Re: [Leica] Still confused (was: 35, 90 and now 50mm?)

[Jesse Hellman <hellman@home.com>]

Which lens? In my opinion it depends on your vision and how you see, and
how you want to round it out over time. I use the 50mm lens more than
all the others combined. On trips I take the 50 and the 21, only. I have
taken the 90 but rarely used it. I want to take pictures, as a tourist,
that include my surroundings and, in Europe, the 21 is very useful.

I use the 90 for portraits, but the 50 focuses so close you can do
without it as a tourist.
I find that there are so many things to see, that to limit yourself to
one lens when you go out is really no limitation at all. It frees you to
see, which may sound strange but is at least in my experience true.

So there is no right answer. If you are very comfortable with the 35,
getting a Summicron is worthwhile, but I bet you will not take both out
at any one time.

As for the Summilux, it does not offer the advantage that it would in a
reflex of helping with focus. it is useful only when you want an opening
greater than F/2. This may be heresy, but while I do use F/2 a good
deal, and use TMax P3200, I think the loss of depth of field at openings
greater than F/2 is a real limitation. How many really excellent
photographs have been taken at openings greater than F/2?

I would love to post a street photo I took recently as an example of
vision with the 50, but I do not have my website up yet. Is there any
other way to do this in the meantime?

All that said, I admit that if a 50 Summilux ASPH comes out I will
probably buy one, the proof that reason is secondary to passion.