[Leica] IIIc or IIIf?

[pklein at 2alpha.net (Peter Klein)]

Bart:  I have both of these lenses.  The 90/3.5 is simply outstanding, and 
delivers great image quality wide open as well as stopped down.  It is also 
small and light enough that you can take it anywhere and not worry about it 
weighing too much.   It is my travel 90mm lens.  My old 1960s 90/2.8 
Elmarit is a lovely lens for portraits, and fine stopped down, but not as 
good as the 90/3.5 VC at f/3.5 or 4.

The 50/1.5 Nokton:  Some love it.  Some hate it because its bokeh can 
sometimes be harsh--mostly distant out of focus highlights when you're 
focused in close.   It is a little sharper over the whole frame than the 
50/1.4 classic Summilux.  Basically, I use the 50/2 Summicron when I don't 
think I'm going to need the extra 2/3 stop.  If I know I'm going to do 
available light, the Nokton goes in my bag with no regrets--it works find 
as a general-purpose lens stopped down.

My take:  Go ahead, get both.  I got both mine used, very reasonably, and 
have no regrets.  One caveat:  The Nokton obscures a significant portion of 
the barnack camera's viewfinders, so an external 50mm finder may make life 
easier.

--Peter

At 07:06 PM 8/5/2006 -0700, Bart wrote:
>You mentioned the CV lenses in general, but more specifically, how do users
>feel about the 50/1.5 and the 90/3.5 (aside from the obvious fact that the
>latter is slower than one might want)?  I recently acquired a used M6 and am
>looking to buy a 90 and/or a fast 50 without spending a fortune that I 
>don't have.