them and don't try to force them. Do try the 90AA, a real sweetheart of a lens. The Leica lenses have a dreamy boke, more fluid than Zeiss, and they are lower contrast, but by no means softer. Zeiss lenses are quite high contrast which fits with CMOS sensors with AA filters, but really isn't necessary with a digital Leica M with a CCD sensor and no AA filter. A neat way to start would be simply M9+Zeiss 35/2. That should answer some open questions right there.
I can highly recommend Meister Camera Berlin and Hamburg as delivering well-described used lenses at slightly high, but still very reasonable prices, often with a small warranty, and an informal take-back policy, should something go wrong. Really nice people there. I really need to pay them a visit, actually...
Carsten, I've been using your chart and Bo's template to code my older lenses on the M8 but the sharpie method does not work really well on the M9. The M9 detects my 35CronIV but it won't work with my 50Cron and 90 Tele E.
Anyway, both you and Bo are a great service to the Leica community! Thanks!
