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Dream Camera and Lens

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dmchadderton

OK, so I'm still here but only half apologise for another post along similar lines!

If you could have one camera and one lens, which combination (and indeed colour) do you think you would chose?

My guess, from the comments that I read, is one of the 2 below;

MP + 35/1.4 or
MP + 50/1.4

I'm sure there will be votes for older M3s or M4s, so let's hear them all!

Dave
 
To get a reliable outfit I would go for the MP with the choice of lens being purely personal. After all you have not exactly 'burnt your boats' in getting one or the other. You can either add at a later date or P-EX for the other one. M3's and M4's are getting old and even with a good one, metal and other material parts deteriorate with age as well as wear. Murphy's law states that an old camera will always fail at the time of maximum inconvenience and in a locale where it is completely impossible to get it mended. Old M's like old L39's are great to take along as a second camera or on day outings but not as a sole camera on long trips. Wilson
 
Black M7 and 50mm Elmar; light, unobtrusive and easy to carry, therefore it will be carried. Heavier and more cumbersome outfits get left at home. If you don't have your camera you can't take the picture.

Regards,

Bill
 
I would probably stick to my M6 with 35 2.0 non asph, but put under havy presure I would go for the MP and 35 1,4 both in chrome - dont like the black and I really think the hammertone is ugly.
I could also settle with my M6 finder upgraded to a MP finder. The M7 and the M6 TTL are to big - I know it is only 2-3 mm but they feel wrong in my hands
 
Dave,
Your previous thread -Leica Starter, MP or M7 had good observations and opinions. If you are asking for observations on Leica equipment, this is productive. But there are things only you will decide, such as black or chrome finish. What I would buy would depend on my $$ and my likes/use. Review Jem Kine, Ellie Puritz's notes. Asking what someone else would buy will not help you.
Here's an opinion, though. I have bought used, and my objective is to find mint used at a good price. Obviously, more than a user. One forgets about opening a new box but you don't tire of using a mint M6. As a client of mine who is a used car dealer likes to say, everyone drives a used car. Lenses. I would rather not choose 1 lens, but buy from what I wish to spend. I would choose a 50/2 Summicron as late a version as I could afford. 50mm because that's the focal length I choose most often. I have a 50/2.8 Elmar, nice, but I value the superior results of the 50/2. I do not think the compactness of the Elmar outweighs the better performance, rigidity of the 50/2. As far as the 50/1 Noctilux, for those times, in those situations, I think the compromise of extremely high speed film will compensate. After all, the light is not going to be great in those situations anyway.
Go and use/rent/look at some gear, and enjoy.
 
Ok..you've convinced me I have to have a 50mm lens. Where's the best place to find one that won't break my piggy bank?
Thanks in advance.
Jeff in Texas
 
I thought most posts here would at least humour me with a one-line answer (ie MP + 35/1.4 etc) followed by some explanation for the choice.

I wanted to get into the heads of you Leica users, not have you second guess my needs (of which I am the first to ackonowledge that I don't know what they are!! - but thanks for your comments nontheless). Listening to the emotion for such choices above will allow me to see where I fit in, and that, together with more thought on my needs, will enable me to make the right choice.

So come one, commit yourselves to one camera and one lens! Try to imagine that you get one of each, to suit your style of photography, which is it to be ...? If all but one lens and one m body where to be destoyed, or stolen, which combination would you want to be left with.
 
Hi Dave: You mean if the grand-kids broke all of my Leica gear, which one(s) should I have hidden?

Well....OK...Leica M7 with Tri-Elmar for the M line, and the R8 or R9 with the 28-70 for the R line. Would be able to do about 85% of everything I wanted to...film would be either Kodak or Fuji 400 print film...

Now get ready for another 50 opinions, for there really is not one answer. Indeed, ask me tomorrow and I might answer the MP with the 35/1.4 Asph...or the used old M6 classic with the
"tiny" 35/2.0 ( fabulous )...or the LTM IIIRD with another 50mm...geesh...enough of this


Ellie
 
M7, Summilux 50 (I would get the new asph).

My most modern Leica is the M3. But if I really could have one, money no object, I would have a M7 (TTL metering, AE, better [bigger, easier to use] shutter dial, two "emergency" mechanical shutter speeds).

Most of my pictures are taken with a 50mm. A Summilux gives you one extra stop, and indistinguishable performance to the Summicron from 2 on. If money is no object, I see no reason to get the 'cron.

For the record, Dave, how knowing the "dream camera & lens" of a bunch of complete strangers can help you in any way is a mystery to me. But I'm game.

Juan
 
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