Leica LTM Leica 5cm Lenses: Which would you recommend?

Leica M39 screw mount bodies/lenses

Leica 5cm Lenses: Which would you recommend?

  • Elmar 5cm 3.5

    Votes: 122 32.1%

  • Summar

    Votes: 65 17.1%

  • Summarit

    Votes: 68 17.9%

  • Summitar

    Votes: 120 31.6%

  • Collapsible Summicron

    Votes: 100 26.3%

  • Rigid Summicron

    Votes: 88 23.2%

  • Summicron DR

    Votes: 80 21.1%

  • Other [old] Leica 5cm lens

    Votes: 54 14.2%
  • Total voters
    380
  • Poll closed .
Each 50mm I use is for a different reason for the styles I produce in my Retro PinUp and Fetish work..........

Pre 1946 Elmar f3.5/50: Uncoated and Coated versions ~ Great for reproducing very "old" looking photos, I nearly always shoot at f3.5, that`s enough sharpness and dof for mostly dealing with Black & White 400 asa films.
*This is pretty much the lens that started it ALL for Leica, and if you ask me it STILL does!!!!!*

Pre 1946 Summitar f2.0/50: Uncoated and Coated versions ~ Great for portraits and shooting artistic stuff, the round aperture blades produce a signature/bokeh that blows the late Summitar and early 1950`s Summicron away
(I don`t like either one of those lenses)

Pre 1949 Xenon f1.5/50: I have a Uncoated original first year production 1936 issue, great art lens, what I call the "Compact Thambar" ~ perfect for shooting portraits of women, and I prefer to use it with Black & White 400 asa films.

1950`s Summarit f1.5/50: I "LOVE" My Summitar ~ It`s a lens that has been bashed for years as being a non performer, it`s a delight to use photographing women, especially with color films and also artistic films (such as slide E-6 to C-41 crossprocessing)

1990`s Rigid Summicron f2.0/50: My favorite version is my 1992 one, near razor sharp, crystal clear shots, I use it mostly stopped down to f5.6 and beyond shooting artistic films for crossprocessing.

That`s how I use my Leitz 50mm`s and what I think of them, I use them about 40% of the time I`m working, I still am more partical to my Canon f1.2 and f1.5 for most of my work now, with my Nikkor HC f2.0/50 thrown in for good measure. 😀

Happy Shooting!

Tom
 
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Bingley said:
Nando -- Great pic! It proves my last point! There's no reason why an Elmar 50/3.5 can't be a great indoor lens, too.
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Thanks Steve. I like your third shot very much. I'm with you when it comes to the Elmars.

I use my IIIf primarily with my 35mm and 50mm Elmars now. They're slow but their small size makes up for it - a truly pocketable kit. I don't hesitate to use them indoors. Here's one my mother with the the 35f3.5 Elmar (uncoated).

 
The only Leica lens I've got is the DR Cron. It does everything I want in a general purpose lens. Plenty of sharpness, yet a wonderful smooth sharpness. I'm not necessarily looking for a 'vintage' look, it just matches what I look for in b/w photography. I haven't shot colour with it yet, so I don't know how it fares there, but I'm not concerned since the majority of my colour work is digital. In any case, the DR seems to me to straddle the line between vintage and modern, taking the best from each.

The only thing I'd want is something smaller and lighter. The DR is a beast of a lens and can get tiresome carrying it around all day. All of the collapsible lenses seem to have some kind of interest to me. I see myself most likely picking up either an Elmar or a Summarit to get something a little different from the Cron. If I had to pick one lens to use for the rest of my life though, I'm already set.
 
DennisPT said:
The 50/2.5 Hektor has a bit more 'punch' in color than the 50 Elmar, IMHO.
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Hi Dennis,
I rarely see such a lens discussed at RFF not have I seen photos taken with the Hektor.


Hi Tom,

Thanks for explaining why you like each of the lenses that you have listed. The Xenon is a lens that is hardly ever discussed either. Why do you prefer the older Summitar version? What is different?
 
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Hi Raid,
It's late night here in Hong Kong. I can only "shoot my toes" at home. This one is with Hektor 5cm wide open. Only WB adjusted.
 

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Here is the one with 5cm Elmar, again wide open. WB adjusted same as last shot. Both lens are uncoated. The Elmar seems sharper (f/2.5 vs f/3.5) and the color difference is not that obvious with digital.
Not sure if this helps, Raid.
Cheers,
Dennis
 

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Dennis,
Thanks for sharing with us portraits of your toes! They are now archived forever and for the entire world to enjoy ....

The Elmar looks sharper but the Hektor has a smooth OFF background.
 
This is from my first roll with a Summar and color film. A lens hood is required when direct light is present.

RF_Summar_12.jpg
 
My Summarit may be challenged optically, but I am leaving it as it is as my softer focus portrait lens. These are my daughters.

776403-R1-15-15small.jpg
 
This photo was taken with the first version Elmar 5cm 2.8. It is very sharp. The later model 2.8 Elmar-M is supposedly even sharper.


 
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I rarely use the Summitar. This is a recent image taken in Pensacola at some fishing pier. I like the paint effect by the Summitar.

 
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Bassism said:
The only Leica lens I've got is the DR Cron. It does everything I want in a general purpose lens. Plenty of sharpness, yet a wonderful smooth sharpness. I'm not necessarily looking for a 'vintage' look, it just matches what I look for in b/w photography. I haven't shot colour with it yet, so I don't know how it fares there, but I'm not concerned since the majority of my colour work is digital. In any case, the DR seems to me to straddle the line between vintage and modern, taking the best from each.

The only thing I'd want is something smaller and lighter. The DR is a beast of a lens and can get tiresome carrying it around all day. All of the collapsible lenses seem to have some kind of interest to me. I see myself most likely picking up either an Elmar or a Summarit to get something a little different from the Cron. If I had to pick one lens to use for the rest of my life though, I'm already set.
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There is a current RFF thread in which someone is asking about focusing the DR on the M8. It seems that if your goal is to use an M8 with a Summicron V1, the rigid Summicron is the one to get. The DR has some problems with focusing on the M8.
 
Raid,

Did you EVER take apart your Summarit?

I had the same problem you have, it was some slight oil mist, in-between the front and rear element and cleaned right up with some Isopropyl alcohol and now the lens is crystal clear as new!

Well, the Xenon and Summarit work hand and hand with my work, I think the Xenon`s great for real vintage looking Black & White work and the Summarit is great for vintage looking color work, it`s alot to do with the coatings and also the Summarit glass has some improvements over the original 1936 Xenon, it produces photos that are screaming with "Leica Glow" and like the Elmar it leaves everything with a Leica signature..... 😀

Tom
 
LeicaTom said:
Raid,

Did you EVER take apart your Summarit?

I had the same problem you have, it was some slight oil mist, in-between the front and rear element and cleaned right up with some Isopropyl alcohol and now the lens is crystal clear as new!

Well, the Xenon and Summarit work hand and hand with my work, I think the Xenon`s great for real vintage looking Black & White work and the Summarit is great for vintage looking color work, it`s alot to do with the coatings and also the Summarit glass has some improvements over the original 1936 Xenon, it produces photos that are screaming with "Leica Glow" and like the Elmar it leaves everything with a Leica signature..... 😀

Tom
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Tom,

I once sent out the Summarit to be cleaned, and it returned to me clean but soft focus. I don't need yet another sharp 50mm lens. I have several sharp 50mm lenses, so I will keep the Summarit as a special application lens.

Even Don Goldberg advised me not the send him the lens after he saw a few images taken with the lens.
 
kermaier said:
Yes, yes and yes -- that's the lens I meant when I voted for "Other".

::Ari
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Ari,

For some reason, this is lens is so good that I did not think of it as a vintage lens. So far, people voted for the collapsible Summicron, the Summitar and the DR the most. The Summar has quite low vote counts. It is interesting that the DR has more votes than the rigid Cron.
 
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