Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/07/30

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Subject: Leica Lens Combination
From: KEN_GERLACH@HP-SantaClara-om12.om.hp.com
Date: Wed, 30 Jul 97 16:17:47 -0700

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     I will be a first time purchaser of a Leica M6 system.  I am sold on 
     the body and lens quality, features and performance.  Now I need to 
     determine what combination of lens to buy and obviously my concern is 
     not to make a mistake given the high prices.
     
     I shoot mainly outdoor and indoor urban scenes, not usually landscapes 
     or portraits, both B&W and transparencies.  My work is aimed at 
     photographic art - the creative abstract and unusual natural lighting 
     conditions.  I need fast lens to get the sharpest and full tonal range 
     of images possible without a tripod.
     
     If I was to buy three lens, which ones should I buy?  I have used a 
     35mm lens on SLR extensively in the past and have found the results to 
     give one the feeling that it quite does not look right (trying to give 
     a natural look when it really does look slightly wide angle).  I tend 
     to like the look of extremes.  For example, long lens and very short 
     lens are desirable to be authentic and say to the viewer "this is 
     distorted and enjoy the difference in the way this looks."  
     
     Does this mean I need a 90mm, 21mm and maybe the normal 50mm?  What 
     will the 50mm give me?  Some say they don't need a normal lens 
     ("boring").  Some say the 35mm is idea for most of their work.  Some 
     say something inbetween a normal and long, i.e. 75mm.  
     
     If my budget is too small, what two lens would you recommend and also 
     what would be the one first lens if I am limited to one?
     
     I will be putting down a lot of cash so I would very much appreciate 
     some thoughts on your recommendations and why.
     
     Cheers!
     
     Ken