Summitar grab, I blame yall!

T

Todd.Hanz

Guest
I'm not a 50mm guy, seems too normal of a focal length for my taste. I've had 50's before but I've never warmed up to them.

So it was with much surprise that I found myself wanting another one, I blame it on all the recent talk here about 50 Elmars and Summitars, "Leica glow" and such. I was near my local shop today so I stopped in to find two screw mount Summitars and two Elmars (M mount 50/2.8), the Summitars were cheaper so I picked up the best of the two.

I hurriedly ran a roll of XP2 through it and the results were quite good, think I'll keep this 50 for a while :).
 
Hey, that doesn't look like the RFF cap ;)

Nice photo's Todd. Congrats.

But then again, you can probably take nice photos with the bottom of a coke bottle :)
 
Sharp shots, Todd. Keep posting pictures like that and there won't be an affordable Summitar left anywhere! :D

Walker
 
love that last shot.

yeah, those leica lenses are great, more people should buy leica lenses, and leave the canon lenses alone to drop in price...;)

joe
 
Very, VERY, nice shots. Seems you do just fine with that 50 whether you like that focal length or not!
 
I'm still working on the first roll with the Summitar that I picked up here on RFF. It looks beautiful, and all of the pictures posted look great with it. Makes up for not finding a Schneider Xenon in LTM.

Is your lens coated or uncoated?
 
This one is coated, the "reflections" show three shades of blue while the other summitar showed white yellow and purple, different cooatings I guess?

thanks,
Todd
 
Hey Todd, love the third shot. I am trying to convince myself that 50 is not my focal length and keep using my CV 35/2.5. But that J8 ends up on my Bessa more often than not.

Looks like I'll have to look around for one of those Summitars, they seem to be really nice.
 
I too sort of am naturally averse to 50's because they are just so seemingly.....simple. (normal?)

I have forced myself into them in recent years though, and I think part of the charm with them is that to use them really well is to embrace their normality....anybody can make OOH Ahhh fisheye or whatnot shots, but it's more difficult to turn a natural perspective into something interesting.

Good luck with that Summitar!
 
It's hardly an accident that the 50 mm focal length is called "normal" for full-frame 35 mm cameras. You can, if you are willing to accept compromises and to move yourself about a bit, do everything from portraits to group shots to landscapes with it. The same goes for other formats, "normal" being based on the square of the hypotenuse of the final image. An important fact to consider is that far more "normal" lenses are of large apertures than are wide angles or narrow angles. This is, of course, because their optical designs are simpler, generally using fewer elements and often being symmetrical. Finally, perspective is not flattened as with long lenses, nor emphasised as with wide angles.

[Edit] Sorry, I'd meant to say that the third picture from the left is superb.
 
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Hello Payasam,

Your Pythagorean propositions got me thinking ...

But perhaps you meant 'hypotenuse' rather than 'square of the hypotenuse'.

The square on the hypotenuse of a 24mm x 36mm rectangle (a standard 35mm frame) is 1872mm. A lens of this focal length would not be considered "normal".

On the other hand, the hypotenuse of the standard 35mm frame would be about 43mm. This would be a pretty good "normal" lens.

Excuse my didactic response to your trigonometrical musings - I used to be a High School teacher.

Cheers,

Seán.
 
Just the ramblings of another semi-retired high school physics teacher.

Some lenses may not top the charts in contrast and resolution, but they do have character.
 
I too like the 3rd shot very much! Nice use of space and focus.
I recently bought a Summitar in very nice condition at a very reasonable price (I thought). I made some exposures with slide film and they look nice.
Since I'm digitally challenged (no scanner, etc) I won't be able to show any shot here...but I'm glad I bought the lens anyway!
 
good ones, Todd.. except for that funny looking guy taking your photo in the middle shot.. you couldn't get him to move out of the way?
 
JoeFriday said:
good ones, Todd.. except for that funny looking guy taking your photo in the middle shot.. you couldn't get him to move out of the way?
Click to expand...


:D :D :D

thanks for the comments!

dlridings, there was another for $260., I think it was newer if you are interested I'll look it over for you.

Todd
 
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