Best Bang for the Buck 50 Cron?

[froyd]

The other iffy thing about the Planar is the ergonomics. The focus nub and 1/3rd f-stops are not for everyone. They certainly weren't for me and I gave it a good six months to get used to them. FWIW, I love the 45 Planar for the Contact G, but it has a richer rendering than the ZM version.

 

[raid]

fyi, bokeh is not a strength of 50mm summicrons after the collapsible, and maybe the rigid, too.

Bokeh is fine for the Rigid Summicron.
There are many excellent 50mm lenses, and this endorsing game here is just based on personal experiences and ownership of some lenses. In my case, I balance out my 50mm lenses between modern high contrast and older lenses that are medium contrast but high resolution.

My last 50mm lens is a Hexanon 50/2.5 ltm.

 

[tajart]

50s

50s

over the years i have had several 50 crons starting way back w collapsable thread mounts, a rigid, a dual-range w eyes, a couple different v5s w the built in hood (which i liked), and currently a chrome v4 which is a beauty, and a couple other non-summicron 50s.

while the contrast has increased with the more recent versions, i've always enjoyed the bokeh from all of them.

and our good friend TomA told me he thought the dual-range 'cron was the best of the lot, and as an aside, he preferred the 50 nokton over the 50 summilux

part of the reason i've tried so many is that i prefer a wider fov, w 35 working better for how i view the world- 35 is my 50.

 

[benmacphoto]

Based on current prices I would go with a version V with the built in hood.
I've owned a few over the years and found they had the perfect balance of sharpness and smooth rendering in the out of focus areas.
They are built very well.

 

[agoglanian]

I like the V5 Summicron quite a bit but I'm using a V4 right now that I effectively paid $600-ish for. It has seen some use and has a small ding in the front element but you know what? It doesn't show up in photos on film or digital.

I like the V4 quite a bit, mostly because I've grown quite accustomed to using focus tabs.

 

[B-9]

I too prefer a focus tab,

$600-ish sounds right where I want to be.

 

[spaceistheplace]

I would choose a V4 Summicron, prices are good and it is a lovely lens, with focus tab too.
The planar is also very good lens and cheap but I didn't care for the ergonomics.

 

[f16sunshine]

Yep gotta have Leica no Zeiss.

I prefer the black exterior of the V3 forward. I like the black lens chrome body look on my M8 as superficial as that may sound.

I too prefer a focus tab,

In that case buy the cheapest one you can find in good condition .

 

[rbrooks]

I currently own a rigid Summicron and Planar but have owned the collapsible, rigid, DR, v3 and V4. The Summicrons that Ive owned lacked the flare control of the Planar.

I get that many have had flare issues, but the silver chrome v4 I've had for around 5 years hasn't had flare problems. And Lightroom tells me, I've over 3,700 shots with this lens. I don't know if I got a lucky sample or if my picture taking style doesn't lend itself to flare situations.

Lenses with flare have been the 21mm SA f/4, 35mm pre-asph Summilux, 50mm Summar and, get this, the 90mm MEM without a hood.