First Summarit Photos - Comments, please

[MCTuomey]

Just CLA'd by Sherry Krauter, my LTM Summarit finally arrived. Here's one of the first shots, taken around the house, wide open at 1/30 APX 100. Scan could be better (LS-2000 not in its prime), but at least this gives an idea.

This lens is part of my search for a more forgiving "portrait" lens than my DR 50 which seems not to produce flattering results for aging faces, adult women, you get the idea.

What do you think?

Thanks for looking.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Looks good!
Focus looks right on; detail in hair; good contrast.

Will it make everyone look this young?

 

[Todd.Hanz]

seems to do the job! Nice lens.

 

[aad]

That looks great! I think it will work well for what you have in mind. I wouldn't get rid of mine.

 

[harry01562]

nice shot

nice shot

I like the shot. I've got one on the way, and will look forward to comparing it with the Summar (and a bunch of Canon's and maybe some FSU's).
The softness of these lenses can't be matched with new optics. Different standards, different strokes.... They all have their place. That Summarit will do the portrait type shot very nicely.

Harry

 

[peter_n]

Looks good to me! Nice use of DOF too... 🙂

 

[MCTuomey]

Thanks for posting, everyone. I look forward to using it more over the holidays. I think I'm going to enjoy it.

Brian, now when I get a few shots of my wife and she says that, I may see a greater avaliability of funds for old lenses ...

Yes, Harry, that's why I'm looking at the older glass, too. Older lenses seem to have the image qualities I like. Please post your comparisons b/w the Summar and the Summarit, if you have some time. I'm curious what you discover.

 

[doubs43]

This lens is part of my search for a more forgiving "portrait" lens than my DR 50 which seems not to produce flattering results for aging faces, adult women, you get the idea. What do you think?

Mike, if it makes every 45 year old woman look that young I'd say you have a winner! 😀

Seriously, it looks good and has that "classic" appearance that only vintage optics seem able to give. Good sharpness too, especially for being wide open.

What did Sherry charge for the CLA? I have a Summarit in need of one.

Walker

 

[MCTuomey]

Walker, Sherry charged $60 for the CLA ("1/2 bath") and $5 for relacquering one element. A "full bath" in Krauter terminology is $90, if I remember right. I'm very pleased with the work from Golden Touch. Turnaround was less than 3 weeks, happily.

 

[FrankS]

Very nice, Mike. I am very interested in the Summarit, having recently acquired one and now looking for time to try it out.

 

[doubs43]

Mike, thanks. Sherry sounds very reasonable and everyone who has used her services has only good to say about her. While my Summarit seems to take a fairly decent picture, there's haze when looking through it and I'd like to have to cleaned.

Walker

Walker, Sherry charged $60 for the CLA ("1/2 bath") and $5 for relacquering one element. A "full bath" in Krauter terminology is $90, if I remember right. I'm very pleased with the work from Golden Touch. Turnaround was less than 3 weeks, happily.

 

[merciful]

Yeah, nice, Like the tough expression particularly. Could use some more black, but that's just my taste.

 

[pshinkaw]

My wife just gave me a Summarit for Christmas and my second test roll was outstanding. So far I've tried to avoid bright point light sources in the background, but I can see that it is really not a problem.

-Paul

 

[MCTuomey]

Paul, I'm curious. What aperture were you shooting, and which film? I bought mine for candid portraits, more than anything. Your shots make me think that the lens stopped down could serve very well for other subjects, too.

 

[taffer]

Looks good to me !

 

[pshinkaw]

I tested it first with a Kodak Gold 400 color negative. It was very dissappointing. I don't like the combination of large grain and flare together. The second roll was with a Fuji Reala 100 Color Negative. The power line shot was at 1/125 @ f4.0 and the river shot was at 1/250 @ f5.6. All of the shots were bracketed and the posted photos were at the greatest exposure end of the bracket. It was a heavily overcast morning. The scan was done by the processor (CVS) at the time of processing and I reduced it in size for posting. The full size untouched scan is astonishingly good. I'll post them inmy Gallery.

I too hoped to use it for portrait work as it seems to take quite a few years off. I just make it a point to not post family portraits on the puiblicly accessible portions of the web.

-Paul

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Long live the Summarit. It's an acquired taste. I still see a lot of its bokeh signature on the Summilux; the Summarit is best used with B&W film, imho.

Its uniqueness comes through when using it in low or medium available light, in "contrasty" scenes, open-wide. Low contrast, which is great if you like details in shadows.

 

[pshinkaw]

This webpage has as series of test shots made with a Summarit on an R-D1. Shows what happens as you progressively stop down. However, since it's digital, you can't really see what the 35mm frame edges would look like.

http://www.fiat500.jp/~msmt/r-d1/summarit50f1.5.html

-Paul

 

[aad]

I'd second Gabriel's comments-using the Summarit in daylight conditions can be disappointing. I didn't care for it using Fuji 800, either.

 

[aad]

Some low-light Summarit shots-
Well, I think the second B&W one is a Summarit-I shot a lot of film lately and didn't always make notes, but I think it is the same lens stopped down.

The guitar is a scan from an Ektachrome 400 slide.

In all shots the candle is the only light-and was included for fun.