Leica LTM 50 for B&W?

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses
Bruno Gracia

Bruno Gracia

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Hi guys, which lens do You find better performer for black and white between these three?

50/2.8
50/2 collap.
50/2.5 skopar


I'm in the hunting for one for my Leica II.

Many thanks.

Bruno
 
that's a quite personal thing.
so far, i didn't encounter any lens that doesn't work somehow in B&W, it all depends on how you want your results to look like.

which collapsible f/2.0 do you have in mind? the summitar might be a surprisingly good choice.

i think the best idea would be to look up some photo collection and search for examples (for example, search flickr using appropriate search terms)

cheers,
sebastian
 
Bruno!
I have all three.
the 50/2 is the collapsible cron. if you can get one in a perfect condition , this will be my recommendation .

the skopar is a fabulous lens and is the best modern lens you can get in ltm.

Ophir
 
thanks guys!

I'm looking sharp stopping down and classic look wide open, with a huge greyscale in the middle, but of course good blacks! would be my main lens for a whole year, this is a project (the other lens will be 35 or 28, will see, alongside my Minilux and Rollei SE).
 
Bruno Gracia said:
Hi guys, which lens do You find better performer for black and white between these three?

50/2.8
50/2 collap.
50/2.5 skopar


I'm in the hunting for one for my Leica II.

Many thanks.

Bruno
Click to expand...


I have the all and I like them. Of course, there is no 50mm lens I do not like.
1) 50/2.8 ver 1: Good for film - Classic look
2) 50/2.8 ver 2: Good for everying - modern look
3) 50/2 collapsible: Beautiful lens - less contrast, but great for B&W to show shadow detail. I use it everywhere on film and digital, very small.
4) 50/2.5: Good lens, sharp and contrasty. I do not use much because of the other 50's I have. I do use the 35/2.5 a lot.
 
Bruno Gracia said:
thanks guys!

I'm looking sharp stopping down and classic look wide open, with a huge greyscale in the middle, but of course good blacks! would be my main lens for a whole year, this is a project (the other lens will be 35 or 28, will see, alongside my Minilux and Rollei SE).
Click to expand...

Then, the 50/2.8 and the cron 50/2
 
well, the summitar matches too.
with old lenses, the condition is very important - a good summitar may be better than a bad summicron.

we're talking about LTM, right? you mentioned a leica II ...
(asking again because the version 2 50mm/2.8 is only available in M bayonet)
 
I've had Summar, Summitar, Summarit 50 1.5, Elmar-M 50 2.8, Collapsible and now Rigid Cron.
Collapsible Cron is the best to me for BW. But it depends on condition of particular copy. Mine was cleaned from fungus and not so many scratches. It was sharp in focus areas and smooth in bokeh.
It is also the lens with character. Leica character.
It has good size and large enough aperture. 2.8 and 3.5 are slightly slow for all year one lens.
 
interesting to see this question posed as i'm on the hunt for a classic Leica 50. right now I've got it narrowed down to the Summitar and Summicron (collapsible).

it's worth knowing that the summitar comes in three versions: 1. (start-1946) uncoated with 10 blades (circular diaphragm), 2. (1946-50) coated with 10 blades, 3. (1950-end) coated with 6 blades (hexagonal diaphragm).
 
I have the classic Elmar 2.8 and have tried out the 13x collapsible summicron for a week. The Elmar 2.8 is very good if you want a lens for daylight use, as it is very sharp and the rendering is very nice on black and white stopped down from f4 to f8, but suffers wide open with glowing and softness. My copy has very clean optics, so I suspect this is a characteristic of this lens rather than it being limited to my copy. The summicron on the other hand has very nice and low contrast, perhaps a bit too low at f2, but has wonderfully smooth out of focus bits and is a stunning performer at f2.8, giving you that extra one stop of usable performance compared to the elmar. So in effect, I treat the summicron as a f2.8 lens and the Elmer as a f4 lens, as wide open the results will be unpredictable and maybe even undesirable.
 
thanks guys.

How hard could be find a good copy!!

If I find one with cleaning marks and haze, is it possible to clean and recoated? IQ would be same as lets say, when Lens was new?
 
I really like the Summicron Collapsible, specially for black and white, it's really smooth, lot's of mid tones, and if you need a more modern look then the Color Skopar is really nice, too. Sharp and contrasty.

By the way hit me up if you ever come to Madrid(don't think I can speak Spanish here)
 
thank You all.

I think the elmar will suit my needs, if not, will change for a cron. The skopar is a great little lens but.. don't know I don't trust on it.
 
I'd consider the rigid summicron, a step up from the collapsables that came before it. The images remain sharp as you stop down with this lens.

As for many of the older Leica lenses, coating marks are common before "harder" coatings were used. When extensive, these small shallow marks drop contrast significantly. This is hard to judge without seeing the lens in person. Re-coating of front and rear elements can be done to improve performance. Focal Point Inc. in Superior, CO. re-coats with modern, "hard" coating. My rigid 'cron needed front element re-coating and the result was amazing. Its now a stellar performer.
 
Summars, Summicrons, Elmars. They all work just fine with black and white. The condition of the lens is far more important at this point than the lens itself.

I actually much prefer my Elmar 50/3.5 because it is so compact and handy. It is still a great lens and can be used indoors and out. Ilford Delta 3200 takes care of that little problem very nicely.
 
I've decided to stay with the color skopar (a silver version at that).

Some say the contrast is a bit high.... It's perfect for me for b&w and for color it's ideal.
The transition from in focus to oof is lovely, oof area is nice.
The ergonomics of it's tiny size, filter diameter, the tine ring shade and cap..... What a great little package.
I've tried many 50's both fast and slow aperture lenses... Staying with this skopar.

Cheers
 
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