Bingley
Veteran
I did an unscientific comparison last spring, shooting some peach blossoms with a 1949 coated Summitar that had been cleaned and adjusted, and a 1947 coated Elmar 50/3.5 that is in great shape. The photos were taken using an Oly E-PL1. First, the Summitar:

Peach Blossoms Summitar by bingley0522, on Flickr

Peach Blossoms Summitar by bingley0522, on Flickr
Bingley
Veteran
And now, the Elmar:

Peach Blossoms Elmar by bingley0522, on Flickr
Both photos were taken at iso 160 and f 4.0.

Peach Blossoms Elmar by bingley0522, on Flickr
Both photos were taken at iso 160 and f 4.0.
Mr_Flibble
In Tabulas Argenteas Refero
I've had both and both were excellent performers.
If I had to choose one it would be the Summitar though - simply for f2 and the fact that when changing aperture (with a hood on) I never got thumb marks on the glass.
Can't really go wrong with either though.
John
Matches my opinion exactly.

My personal (uncoated) Summitar Favorite photo

And my favorite (coated) Elmar snapshot
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BobYIL
Well-known
its this man's Work on flickr that FLOORS ME.... all 3 pages are w/ his SUMIITAR
OUTSTANDING ...drool
here is the Link...Enjoy !
www.flickr.com/photos/lesged/
More than the Summitar, there should be something related to the Italian eye too.. Here's another one, pls take the slide show:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=33398858@N06&q=+m6&m=text
Regards,
Bob
p.giannakis
Pan Giannakis
Elmar...


helen.HH
To Light & Love ...
Thanks forThe Link of more Summitar magic,,,,BobYIL
Oh hey Pan....GREAT shots with the Elmar
Mind You ALL the shots in this Thread are Wonderful !!
Oh hey Pan....GREAT shots with the Elmar
Mind You ALL the shots in this Thread are Wonderful !!
rsosa
Established
another Vote for the Summitar![]()
Lovely Helen, lovely!! you always amaze me
helen.HH
To Light & Love ...
Love Ya Rsosa... Thanks ever so Much !
Erik van Straten
Veteran
The screwmount collapsible Summicron is the best of them all.
Leica IIIg, Summicron 50mm f/2 collapsible, Tmax400.
Erik.
Leica IIIg, Summicron 50mm f/2 collapsible, Tmax400.
Erik.

HuubL
hunter-gatherer
Erik, that is a recognizable Dutch landscape. It could be from around the corner
. And I love the subtle greys here. The (collapsible, I presume) Summicron is a lens I'm still missing in 50mm LTM and photos like this one make me want to have one.
The screwmount collapsible Summicron is the best of them all.
Leica IIIg, Summicron 50mm f/2 collapsible, Tmax400.
Erik.
Erik van Straten
Veteran
Thank you, Huub. It is indeed around the corner. It is the Middelpolder, near Amstelveen.
Erik.
Erik.
bfffer
Established
i have tried clean summitar and scared radioactive summicron.
summicron have much more detail than summitar, my copy summitar was a little bit soft.
i would love to try a elmar some day.
summicron have much more detail than summitar, my copy summitar was a little bit soft.
i would love to try a elmar some day.
Bingley
Veteran
I was interested in the Summitar mainly for landscape photography (inspired by Graham Battison's photos w/ a Summitar and a Leica IIIf), but I discovered it has a propensity to flare badly, and so you need to use a hood, which makes it less than a compact package. The Elmar can flare, too, but w/ the little hood that Leica made for it, it's still makes a compact kit, and sometimes the flare can be nice:

Autumn,-Carson-River by bingley0522, on Flickr

Autumn,-Carson-River by bingley0522, on Flickr
MPerson
Established
[/EMAIL]![]()
Beautiful image Helen - gateway to Hades!
I love my 1959 Elmar 50/2.8 mated with the M2. Here with APX 100:

sleepyhead
Well-known
I voted for the Summitar. I like the speed and the rendering. Although I would love to still own the Nickel Elmar I had once...
Here are some Summitar shots of a friends wedding on film:
Here are some Summitar shots of a friends wedding on film:




sleepyhead
Well-known
I forgot to say that my shots above are all taken at f/2, except the Bridemaids, which is around f/2.8 (weird aperture scale on the old Summitar).
Here is one more, wide open:
Here is one more, wide open:

kosta_g
Well-known
fantastic work posted in this thread. i'm digging the old glass!
charjohncarter
Veteran
I like the Elmar but that is egocentric. I have never owned the other but I have many great B&W pictures with my lens which I have proudly owned for almost 50 years; last year (the first):
1964
And I thought I'd put a fun color one in, but I'm sure the other one is just as good or even better (this one 1966):


1964
And I thought I'd put a fun color one in, but I'm sure the other one is just as good or even better (this one 1966):

DSkjaeve
Established
Elmar on screwmount bodies.
Collapsible cron on M-bodies.
Collapsible cron on M-bodies.
hookonclassic
Member
Simply love the compactness of the 5cm f3.5 LTM elmar...my friend called it "pocket rocket"...so compact on a LTM Barnack you can easily put in the your pocket and it can be extended out like a rocket launcher...
Leica IIIa | 5cm f3.5 Elmar | 400 TX | @f3.5

Leica IIIa | 5cm f3.5 Elmar | 400 TX | @f3.5
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