[Leica] HCB & lenses

["Sal DiMarco,Jr." <sdmp007@pressroom.com>]

For all you Hank lovers....excuse me, that's Henri Cartier-Bresson lovers
out there....
    This afternoon, I found an old copy of American Photo (Sep/Oct 1997). It
is devoted to HCB and it started me on a very brief period of research.
    Well, on page 9 (table of contents) he's holding a screwmount Leica with
what looks like a collapsible 50mm Summicron, but if it's dated correctly
(1946), it is
a Summarit.
    On page 46, he's holding an M3 with a 50mm collapsible Summicron.
    On page 48 (top) he carrying a Leica CL again  with a 50mm collapsible
Summicron.
On the bottom of the page in a photo dated 1938 he's shaking hands with
David "Chim" Seymour and hold a screw mount Leica with what looks to be a
35mm f/3.5 Elmar.
    Going to page 49, we see our hero on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial
in 1957
holding an M3 with a 50mm f/1.5 Summarit.
    Now, to add more information, in the book "Eyewitness- 150 Years of
Photojournalism" published by TIME Books in 1995, HBC is again holding an M3
with the 50mm f/1.5 Summarit. FYI- The photo was by Dmitri Kessel.
    Now, in John Morris's book "Get the Picture," we see him in Russia with
what could be the famed 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar.
    This is confirmed in Beaumont Newhall's autobiography "Focus" published
in 1993. On page 158 he states HCB used "a 50mm 1.5 Contax lens fitting to
his Leica." On page 159 Beaumont tells us HCB bought an 85mm f/1.5 lens in
1946. Since, only Leica made an 85mm f/1.5 lens in 1946, I assume it was a
Summarex.
    Lastly, in a photo, made in the late 50's or early 60's by Lisl Steiner
shows HCB with a black M3 and a chrome 50mm collapsible Summicron.
    What does all this mean? Absolutely nothing....because the most
important lens is  the eye of the photographer, not what is on his camera.
Happy  Snaps,
Sal