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 .
Rigid Summicron (1957)
rigidcron.jpg


Collapsible "Rare Earth" Summicron (1952)
collapsiblecron.jpg


Summitar (1938)
summitarprechem.jpg


This image shows how bad the optics were of my Summitar before I fixed it. The glue that held the front elements together broke down creating a hazy center. Which showed up in the photos. I took the front element section out of the lens, and soaked it in Toluene for a week. Cleared it right up but..... this cased a tint in the glass. A light yellow, which actually makes the lens act like my radio active Summicron.

Summitar (After Toluene)
L1000243.jpg


No more haze and a nice vintage look to it.
 
I think that the DR allowed close-focusing, which many people liked to have in a 50mm lens. The two Summicron lenses were most likely of similar cost at the time they were sold new. I never felt the need to get a DR since I got the rigid version.
 
I have heard about the radioactive Summicron before. Is it really sharper than a non-radioactive Summicron? Brian Sweeney has such a lens, I recall.
 
raid said:
I have heard about the radioactive Summicron before. Is it really sharper than a non-radioactive Summicron? Brian Sweeney has such a lens, I recall.
Click to expand...

I have never noticed a difference in sharpness between the two. The are very similar, the only difference being that with black and white film there is a bit more contrast with the radio active 'cron and with color film there is a warm tint to it as well.
 
benmacphoto said:
I have never noticed a difference in sharpness between the two. The are very similar, the only difference being that with black and white film there is a bit more contrast with the radio active 'cron and with color film there is a warm tint to it as well.
Click to expand...

So this is similar to the radioactive Pentax Takumar 50/1.4. It is like using a yellow filter.
 
From what I have seen with the now yellow tint to my Summitar it acts the same way.

The tint in the "rare earth" 'cron comes from the thorium glass, I am not sure if this could increase the sharpness of the lens. From what I have seen there is no difference.
 
Yes, I used a "radioactive" *UNDER 1 MILLION* LTM Cron back in Germany, and the only difference from it and the later 1950`s Summicron`s, was it had a slight warm tint , like a sepia or warm filter would give. 🙂

*Nice shot benmac*

Tom

PS: Hopefully I`ll have some crossprocessed work to add here soon from my 92' rigid Cron, I just shot them yesterday 😀
 
raid said:
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.
Click to expand...
Hope it doesn't provoke any foot fetishism.😀
And thanks for sharing your photos with us Raid. The Summar is an interesting lens I'm looking for but I would like to find a copy with round aperture rather than hexagon.
I'm trying to get some film shots with those two lenses.
 
Last edited:
Dennis,
How can you tell whether a Summar has round aperture [blades?] or hexanon? Is it by serial number? Did the number of blades change over the years of production?

The Summar is one of the least mentioned Leica lenses in this poll based on the numbers shown in the poll. Is its reputation that poor or what could be another reason for the low numbers?

If you combine the rigid and the DR [being identical optically], then this Summicron is the most widely chosen Leica lens in this poll.
 
DennisPT said:
50mm Summarit is another interesting portrait lens.
Click to expand...

Just a month ago I nearly bought a second Summarit [$399] so that I can keep my current lens as a soft focus portrait lens and then use the second Summarit for sharper images, but then I did not buy the lens.
 
Hi Raid: I voted in the poll (Summar, Summarit, coll. Summicron) but I no longer own any of these lenses. Sonnars ended up taking their places - almost like in some bad '50's sci-fi movie.
 
jmkelly said:
Hi Raid: I voted in the poll (Summar, Summarit, coll. Summicron) but I no longer own any of these lenses. Sonnars ended up taking their places - almost like in some bad '50's sci-fi movie.
Click to expand...

Hi John,
I love my Sonnars, but I also like to switch to other 5mm lenses. Last night, I removed the ZJ 5cm 1.5 from the Canon P and I replaced it with a Canon 50/1.4. maybe soon I will replace the 50/1.4 with a Summarit. 😀
 
Raid,
If I remember correctly, I have only seen a handful of round aperture blades Summar. Don't know much about serial number coorelation. Sorry.
Dennis
 
DennisPT said:
Raid,
If I remember correctly, I have only seen a handful of round aperture blades Summar. Don't know much about serial number coorelation. Sorry.
Dennis
Click to expand...

I will check out my Summar when I return home to see which type of aperture blades it has.

edited: here is a nice discussion about the round vs. dog-leg aperture blades: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19518
It seems that 1950 was the swtich time from dog-leg to round.
 
Last edited:
While there exist many focal lenghts and many alternative brands 50mm RF lenses, I would like to get more information on the Leica 50mm lenses.
 
Raid,
Thanks for putting this thread up. I love reading about people's impressions of various lenses.. it really helps narrow things down a bit when searching for the ideal (?) set of lenses.
Regards,
Jamie
 
ferider said:
Just now when remembering, I notice that except for the Summarit, I've had and used all of them 😱. Also the Elmar 50/2.8 (classic), and several newer 50s (Elmar-M, Summicron v3, v4, Summilux pre-asph v3). Had all - just not at the same time 🙂 Currently playing with the DR. No verdict yet on that one.

So far, I got most keepers with the collapsible Summicron. The DR is probably the best built Leica lens - EVER.

Cheers,

Roland.
Click to expand...

Roland,

The DR is a lens that I am getting more interested in trying out or buying. The fact that it focus closeand that it is a very well built Summicron makes it a very attractive package for me.

What is a "good price" for a DR these weeks?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom