Yes, I put stock in the Pop Photo tests done in the 1970's. The test include Percent contrast @50LP/mm, Coma, Astigmatism, Lateral Chromatic, Longitudinal Chromatic, Spherical, Percent Barrel/Pin Cushion Distortion, Vignetting, and Centering. The F-stop and T-stop are measured. Percent Flare is also given. This is in the May 1976 issue. The Summicron came in at 1% flare, and was in the lower 1/3rd of lenses in that category tested.The Pentax 55/1.8 came in at 0.6%, and was the best in the group. The wide-open percent contrast for the 50LP/mm test target was much lower for the Pentax, it was the bottom rung and the Summicron was the best in that class.
I'm not going to run my own optics bench test, so I keep this issue and other 1970's Photo mags handy. Optical bench tests are boring, and I only do them when its required for my work. And then, (pinky to Lip), I get to use LASERS.