A starting 50mm lens for M3?

[sjackal]

Forgive me if this is an old topic.

I am in the market for a M3, having sold all my FSU rangefinders. What would be a good beginner's fifty millimeters without breaking the bank?

Thanx in advance.

 

[Benji77]

If you don't need Leica glass, options are plenty

Voigtlander's
50/1.5 = $600
50/2 Heliar= Sorry, unsure, but below 600

Zeiss'
50/2 = $950

Jupiter's
50/1.5
50/2

Nikkor's
50/2 HC $500

Leica's
Summitar 50/2 <$600
Summar 50/2 <$600

 

[artspraken]

There is no such thing as beginner lens.

 

[pixelbrain]

I was gonna write the exact same thing! What the heck makes a lens a beginner's lens?

haha, i see what you're getting at & I do agree.. but i think a good analogy would be that of a first car/student car: something cheap and beat up, that you don't have to baby & won't be afraid of getting dirty or damaging.. but key-word is still CHEAP.. :bsmilie:

 

[nordleadx]

Forgive me if this is an old topic.

I am in the market for a M3, having sold all my FSU rangefinders. What would be a good beginner's fifty millimeters without breaking the bank?

Thanx in advance.

Russian lens????

u can sometimes get a screw mount body with a gd 50mm f3.5 for under $300 usd.

HCB shot tons of pics with this combo

 

[sjackal]

Russian lens????

u can sometimes get a screw mount body with a gd 50mm f3.5 for under $300 usd.

HCB shot tons of pics with this combo

Probably not going Russian... I am familiar with Russian stuff, Jupiter, Industar, etc and but recently sold them all.

Do you mean use screw mount adapter to mount LTM to M body?

 

[sjackal]

If you don't need Leica glass, options are plenty

Voigtlander's
50/1.5 = $600
50/2 Heliar= Sorry, unsure, but below 600

Zeiss'
50/2 = $950

Jupiter's
50/1.5
50/2

Nikkor's
50/2 HC $500

Leica's
Summitar 50/2 <$600
Summar 50/2 <$600

Thank you, very informative.

I think I will read up about the Voigtlanders vs the older Leicas.

 

[gommy]

Probably not going Russian... I am familiar with Russian stuff, Jupiter, Industar, etc and but recently sold them all.

Do you mean use screw mount adapter to mount LTM to M body?

The early J3 from early 1950's share the same glass as the famous Zeiss50f1.5 sonnar in LTM. One of the best value for money sonnar.

 

[tcy81]

Probably not going Russian... I am familiar with Russian stuff, Jupiter, Industar, etc and but recently sold them all.

Do you mean use screw mount adapter to mount LTM to M body?

Yes you can use screw mount lens via 50mm LTM to M adapter, so that it will bring out the correct frameline

 

[rramesh]

Try a 40mm f/1,4 Voigtlander. 40mm is a good balance between 35mm and 50mm. Especially useful if you as a beginner are not sure if you need a 35mm or 50mm as main lens. Excellent reviews for this lens from various sites.

 

[newghost]

A rigid cron! :thumbsup:

 

[dtohs]

Yes you can use screw mount lens via 50mm LTM to M adapter, so that it will bring out the correct frameline

An important point to note for LTM to M adapter; the adapter is almost flat when mounted, so it will not look ugly on your camera (for most vain owners, and for practical usage this is important). But till today i am still unsure of the finger torque vs precision, cause there are two lever of screws layers afterall.. But a sifu once assured me finger tight is generally fine, and everyone seems fine with it, seems like this matter only puzzle me.

 

[raytoei]

SJackal,

Since you are getting a M3, I presume you want to go Retro.

HCB also got a DS M3 (as well a Screwmount, M6 etc) , i think his was serial number 750,000.

For Retro 50mm lens, my top 2 contenders are:

* Summicron Collapsible. Just like HCB
* Summarit 50/f1.5

The good news is that you can get both around 300 - 400+ USD in user condition.

Both flare tend to flare but the images produced are very high quality and best of all, nothing
from modern lens will look like it, meaning that your images will be very unique.

here is a shot of HCB's Cron with a random M6:

raytoei