"Upgrade" from 50/2 Rigid to 50/1.4 Summilux?

[giganova]

I'm using 50mm focal length more & more and was wondering whether upgrading from my 50/2 Rigid to a 50/1.4 Summilux (non-ASPH) would be worthwhile? Shooting wide open at f/1.4 is appealing due to the shallower depth-of-field and bokeh, but then again, I could only do that in the shadow at ISO 125 speed (FP-4) on my M4.

Do you think it is worth "upgrading" from a 50/2 Rigid to a 50/1.4 Summilux on a film Leica?

P.S.: apologize for the wrong term "Summicron" in the title; this should read "Summilux"

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I'm scared to have lens this fast as the only lens on film M. Burned curtain with J-3 on FED-2 in no time by keeping it open for few minutes under very bright light. But I used same J-3 on M3 this year after I sold Rigid and have no 50mm for few weeks.

I have tried Collapsible, Rigid and V4 on film Leica cameras. Collapsible is the BW King. Rigid is King of Colors. V4... I'm afraid it is not from Royal family as other two. It is very technical lens. But Lux for sure is with the Crown. And it is not about bokeh and DOF, it is how different lens is at f5.6 and f8. Lux is different.

Jupiter-3 is not from Royal family of Leica, but on BW film it is the Prince.



You could keep the Rigid for color and resolution and get not expensive, original Jupiter-3 for bokeh and DOF. It has too many aperture blades to count. It is good for bokeh. J-3 has no glow on film wide open and no swirl. But Lux has.

 

[Rob-F]

The Summicron has an edge in definition, while some prefer the "atmosphere" of the Lux at its wide apertures. For my taste, I would not give up the performance of the Rigid Summicron for the Lux unless I were more sure than you seem to be that you actually will get enough use out of its f/1.4 speed to make it worth it. How often do you shoot the Summicron wide open?

 

[a.noctilux]

Yes, if you can find one.
Mainly, two choices: "E43 separate hood" or "E46 sliding hood"
Same optical cell with nice round aperture closed down.
The first long focus throw and 1m.
The second short focus throw (fast but less "precision feeling") to 70cm.

Side note:
I use also the Rigid/DR and in regular photo, f/2 is enough and result from Summicron are as good as Summilux on film or sensor.
(at same aperture of course).

 

[giganova]

How often do you shoot the Summicron wide open?

Yeah, that was my concern: almost never because I don't shoot much under low light conditions.

 

[giganova]

Maybe I am chasing a mystical "dream lens" that doesn't exist and the 50/2 Rigid is hard to beat on b&W film:

 

[a.noctilux]

Yeah, that was my concern: almost never because I don't shoot much under low light conditions.

As 50mm lover for long, I now use Summarit-M 2.5/50mm.
This one is as good as other expensive Leica 50mm.

I keep Noctilux/Summilux/Summicron (because I own them and don't want to sell), when the photographic event call for them to be used "as wide as possible".

 

[f16sunshine]

Title changed.

The v3 Summilux was a favorite for a few years until mine was stolen.
If you have a good clean rigid, I would say keep using it. One stop is hardly worth the change if all other things are equal (and they are not).
I'm using a Skopar f2.5/50mm now and don't miss the Summilux at all.

The rigid is special for B+W. It's one to keep in the long run!