Poll: What 50mm lens for BW for Leica M?

[horosu]

Hello,

I know this has been discussed frequently here, but I felt there was not a single topic devoted to that subject.

How do modern lenses compare to the old school Summicrons or Summarits with respect to Black&White rendering? Which drawing do you prefer?

 

[sirius]

I'm very impressed with what I've seen from the CV Nokton and the Zeiss Planar. The Zeiss being my favorite. The Zeiss Sonar (f1.5) has some of the old school lens magic to it while also having many modern qualities, however it can be unpredictable in it's handling.

For the old summicrons, I think the Summicron DR has a beautiful rendering with the right combination of sharpness and contrast for my taste. Old lenses will flare more than modern.

Those are the only lenses that I've seen enough results from to give a positive opinion about. You can try doing a search in Flickr to see how lenses render.

Judging from your signature, it looks like you have a couple of all-star lenses already.

cheers

 

[horosu]

My two lenses are fantastic for color photography. I have not tried a rigid/DR Summicron for BW but have heard that it yields very nice results particularly due to the combination of high resolution/low contrast.

What is preferable : the lack of flare and the sharpnes of modern lenses or the old-type signature?

 

[Marc-A.]

Where's the Summitar ?! Please list it, otherwise I can't vote! 🙂

 

[Marc-A.]

Horosu, how is the Planar? 😉
Post some pictures some day.

 

[2tcreative]

Also, need a selection for Voigtlander and perhaps other.

 

[ferider]

There is a list of lenses that are missing and that I feel are important:

In the M-mount bucket, there was an M-mount 50/2 collapsible.
There is also the 50/2 Heliar.

On the LTM Mount side, usable with adapter, there are
5+ lenses from Canon that many of us like, 3+ Nikkors, Jupiter 8 and 3, etc.
And of course the 2 CV screw mount 50s.

Best,

Roland.

 

[Rik]

how about adding my trusted Noctilux?

 

[horosu]

Hey Marc,

Thanks for your great lens. I am midway through my second roll (color) and I am impressed so far...However BW may be a different story, isn't it?

I am sorry for not listing more lenses, but you can only have 12 options . I don't know if one can add more options to a poll : the Nokton, the Summitar, all the LT lenses, the Heliar 50/2 and 50/3.5, etc

 

[peter_n]

What is preferable : the lack of flare and the sharpnes of modern lenses or the old-type signature?

Surely the question is what do you prefer?

The visual qualities of various lenses is a personal thing. We could proffer three opinions on a particular lens and you might not agree with any of them. The only way to answer this question to your satisfaction is to try lenses out for yourself, a time-consuming but ultimately rewarding endevor. Very much second best is to go to a site like flickr and look up the lenses you are interested in.

 

[horosu]

Does anyone know how to add options to a poll?

 

[like2fiddle]

sorry, I don't know how to modify a poll. If you can though, please try to add the Summitar (my favorite😉), and as Roland pointed out, the many Canons, etc.

 

[Vics]

I love my Summicrons, both the Collapsible and the DR, but I suppose the DR is the most versatile of the two. I like the low/medium contrast, high definition image for shadow detail and then I just get the contrast back in the darkroom. I think it's the best way to get those really deep-looking blacks. The prints really sparkle!

 

[nobbylon]

I really like my 1967 collapsable Elmar. A real bargain of a lens and I notice there is one on here for sale at the moment for 150 quid! lovely bokeh.

 

[sirius]

It is interesting that the current 'cron is so unpopular. I wonder why?

 

[cmogi10]

I like the current cron, I've also had great results with the CV Nokton.

 

[rich815]

The DR has a wonderful sharpness without being overly contrasty, great combo for B&W work, IMHO.

 

[gavinlg]

If you're going to be doing people work, I recommend the sonnar. I dont have one myself but man the images from it look beautiful

 

[J. Borger]

I tried:

50 summitar
50 summicron (current version)
50 summilux pre-asph (last version before asph)
50 noctilux
50 summilux asph (still own it)

and am finaly in heaven with the 50 rigid summicron.... 1st type (my version is a minty from 1957) ............

 

[richard_l]

It is interesting that the current 'cron is so unpopular. I wonder why?

That's news to me!

Richard