Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/07/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Eric has the right idea. Buy the best even if it is just one lens or so. What are the best lenses? Starting at 21 the choices are legion. The absolute best is the 21 ASPH from Leica. However, if you shoot this focal length stopped down then buy the 21 Skopar. By 5.6 almost no difference. At 24, again, the 24 ASPH wins by a really large margin. Here, stay with Leica. At 28, the Summicron is a must have lens if you shoot at F2. If you typically shoot at F4 or beyond then the Cosina offerings are good or perhaps a 28 Elmarit with body wear. If you decide against the Summicron, then make a list of three or four lenses and wait until a cheap one on the list shows up. At 35mm you will have to beg, borrow, steal, buy and return, until you find the flavor you like. This focal length is just like wine or watches or Scotch. Many choices, many price points, many vary different outputs, just as many mechanical differences. I personally prefer the Summicron IV just before the ASPH came out, but I must have six 35mm RF lenses still knocking about. At 50mm the latest Summicron would be my first choice. If you happen upon a Konica 50 stripped from the Konica RF at a good price then that will give very similar performance. For now skip the 75 until you have a good feel for needing this look. At 90, this is almost as bad as the 35. If you find that this is a seldom used lens on your RF then buy any of the 50's 85's that you come upon cheap. Nikon, Canon, Zeiss Sonnar, Jupiter whatever are all kissing cousins and deliver outstanding performance by 2.8 and very good performance at F2. If you decide to buy one of the Jupiter I highly recommend that you see it in person and mount it on your camera. These lenses can be very good but can also be very bad. On the other hand, if you like the 90 on your rangefinder then you next have to determine whether you need F2 or not. If so then spend the money on the 90AA. The 90AA is stunningly good at all apertures. If 2.8 work then the new Elmarit is just as good. I have reason to think that the offerings from Konica and Cosina are in the same league so what comes up cheap is what would make up my mind. Now, to your specific question as it relates to me in order of acquisition. M6 Classic 35 Summicron IV 24 ASPH 50 Summicron 15 Heliar 75 Summilux 21 ASPH 90AA 135 Canon Serenar Eric I guess this >sounds like a naive question,,, sorry. I am looking for opinions of those >list members, who for the sake of argument, if they lost everything in ... >say... a tornado (or divorce, or repro-man interaction), and had to replace >their Leica kit in real-world conditions; what would they buy to get >re-started?. This make sense? Hope so. > >so... thanks for hanging in there with this tome of a post. I'd sure >appreciate your feedback. >cheers >Jack McLain >Tucson, AZ >http://jackmclain-photography.dotcommunity.net - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html