Colin,
now your comments are confusing Me [i'm dumb]. I'm now considering an adapter to use a Hassy 110FE lens on my Contax SLR. I was expecting it to behave exactly as a 35mm format 110mm lens would - a medium 'portrait' telephoto. But, what you seem to be saying is that it will have the properties of a 55mm lens on my 35mm SLR.... Er, isn't that what you're saying? Wait-
http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=000DMo
and:
http://www.zoerk.com/pages/p_mounta.htm
These two sites seem to suggest that what i was thinking is correct, right? The 110mm Hassy lens for the 6x6 format will be a 110mm lens on a 35mm SLR. On the Hassy, it's roughly equivalent to a slightly longer than 'normal' lens (55mm?), but on the 35mm camera it'll be a 110mm tele lens, right?
That's prolly what you're saying, too, but, as i said earlier.... duh.
So, to capsulize: the focal length, as measured/specified in millimeters, always stays the same. But, its field of view, or how it works relative to the film format does change.
Did i just make this worse?
And, back to the original question/comment - Yah, it's almost imperitive that Contax come out with some reasonably fast wide angle primes. My first choice would be a 35mm f1.4 or f2. This will be all the more important if they come out with a digital without a fullframe sensor. It would be inexcusable not to have a fast prime that will equate to a 'normal' (50mm) focal length. And, wider still lenses would be required to equate to 'wide-angle' primes. I can't see pros buying into a system that doesn't have these 'basic' components.