Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/05/26

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Subject: RE: [Leica] Portrait Lens: 90mm or 135mm?
From: "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>
Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 20:11:48 -0400

90! 90! 90! I know there are people on this list who will violently - and
perhaps politely - disagree with me, but I am a firm believer in the idea
that the rangefinder camera - particularly the Leica M with its .72 or even
.85 viewfinder magnification, is ill suited to the use of telephotos. I
personally no longer use mine for anything over 50 mm, though I will only
give it up for 50 and below when my eyes are too shot to focus, or they pry
it from my cold dead hands. But if you want a "portrait" lens for the M, go
with the 90, or the 75 Summilux, which is a truly stunning lens.

Good luck

B. D.
http://www.a-day-in-our-life.com
A Day In Our Life...
Documentary Photography
of American Families


> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of
> AppleMac97@aol.com
> Sent: Friday, May 26, 2000 6:08 PM
> To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
> Subject: [Leica] Portrait Lens: 90mm or 135mm?
>
>
> Hi Everybody!
>
> After 20 years of using SLRs (Pentax, Nikon and Canon) I finally
> succumbed to
> the Leica mystique and bought recently a new M6 TTL (0.72,
> Chrome) and a new
> Summicron-M 1:2/35 ASPH lens (Chrome).  Needless to say, after using
> auto-everything cameras all these years, it is a joy to use a fully
> mechanical 35mm rangefinder camera.  I shoot primarily slides and
> B&W film,
> and the quality of the Leica lens is amazing!  Comparing slides
> and negatives
> shot with my quite sharp earlier Nikon and Canon autofocus fixed
> focal length
> lenses to the ones shot with the Summicron, I can clearly see a
> higher degree
> of image quality - contrast, sharpness, color and saturation.
> Just using the
> M6 is a wonderful tactile experience!  Winding the film and
> hearing the soft
> sound of the shutter is almost a religious experience!
>
> I need your help in selecting a lens for portrait photography
> with the M6.  I
> am considering the 90mm/f2.0 APO ASPH and the 135mm/f3.4 APO
> lenses.  I can
> afford to buy only one of these lenses!  I would like to know
> what veteran
> users of these focal lengths think and recommend.  From time to
> time, I also
> plan to use the lens for landscape photography.
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> Muhammad Chishty
>

Replies: Reply from Nathan Wajsman <wajsman@webshuttle.ch> (Re: [Leica] Portrait Lens: 90mm or 135mm?)
Reply from "Simon Lamb" <s_lamb@compuserve.com> (Re: [Leica] Portrait Lens: 90mm or 135mm?)
Reply from "Tom Schofield" <tdschofield@email.msn.com> (Re: [Leica] Portrait Lens: 90mm or 135mm?)