How small can you go? (Smallest 50mm lens)

[BNF]

What is the smallest easily available 50mm lens?

There have been times when I wanted to take the least amount of kit with me - when just having a camera was more important that having a camera with the "best" lens.

In those situations, I grabbed the latest M-Summicron 50. (If it were today...ok, next week when it arrives... it would be the ZM Planar 50.)

But, I know I can go smaller and lighter.

The latest 2.8/50 Elmarit seems like a possible solution - even if the price , for me, defeats the idea of a lens just to grab seldomly when running out the door.

Does a used Elmarit make sense then? What are the generational differences?

What about some new Voigtlanders? Ideas?

 

[waileong]

50/3.5 Elmar.

 

[pkreyenhop]

As I don't like fiddling with retractable lenses, I'd pick the new 50mm Summarit.
I had a look at it yesterday - it's the smallest 50 I have seen so far.

 

[rover]

There is the CV 50/2.5 Skopar too.

 

[Roberto]

50/3.5 Elmar.

Or industar 22 and 50...
Rob

 

[former member]

Rigid- Canon 50mm F1.5 an LTM lens, so will need an adaper;

Collapsible: Slow lenses- 50/3.5 Elmar; Fast lens- Collapsible Summicron-M.

Both the Canon and Collapsible Summicron fit into a Leica M3 fitted case with lens hoods.

 

[Spyderman]

A pinhole with focal length 50mm would protrude only 22mm from the body... but it's not a lens as there is no glass 😀 and it would be rather slow at about f/200 😀

 

[Robin Harrison]

Straying off topic a little here...but I recently took delivery of a Canon 35mm f2 in LTM. That is a tiny little lens. Physically, it's not too much different to the Summicron 40mm, but there is something a bout its shape, its proportions and it's feel that give a very strong impression of 'smallness'.

Straying off topic some more...what's the shortest focal length for which a collapsible lens has been produced for a RF camera?

 

[Roger Hicks]

50/2.5 Summarit. I own the 50/2,5 Color-Skopar and have the 50/2,5 Summarit for review. Both are very nice indeed but (predictably) the Summarit is even nicer. Also, the focusing handle on the Color-Skopar is loose and needs repair, after a few years moderate use. The Summarit, without a hood but with the 'bump ring' in place (the collar to protect the male thread for the lens hood) is delightful. There's a brief review here

http://www.rogerandfrances.com/photoschool/ps firstlook summarit.html

I have an absurd number of 50mm lenses, and have used most; and although the OLD collapsible Elmars are delightfully small, they're not very convenient. The new ones are a lot more convenient, but aren't small enough to justify (for me) the inconvenience of a collapsible lens.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Roger Hicks]

what's the shortest focal length for which a collapsible lens has been produced for a RF camera?

Interchangeable: to the best of my knowledge, 50mm. There's no point in making a 35mm collapsible when the nodal point of a symmetrical lens is less than 8mm (1/3 inch) in front of the film flange of a Leica. But I believe there may have been a shorter (fixed) lens in the Rollei 35; I can't remember.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Solinar]

They may not be everyone's cup of tea ergonomics-wise, but the collapsible Summicron and Summitar are decent performers.

 

[sirius]

If you don't mind vintage, those elmars are the smallest 50's I've ever seen...

 

[D.O'K.]

"...But I believe there may have been a shorter (fixed) lens in the Rollei 35..."

Yes, it had a 40mm collapsible lens.

Regards,
D.O'K.

 

[Rafael]

I recently picked up one of the new Elmars. It is a fantastic performer. A while back, Flyfisher Tom wrote in one of his posts something to the effect that it combines some of the best of modern lens designs with some of the best of the old designs. I think this description is very good. In addition to being very small, the Elmar gives a very different look from my Planar. And I think that the two lenses complement one another nicely. The Elmar is quickly becoming one of my favourite lenses.

 

[pfoto]

The pity is that Leica have discontinued the lens. How could they do that? 😕

 

[thomasw_]

The pity is that Leica have discontinued the lens. How could they do that? 😕

How? Well I am no Leica insider but I will guess it has to do with trying to cut production costs on a couple of lens models, the elmar and summarit, and focus buyers on just one model. Not to undercut sales of a new model, etc.; no M5/M4* lesson repetition.

But that's just my take.

I agree it is a shame, though.

 

[pfoto]

I meant it in more of a rhetorical sense. For a company that is rumored to be trying to rediscover its roots (moving back to Wetzlar etc.) this is a weird move considering this lens' place in Leica history.

 

[richard_l]

.....And I think that the two lenses complement one another nicely.....

You deserve to be complimented for spelling 'complement' correctly.

Richard

 

[ian_w]

I will vote on the elmar-M also. It's not the smallest, but it is the easiest collapsible lens to use that I have come across so far. I sold my summicron a few months back and haven't missed it since. As suggested above it mixes old and new imaging in a way the rest of the range don't, and I really can't see why Leica would cut this lens unless the sales have dropped off markedly. It's as close to perfect as I've found in a lens not designed for low light use.

Ian

 

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