Summar

[Erik van Straten]

gelatin silver print (summar 50mm f2) leica IIIc

Erik.

 

[Erik van Straten]

gelatin silver print (summar) leica III

Erik.

 

[K14]

Film imperfection...some of were taken with a Nooky attachment. Leica IIIa





Here is the degraded coating on my Summar,

 

[brusby]

Nice images Erik and Gary!

Gary, your photos seem to me to have much less haze than mine did. Hard to analyze from just a few images, but it appears to be only a very slight amount of haze, if any, combined with a bit of light misdirection from the coating damage. Almost the opposite of APO effect. Instead of three or four different frequencies of light all being focused at the same point, it has the feeling of a somewhat sharp main image with small halos surrounding it, particularly apparent around brighter areas.

It feels like a hybrid coated and uncoated lens, exhibiting characteristics of both -- which I suppose it is. Nice!

I agree with you and I wouldn't have tried to clean your lens. As you mentioned and as it appears in your last photo, the coating is already coming off in places. No doubt any attempt at cleaning would probably harm or destroy what's left and cause further degradation of the image. But my lens was uncoated, so there was no chance of damaging the coating. For mine it was just a matter of haze and an overwhelming amount at that.

 

[farlymac]

Nice images from such an old lens. Even though the M240 ads a more modern look, Brusby, the colors are still wonderful.

PF

 

[brusby]

Thanks PF.

When I get some time I'll make some close up images at wide apertures to compare to the nice soft ones Gary posted above. I'd like to confirm what's due to the basic design of the lens versus after acquired anomalies.

All the ones I posted above were made at middle apertures to minimize aberrations. I knew how hazy and soft this lens often looks, but I wanted to see how it performs at it's cleanest and closest to original specs. Now I'm curious to see what's due to the coating and/or coating imperfections. So, I'll shoot some on my uncoated version at wide apertures to make things as similar as possible to the lovely soft examples above.

 

[brusby]

Summar @f2 using Oufro 16469y extension tube. Sharp for in focus area with some dreaminess for all else. 'Really want to do natural light and organic subjects when I have time.

M2409885 by Brusby, on Flickr

 

[helen.HH]

summar chasing the night light...



Fleeeeeeeeting...

by Helen Hill, on Flickr

 

[helen.HH]

by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/helenartemishill/]Helen Hill, on Flickr

 

[Erik van Straten]

gelatin silver print (summar 50mm f2) leica mp

Erik.

 

[K14]

summar chasing the night light...

Nice Helen! Reminds me of chasing the twilight to Mt.Fuji

Summar Eastman XX



K14 - aka Gary

 

[helen.HH]

Nice Helen! Reminds me of chasing the twilight to Mt.Fuji

Summar Eastman XX

K14 - aka Gary

Thank You Gary, so pleased You liked' summar chasing the night light'

Yum to 'chasing the twilight to Mt Fuji' ... Love it Gary !
The curve of the pavement with the dark mid section foliage & the light on the road is pure magic
The mountains in the background beckoning You to come closer...

 

[K14]

Thank You Gary, so pleased You liked' summar chasing the night light'

Yum to 'chasing the twilight to Mt Fuji' ... Love it Gary !
The curve of the pavement with the dark mid section foliage & the light on the road is pure magic
The mountains in the background beckoning You to come closer...

Thank you Helen! The summar always has a story to tell doesn't it? Those special moments that somehow catch your eye and fancy, the darker B&W images are so special. The imperfections of film or you might call it the features. Your "summar chasing the night light" might not have been if was taken digitally, who knows but all I can say it is pure magical moment of enjoyment!

 

[brusby]

Interesting. Why a Summar? Couldn't those photos have been made by almost any lens that renders out of focus images?

 

[Erik van Straten]

Interesting. Why a Summar? Couldn't those photos have been made by almost any lens that renders out of focus images?

Absolutely not. A Summar is sharp and the rendering is breathtaking. If you don't see that, polish your glasses and look again.

gelatin silver print (summar 50mm f2) leica lll

Erik.

 

[Erik van Straten]

gelatin silver print (summar 50mm f2) leica lll

Erik.

 

[Erik van Straten]

gelatin silver print (summar 50mm f2) leica lll

Erik.

 

[Erik van Straten]

gelatin silver print (summar 50mm f2) leica lll

Erik.

 

[brusby]

Absolutely not. A Summar is sharp and the rendering is breathtaking. If you don't see that, polish your glasses and look again.

gelatin silver print (summar 50mm f2) leica lll

Erik.

You misinterpreted my comment. I didn't denigrate Summar lenses, in fact, my whole purpose in starting this thread was to show a few recent examples from a nice clean Summar, and how even one that's not coated is capable of producing beautiful, sharp and vibrant images.

My comment concerned only the blurry, out of focus photo(s) posted earlier in this thread of which I was curious -- why use a nice lens like a Summar when it seems almost any lens of lesser quality would do about the same.

 

[Rob-F]

Thanks Erik. It was a real mess from very heavy fogging, but I was super careful with it. You're fortunate to have a nice coated copy. I am surprised at how well the uncoated one performs.

I was surprised, too, when I saw how sharp and saturated these shots are. Whenever someone posts Summar shots, one gets ready to see flare, glow, and softness. But then I realized that if the Summar were really a dog, Leitz would never have made it! Apparently its only weaknesses--when new--were flare in backlight, and, I imagine, some softness at full aperture. Apparently, the "glow" is an artifact of the haze that develops over time, and not (as Brusby has shown us) an inherent weakness of the Summar's design!