Favorite lens

[MP Guy]

I am really starting to like the 90 Apo 2.0. Between this and the 21 , these 2 are by number picks.

Here is a snapshot I did on Velvia 100 with the 90

[back alley]

can't pick a lens.

but as a focal length, my favourite by far is the 35mm.

second might be the 50.

joe

[RubenBlaedel]

for leica M 35 mm summicron pre asph

for hasselbald 120 mm s-planar or the noninterchangable Biogon 38 mm on the swc
for rolleiflex tessar 3,5 75 mm over the 2,8 planar
for Fuji the 180 3,2
I am getting to like the 2,8 tessar 80 mm on the super ikonta and the 2,0 ultron on the vitessa to as well as the 50 mm summarit for leica though it has been hard work getting to get used to "normal" focallenght - Rangefinder cameras make that much easier then slr - with the slr 24x36 things do not look right at 50 mm (to me) with rangefinders i just concentrate on what is in the frame and take it from there - makes sense ??

[richard_l]

Right now it's my 50/2.8 Elmar-M.

[xcapekey]

it was my 35/2 summicron before it got beer spilt on it....

[Flow]

For me it is the 24mm ASPH. I love this lens!


Flowen

[pvdhaar]

My favorite is the Konica M-Hexanon 50/2.. Shines in colour as well as B&W..

[Roger Hicks]

35mm seems to me the 'natural' focal length for a Leica.

Much to my surprise the 75/2 Summicron seems to be creeping into second place.

Cheers,

Roger

[Jan Brittenson]

I absolutely love my Summilux-M 35/1.4 ASPH...

I too like the APO 90, although I have the R version.

[thmk]

Currently the Summicron-M 2/50. But that may change when the recently purchased 2/35 asph reaches my place and gets some use...

[Terence T]

CV 15/4.5 for super wide shots and 35/2 Biogon M as a standard lens.

[rover]

50/2 Summicron, or Canon 50/1.5, both keep me smiling.

[Roman]

for rolleiflex tessar 3,5 75 mm over the 2,8 planar


I'm interested - why? I only have a 'cord with a 3,5/75 Xenar, and have been lusting after Planar-equipped 'flexes, that's why I'm asking.

Roman

[Tom Diaz]

35mm seems to me the 'natural' focal length for a Leica.

Much to my surprise the 75/2 Summicron seems to be creeping into second place.

Cheers,

Roger
For me, also, the 35mm seems to be the most natural. I use the Summicron ASPH most often. It's the one I would take if I were forced to take only one on a trip. (If I could take two, I would have a hard time choosing.)

[kbg32]

My 28 f2.8 Elmarit.

Keith
www.pbase.com/keithbg

[wlewisiii]

Right now it's my Jupiter-8nb50/2 on my Kiev 5, followed closely by my SC Skopar 35/2.5.

William

[peter_n]

My favorite focal length is 35mm but my current favorite lens is the f2.8/50mm Elmar-M. The attached pic was pretty near to the closest focus on that lens, which is 0.7M.

[Todd.Hanz]

40mm rokkor, 50 summilux for low light.

Todd

[tajart]

28 elmarit; 35 'cron 8 element, 35 'cron asph, 50 'cron; 90 fat-tele, 135 tele-elmar.
28/3.5 cv is a great, compact wa; just recently got the 15/4.5 heliar and find it an amazing lens; 50 nokton on the way.
what to use depends on situation and conditions of course or whats at hand...

[Nikon Bob]

My most used RF lens is an old 35mm F1.4 Pre Asp Summilux used along with a 90mm fat Tele-Elmarit and 21mm CV.

Bob

[dnk512]

105mm f2.5 AIS Nikkor. My favorite length and this model handles great, is very sharp, has smooth out of focus backgrounds, and is very cheap and easy to find! In the rangefinder world I will go with my konica S3. Great lens, but, I wish it had aperture control instead of the flash automation. One of those days I think I will open it and see if I can convert the flash control to aperture manual control :-)

[vha]

28mm Biogon and hopefully 28mm Elmarit (3 gen) when I get my camera . . )
Been using 28mm as my standard lens for the last years, and for me its perfect for everyday
photography, and as a nice bonus the camera gets more pocketable, fits perfectly in the pockets of my schott parka. . . but most things fits in these pockets . . :D

And yesterday i place a bid on a Nikon 28TI, because of the 28mm and the lightmeter.
Wonder when I´ll have enough cameras ? :)

VH

[shutterflower]

I am only starting 35mm (in earnest) this year, and I only have the 40 Nokton so far. It looks nice, but I have not taken any shots with it so far. Before that, I played with a Nikon N65 with its kit lens (some zoom), and it was alright. Of course that was when i was in high school and photography was a point and shoot experience.

Medium format : Mamiya 80mm F1.9 in the 645 format. Hands down. I saw better
images with that thing than with Zeiss even. VERY sharp and
perfect with colors.

6x7 - on the Mamiya 7 series - 80mm F4 and the 50mm F4.5

Large format: Fujinon outdoors - SWD 75mm - seen pics from it, and it is
just. . .better. I like it better than the Schneiders and
certainly better than Rodenstock glass, Caltars etc.

In vintage 4x5, I like Kodak 127mm Ektar. It is surprisingly sharp and contrasty.

All round favorite lens ever - Mamiya 50mm 4.5 for the 7 series. Wow. And it's a rangefinder too. So I can say that.

Ultimate lust object - Leica Summilux 50 F1.4. Have never used one, but it has to be good.

[Little Prince]

Focal length wise it's got to be 35mm. Only lens I have at that length is a 35/1.4 Nikkor that I like. If I had one for an RF I'm sure I would like it too. Recently got a 40mm for an RF. Shot only one roll so far so can't say if I like it but all indications are that it will be my most natural lens (which is why I thought I should go for it in the first place). Just realized that the 60/4 on the Fuji also equates to a 35mm. Hmm... maybe I should get rid of the 35/1.4 and get a 50/3.5 for the 6x6.

[furcafe]

I love 50mm lenses in all their variations (fortunately, they're relatively cheap), but my favorite is the Sonnar.

[Designer]

I love the 90mm fat Tele-Elmarit . But the most used lens should be my 35 cron (7 element).

[markinlondon]

Three months ago I'd have said 50 Summicron, but now it's a CV 35 Ultron, if only I could remember where I left it. So actually a CV 35 PII is about the only lens I'm using at present.

Mark

[zpuskas]

Without a doubt my 35 Summicron, followed by the 50.

Zoltan

[Honu-Hugger]

100mm f/2 Kinoptik APO and 21mm f/4.5 Zeiss Biogon are clear favorites, 58mm F1.2 NOCT Nikkor and 50mm f/1.5 Sonnar are also strong contenders. I'm just glad we don't really have to make these sort of "Sophie Choices" -- there are many other lenses I prefer not to do without.

[GeneW]

My current fav is 35mm Ultron, followed closely by J8.

Gene

[MCTuomey]

... methinks it's time to renew efforts to score a 50mm Elmar. I'm a sick guy - my fav lens is the next one I don't have.

[Natron]

I'm going to agree with an earlier poster:

I'd have to say my favorite lens is my Konica M-Hexanon 50mm f/2. There is just no way to fault that lens. I love its smooth, natural rendition of out-of-focus areas as well.

[Honu-Hugger]

I'm changing my answer: it's whichever lens I'm using at the time -- no kidding. I don't own a lens that I don't think very highly of so I have no favorite. I shoot a lot with 35mm and 90~100's, but also use 50's quite often. They're all favorites though.

[egpj]

28 Summicron is my all time favorite but the 35 Summilux has been living on the camera body for the last month.

[Doug]

Favorite recently has been the 28mm Biogon-G; I really like the look of its images.

[JNewell]

Any 90mm f/2.8, such as Elmarit-M, fat Tele-Elmarit or Elmarit (old version)

[Wayne R. Scott]

My favorite lens is:

For making me the most money----- Bronica 150mm f4 on ETR/ETRS followed by
Nikkor 55mm Micro f2.8 and Nikkor 85mm f2.0 AIS on Nikon F3HP and FA bodies.

For macro photography---- Nikkor 55mm Micro f2.8 and Tamron 90mm macro.

For walk-about all around handy camera & lens---- Contax IIA with 50mm f1.5 Sonnar followed by Canon QL-17 GIII with 40mm f1.7 lens.

For "WOW" factor black & white images----- Kodak Ektar 190mm f4.5 on Graphic View II 4x5 camera.

For "I wanna be Wegee"----- 162mm f4.5 Optar on Crown Graphic 4x5.

For my "Magic Bullet" lens--- the next one I buy :)

Wayne

[jorisbens]

Since a few days/weeks my favourite lens is the jupiter 9, I really love the thin DOF! On second place is the 50mm 3.5 collapsible fed.

But then again I did not yet have the change to "play" with some leica glass, but for now I'm still happy with my russian gear. But then again i would probably really enjoy an old collapsible 50mm Leica :eek:

[clarkmac]

historically my favorite has been my black Nikkor 85mm on a Leica M3, but I,m getting wider in old age. Now a 75mm Summicron, if it's smaller than the Nikkor, would be very appealing.

[Gabriel M.A.]

Hard to decide. For people in B&W, the 50mm Summitar, for most anything else, my tabbed 50mm Summicron-M

[Perk1518]

All time favourite rangefinder lens: 50mm F:1.2 Canon.

Paul C. Perkins, MD

[StuartR]

Well, for all lenses, I still really have a soft spot for the Canon FD 85mm f/1.2L. So fast, such incredible image quality and bokeh, a beautiful hunk of glass. It is gigantic though, and it takes a masochist to carry it around all day as I did when I was starting out. It absolutely will not disappoint.

For RF, if you had asked me two weeks ago, my ego would have answered 50mm f/2 summicron. But since then I got a 50mm f/1.4 summilux ASPH, and it looks like it may just unseat the summicron. My Id is unwavering in its support of the 75mm summilux. The big front element and beautiful purple coatings just say "look into my eyes". Its performance is certainly incredible as well.

[impact07]

I like how some of us have 5 or 6 "favorites"!

For me, my favorite right now is the 90/2.8 Elmarit. Like that one a lot. I'd have to say hat a few of you are encouraging me to bust out the 28 Elmarit a little more.

[wilt]

In rangefinders: Summicron 50 (the one from the 80's and 90's with tab and separate hood)

In scale focus cameras: Color Minotar 35/2.8 on the Minox GT and GT-E (a Tessar-type lens, I think)

In SLR: Planar-C 80/2.8

[cameosis]

summilux-m 35 | 1.4 (second version; canada)

[Roman]

Tough decision:

Pentax SMC-M 100/2.8 for portraits.
Jupiter-8, -9 and CZJ Sonnar 180/2.8 for their bokeh.
Konica AR Hexanon 40/1.8, Minolta Rokkor 40/2 and Industar-58 (Iskra) for their sharpness.
Konica Hexanon 38/2.8 (C35) for its color rendition
CV ColorSkopar 35/2.5 for its combination of performance and compactness.

Roman

[NoTx]

Throwing em all out:

45/2.8 Contax Tessar
45/2 G Contax Planar
11-22/2.8-3.5 Olympus Digital Zuiko

[existrandom]

i love

Canon 50/1.5 LTM
Konica M-Hexanon 50/2
Leica 35/2 Summicron (7 elements, Canada)
Canon 35/2 LTM

because they are the ones i am lusting over and don't have a chance or cannot afford to buy, huh

i was very happy with my Canon 35/1.8 LTM until it got fogged and seperating

cheers!

lee

[rich815]

Probably my Jupiter-8

[sgy1962]

I find the 35mm focal length to be the most versatile, but most of my best pictures seem to always be taken w/ the 50mm focal length.

At various times I've owned a 50mm Summilux; current 50mm summicron; the predecessor 50mm summicron w/ focusing tab (both black and chrome); and the retro special edition 50mm summicron. The Summilux was a black paint one and, for me, was too heavy. I got rid of all my chrome lenses over the last two years because they are heavier and I find it is more difficult to read the depth of field numbers on the lens; my brother took my retro lens; so that has just left me with a circa. late 80's summicron which I had purchased from the estate of a collector last year. Picture quality wise they are all fine, although I give the nod to the current models.

[gilgabo]

I am really enjoying the combination of 35mm Summicron (v3) and 50mm Summicron (penultimate). After years of using the 50 as my normal, I am now appreciating the extra 'room' in the viewfinder with the 35. With the 35, my portraits (90% of my shooting) is more environmental, with more context. Given the same distance, the 50 gets to the heart of my subject, while the 35 lets me add a few elements around the subject. It's fun actually just looking through the 35mm frame or moving the frame through a scene and watching things/people move in/out of the frame. I guess my 50 is now my 'portrait' lens or when I need to shoot at a bit of distance to keep from disturbing a subject.

If I keep babbling like this, I'll begin to sound like Gibson spewing about the Noctilux in the Leica catalog.

[gilgabo]

Later this year, I'd like to pick up a 21 or 24 and do some wide environmental portraits.

[Doug]

...I'd like to pick up a 21 or 24 and do some wide environmental portraits.Here's one with 24mm... it's more of a challenge than with 28mm.

[aizan]

watch out for really bad distortion when you get really close!

[dmchadderton]

Definitely my Tri-Elmar ... just had some more results and the lens really shines in good light.

My CH75/2.5 is a close second - I yearn for the new Summicron 70/2 but am not too sure if it'll give me enough of an improvement over the CH to justify the cost ...

[Steve Hoffman]

A rich friend has let me use all of his Leica M Mount lenses for a while (he's gone digital) so I've tried them all. In my opinion they are all wonderful but my true favorite all-purpose lens is probably the least popular here: The 1990's version of the lowly Summilux 50/f1.4.

Thomas Pastorello wrote this about the lens:


"I believe the current Summilux-M 50 Non-ASPH IS the best
lens Leica (or for that matter anyone) ever made. In
addition to its two main attributes of near absolute
freedom from flare and a signature bokeh of subtle
beauty, it is characterized by an artistic balance of
high resolution and realistic contrast -- even wide
open. It is perfectly balanced on the M body, such
that hand-holding is easy at 1/4 -- which makes it
very fast indeed at f1.4 (more so than the less well
balanced and holdable Noctilux at f1.0).
Will the new Summilux-M 50 ASPH have higher
contrast and resolution than the current? Of course
-- no need to wait for the Puts report! If all I
wanted was the highest possible (and most useless)
resolution and contrast, all I'd have to do is slap an
adapter and a process lens on any camera body. If the
new Summilux-M 50 ASPH has the look and feel of most
other new Leica ASPH lenses, with harsh bokeh and
flare proneness, I will not buy. To learn about flare
and bokeh, I'll have to look at reports other than
Puts'." Tom

And "Feli" on the LUG wrote this about the 'Lux 50 Non-ASPH:

"I've had mine for almost a year now and it's really grown on me.

Not as sharp as the current Cron, which I also have, but plenty sharp.
By f8 the Lux is very sharp, all the way into the corners. I love the
extra
stop and the ability to focus as close as 70 cm. My biggest complaint is
the collapsible hood, which can't be locked into place. I solved that
problem
with a metal screw-in hood from Contax.

But what I really like about this lens is the fingerprint. It's magic
in black
and white. People talk about the Leica glow, and this one has it in
*****s.
Buttersmooth tones with the smoothest bokeh and actually quite sharp.
It has a very classic look, hires and medium contrast, which isn't
surprising
given it's lineage, the Xenon, Summarit and first gen. Lux.

I've made some 11x14 prints on Agfa FB Classic from APX100 negs
(Rodinal)
and there is something about the look that even laymen notice.

The Lux gets knocked a lot because it was in production for about 40
years,
and remained unchanged, but it's much better than people think.
Absolute sharpness
isn't everything. Plenty of people made better shots than any of us
could manage with
the 1.5/50 Sonnar and the Lux blows that lens away. In any case, it's
another brush
in the shooters arsenal."

----------------
You can still by one of these Summilux 50/f 1.4 lenses in black new USA from certain dealers like Popflash.photo (Tony Rose) for under $1,300.00 which is quite a deal!

[phototone]

My current favorite RFDR lenses are the 35mm CV Ultron, the 50mm CV Nokton, and a wonderful 50mm Collapsable Summicron LTM that I had for years and didn't use because of the badly scratched coating on the front element, I had the front element polished and multicoated by Arax, and I cleaned up the other elements myself. I use these on both LTM and "M" cameras with adaptors.
I am also very fond of an old 35mm f/3.5 Summaron LTM lens that I completely disassembled and cleaned up myself.

[sgy1962]

I'm not sure I would be knocking the new 50mm Summmilux ASPH b4 I'd seen pictures made w/ it. And to call the new ASPH lenses flare prone is I believe wrong from what I've read; they are the opposite. Having said that, I can't say I prefer the ASPH lenses for B&W. Maybe that is what I'm used to, because I have not owned any of the ASPH models, but the pics I've seen are very incisive and clinical. Not bad, just different. I've been tempted often to upgrade my lenses to the current models, but I'm not sure I'll gain anything given my style of photography, which is almost B&W. Like most things w/ Leica M photography, I'll probably have to try to determine if I like them.

[richard_l]

watch out for really bad distortion when you get really close!
Lens distortion has nothing to do with whether one is close or far away. What you are referring to is exaggerated perspective, which is determined by how close the camera is to the subject. It is often thought to be due to short focal lengths, but that is also false, as can be easily proven by taking pictures at close range with a zoom lens. Unfortunately exaggerated perspective is unavoidable, as it is caused by projecting a 3-dimensional image onto a flat plane,

[Doug]

Unfortunately exaggerated perspective is unavoidable, as it is caused by projecting a 3-dimensional image onto a flat plane,Yes, as can be seen in my photo above. I was VERY close to the subject, and proportionally much closer to his near hand than the computer he's holding, so the relative sizes are exaggerated.

[aizan]

i know it's not really distorted, but "exagerrated perspective" only looks normal when you're standing really close to the print. so i just say it's distorted.

[matu]

Among all of these superb lenses, in the non pro RF category, I would like to mention the Hexanon 45mm 1:1.8 of the Konica Auto S2. I thoght that the Yashinon of the Yashica Electro was good, but this one I think it has been overlooked.