Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/12/14

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Subject: RE: [Leica] New RF Buyer...
From: "Jeffery L.Smith" <jsmith45@bellsouth.net>
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2001 16:40:11 -0600

Hi John,

The serial numbers can give you an idea of when the lens was
manufactured. I believe that some lenses have modifications to them, so
that one 35/2 may have no aspherical elements while a later 35/2 may
have aspherical elements. Some folks don't want plastic elements in
their lenses, while others don't mind so much.

I don't fool around with serial numbers unless I'm purchasing something
off ebay. Sometimes I find the exact same lens (same serial number) in
multiple auctions with different prices.

Let us know what lens you do get. It will be interesting to see what you
choose WITHOUT us telling you which one to choose.

Jeffery Smith

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us] On Behalf Of John
Straus
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2001 3:06 PM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: [Leica] New RF Buyer...


Although I've posted a few times to the list here's my first intro post.
Hi
:) I'm currently a Contax SLR user and see a few names here I recognize
off that list, glad to see it.

The Background:
I have gone from BIG Nikon, to BIG Canon, to less big Contax and am
pretty happy with it at this point. Although I have run into almost the
same delema of getting the faster lenses which are obviously bigger than
the nice 2.8 counterparts. I have a body with a built in winder which is
quiet for what it is, but it's still a camera that sounds like a
"modern" camera. The older bodies w/o the drives are somewhat quieter
but still seem to make a lot of noise and people in a room with you know
your taking photos. So for the many reasons that are shared among the
Leica RF users I have started to look into this area. I have a Mamiya 7
and love to hate that body & slow lens. For outdoor it's great but not a
good all around camera for me. I will be selling this to get into a 35mm
RF. A few years ago I used a friends M6 to shoot a roll of film and got
pretty good results (focus & exposuere wise) with some 800 speed print
film. I know poor test medium BUT it told me some things about the
camera which was the important part to me. I will admit that even though
I say I want the M6 for how quiet it is and people will notice me less I
think it will make ME feel better about not being so noticeable. The
self concious issue comes upon me many times when shooting people in
less public places and even in more public places. Something that will
also need to be overcome.

Currently:
After looking over information from the list and other online sources
I've come to a few decisions and have a few more questions. I will start
off with an M6 .58 TTL body. Why, as this is my first RF to use? A few
reasons: 1) I mostly use 28mm to 50mm on my SLR, 2) I wear glasses, 3)
TTL flash, I almost never use flash but when I do it's always fill
flash, 4) I want a body that will be current in layout with what may
come out later (as in the shutter speed dial that old user say turns the
wrong way).

Lenses:
Ahh, the most confusing part for the beginner. Now I have read the other
posts about "First lens" and it helped me out a lot. Although I would
like all fast lenses for this system my wallet says otherwise so I'll be
looking at good glass for a midlevel price. Basically I have a list of
lenses Leica and Voigtlander that will work with the system I'm
building. It really is all a matter of personal preference on how I want
to start off the system and how much I want to spend. So I have no "What
lens should I get" questions for you. 

What I do want to know is why are the serial #'s so important on the
lenses? Let me state this now; I'M NOT A COLLECTOR!!! I do NOT want to
pay extra for anything but shooting value. Meaning I'm willing to
consider spending more only if I'll see pretty obvious results on an
8x10 - 11x14. These are my normal enlargement sizes for a good shot. So
back to the serial #...what gives? It seems the later the # the more it
costs, I think. Is there any shooting value in a lower vs higher serial
#? This is my big question for now before I start to look for a lens to
buy this weekend.

Thanks for any info!
- -- 
John 
Chicago, IL 
http://SlideOne.com
==================== 

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