50mm focal length

[ATANOVIC <ATANOVIC@genre.com>]

Daniel Cardish <dcardish@spherenet.com> wrote:
>I too like the 50mm.  I shoot a lot of figure studies, and I like 
>including a lot of the background into the frame.  Longer focal 
>lengths tend to concentrate too much on the model.  An even 
>better lens is the 75mm Summilux.  This lens is a lot like the 
>50 in turns of background inclusion, but is long enough to avoid 
>the wide angle distortion one gets when getting in too close with 
>the 50.  Mine is an early model with the clip on hood which I picked 
>up second hand (excuse me, previously owned)  relatively cheaply, 
>but it is still a very expensive lens.  Also, it is heavy, and spoils the 
>balance of the M-Leica.  But it is a great lens in every other regard.

I have to chime in and say I like the 50 too.  I have both the current 
Summicron-M and the new collapsible, and like them both, especially 
the new Elmar for its size and ease of use.  For a long time I was a 
wide-angle shooter, but I grow increasingly fond the longer focal 
lengths.  I used to have a kind of aversion to cutting anything off:  if I 
was photographing a building or a train or a garden, I would tend to 
want to get the whole thing in the picture.  Then I realized, partly by 
looking at other photographers' work, that what is left out or cut off 
is often just as strong, or even stronger, by its implied presence, 
than what is included in the picture.

I was interested in Dan's comments on the 75mm Summilux-M.
This lens doesn't seem to get much mention.  I wonder if it
is very widely used by LUG members?

Incidentally, of the current production M-lenses, have you noticed 
how the longer-larger aperture lenses remain Canadian-made?
i.e. as far as I can tell, the following lenses continue to be made 
under contract in Midland by Hughes Elcan:

 50mm 1.0 Noctilux-M
 75mm 1.4 Summilux-M
 90mm 2.0 Summicron-M
 135mm 2.8 Elmarit-M

Of these four, I have only the 90, but like it quite a bit.  The chrome 
version weighs in at a whopping 630g, however, so you do have to
get used to the heft.  As Dan says, it does tend to spoil the balance
somewhat.

Adrian Tanovic
Tokyo