Far as I can tell, very few people seem to be using the Summilux -M 75/1.4 for other than very special occasions, the same way some folks bring out their Noctiluxes.

So-- for those of you out there that own this lens and use it somewhat regularly, am I crazy or do you only take it out to DOF effects wide open? I used to use my 85mm on my Nikon for all sorts of general shooting but find that very few M-users use the 75 in this way. I used to resent people who say that Leica users are only in it for the fetish of the camera itself. I use my M and 35/ 50 lenses daily. But with the 75, I'm beginning to see a glint of truth in their criticisms.

-- JM Woo (wooismyid@yahoo.com), August 08, 2001

Answers

I have a 75mm 'lux borrowed from my friend and a Noctilux myself. 75mm 'lux is great for portrait, small plants and still objects on the side of the street or hiking trails. Sometimes landscapes. Of course I use them wide open and are careful about the focus. You get very special pictures this way with pronounced and sharp-looking subject with nicely blurred and colorful background (and/or foreground).

Very simple and very easy to control the focused and defocused areas. Sometimes I get tired of the bokeh effect and stop down and get everything in focus and sharp.

When I am tired running on the streets shooting strangers right in their faces with the 35mm 'lux, I switched to 75mm and shoot something still and not so hostile.

I think you can also do this with Nikon gears. If you compare the slides in a projected images on screen. I believe everyone can tell that they are different but no one call tell you exactly the difference without the use of abstract words.

It is a better strategy to share a 75mm with a friend because you don't need it everyday.

-- Damond Lam (damond_lam@hotmail.com), August 08, 2001.

Why do you assume that the 75 Summilux is mostly used for "DOF effects wide open"? Yes, it is used at 1.4 because of the quality of its images wide open. It is also used at other apertures with success. I know Leica photographers who use their 35's and 50's wide open much of the time as well; should they be described as "fetishists" because they seek to make images with out of focus foregrounds and backgrounds? I use my 75 Summilux at most apertures - yes, even 1.4. The 75 Summilux is used less often by many Leica photographers perhaps because of cost as well as the size of this lens on the rangefinder body; therefore, the lens itself is probably known as a specialty lens. It is a shame if that is the case, because the 75 Summilux is one superb lens - at all apertures.

-- David (pagedt@attglobal.net), August 08, 2001.

I owned and sold a 75/1.4 because it was huge,heavy, stiff focusing and blocked a good part of the viewfinder frame. Wide open the DOF was so shallow as to be useless for me. I did like the focal length because at infinity I could use the 50mm framelines for an accurate framing. For a short time I also used a 75/2.5 Cosina-Voigtlander and for mid-aperture use I can recommend that lens. Very compact and light.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), August 09, 2001.

Just picked up a 75'lux. There is a time and place for the 75, just like all the other lenses in the M line up. Beautiful piece of glass! An M6 with a 35 f/2 ASPH and the 75 f/1.4, a solid combo for any day of the week. Like the 21 f/2.8 ASPH, I don't use it that much, but when I do the results are wonderful. DEpends on my mood for the day. The 75 has it's moments ....and the results at f/4...WOW! Enjoy it for what it is. B.

-- BOB (MAC@MCSAL.COM), August 09, 2001.

Jay wrote:

I owned and sold a 75/1.4 because it was huge,heavy, stiff focusing and blocked a good part of the viewfinder frame. Wide open the DOF was so shallow as to be useless for me.

Thanks Jay-- actually, this illustrates why I originally posted this note. The 75 works and is beautifully sharp at all apertures, and to me it's a great general focal length (better than the 90mm, especially for .72 M users). So it puzzles me why the shallow DOF at f/1.4 played a role in your decision to sell the lens (I can understand your other reasons, i.e. bulk and weight). With this lens you can still drop backgrounds out of focus to f/5.6 and do it very nicely, after all.

-- JM Woo (wooismyid@yahoo.com), August 09, 2001.

Since I found I needed to stop down to f/2.8 to get enough DOF to get someone's entire face (from nose tip to ears) in focus at the close range, I didn't see a need to carry a huge, ergonomically dissatisfying lens which was only that big because it was f/1.4.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), August 09, 2001.

The 75mm has the smallest object area of any M lens.At the other extream is the Noct. So for close focus they are very different but i don,t find i want both .The bright lines in the finder are not that different.I am the same as the ist guy in that i have borrowed a 75 and have a nice shot of my baby boy when he was still in hospital and also some shots of tulips but that lens is still not on my list.

-- Tim (timphoto@ihug.com.au), August 10, 2001.

I'm using a Nikkor 85/1.4 AFD and also leaning towards a 75/1.4 lux. Therefore I'm interested in opinions on this lens. Tim, could you please explain what you mean with the 75/1.4 having the smallest object area and the noct being the opposite ?

-- Harro de Wilde (hdewilde@uni-one.nl), August 10, 2001.

I think you can never have enough speed and the 75mm lux is a superb lens (the 80mm-R lux likewise). I do not quite get Jay's point really, after all who says you have to use the lens at close focus all the time? The 1.4 aperture becomes more useful focussed at middle distances when the DOF is larger. I take very few solitary "real" (head ONLY) headshots anyway. Most people I know find them a bit overpowering unless they are of cute kids.

But you do have to be happy with the weight and the v/f obstruction.

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), August 13, 2001.

Harro to answer the question you asked me the 75mm has a smallest subject area of 192mm x 288 mm .this is the smallest of any M lens. The noct will not focus bellow 1 meter with a subject field size of 410 x 615 mm.

-- Tim (timphoto@ihug.com.au), August 28, 2001.

Actually the 75mm Summilux is a very useful general purpose short tele with outstanding performance from f/1.4 to f/8. However.....with the availability of the 90mm Elmarit and now the 90 AA there are even less reasons to carry around this big heavy lens unless you need f/1.4. IMHO the 75mm has more "character" than the sharp sharp feel of the 90 AA, and my only peeve with the 'Lux is with with M6 framelines. If Solms was to offer a special finder with a solid rectangular 75mm frame I would be the first to jump at it.

-- ray tai (razerx@netvigator.com), August 28, 2001.