Vintage High Speed Lens GAS

[Avotius]

So the M6 has started a problem, I want a high speed vintage lens for shooting black and white that has lots of character. My Zeiss Planar just doesn't cut it for me in that field. Screw or M mount are both fine.

Digifan here in China has this old 50mm Summarit 1.5 which seems to be good. I am not too familiar with this lens but a quick look at flickr shows that it might be good. At 357 dollars its a bit of the high side for a Summarit but not much of a stretch if its in good condition.

I am also quite interested in the pre asph 50mm summilux's but those seem to get snatched up quick. Is there another lens that I should be thinking about for that vintage black and white "glowing" highlights?

Damn gas....my girlfriend has it too, we are doomed.


ps. the smoother the out of focus rendering the better as I plan to use the lens wide open a lot.

 

[Uwe_Nds]

Have you thought of the Jupiter 3 or does it have to be an old Leica lens?

Best regards,
Uwe

 

[Avotius]

Have you thought of the Jupiter 3 or does it have to be an old Leica lens?

Best regards,
Uwe

I have not thought about the Jupiter 3 yet actually. I hear they are a real pain in the ass to get a good one that will work right.

 

[Uwe_Nds]

I have not thought about the Jupiter 3 yet actually. I hear they are a real pain in the ass to get a good one that will work right.

Well, I assume it very much depends on where you buy.
The ones from reputable sellers should be ok.

 

[VinceC]

Quality control on the J-3 was always dicey. A fellow RFF'er who works on them says they nearly all need to be adjusted.

 

[lZr]

For the same price you can get a new CV 50/1.5 ASPH Nokton. Why not?

 

[maddoc]

I would go for the 50/1.5 Summarit. From what I heard (especially what Ned - NB23- said) this lens should exactly fit your needs. 🙂

 

[varjag]

For the same price you can get a new CV 50/1.5 ASPH Nokton. Why not?

Because the Nokton is not a vintage lens with a character? 🙂

I'd second the suggestion of J-3, CZ Sonnar, or its Canon/Nikon copies. Those are all about character and are usable wide open.

 

[thomasw_]

Yes, for 357 that is a good deal. I like the signature of that lens, and it will be a good counter-balance to your zm 50/2.

 

[former member]

The Summarit is great for black and white. The lower contrast prevents the image from clipping, losing shadow and highlight details. If it is in good condition, without haze, the price is good. The Summarit and original Summilux are closely related for formula and about the same for performance. The Summarit sells for about 1/2 of the original Summilux.

 

[edodo]

Don't buy the Jupiter 3 for you M6, it won't focus! It is a good lens on a russian body, but not on a german body beware! good lenses vintage would be canon 50 1.4, canon 35 1.5, leitz summar summitar coll summicron or even a xenon! If you can find a nikkor 50mm 1.4, I doubt you would be disapointed!

 

[edodo]

Quality control on the J-3 was always dicey. A fellow RFF'er who works on them says they nearly all need to be adjusted.

They can be tweaked but never be fully usable from 1m to inf because the focusing cam is just not the right size for the leica/LTM focusing cam!

 

[edodo]

If you still buy that summarit or another watch out for bad surprises like fog inside the lens and front lens scratches! A clean summarit is expensive and rare!

 

[drewbarb]

Check out the Canon 50mm F1.2- these are not too expensive (should be around $300 or so) and give a beautiful vintage rendering. Very sharp, especially in the middle. It does vignette slightly, but in low light where you'll likely use the lens tis shouldn't be an issue. Overall it has a lovely character. Look around- there are plenty of examples on Flikr, etc. Here's one image I've posted before- this was shot wide open at 1/15th of a second. At the time I shot this, my copy of this lens had some haze and was showing evidence of some separation, which all add more character. It has since been cleaned up and repaired. Still lovely- and sharper now.

 

[xayraa33]

the Canon 50/1.2 seems to be a winner in the price to preformance ratio.

 

[Avotius]

I know that if I go old vintage lens that I will run the risk of haze and other age related lens illnesses, my Elmar I thought was perfectly clean, only recently when I stuck it on the end of my enlarger did I find it had dust and a little haze in it, but it still works the charm.

A canon 1.2 could be interesting as well. Also one of the lenses that I have always wanted was the canon 1.5. Choices suck, I should just blow a bunch of money and buy a preasph summilux hah....

 

[Tom A]

The Summarit 50f1.5 is a good choice - tons of characters, but finding a hood for it is difficult (and it needs it or you get way too much character!).
The Canon 50f1.2 is another good choice, softer rendition and great "flare" around bright subjects.
Also look at the Nikkor 50f1.4 in LTM mount. Great retro look in black/white, but not as much "character" as the other ones. A bit too good for that, Very sharp.
Canon's 50f1.4 is another one. As good, if not better, than the Nikkor 50f1.4 , maybe a bit to corrected to use as a retro-look bl.w lens. Build quality is a bit iffy on them though.
Money no object_ Nikkor 50mm f1.1 - truly massive and rather mediocre at f1.1 and way too much money!
Canon 50mm/0.95 - the Dream lens - you dream of getting anything in focus! More character than you would wish for!
Of course, if you REALLY want that kind of flare, look for one of the Xenon 50f1.5 (the predecessor of the Summarit/Summilux). A bit scarce and in good shape, they are getting expensive.

 

[ferider]

Nothing to add to what Tom said. Except this:

- I don't like the Summarit signature. Any Sonnar flavor of that time period is better to my eyes.
- My favorite of his list is the Nikkor 50/1.4. Check out Sanders' recent photos with that lens.

Roland.

 

[former member]

There is one trick to using a J-3 at all distances with the Leica- move the rear module in slightly toward the front to reduce the effective focal length just a bit, then shim it. Results of a really good one are on par with the Nikkor 5cm F1.4 or Sonnar 50mm F1.5. Conservation of inconvenience.

J-3 wide-open on the Bessa R2.