E43 Pre Asph Summilux 50mm V E46 Pre Asph Summilux

Nice! Here's a pic from mine:


R8618_6BW.jpg
 
It has an aspherical element, and a shifting group but is not apochromatic. Not that it matters much.

Well, you might be surprised. See David Farkas' report of the last Photokina (his interview of Peter Karbe):

"I asked ... why the 75 was an APO lens and the 50 wasn’t. Here is a bit of a shocker… the 50 lux ASPH is an APO lens, containing an APO correction element. But, he thought the idea of an APO 50 was a bit silly so they never put it on the lens or in any marketing materials."
 
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May I ask whether pre-asph is actually summilux 50mm f1.4 v1? Pardon my ignorance. I am still learning about leica lens.
 
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The version 1 50mm summilux is E43 but it is different than v2 and v3 (also E43)....the v1 is supposed to be more like the summarit...I think the later models are "improved" with better optics....for what it's worth, I have the v1 and I like it.....but if I could do it all over again, I would get a later model........somewhere on the internet there are serial numbers that one can check to see what version is what.....hope that helps...

cheers, michael
 
May I ask whether pre-asph is actually summilux 50mm f1.4 v1? Pardon my ignorance. I am still learning about leica lens.

Generally the last version before the ASPH is considered "pre-asph." Thus the 50 Lux V1 is not really "pre-asph" per se although in some senses it is.
 
Oh yes, thanks guys, I am referring to the pre-asph versions. The new versions of lux is priced beyond my reach and thus I am finding out more about the older versions 50mm. It would be my next focal length to go for.
 
There seems to be a bit of disagreement about how many pre-ASPH version there are. My sense is that there is some consensus that there are three, v.1 with (from the Hove Leica Pocket Book 7th ed.) serial nrs. 1640601-1844000, v.2 with serial nrs. 1844001-whatever-they-ended-with ;) and v.3 with E46 filter size and 0.7M closest focus.
 
" v.2 with serial nrs. 1844001-whatever-they-ended-with"

V.2 certainly went as high as 2220523.
 
I think Peter N is right in post 31.....I think there are 3 versions, (not counting the asph)....the serial number on my version 1 is 17582XX...

I remember when I bought it, I called around looking for the proper hood and I spoke with Sherry K about the lens and she explained to me about the different versions....

I sent mine to Youxin earlier this year to give it a CLA because it was the first lens that I had bought and it has been through a lot and it needed some love (CLA).....

Like I said earlier, if I could do it again, I would go with a later version but I won't sell mine now because it has too much history with me and I like the results that I get from it with tri-x....all in all, at the end of the day, I think what is important is what you do with the lens....but then again, I am a user and not a collector...here are some examples of the v1...

Kashmire, Pakistan
2692353890_908856a23e_o.jpg


Varnasi, India
2232347432_889a59b1dd_b.jpg


I actually own 2 50mm lenses which is actually more than I need, but I decided to take the summilux over the rigid summicron with me to Myanmar because I have a yellow filter for the summilux.....hope you find a 50mm that suits your needs

cheers, michael
 
One (maybe the only) thing I don't like about the pre-ASPH is that the OOF can get very peculiar-looking at f1.4. This is from a v.2:


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v2 was built until 2004. And includes the E46 version. :) I personally think it's cool that the same design survived 40+ years and was a benchmark lens for fast 50s, until the 50/1.4 ASPH came along.

" v.2 with serial nrs. 1844001-whatever-they-ended-with"

V.2 certainly went as high as 2220523.

We have sisters (mine: 2,220,581). Love it.
 
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"We have sisters (mine: 2,220,581). Love it."

Indeed! That's pretty close, as such things go. And a terrific lens it is. :)
 
I'm getting an itchy trigger finger looking at these delightful photos. I'm also a little confused about serial numbers for summilux - does anybody know what serial numbers the E46 started with? The look of those pres just before the ASPH came out look awfully tempting.
 
Wow, looks like I've got lots of Leica lens history to read up on.

So is my understanding for what I have gathered so far for the summilux 50mm pre-asph below correct?
v1 - E43 (min. focus dist. ~ 1m)
v2 - E43 and E46 (min. focus dist. ~ 0.7m)
v3 - E43 and E46

Some how, a search on ebay shows up chrome and non-chrome versions as well. There seems to be so many variations of this lens.
 
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