Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/09/17
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Martin wrote: >I wasn't labelling it a "portrait lens", I was stating that most people >seemed to report on the 90 Summicron's particular characteristics as >very good for portraiture, and that *that* was what most people appeared >to use this particular lens for. Obviously a 90mm can be used for a >great many subjects, in addition to which, there is another 90 in the >Leica stable. At the expense of being placed on the rack, hanged, drawn and quartered - - One of the best lenses we owned in the '69-'73 time period was a Nikon 105 f2.5, which Pat and I used exclusively on a match-needle Nikkormat. We used it for everything - - - portraits, landscapes, church interiors, aerial shots - - - . Since it was the only SLR lens that we owned (due to the rigors of cash flow), we had to learn how to use it for everything we wanted to shoot. We still had our IIIc; however, the SLR came in handy whenever we wanted to take a "shoot everything" capability with us. We learned - - early on - - that composition on the ground glass screen of an SLR was different than composition through the viewfinder of a rangefinder camera. To quote an old friend: "An SLR's wide-open lens depth of field leads you to compose in mass. Due to the depth of field, a rangefinder leads you to compose by line and form." I guess we just learned to compose everything using the f 2.5 DOF image on the screen. Cheers - - - and our Tele Elmarit 2.8 M now goes everywhere with us <grin> George Berger gberger@his.com