Favourite 50mm lens?

[Rafael]

We have been writing a great deal about 50mm lenses recently. I only have experience with my 3rd version summicron and would be very interested to hear about some of the other 50s that have been mentioned in the recent threads. I am sure that there have been threads on this topic in the past. But I was unable to find them in the archive. So I will put the question to all of you now: What is your favourite 50mm lens and why?

 

[scigeek]

Latest version 2.8. Elmar.
It's the only 50 I own, but see no reason why I would want another 50 🙂

 

[FrankS]

Now that's a loaded question! Determining my favourite 50mm lens is probably my life's goal.

The Summicron that you have cannot be beat interms of contrast and sharpness. I have the 1969 Summicron version and that is my modern sharp and contrasty lens. The other 50mm lenses I'm playing with are all older and give more "vintage" results.

 

[35mmdelux]

I prefer the 1970s crons. A little extra weight, made in Wetzlar, and I like the focus handling.

 

[BudGreen]

Latest version 2.8. Elmar.
It's the only 50 I own, but see no reason why I would want another 50 🙂

I'll second that. Mine is on my camera 90% of the time. If I could only have one lens, this would be the one. Check out the detail in the towel in the attached image.

 

[Ken F.]

Hi Rafael,

I prefer the vintage look I get from my Summarit, Summitar, and Elmar, all LTM and manufactured in the 40's and 50's. However, I am becoming quite fond of my Canon 50 f1:4, which is also a 50's LTM.

Cheers,
kf

 

[telenous]

I have tried the rigid Summicron (and its sibling the Summicron DR), the Planar ZM, and the first version of the Summilux. My preference is for the old Summicron. I love the way it is super sharp but not very contrasty.

 

[wilt]

The penultimate Summicron 50. Tabbed. From the early 1980's, a great lens.

 

[former member]

I don't play favorites with my 50mm lenses. I would never think of hurting that many lenses' feelings. They are all treasured.

Oh. Leica M forum.

Still trying out the Collapsible Summicron. Type I rigid is nice and sharp -pleasing photo with lots of detail, not too much contrast-; type II has more contrast; Summarit is great for portraits and sharp stopped down; and coated Summitar with an adapter is nice too. I keep the 50 Elmar on the IIIf. And an LTM Summarit on the Canon 7.

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

Penultimate 50/cron with tab
Current 50/cron with hood
Canon 50/1.5 LTM (sonnar design)

All bokeh wizards.

 

[furcafe]

(1) Zeiss 50/1.5 Sonnar; (2) Voigtlander (not Cosina) 50/1.5 Nokton; & (3) Leitz 50/1 Noctilux.

 

[Rafael]

Obviously I'm new to all this - I can't keep my own gear straight. Sorry to disappoint Frank, mine is actually a 4th not a 3rd version summicron. It's my 35mm summicron that's a 3rd version. Anyway, thanks to everyone for all of the answers so far. Hopefully, there are more opinions to follow...

 

[ERV]

These are all good choices.
I like the collapsibles; the current elmar-m, my TM cron and summitar.. even my lowly industar 50 has its merits.
The one that I seem to use the least is the current 50 cron with the HOODY. (that's leica code for sliding hood). I should take it out more often..

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I don't think I have a "favorite" 50mm lens. If I did, I wouldn't have more than one.

That said, the flavor of the day is still the pre-asph 50mm Summilux. No, wait, the Summitar. No, wait, the 50 Summicron.

No, wait...

 

[raid]

I use many different 50mm lenses, and each seems to have its own fingerprint as they say. The rigid Summicron from the 60's is one my preferred lenses due to its beauty and performance. I am waiting to get it back from DAG after having it CLA'd. The other top 50mm lens for me is the Nikon 50/2 which is very sharp and has great coating to give relatively contrasty images. Another excellent 50mm lens is the Canon 50/1.2 which is very sharp stopped down and it gives pleasing results even wide open. Lenses like the Elmar 50/3.5 and the Canon 50/2.8 are excellent performers and they have their following.Not to forget the FSU 50mm lenses here; I like the J-3 which was adjusted by Brian.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

50/1.5 J-3. I'm weird.

 

[aizan]

konica m-hexanon for rangefinders, pentax takumar for slr.

 

[FPjohn]

Dr

Dr

Hello:

A favourite lens is a difficult choice but mine must be my DR Summicron, followed by a F3.5 Elmar. A f3.5 Micro-Nikkor is most often on my F.

yours
Frank

 

[Ben Z]

Aizan: I second the endorsement for Takumars on Canon digital. I'm using all of my screwmount SMC Taks on my recently-acquired 20D with a $25 adaptor (someday I may be able to scrape up the cash for some Canon primes). They're just as sharp as they were on my Pentaxes, maybe sharper since the crop factor cuts out the outer regions. And the stopdown switch makes dealing with the uncoupled iris a snap.

That said, back to Leica.....

I have or have had so many Leica 50s it's truly embarrassing. Currently I have 50/3.5 and 50/2 in LTM, chrome rigid Cron, 1969 Cron and 1983 Lux. I used to have the current-optics Cron but sold it when I could detect no difference between it and the '69 in real-life shooting. I also tested my Lux against a Lux-ASPH in real-life shooting (by that I mean wide open at slow shutter speed with fast film in a high-contrast jazz club--that's what I buy a 50/1.4 for, not shooting Velvia landscapes or flat-copy on a tripod). My favorite Leica 50 bar none is the pre-ASPH Lux.

 

[rich815]

50/2 Summicron DR, with the 50/2.8 first version m-mount Elmar a close second. Also, quite fond of the 50/2 Summitar LTM that I use on my MP with an adapter. But the 50/2 DR is the clear fav'.