The words were pityingly uttered by my friend who is a very good photographer. He was perfectly right. I wanted to answer back to him, but didn't know what to say because whatever I say would not be convincing. By the way, this friend later asked me what he needed to know to buy a Leica. What are you talking about? I couldn't believe such a person would get a Leica, but I was happy to have another comrade.
When people ask if they should buy what they are interested, they've already decided to buy. So, don't deny them and push them supportively. He actually got his beautiful Leica M2 next day, as if he didn't even need my advice. Several years have passed since then, and now he has several lenses with the same focal length. That's life. Everyone is the same, and it's OK. So, this time, I will offer a requiem to those who have different Leica lives by tracing some ordinary lens history.
Yukio Uchida once said in his book that he bought the Summaron because he couldn't afford the Summicron. For detail, please read his book as the story is much more interesting than what I am mumbling here. Anyway, we buy the Summaron because we can't afford the Summicron (note that I don't mean to offend the Summaron fans). And the 12585 lens shade as shown in the image above truly shows the last rational thinking because it's a little cheaper than the IROOA. Even the price of the f2.8 Summaron is moderately expensive, but it can't buy the Summicron. Or, maybe it's affordable, but the price scares them. This period is an adolescent period of a lens life. By the way, I also recommend the Summitar or the Summar 5cm before going to the Summaron f2.8.
At first, they can only buy old L mount lenses. That's self-explanatory because the 100,000 yen will take them to an overseas travel. And they'll be surprised at the old L mount lenses. I know few people who started photography with Leica, but such people are rare. The great majority would start with an almighty SLR camera and of course the spinning bokeh doesn't make sense to them. It's not that they don't have a taste to understand it, but they simply don't get it. They think that's because they bought a cheap lens, so they raise their standard unnecessarily and approach to the legendary lenses. But, the 8-element Summicron is the sole beautiful mountain and looks like it bites them if they climb taking it easy. As a result, they get the Summaron f2.8 which looks almost the same as the 8-element Summicron. However, people do climb to the summit in the end. I'll talk about this in the future.
Once you have entered the Leica world, you'll marvel that the lenses have names. The name Summicron sounds like a mutated pill bug monster, while the Summaron stands with two legs. Joking aside, there're so many big and expensive names in the Leica world. Say, the Summilux and the Noctilux are greatly admired in the books. The newcomers doubt if they are that good. One common thing in the Leica products is that the old lenses sometimes are more expensive than the modern lenses. Now the world is more like the one of wines and you may feel awkward in staying inside.
You feel the awkward as if you are in a high-class restaurant where you can't understand the language of the menu without pictures. For such naive users, the modern lenses are spider threads from Heaven. Of course, modern lenses are never inexpensive, but they're much more approachable than the old fast lenses. These old lenses have a great amount of residual aberration and it's difficult to find a copy maintaining brand new condition because of age. So, it's safer to get a used modern lens. Once you get it, you'll be astonished by the performance. There're three simple reasons. First, it's not a zoom lens that you're familiar. Second, you're shooting more carefully because the camera requires some handling skills. Finally, you know you're using a Leica.
You could be satisfied with the modern lenses. But, you've entered the Leica world because by nature you want something more than "high performance." Your start to lose your sense of money once you get modern lenses. In other words, you acquire a new "capacity." And this time again, you want the Summicron more than the Summaron. This state of mind is no good and you want to stop, but you are completely at sea because of spherical aberration. You just want to know. That's all. And you keep reading the literature.
Once you become interested in the major old lenses again, the Summilux 35mm pre-ASPH looks dangerously attractive. This is a lens with a very unique character. Point light sources become magical brooms and everything becomes dreamy because of the highlights bleeding. You got modern lenses because you didn't like the loose softness, so there's no way to explain why you go for the king of the old lenses. By the way, this lens has no visible distortion and used wide-open, the highlights bleed because of the spherical aberration. Also, the lines are so thin and delicate, and they don't become hard even when stopped down. But, you never notice this character at this stage...
The bokeh is nice! You'll shoot with the f1 lens only wide open. It's like using a 100W light bulb for a toilet.
Modern aspherical lenses are wonderful! They capture the air! Once you start talking about the air, you're not taking pictures, but taking the lens character. You'll just have so much fun.
It's just all white now. Once you reach this state, you'll need a serious rehabilitation.
This is called cross-processing. Am I OK?
What does it suggest?
You start from the major old lens, and then go for the Thambar. Each copy is different because of age. Of course, you get modern lenses, too. And sometimes you also get Voigtlander's lenses because they seem interesting. At this stage, you are severely ill. Speaking of the Elmar 5cm, you either get it first, or at this stage. Because of its natural depiction, you'll cool down a little as if you have overeaten. Once you get to this stage, you'll know what kind of depiction you want. And since you have used so many lenses, your lens choice will start to match the result you want to get. And because of this, now you feel any lens will do and you'll be able to manage shooting using any of them.
I guess many seniors have walked the same way because they left us so many old lenses miraculously in good condition. I think I can shoot with any equipment, but sometimes I want to use particular equipment for certain purposes. At the same time, there're lenses that you stick to your mind. This can't be helped because Leica (or other brand of your interest) world is mysteriously attractive and you just can't stop loving it. You get another lens and talk about it for an hour while saying happily, "I did it again." Finally, I tell the secret. Don't make a detour. If you want it, go straight for it.
