Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/05/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Alf, >Besides-2, he must have used also lenses with were different >than the 35, 50 or 90: At p 10 he has an >M5 with an external viewer. :) In his "Focus, Memoirs of a life in photography" (ISBN 0-8212-1904-9) Beaumont Newhall wrote: (about H C-B in 1946) page 158: "For his vision, for his point of view, the Leica is the ideal instrument, except of the lens. He had a Contax f/1,5 lens fitted to his Leica. He explained that he hated flashlight, and never use it. Hence he needs the large-aperture lens. etc.. " Note: In 1946, the only 50mm Leica lens with the same aperture was the Xenon 50/1,5. Production figures in 1943 =9, 1944 = 0, 1945 = 1, 1946 = 2, 1947 = 1 !! Page 159-160: "When Cartier was asked for a portrait of himself to accompany my article, he said he had none, adding "Ask Beaumont". One afternoon I went around to his apartment with my camera. He had just bought a new 85mm f/1,5 lens (Summarex ?), which is common today but was extremely rare and expensive in 1946. While I was photographing him he suddently handed me his new lens. "Try this on your Leica, Beaumont", he said. etc.. " Note: Production figures of the Summarex in 1943 = 90, 1944 = 0, 1945 = 28, 1946 = 18, 1947 = 6. Rare indeed ! Lucien