Compact 50: Summarit vs Elmar-M

[Rob-F]

I had both and get rid of both.
V4 is prone to bad veil and hood is needed. With hood it is nowhere compact, reversing it is anoying. It also has plastic parts in the aperture, which are no more available.

50 v4 is overrated lens.

Ko.Fe., Does this refer to the Version 4 Summicron?

 

[Ronald M]

2.8 M is for reduced size. Very useable at 2.8, peaks at 4. Otherwise 1.4 Lux (current) or 50 APO. Both of these are lens makers gems

My original 2.8 Elmar has much better (smoother) focusing than any of above as does Summicron V2. Optics are good, but not up to above. Good luck finding mint ones like mine.

Never used 2.4 or 2.5 50mm

 

[Rob-F]

I use to have the 50 Elmar-M and found it more flare resistant compared to the current 50 'cron due to 2 fewer air-glass surfaces and no multiple plano surfaces like the current 50 'cron. Sharpness at f/2.8 or f/4 was slightly better on the 'cron but not by that much. The oddest thing about the 50 Elmar-M was that the rear cemented group is uncoated. Seems weird that a modern optic has uncoated glass but it doesn't seem to create a flare issue.

I haven't noticed any flare problem with my copy of the 50mm Version 4, although I don't often shoot into light sources. I suppose that for those of us who don't often shoot into a flare-prone situation, the increased flare sensitivity that some have noticed is simply the trade-off that we accept in exchange for the improved rendering of extremely fine detail, which especially comes into play with the newest Leica digital bodies, with their very high pixel count.

Something I appreciate about my version 4 Summicron is the focusing tab. For those of us who use wide angle lenses a lot, tab focusing is the Leica way of life! When our left index finger is used to reaching out and finding a tab, the 50mm Summicron V 4 allows us to carry this same habit from the wide angle lenses to the normal one. I was surprised when they dropped it from the subsequent version, the one with the collapsing hood!

 

[Godfrey]

Can't help much on the Elmer-M 50/2.8 vs Summarit-M 50/2.4 issue. I've not had the opportunity to use either of those two lenses.

I have a Color Skopar 50/2.5 and a Summicron-M 50/2 (current series). Both are excellent lenses; neither is overly large or heavy, but they're not "pancake" flat for sure. I've not done any specific direct comparisons for sharpness or whatever, but they do render somewhat differently, and the differences are pleasing for both of them.

The CS50 works better on film than on digital sensors; there's a small bit of color shifting across the field on most FF cameras' sensors. For the Summicron-M 50, it doesn't seem to matter much which recording medium I use.

On the Leica CL's APS-C sensor, you can barely see any color shifting at all with the CS50

My CS50 has a tight, precise feel to all of its controls, no looseness or sloppiness. It feels every bit as well manufactured as the Summicron-M 50.

G