Recommend a 50mm below 1000$

[David Hughes]

FWIW I'd say that any Leica lens is a good one although I've no expedience of most of them, especially the f/1 and f/1.4 varieties.

The budget ones are the the Summarit (f'2) and Elmarit (f/2.8 from memory). A good coated one of the early Summarits can surprise you; mostly as people forget it morphed /evolved into the Summicron. Both have a lot of fans on these forums.

Regards, David

 

[jsrockit]

It should be noted that the OP has found his lens.

 

[David Hughes]

It should be noted that the OP has found his lens.

Yes but others will ask the same question and now they might just have a wider choice available. I am told this is a good thing...

Regards, David

 

[jsrockit]

Yes but others will ask the same question and now they might just have a wider choice available. I am told this is a good thing...

Regards, David

You are free to continue of course. It was just a note.

 

[AlexBG]

I realized I hadn't used the Voigtländer Color-Skopar 50mm f/2.5 on the M10 Monochrom yet, so today I went for a long walk with it. I fitted a deep green filter, set the lens to f/3.5 and the camera to AutoISO, Aperture priority, and made 90 exposures.

Looking at the photos afterwards: It is a TERRIFIC lens! In some ways, I like its rendering qualities even more than the Summicron 50.

A sample photo:

Ground Cover - Santa Clara 2022
Leica M10 Monochrom + Color-Skopar 50mm f/2.5
ISO 320 @ f/3.5 @ 1/180

​

​

It may well become my 'standard' 50mm lens after this experiment! 🙂

G

When I searched for 'the one' 50mm lens, the images from this were probably my favourite for the price. I just struggled to find one and also wanted something a bit faster, even if I didn't really need it.

 

[pvdhaar]

It seems the 50mm F2 Konica M-Hexanon hasn't been mentioned yet; doesn't break the bank, is nicely built and has very decent image quality..

 

[Erik van Straten]

I realized I hadn't used the Voigtländer Color-Skopar 50mm f/2.5. It is a TERRIFIC lens!

I discovered this about 20 years ago!

This is with an even better variation of this lens, the Contax/Nikon S-mount version.

gelatin silver print (s skopar 50mm f2.5) nikon s2

Erik.

 

[froyd]

I thought this might be useful...

I made an album on Flickr.com containing test shots with the Leica Summicron-M 50mm and the Voigtländer Color Skopar 50mm of a static scene (my bookcase, room light only) at all apertures. I set the camera and bookcase at an angle so you could see the depth of field change both near and far in a modest range, and the primary focus distance is about 5.5 feet. The image title shows what lens and aperture was used, the comment field says whether the lens profile was turned on (only for the Summicron) or off.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/gdgphoto/6T90482Ho0

Enjoy! G

Thanks for that. Interesting to see the vary different brightness between the two lenses at each stop. Did you use manual exposure with a matching shutter speed or did auto exposure/auto ISO play a part?

 

[Erik van Straten]

gelatin silver print (nikkor h 50mm f2) nikkormat ftn

Erik.

 

[Coldkennels]

OP asks for an M mount 50mm.

Erik van Straten posts a random photo with a Nikon SLR mount 50mm.

Helpful.

 

[Godfrey]

Thanks for that. Interesting to see the vary different brightness between the two lenses at each stop. Did you use manual exposure with a matching shutter speed or did auto exposure/auto ISO play a part?

Just auto exposure, ISO was locked at 400. But how different AE could have been, given an extremely static subject and lighting, is minimal and the shutter speeds shown in LR are virtually the same from one set to the next.

G

 

[jazzwave]

Planar 50/2 ZM is good choice, btw I got 50mm Rigid Sumicron under $1000 from this forum

 

[maigo]

Yes, OP found their lens. Or maybe they returned it. Or maybe they need another!
Nikon 5cm f/2 NIKKOR-HC Nippon Kogaku Japan Screw Mount 50mm Lens USED (AS-IS)

 

[hap]

A Jupiter-3 50mm 1.5 w. M-adapter and a week vacation.

I have the first two...but lack the third.

 

[hap]

I discovered this about 20 years ago!

This is with an even better variation of this lens, the Contax/Nikon S-mount version.

gelatin silver print (s skopar 50mm f2.5) nikon s2

Erik.

View attachment 4808291

another vote for the cs mount skopar. Its good fo the contax IIIa and my S2

 

[Erik van Straten]

gelatin silver print (s skopar 50mm f2.5) nikon s2

nicely sharp and contrasty (and no distortion) at full aperture

Erik.

 

[Miamarj]

I have a Voightlander 50mm F2 Lanthar. It is fantastic and flawless. i paid $975 new but you can find one in excellent condition around $800 or less.

 

[boojum]

Matt Osborne reviewed a nice 50 recently on YT

 

[kshapero]

The CV 50mm f1.5 newest version is really something special.