[Leica] re: Recommendations?

[Godfrey DiGiorgi <ramarren@bayarea.net>]

I purchased my M6TTL just recently and deliberated for a couple of months
on which lenses were going to be the right ones for my needs. At the cost
of Leica lenses, particularly new, you want to be very careful to choose
what is going to work well for you. 

My most recent Leica M system was an M4-P and a set of three lenses:
28/2.8, 50/2 and 90/2. For reasons that are forever going to be a matter
of personal aesthetics, that kit never really satisfied me very much. The
28 was both too wide and not wide enough, the 50 was a smidge too long,
the 90/2 was about the right length but the early Summicron was a beast to
carry: way too heavy and large. 

I have found in recent years that I prefer a lens in the 40mm range for
the bulk of my shooting, and the closest thing available with framelines
in the finder was the 35. Summilux or Summicron? For me, even though I do
a lot of available darkness shooting, I've never felt compromised by an
f/2 lens and it's both less expensive and less bulky. So I chose the
Summicron-M 35/2 ASPH. 

For a longer focal length, I knew I wanted a 90. The 75 is a lovely lens
but it's heavy and expensive. The f/2 versions of the 90 are much more
expensive than the Elmarit-M 90/2.8 and a lot bulkier too, so I went with
my gut feeling and bought the Elmarit-M. 

I find these two lenses suit me very well. They both disappear from my
mind and let me concentrate on seeing. I have one of the Heliar 15/4.5
lenses too, which is rather extreme and I find somewhat difficult to use,
it's a great lens just takes more practice to become invisible. I will
someday buy a 21mm as well: that's a very comfortable lens for me. But for
the present I'm enjoying the 35/2 and 90/2.8 enormously. They are exactly
what I was looking for. 

Good luck in your decisions. 

Godfrey