Mortal Kombat. 50mm battle

[Nugard]

Hi there Everyone!..I'm from Ukraine and I just bought black Leica MP...
The thing is that I will not see it, until next month, when I will go to Germany. There's 0.85-4 viewfinder, and I really like it
So... I need to decide which lens to choose...
I definetly want 50mm... I have $1500... What lens would you recommend for me...

I have red really almost every thread on this forum and not only here. My head is already boiling from all this information.

So, I'm asking you to help me with some information and advaice which lens to choose. I really like to shoot at night, so the maximum fast aperture will be most appreciated.

- Summicron 50/2 vs Planar 50/2;

Also I'm thinking of new summarit 50/2.5... I don't really care about size of the lens... The only thing is that I don't want see lens in the viewfinder. Because of this I don't want to look on the 35/1.2(which photos I just worship). There's two hoods for this lens - which one looks good in the viewfinder?.. Another thing that I'm wearing glasses when shooting, that's why I'm afraid of this lens... BUT I really love the results...

I will use 50mm not only for street photo, portrait, but also for landscapes(so it must be sharp).
I would buy summilux asph, if I had more buck... But I don't...

PS: sorry for my English

 

[Teus]

hey, congratulations with the MP and welcome aboard!

I've been in the same situation, when I was shopping for a new lens. a 50/2.5 summarit, a Zeiss planar f/2 or a Zeiss Sonnar f/1.5. In the end, I bought a second hand 50mm Summicron for much less money.

If you can afford a Summicron, go for it. Otherwise I'd recommend the Zeiss Sonnar . You might consider a Summarit-M, but the Sonnar is almost 2 stops faster. I don't know if you care brand (supposedly Leica lenses being superior). The Zeiss Sonnar has a unique "feel" to it, much more noticeable than the "feel" of Leica lenses: it's not fully corrected, having both its advantages and disadvantages. It's a beautiful lens for sure; the Zeiss Planar is closer to the Summicron (well corrected, normal look).

 

[mfogiel]

You should probably buy a Leica lens first, so that you get cured of the need to get one, haha... Considering you want a reasonably compact , fast and sharp lens for this money, I'd say the pre ASPH Summilux looks like a good choice - look around for a good copy. Consider that an 0.85x VF will be best for the 50mm if you wear glasses - 35mm frames will be barely visible, so for a 35mm lens you will probably have to buy a second body. In case you want a sharper lens, the Millenium Nikkor is a very good choice too. Otherwise, get the Planar or the Summicron, and shoot Tri-X, this way you can go up to ISO 800 without appreciable quality loss if you develop properly. Actually, a good solution could be to buy the DR Summicron currently in the classifieds for 500 USD for B&W and a Planar for flat light or colour... I have both these lenses and they are winners for what they do best.

 

[Nugard]

hey, congratulations with the MP and welcome aboard!

I've been in the same situation, when I was shopping for a new lens. a 50/2.5 summarit, a Zeiss planar f/2 or a Zeiss Sonnar f/1.5. In the end, I bought a second hand 50mm Summicron for much less money.

If you can afford a Summicron, go for it. Otherwise I'd recommend the Zeiss Sonnar . You might consider a Summarit-M, but the Sonnar is almost 2 stops faster. I don't know if you care brand (supposedly Leica lenses being superior). The Zeiss Sonnar has a unique "feel" to it, much more noticeable than the "feel" of Leica lenses: it's not fully corrected, having both its advantages and disadvantages. It's a beautiful lens for sure; the Zeiss Planar is closer to the Summicron (well corrected, normal look).

Thank's Teus!..

I had thought about Zeiss Sonnar, but I red that it's disadvantage is strange focusing, and it's rather soft...

Buying Leica, I want to buy also lens the same brand... I want to feel that thing everyone's talking about... For the first lens I want a good and multi-purpose 50mm lens... For that reason I'm OK with buying non Leica... BTW I think that Zeiss makes really good lenses

You should probably buy a Leica lens first, so that you get cured of the need to get one, haha... Considering you want a reasonably compact , fast and sharp lens for this money, I'd say the pre ASPH Summilux looks like a good choice - look around for a good copy. Consider that an 0.85x VF will be best for the 50mm if you wear glasses - 35mm frames will be barely visible, so for a 35mm lens you will probably have to buy a second body. In case you want a sharper lens, the Millenium Nikkor is a very good choice too. Otherwise, get the Planar or the Summicron, and shoot Tri-X, this way you can go up to ISO 800 without appreciable quality loss if you develop properly. Actually, a good solution could be to buy the DR Summicron currently in the classifieds for 500 USD for B&W and a Planar for flat light or colour... I have both these lenses and they are winners for what they do best.

I use Ilford films like HP5(favourite), Pan400, Delta 400, Delta 100, Fuji Neopans 400 and 1600... For colour I pick Fuji superia 200, Reala... I don't like kodak...
With MP I want to go B&W, and for colour I will save my lovely OM-1n...
I thougth about DR summicron, but I don't like playing with those "glasses"... I want my lens to be ready for everything I want to snap... And not always you have time to clip on close focus "glasses"...

Where could I find summilux pre-asph for $1500?..
http://cgi.ebay.com/Leica-M-50mm-1-...kparms=72:392|39:1|65:12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
You had in view of this one?..
Could you please show me Millenium Nikkor?..

PS: I would like black lens, for stay unnoticed by the people

 

[Uwe_Nds]

Have you thought about a Konica M-Hexanon 50/2.0?

Best regards,
Uwe

 

[Teus]

I had thought about Zeiss Sonnar, but I red that it's disadvantage is strange focusing, and it's rather soft...

Buying Leica, I want to buy also lens the same brand... I want to feel that thing everyone's talking about... For the first lens I want a good and multi-purpose 50mm lens... For that reason I'm OK with buying non Leica... BTW I think that Zeiss makes really good lenses

The Sonnar has a little bit of focus shift, some are optimised for focusing wide open, others at f/2.8; you won't notice unless you shoot a lot at close distances. at f/1.5 it is a bit soft, but otherwise they are very contrasty and sharp.

a 50mm Summicron would be a perfect entry in the Leica system, it's an excellent allround lens. A 50mm Planar would be fine too. Buy a Sonnar if you know a bit what you are doing, and if you can try it yourself first.

 

[Sam N]

Can't you get an older non-ASPH 50/1.4 Summilux for $1500?

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Nokton 50/1.5. It doesn't focus to .7, but it takes very nice photos. It is very wide, but I don't think it's long enough to encroach on your viewfinder too much.

 

[payasam]

A man standing still and holding something up to his eye with both hands is apt to be noticed -- the colour of the lens makes little difference.

 

[Nugard]

Have you thought about a Konica M-Hexanon 50/2.0?

Best regards,
Uwe

Yes, I thought... But from what I heard it is a good lens, but not very good in front of light. And the telescopic hood ain't holding in the rised position.

Can't you get an older non-ASPH 50/1.4 Summilux for $1500?

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Nokton 50/1.5. It doesn't focus to .7, but it takes very nice photos. It is very wide, but I don't think it's long enough to encroach on your viewfinder too much.

Summmilux... Yes, I'm thinking about it right now...
For the nokton 1.5 I have to say, that I would like to buy Leica or Zeiss, to make good acquaintance with Leica family and neighbours

A man standing still and holding something up to his eye with both hands is apt to be noticed -- the colour of the lens makes little difference.

Yes, I know that, but I think that with black camera I would get less attention

 

[nobbylon]

I'd say go for a later tabbed summicron with 50 on the barrel like the one just sold on here for $400. I have a pre asph summilux and whilst it's a great lens with a unique look, they are a tad soft, great for portraits and 3d look but not razor sharp like I've seen summicrons, planars and hexanons. The lux is sharp but in a different way I find hard to describe and unless you get a later one you only get minimum 1m focusing. I just bought the hex off of here yesterday and I'm looking forward to trying that. I've found that the only way to find out if you actually like a lens is to try it yourself. Other people's opinions are great and there is good advice on here from those that have the different lenses but everyone's view of the world is different. The nice thing about quality gear is that you can always sell it on if it doesn't turn out to be what you where looking for. I'm still searching for an M mount lens that 'for me' produces images like the R mount 60 elmarit macro I had.
Good luck with whatever you choose, j

 

[Nugard]

Thanks nobbylon!..
You meen the latest summicron v.4 with telescopic hood?..

For sure everybodys vision is unique, and for someone sonnar is a great lens, for someone nokton... Both lenses are good, but it's me to choose... And I'm trying to choose the best lens for me, in this period of my life... Because something tells me, that I want summilux asph the most

 

[monochromejrnl]

i smell smoke...

 

[tomasis]

nugard, best bet is current Summicron. I know how you appreciate quality. Leica is it You can save money for ASPH Lux later while using Cron. 1 stop difference, yeah but I'm sure you'll enjoy MP with Cron

sometimes ergonomics matters much. Much more than we believe.

 

[nobbylon]

In truth I don't think there is a bad 50 out there, some just produce images that appear nicer to some than do others. Build quality, controls and focus action of course also plays it's part. I would agree that the 50 asph lux does appear to be the one I would like to try, but at the amount of money it costs it's a big gamble as to whether you, I or indeed anyone looking for their perfect 50 would be happy to spend, just to try it out! From what i've seen and read it's fantastic but i've never used one and as I said, at the end of the day it's how you perceive the final images.
I dropped lucky in 35's in that I only tried an Ultron before I got my 35 sum asph and found that I liked the results and had to look no further. I'm rather hoping i'll find my perfect 50 before I get to the lux asph stage in 50's!!!!

 

[Nugard]

i smell smoke...

What smoke?..

nugard, best bet is current Summicron. I know how you appreciate quality. Leica is it You can save money for ASPH Lux later while using Cron. 1 stop difference, yeah but I'm sure you'll enjoy MP with Cron

sometimes ergonomics matters much. Much more than we believe.

Thanks Tomasis!..

BTW if I buy current summicron(v.4), I heard that telescopic hood ain't gonna fix in rised position... Is it critical?.. And could I solve this problem with attaching other Leica 35/50mm hood?..

 

[nobbylon]

if you are worried about the hood, get the one I suggested, tabbed with 50 on the barrel and seperate hood, as far as i'm aware it's the same optically as the latest version

 

[pfoto]

Nugard welcome to the forum, your English is excellent! The slide-out hoods are not the greatest except for the one on the 75mm Summicron ASPH which locks. The pre-ASPH 50mm Summilux would be an ideal lens for you I think, the last model has the disadvantage of also having a telescopic hood, but closest focus is 0.7M and it takes a regular 46mm filter. Earlier versions of the pre-ASPH Summilux use clip-on/screw hoods, closest focus is 1M, and filter size is 43mm with a 0.5 thread pitch (can sometimes be difficult to find filters that screw in properly). The pre-ASPH produces sublime images.

Another possibility is to get a current 50/2.8 Elmar-M, a beautiful little lens that is light and small and collapses into the camera so you can take it anywhere. You lose a couple of stops but you would have a lot more money to put towards that savings fund for the ASPH 50.

Lenses with telescopic hoods will accept screw-in hoods, although it is an awkward arrangement.

 

[Krosya]

Zdoroven'ki buly ,
After having a Summicron Rigid, Summicron current, Planar and M-Hexanon - I kept only one - Hexanon - to me by far the best lens. No issues with flare or built-in shade. I love 50mm lenses and have several - Canon 50/1.2, Summitar 50/2, Heliar 50/2 (currently for sale - see classifieds here), yet Hexanon is my main lens. I really think it's hard to go wrong with it. But do some search here - many posts with most of these lenses and see what look you like. I have some examples posts on flickr - see link below.

 

[tmfabian]

i'm a huge fan of my pre-asph summilux, it's heavy and only goes into the finder with the hood out. Though I see your problem choosing, since I'd be greatly tempted to pick up the summarit 50/2.5 if I didn't already have my summilux.
As far as the summilux pre-asph, it is very very sharp by 2.8 and it's sweet spot seems to live in the 5.6-11 range.
Good luck with your choice.

 

[ferider]

I "3rd" the recommendation for the last pre-asph Summilux. There is no substitute for speed and 0.7m min focus

Welcome to the forum.

Roland.