Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/04/16
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I use the 90/2.0 Summicron (rangefinder) for portraits when the lens comes along as a "me too". When I travel, I don't like to carry two systems, so it's the Leicas (usually) or the Nikons (F3's) if I think I'll need longer focal lengths. Given the choice, with both of them available, I would probably go for the 85/2.0 Nikkor. It is a beauty. I think portraits can be other things than head-and-shoulders, so the 24, 35 and 50 work pretty well too. Wish I had a 24 for the Leicas, but the 24 Nikkor works just fine. There is a disadvantage to the 90/2.0 old Summicron: http://www.leica-gallery.net/dlridings/image-64024.html It will flare at you even from the reflection of light on a newspaper on the table. I took that one just last week at the breakfast table when an old friend visited. Daniel On Fri, 16 Apr 2004, Adam Bridge wrote: > On 4/16/04 <bdcolen@earthlink.net (B. D. Colen)> thoughtfully wrote: > > >Yup - If for some bizarre reason you really want to do your portrait > >shooting with a rangefinder rather than a reflex, go with the 90 > >Summicron - It's plenty sharp and contrasty, but not overwhelmingly > >either, which makes it an excellent portrait lens. I briefly owned the > >90 APO, and I sold it and went back to the old war horse - and haven't > >regreted it for a moment. > > Bizarre? Well for me it has become the ONLY camera I use for portraiture. It's > small, doesn't intimidate either the subject or me, and since everything I shoot > qualifies as "environmental" in that I don't use lights or a studio the > excellent wide-open glass works well for me. And seeing beyond the frame lines > helps me remember to change my position. > > Sometimes I lose shoots because I move and forget to focus. I do that less and > less. > > Thanks for the datapoint, however bizarre my choices. > > Adam > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >