RE: [Leica] Re: 75/1.4 question

[Paul Chefurka <Paul_Chefurka@pmc-sierra.com>]

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Dan Honemann [mailto:danh@selectsa.com]
>Sent: Friday, December 08, 2000 6:30 AM
>To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
>Subject: RE: [Leica] Re: 75/1.4 question (was: Homicide and 
>photography)
>
>
>> Seriously, that 75 is as good as everyone says it is. [...]
>> It's on a par in that regard with the 35/2.0 ASPH IMO.
>
>And how does it compare with the 90 apo?
>
>I know the real answer is to get both.  But let's just 
>_pretend_ that my stock portfolio is down over 40% from
>this time last year and that I can
>only afford one or the other (generally as a portrait lens).

I haven't done any kind of head-to-head between the two lenses yet.  From my early impressions, I think the 75 is going to be very much a general-purpose lens - much more so than the 90.  The 75 feels like a "long normal", providing just that extra bit of subject isolation.  The 90 on the other hand is a true short tele, one that I find myself mounting only when I want the extra reach.  The 75 doesn't feel like it's "reaching out" so much as just "cropping in" a bit.

It's a heavy bugger, and I find that a grip (either Leica's or Tom's) makes a big difference to the handling.  The focus is silky smooth - even better than my 90 APO.  The biggest thing to get used to after all this time shooting a 50 is using the right frame lines.

As far as a portrait lens goes, it will depend on what kind of portraits you shoot.  If you need tight head shots this isn't the right lens.  I don't ever want to shoot another head shot, though, so it's just right for me.  It's tight enough to go in on your subject, but loose enough to leave some context.

Before I got it, I wondered if it might be too much of an "in-between" focal length, but now I realize there's no such thing - it's just a matter of taking each focal length on its own merits and learning what it will do for you.  I suspect that the combination of this lens and the 35 Summilux will do an extraordinary percentage of my shooting for the next little while.

Paul

>
>Dan
>
>P.S. To those who would advise me never to sink money I might 
>want over the
>next dozen or so years into the market, I know this--and 
>practice it.  The
>money that would go to Leica glass is now compelled to go into stocks
>because there are too many bargains to pass up.  This is a 
>buyer's market
>right now!

Speaking as an employee of a company whose share price has ben cut in half over the last two months, I have to agree.  It's going to start raining soup in the new year.