Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/10/27

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Use 135mm Anymore?
From: nbwatson@juno.com (N. B. Watson)
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 17:18:27 EST

135mm (allright, 140mm) is the midpoint of an 80-200 or 70-210 zoom which
were amongst the first zooms to approach the optical quality of fixed
focal lengths.  When I carried a set of fixed-length Nikkors I always
found the 135 2.8 a necessity between the 85 f2 and 200 f4.  Many times I
left the 200 home and put a TC14A on the 135 2.8.  Likewise with the
Leica M there are times when the 90 is just too short.  I once saw a
fellow using a Japanese-made 2x that rangefinder-coupled with an M, along
with a separate finder.  I've never seen another...anyone know what I'm
talking about?

Regards,
Nigel

On Tue, 27 Oct 1998 15:23:20 -0500 "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>
writes:
>Let me, as usual, be the fly in the ointment.
>
>135 has always struck me as a somewhat weird focal length - not long 
>enough
>to be a useful telephoto, but - for me anyway - a bit too long to be a 
>good
>portrait, close distance lens. I suspect the only reason the focal 
>length
>really exists is that it was the longest focal length that could
>realistically - sort of - be used with the rangefinder (Leica/Contax) 
>and as
>a focal length it was initially picked up for the reflexes.
>Today, however, it seems to be a pretty much forgotten focal length in
>reflex-land. Most non-zoom outfits seem to jump from the 85-100 range 
>to the
>180-200 range. In addition to my M6, I have an old N---- F with a 105 
>2.5
>and a 180 2.8 (which, R8 aside, is a spectacular lens)...
>
>
>

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