Photos from my replacment Summar!

[raid]

I lost my Summar a while ago, and I have been looking for a replacement one for some time now. Finally, I bought a Summar on ebay, and it turned out to be a good example. While some people here will frown upon its optical performance, I believe that it is a lens that can contribute a lot in an arsenal of other lenses. It is a 50mm/2.0 by Leitz.

I tried to shoot color for my first rolls of testing this lens. I used it first in the mall to check bokeh at available light, followed by window shooting during the early afternoon (very sunny) hours.

I am very pleased with the lens's flare control or lack of it behavior. It gives me just the right balance of keeping details in the face while blurring other areas in the image.

I used a small Walz square lens hood with it throughout the shooting. Lens was mounted on either a Bessa T or a Canon P.

Comments are always welcome even if negative.

Raid

Dana was standing beside the window at some BooksAMillion store in Florida. I wanted to see whether the lens could manage the strong sunlight outside.

In contrast,this photo was taken at the same time without the window in the picture. I wanted to check how good the lens might be without any flare sources.

I have taken hundreds of photos in this same spot outside our home,and it was used as a benchmark with other photos I have taken there in the open shade.

I took several photos at a mall to check bokeh of this lens. If unsharp, then this was my fault in focusing.

Here is another photo from that same spot. I was sitting too closely to my daughters [at a table], and I was too lazy to stand up and move a little away to allow the lens to be in focus.


What do you think about the Summar?
It cost be a little more than $125.


Raid

 

[georges h]

Congratulations. very fine effects, even against the light, with an uncoated Summar. Sharpness and like softness. Quite fine details are detectables, and the lens 's got a bad réputation , for a question of low-contrast, may be unwaranted.
georgesh

 

[raid]

Thank you, Georges. I think that some people do not make best use of this vintage lens.

Raid

 

[dovi]

atmospheric shots. Very engaging. am I wrong in assuming that it's less the lens and more your skill?

 

[john neal]

raid,

great shots, as ever. I'm sure the hand on the equipment has something to do with the results. I recently bought an old summar and summitar - just waiting for the weather to improve so that I can try them out - will be v pleased if I can achieve similar results 🙂

 

[raid]

atmospheric shots. Very engaging. am I wrong in assuming that it's less the lens and more your skill?

Hi Dovi,

Thanks. It simply is about making better use of available light. My daughters now compete to be my "models". I let them be engaged with each other and the environment around them. I ask them about their daily lives when I take photos of them,and they respond.


The lens is good.

Raid

 

[raid]

raid,

great shots, as ever. I'm sure the hand on the equipment has something to do with the results. I recently bought an old summar and summitar - just waiting for the weather to improve so that I can try them out - will be v pleased if I can achieve similar results 🙂

Hi John,

Thanks.
I would take photos at the window. It does wonders for the faces. My Summitar is a basket case though. Good luck with yours. The Summar has a better track record, it seems.

Raid

 

[Kent]

Yes! I like those indoor shots a lot!

Nice lens.

 

[dexdog]

Raid, I am surprised by the performance of this lens, only because I was not impressed with some other shots that I had seen posted with such a lens. Formerly, I thought the lens was too soft, but I can see that properly applied, it is capable of producing very good results.

As ever, beautiful shots of your family.

 

[PetarDima]

this is very, very nice - bokeh, soft look - good portrait tool 🙂
is there any samples with this lens in M mount?

 

[raid]

Raid, I am surprised by the performance of this lens, only because I was not impressed with some other shots that I had seen posted with such a lens. Formerly, I thought the lens was too soft, but I can see that properly applied, it is capable of producing very good results.

As ever, beautiful shots of your family.

Hello Mark,
I bought this lens on ebay where it was advertised as being "from my dad ..." and I trusted the seller. I hve not had the lens cleaned or adjusted. I took only one roll of film with my previous Summar, and if I had not been convinced of its usefulness for portraits, I would not have bought a replacement lens. I find the Summar especially nice as a vintage lens balancing sharpness and softness at an acceptable level.

I cropped some photos; many were taken with 60% of the frame full sunshine outside the window. There was no flare.


Greetings,

Raid

Raid

 

[raid]

this is very, very nice - bokeh, soft look - good portrait tool 🙂
is there any samples with this lens in M mount?

Hi Petar,
The Summar is older than the M mount.
The following 50/2 lens was the Summitar, followed by the collapsible Summicron, and this one first was issued in LTM, followed in later years by the M mount.

I use an adapter when using such a lens on an M mount camera.

Raid

 

[david werbeloff]

Summar magic

Summar magic

Hi Raid:

Thanks for posting your Summar pics! I particularly like the one of your daughter standing by the window. This lens has a reputation for flaring very easily. I would have expected more flare with the kind of lighting you have in that photo. My own experience with this lens has been very positive: slightly soft when open, sharp when stopped down, not as flare-prone as advertised, and beautiful bokeh. What's not to like, if you have a good one?!

David

 

[John Shriver]

My Summar is similarly well-behaved, but I did clean it carefully inside, and replaced the failing paint around the inner elements. It is water clear when you look through it, that's the criterion.

I have the right hood, but even when I've used it with no hood, in at least somewhat challenging situations, it has behaved.

Now, out of focus highlights in the background can look nuts. Due to the vignetting caused by the skinny barrel and glass, you get footballs going in circles around the middle of the shot.

It is quite contrasty stopped down, only 8 air-glass surfaces, there's a more in a Summitar or collapsible Summicron.

 

[raid]

Hi Raid:

Thanks for posting your Summar pics! I particularly like the one of your daughter standing by the window. This lens has a reputation for flaring very easily. I would have expected more flare with the kind of lighting you have in that photo. My own experience with this lens has been very positive: slightly soft when open, sharp when stopped down, not as flare-prone as advertised, and beautiful bokeh. What's not to like, if you have a good one?!

David

Hi David,

I have the special lens hood for the Summitar butnot for the Summar. I am not into buying such expensive lens hoods, and it just happened that someone had the Summitar lens hood for a good price. My small Walz lens hood is a life saver with many lenses.

I may have gotten lucky with this Summar ...

Raid

 

[Bingley]

Raid -- Very nice shots, all of them. I'm impressed by how beautifully this lens renders colors, particularly in the third shot. How would you compare the performance of this lens to a summitar?

 

[raid]

Raid -- Very nice shots, all of them. I'm impressed by how beautifully this lens renders colors, particularly in the third shot. How would you compare the performance of this lens to a summitar?

Bingley: Thank you. Just off my head, I would say that Summitar has a little higher contrast than a Summar. Both are great lenses for portraits, with the Summitar being closer to a less-vintage lens.

Raid

 

[foto_fool]

Hi Raid:

Thanks for the lovely shots. My example of the Sumamr is not as free from flare as yours, but mine undoubtedly has more fogging (though no haze).

These shots were taken probably at f12 with the lens mounted on an R-D1 with one of Stephen's adapters. The lens is 20 years older than the car!

- John

 

[raid]

Hi Raid:

Thanks for the lovely shots. My example of the Sumamr is not as free from flare as yours, but mine undoubtedly has more fogging (though no haze).


These shots were taken probably at f12 with the lens mounted on an R-D1 with one of Stephen's adapters. The lens is 20 years older than the car!

- John

Hello John,

When I leave in the entire frame [see below], we can see flare/overexposure in the sunny right part of the frame. Maybe the Summar is better suited for the open shade?


Raid

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=6171384

 

[foto_fool]

Hello John,

When I leave in the entire frame [see below], we can see flare/overexposure in the sunny right part of the frame. Maybe the Summar is better suited for the open shade?


Raid

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=6171384

Hi Raid:

I see what you mean - smart crop to emphasize the shade. The flare is distracting. You are right about the best use for this lens - portraits in open shade and closer to wide-open, where the amazingly creamy boke grades smoothly into the in-focus field and softens skin tones.

I have not shot the Summar on the R-D1 except to test it after I received it. I have shot several rolls with it on a IIIf and hope to share when I get the scans back from the lab.

- John