DR Summicron has returned!

[Bassism]

A few of you may remember my saga a while back with the damaged DR Cron I received. It's finally back in my hands (when the friendly guy at the local vintage camera shop offers to take care of shipping your lens to Kindermann, just ignore him because he will turn a 3 week repair into a 3 month one...)

With that out of the way, Kindermann did a great job with the lens. The glass looks like brand new and the focussing and aperture selection feel great. There is no hint that the insides were ever so thoroughly knackered.

I haven't had too much chance to get out shooting with it yet, but thought I'd post up some of my first results on account of how pleased I am with the lens.

To me, this shot really shows the qualities that make the DR such a stellar lens. I love the way she seems to almost float in front of the background. And I find the bokeh to be quite pleasant. I can't wait to make a real print of this shot.

This shot at higher resolution shows a lovely sharpness and grittiness while the highlighted rocks in the front right almost look like an impressionist painting.

I just love this lens.

 

[visiondr]

That third shot is good, Martain.

 

[matt335]

The portraits are gorgeous ! What body do you use and do you use the eyes/goggles? Can you please explain the Dual Range lens and how it works? very nice images.
regards
matt

 

[Bassism]

Thanks for the kind words.

I use an M2. Unfortunately I didn't get the goggles with the lens. Without the goggles, the DR is essentially the same lens as the rigid Summicron of the same vintage.

The goggles clip onto the top of the lens mount and unlock a second focus range from 3 down to about 2 ft. The 'goggles' refer to lenses placed over the vf and rf windows to correct for the shorter distances.

It's worth noting that the later Summicrons can focus down nearly as close as the DR without the need of separate goggles. However, from what I've seen online, I prefer the look of the older Summicrons and I wouldn't mind using the goggles for closer focusing if I had a set.

 

[peterm1]

I don't know of anyone who actually uses the goggles much. I found a lovely DR summi in a store in Central Europe 10 years ago, then was lucky enough to find a pair of suitable goggles in my home city for $30 Australian not long after getting back. They have seldom been on the camera but make a nice addition should I ever desire to sell it. I love the lens both in terms of its optical characteristics and in its build quality which is exemplary. However in my view it is noticeably low in contrast by comparison with the later black summi 50 dating to 1980 (of which I also have an example.) But this is not a bad thing and it admirably suits it to shooting in certain high contrast situations.

 

[Trius]

When I had a DR I used the goggles quite a bit. I was doing illustration and documentation work for a book on regional crafts people, and the slightly closer focusing came in handy.

As for the lower contrast, I found that it matched well with Kodachrome, especially in contrasty lighting -- and the colour rendering is gorgeous. The way I was processing TriX back then was a good fit, too.

 

[Yammerman]

I recently had my DR serviced by Malcolm Taylor who put a new front element in as part of the work. Its now my favourite 50mm and I decided to get an M3 to go with it . I use the googles all the time but Malcolm told me a 90mm will get you as close. I hadn't realised and have yet to check it.

 

[Al Kaplan]

Let me remind everyone that the area covered by the D.R. Summicron at its closest focusing distance and the area covered by the Leitz/Leica 90mm lenses is exactly the same. The distance isn't the same but the field of view at that distance is the same.

 

[JohnTF]

There may be a local guy who has a spare set. Let me know if you are interested, I will find his number. He often has a lot of Bessa, Leica, etc.

I only see him at shows, but he is a decent sort, lives about 40 miles away. I bought several cameras and lenses from him.

Regards, John

 

[Ronald_H]

Before I got mine I took all the Leica blahblah with a grain of salt. But there is not escaping the fact it is the best lens I have ever owned. I've shown these many times before but what the heck: