Re: M6, 50mm Summicron and more

[Dave Munroe <dmunroe@hpvclmun.vcd.hp.com>]

> 2.  Someone I talked to along the way suggested that I should consider a
> 35mm lens rather than a 50mm because the 35mm "suits Leica photography".
> It was a throw away line I never followed up because the comment didn't
> really make sense to me.  Any comments on this?  I'm more a 50/85mm
> photographer than a 35mm one - I would have thought it was my style that
> mattered not the camera's (whatever that means - is this some Leica
> mysticism I have not been initiated into yet?).

I think the remark stems from the traditional use of the Leica for quick,
candid, spontaneous photos, where a 35mm lens is useful for being able to
take in a wider angle of view and for its greater depth of field.

That said, if you prefer a longer focal length, by all means that should
be your primary consideration.  One thing to keep in mind on the M6, however,
is that the viewfinder image is fairly wide angle (28mm?), so the frame lines
for the 50 and 90 focal lengths occupy a smaller central portion of that
image.

Being used to the M3 myself, where the viewfinder is at 0.9 magnification
and presents the full 50mm image, I was disturbed when I first saw a diagram
of the M6's wide viewfinder image and the smaller central area for the 50mm
frame.  In practice, my concern about the image area of the 50mm frame lines
being too small turned out to be a non-issue.  I wear glasses, so although
I can't see the entire viewfinder image easily, I can see the 50mm frame lines.
Also, even though the image is smaller than on an M3, that was not a problem
either.  However, this is one thing you will have to check on to see if you
can be happy with it.

- -Dave