So, what were the best LTM classical lenses?

[wlewisiii]

Canon Serenar 50/1.8 - cheap, fast enough, exquisite quality
Canon Serenar 28/3.5 - first fast wide angle
Canon 35/1.8 - an under rated gem of a lens
Summitar 50/2 - my favorite from Leica
Industar 61L/D 50/2.8 - best FSU normal, I really need to get another one.

 

[L David Tomei]

For "portraits" ( ie: slightly "soft and flattering" ), also consider:

73mm Elmar ( Hektor?)

90mm Thambar

(both very pricey....)

Certainly the 7.3cm Hektor should be in the list. I got mine along with a Leica III on eBay - unexpectedly. Otherwise the price would have been way too high.

 

[taskoni]

I am one of those who really dig the Summar 5cm f/2 - a real classic 🙂
I shoot exclusively with it and rarely with the Elmar 3,5cm f/3.5 - a super underrated lens but I love it too.

Regards,
b.

 

[rover]

if i am reading this thread correctly, every non-CV LTM lens ever made is a classic lens.

 

[kzphoto]

if i am reading this thread correctly, every non-CV LTM lens ever made is a classic lens.

Well.... yeah!

 

[Rico]

I vote Summaron 35/2.8. This lens was 20 years ahead of its time: 35mm lenses got faster, more expensive, but not actually better. 🙂 My LTM dates to 1959.

 

[David Hughes]

I'm not sure what is meant by classic, f'instance the C3 has a zoom on it that's classic (for a P&S), imo.

Anyway, I'm on safe grounds saying my vote is for the uncoated 5cm, Elmar, Summar and Summitar of the 1930's and beyond for the Summitar, which was almost a Summicron in 1938 when it first appeared.

But really the question/answer ought to be which aren't classic? I don't rave about the 1930's 3,5cm & 9cm Elmars but they are important lenses, historically.

Regards, David

 

[hipsterdufus]

+1 to everyone that said "Summitar". It is exactly what I was looking for in a Leica lens when I bought into the system. Traditional (uncorrected) rendering wide open, sharp as a tack when stopped down.

I also love my 90mm Elmar. The best portrait lens I have ever owned. Portraits are simple: open up to f4, set the shutter speed for the aperture, focus, and shoot. It requires virtually no thought.

 

[Luddite Frank]

if i am reading this thread correctly, every non-CV LTM lens ever made is a classic lens.

Well.... yeah!

To paraphrase George Orwell:

"All Leitz LTM lenses are "classic", but some are more classic than others." 😀

I think the 50 mm Elmar is an undisputed Leitz "classic".

The Summitar and Summicron are also some of their best lenses.

The Summar, while it was improvement over Leitz's first "fast 50", the Hektor 2,5 / 50mm, still had some issues with vignetting when used with color films; thus the development of the Summitar.

Once you get away from these, you start getting into territory where the various LTM Leitz lenses have their limitation / shortcomings... eg: the 35mm Elmar as a wide-field lens...

Some folks are actually able to use these properties to their particular advantage, and for them a "retired, obsolete"(optically) Leitz lens is a great thing...

 

[LeicaTom]

These are my favorite working LTM lenses

"Wartime" Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar T f2 & f1.5/50mm

Leitz Xenon f1.5/50mm

Canon f1.5/ 35mm

Canon f1.2/50mm

"Wartime" Summitar f2/50mm

and the "Wartime" era f3.5/35 & 50mm Elmar (coated)

Tom

 

[ferider]

From the answers, obviously the question is identical to: "which classic LTM lenses do you own ?".

Here are mine (all from the late 1950s):

- Collapsible Summicron
- Nikkor 28/3.5, 35/1.8, 50/1.4 NKT, 85/2
- Komura 80/1.8 (a killer lens that I use as classic "75").

My best performer is the l-Hex 50/2.4, optically "better" than any LTM/M I've tried. Buillt in the 90s though, so probably not "classic".

Roland.

 

[rover]

if i am reading this thread correctly, every non-CV LTM lens ever made is a classic lens.

OK, so building on my initial post.

What LTM lenses are classics? Naming all of them, or your favorites is not the correct answer to that question.

The 50/3.5 Elmar, no doubt.

The collapsable 50 Summicron? More an M classic than an LTM classic no?

50/1.4 Nikkor and 105/2.5 Nikkor... yes? Most likely, I love the 105 but have passed on the 50, to my eyes there are better 50mm lenses. Just an opinion, but in the big picture the 50 Nikkor is a legendary lens.

 

[Brian Legge]

Can you elaborate on what classic means to you? People may be operating on different definitions here..

 

[Luddite Frank]

OK, so building on my initial post.

What LTM lenses are classics? Naming all of them, or your favorites is not the correct answer to that question.

The 50/3.5 Elmar, no doubt.

The collapsable 50 Summicron? More an M classic than an LTM classic no?

50/1.4 Nikkor and 105/2.5 Nikkor... yes? Most likely, I love the 105 but have passed on the 50, to my eyes there are better 50mm lenses. Just an opinion, but in the big picture the 50 Nikkor is a legendary lens.

How are you defining "classic" ? 😕


I think the collapsible Summicron is just as much an "LTM" lens as it is an "M lens"... the screw-mount version was 1953 through 1957 as a collapsible, and as rigid-only through 1963... (Hove Leica Pocket Book, 5th ed. 1991)

When I was getting into screw-mount Leicas, I asked several knowledgeable collector / photogs which lenses should be my first acquisitions, and without exception everyone said that my first 50mm prime lens should be a collapsible Summicron... so that's what i got for my 1951 IIIf.

For that matter, Leica did not cease major production of screw-mount cameras until 1960...

So, I would maintain that the first-generation Summicron 50 is just as much an LTM lens as it is a bayonet lens...

 

[ferider]

First experimental Summicrons ("Summitar*") were built in 1950; SOOIC was introduced commercially in 1953. No M back then. And Ralph, you should try the Tokyo Nikkor 50/1.4. Also has the honor of being the first 50/1.4 lens ever. Beats any other 50 Sonnar variant in terms of built and bokeh, at least for me.

Here's a nice definition of "classic": non-computer optimized. Already excludes the rigid Summicron ....

🙂

 

[Luddite Frank]

I like the 50 /1.4 Nikkor... but mine is Nikon mount, on Dad's Nikon S... 😉

 

[rover]

First experimental Summicrons ("Summitar*") were built in 1950; SOOIC was introduced commercially in 1953. No M back then. And Ralph, you should try the Tokyo Nikkor 50/1.4. Also has the honor of being the first 50/1.4 lens ever. Beats any other 50 Sonnar variant in terms of built and bokeh, at least for me.

Here's a nice definition of "classic": non-computer optimized. Already excludes the rigid Summicron ....

🙂

I mention the 50/1.4 Nikkor to make the point that it clearly is a classic lens, even though my person opinion may not be in line with most regarding it. No argument from me regarding it's place on this list.

 

[NLewis]

I would say that, among the Leica lenses, the Elmar 50/3.5 is the classic. The following summars, summarits and even the summicron were faster and better in some ways, but it is very difficult to find a good copy due to their soft coatings. Also, although you can say the collapsible Summicron is a fine lens, it is not nearly as good as the DR summicron, and also not nearly as compact and collapsible as the Elmar 50/3.5. So, it is more of an intermediate step, which culminated in the rigid body M-mount summicrons, rather than a fully realized vision.

In favor of the Elmar 50/3.5 -- it is fine at all apertures. It is very, very compact, and the combo of Leica III and 50/3.5 is beyond classic. It has its own, special "graphite pencil" signature. It is very sharp. And, it is a 1930s design, with funny quirks (front aperture slider) that give it a special flavor. The Elmar 35/3.5 is also classic, but needs an additional viewfinder, which is kludgey.

Among LTMs, I would also single out the Canon 50/1.8 and 50/1.5. I think I would go for a Canon sonnar 1.5 rather than any f/2 or faster Leica in LTM. Just my opinion.

 

[rover]

How are you defining "classic" ? 😕


I think the collapsible Summicron is just as much an "LTM" lens as it is an "M lens"... the screw-mount version was 1953 through 1957 as a collapsible, and as rigid-only through 1963... (Hove Leica Pocket Book, 5th ed. 1991)

When I was getting into screw-mount Leicas, I asked several knowledgeable collector / photogs which lenses should be my first acquisitions, and without exception everyone said that my first 50mm prime lens should be a collapsible Summicron... so that's what i got for my 1951 IIIf.

For that matter, Leica did not cease major production of screw-mount cameras until 1960...

So, I would maintain that the first-generation Summicron 50 is just as much an LTM lens as it is a bayonet lens...

I think we have to define classic, yes.

Perhaps you are correct about the Summicron. I equate it in my mind mated to an M3, therefore I think of it as an M lens. But as the culmination of the Leica F2 50mm lenses perhaps it is also a classic LTM lens. If so, it's place is earned by being the height of development of this 50mm lens variant. Does this mean the Summitar should not be considered a classic as it was so eclipsed?

Of course, both Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle are Hall of Fame centerfielders based on their own merits.

I think we have to have some way to separate the true classics other than to create a list of all, or our favorite lenses. Not every excellent player belongs in the Hall of Fame.

 

[Luddite Frank]

How about the 50mm / 1.5 Xenon / Summarit (fast objective category ) ?