Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/07/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Item Subject: cc:Mail Text I will be a first time purchaser of a Leica M6 system. I am sold on the body and lens quality, features and performance. Now I need to determine what combination of lens to buy and obviously my concern is not to make a mistake given the high prices. I shoot mainly outdoor and indoor urban scenes, not usually landscapes or portraits, both B&W and transparencies. My work is aimed at photographic art - the creative abstract and unusual natural lighting conditions. I need fast lens to get the sharpest and full tonal range of images possible without a tripod. If I was to buy three lens, which ones should I buy? I have used a 35mm lens on SLR extensively in the past and have found the results to give one the feeling that it quite does not look right (trying to give a natural look when it really does look slightly wide angle). I tend to like the look of extremes. For example, long lens and very short lens are desirable to be authentic and say to the viewer "this is distorted and enjoy the difference in the way this looks." Does this mean I need a 90mm, 21mm and maybe the normal 50mm? What will the 50mm give me? Some say they don't need a normal lens ("boring"). Some say the 35mm is idea for most of their work. Some say something inbetween a normal and long, i.e. 75mm. If my budget is too small, what two lens would you recommend and also what would be the one first lens if I am limited to one? I will be putting down a lot of cash so I would very much appreciate some thoughts on your recommendations and why. Cheers! Ken