Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/01/13

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Subject: Re: M4 Prices
From: "Charles E. Love, Jr." <cel14@cornell.edu>
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 1997 17:34:25 -0500 (EST)

At 10:57 AM 1/12/97 -0500, you wrote:

>>What is the best lens (35/50) to look out for?
>>
For general use, I'd recommend the newer 50 or 35 Summicrons (assuming you
don't want to mortgage the house to buy the 35 aspheric).  The old
(non-asph) 35 1.4 is not as good as the f2--a very old design.  I think the
50 1.4 is a little less good than the f2 also, though the difference isn't
nearly as great as with the 35.

 Lots of people on this list love the DR Summicron 50.  It's nice to have
the close focusing, and the lens is very sharp by any standards, but the
"look" of photos taken with it is different from the newest designs, if you
use color transparency film.  There will be less saturation and less
apparent sharpness (due to lower contrast) with lenses of that era--it'll be
a little "old fashioned" if you put a color slide taken with it up against
one done with the current 50.   In the end I found myself preferring the
contemporary look and so sold my DR (but then I use Velvia, too, so....)
I'd suggest doing a comparison before you buy.
Charles E. Love, Jr.
CEL14@CORNELL.EDU