[Leica] More equipment than you need?

[langeratcarleton at gmail.com (Mark Langer)]

Ted,

I don't make those choices in the heat of a picture moment.  I'm an
amateur, rather than a professional. Many of these lenses were just
accumulated with the purchase of old screwmount bodies -- the Simlar
came with a Leotax, the Nikkor with a Nicca, etc.   I got the Summitar
because I couldn't afford a Summicron when I acquired a M3 body, but
liked it so much that I've kept it.  The Jupiter came when I decided
that I needed a faster 50mm, and since I had lots of experience with
the Sonnars on my old Contaxes, I sought out a good Jupiter.  Took me
a few tries before I got a good one.   I tend to use the vintage
lenses more with my vintage equipment and more modern lenses with more
modern equipment.  So I've got a CV 28/3.5 pretty much permanently
mounted on my Minolta CLE and a more modern Summicron pretty much the
standard lens on my M6.  On occasion, I mount vintage lenses on the
modern bodies, according to my mood. For example, if I'm shooting
black and white film in a graveyard, or doing interior portraits at
home by natural light coming in a window (in color), I might opt for
the Summar for the way it renders the image.   If I want a really
compact package, I might even put an Elmar on my M6 -- actually an
Elmar 35/3.5 on a M6 is great.  It just pleases me to experiment with
the different lenses in different situations.  That's the fun of using
vintage equipment -- toys for boys.  Maybe in terms of ultimate
performance, these lenses can't match modern lenses.  But if they were
good enough for Robert Capa, Henri Cartier Bresson, etc, they are good
enough for a much lesser talent like me.

Mark

On 8/16/05, Ted Grant <tedgrant@shaw.ca> wrote:

> Hi Mark,
> That's amazing you have such a range of same focal length lenses and have 
> to
> make decisions on which one to use.
> 
> I had a 50 1.4 Summilux I think it was for the original M4's, but when the
> Noctilux was available I bought it because it was FAST ;-) and I use fast
> and faster . ;-) As that's always been my first choice for buying Leica
> glass.
> 
> Got rid of the 1.4 Summilux because it sat in the equipment cabinet and
> never did anything after the Nocti arrived. I also have a complete kit of a
> lll f with a 50 1.5 Summarit and a bunch of other glass, however none of
> that ever gets used other than clicking through all the shutter speeds a
> couple times a month, back in case, back in carry all, back in cabinet. ;-)
> Oh one of these days I'll get rid of it. Oh yeah and this kit looks like it
> just came out of the factory. :-)
> 
> However, back to 50 lenses. How many do you carry at one time and at what
> point do you decide which one you will use?
> 
> People ask me when I'm carrying 6 cameras how do I decide which one to use?
> My response? "Generally the moment I see what I want on film or expect an
> action to occur." The anticipation of a moment and I reach for the camera I
> know will give me the largest image on film.
> 
> And I'd most certainly say what the back ground looks like, bohek whatever,
> never ever comes to mind as I only think of the moment of peak action and
> being as sharp as a razor blade on target.  Unless there's a major visual
> distraction of something I see in the background, then I change my position
> or angle to get it out of the frame. Unfortunately moments in life don't
> always allow that luxury to move then you go wide open to soften it out as
> much as possible..
> 
> However, your 50's sound like an amazing set of lenses. I can't imagine
> making the choices you must do in the heat of a picture moment.
> 
> ted
>