What 50mm (5cm ) lens for my IIIG

[De_Corday]

The Canon LTM 50/1.4 and LTM Nikkor 50.2.0 are excellent lenses (both of which I own). They're affordable too. I’m sure there are others.

Jim B.

+1. My Canon 50 1.4 is one of my favorite lenses. Nice old-school feel, stunning on black and white

 

[rbiemer]

VC Color-Skopar f/2.5 50mm. The best lens in LTM.
Erik.

This is tough to argue with so I won't. 🙂 In fact, this is the only lens I truly regret selling.
One thing about it that may or may not be important to you: it does give a much more "modern" rendition (to me, at least). In itself that's neither bad nor good just, perhaps, something to consider.

You'll get all kinds of opinions here...
...I see that your choices include a Nikon 50mm f2. Based on my experience, and if your budget allows it, go for that one before you pick a Leica. At some point, this one offers the same aperture as a Summicron, and incredible quality.

Best of luck!

Again, hard to dispute. And, contemporary to your IIIg.

The 5cm f2 ltm is outstanding. It's every bit as good as the rider Summicron. I own/owned both and compared them. The f2Nikkor is a bargain too and the build is excellent. There are plenty of clean examples at good prices.

Another good opinion.

I must admit that likewise l am not keen on collapsing and extending lenses time and time again, that why l am leaning towards the Nikkor H C 5cm

Hmm, you may have answered your question here.

The. Ikkor F2 is very small and solid. It's a sonar design also. Wide open it's remarkably sharp and beautiful smooth tones. ......All of these are very good optically.

There seems to be a bit of a pattern emerging. 🙂
Right now, the 50 I use and like the most is my '55 vintage Jupiter-8. When I do decide to replace it, I will be looking for a good condition Nikkor f/2 "sonnar."
I have owned and used a bunch over the years; FED 50, Industars 10 and 22, J-8, J-3, Canon/Serenar50 f/1.8, and a few I know I'm forgetting. I do currently own a seemingly decent Summar but it and the IIIa it came with are off being sorted and I've not used it enough to really know how well, or not, I like the photos from it.

Rob

 

[lxmike]

I have a Canon 50mm f1.5 on my IIIG. Its a great lens but the others mentioned are great, too, no doubt. This size of lens plays to a strength of the IIIG, namely that it does not intrude into the IIIG viewfinder. Also it compliments nicely the size and weight of the IIIG. An f3.5 and/or a collapsible lens I don't think compliments the IIIG as well.

thanks for the re[ly, l hear a lot of good things about Canon LTM lenses

 

[lxmike]

I have 45/2.8 super rokkor mounted on IIIg. Makes for a wonderful kit. Lens performs like nothing else in its price range. I really like it. These days it can be had for well under $200. Its ergonomics are peculiar, but it makes up in images quality.

l do like rokkor lenses and the 40mm focal length is quite appealing

 

[lxmike]

The. Ikkor F2 is very small and solid. It's a sonar design also. Wide open it's remarkably sharp and beautiful smooth tones.

Generally I'm not a huge fan of collapsible lenses either. If you find one that's not worn out they're fine though. My complaint with many of them is that when you change aperture like on the Summitar, Summicron and Elmar with the aperture ring (50's 60's version) the lens wants to rotate and collapse. Once in a while you find ones that are still tight though and won't do that. I had 2 Summitar's that were tight and a Summicron that was basically new.

All of these are very good optically.

the more l hear about the Nikkor the more l am leaning towards it, thanks for the reply by the way

 

[lxmike]

The nice thing with the smaller collapsible lenses is it makes it a shirt pocket camera or a small belt pouch. Easy to carry around and when I get to a situation for shooting, I extend the lens and just walk with the camera in my hand.

Shawn

a handy tip, although with the weight l would not trust my pocket to hold well😱

 

[lxmike]

+1. My Canon 50 1.4 is one of my favorite lenses. Nice old-school feel, stunning on black and white

a bit out of my price range, sadly, however the 50/1.8 is still in my price bracket, how does the 1.8 hold up

 

[lxmike]

This is tough to argue with so I won't. 🙂 In fact, this is the only lens I truly regret selling.
One thing about it that may or may not be important to you: it does give a much more "modern" rendition (to me, at least). In itself that's neither bad nor good just, perhaps, something to consider.



Again, hard to dispute. And, contemporary to your IIIg.



Another good opinion.



Hmm, you may have answered your question here.




There seems to be a bit of a pattern emerging. 🙂
Right now, the 50 I use and like the most is my '55 vintage Jupiter-8. When I do decide to replace it, I will be looking for a good condition Nikkor f/2 "sonnar."
I have owned and used a bunch over the years; FED 50, Industars 10 and 22, J-8, J-3, Canon/Serenar50 f/1.8, and a few I know I'm forgetting. I do currently own a seemingly decent Summar but it and the IIIa it came with are off being sorted and I've not used it enough to really know how well, or not, I like the photos from it.

Rob

thanks rob, likewise l now feel the Nikor HC 50/2 is the way to go

 

[xayraa33]

Go for the gusto, go modern with a CV Nokton 50mm f 1.5 lens.

 

[shimokita]

... the 50/1.8 is still in my price bracket, how does the 1.8 hold up

with my IIIf I am using a Canon 50mm f/1.8 LTM which does a decent job and was reasonably priced... (see my avatar)

I am happy with the results...

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Skip them all. Get LTM 50 Cron, any but clean. IMO it is what G deserves.

I had FED-50 as well, BTW. I-22 is the best. 🙂

 

[bayernfan]

50 collapsible cron. match made in heaven.

i have a Ig with a 35/3.5 elmar on it. also a fantastic combo.

 

[raid]

If you prefer a non-collapsible 50mm lens, based on the lenses that I very much like using, I recommend to you:
Nikkor 50/2 ltm (not expensive)
Canon 50/1.4 ltm (cheap) Canon 50/1.8 ltm (even cheaper)

If you consider collapsible lenses:
Hexanon 50/2.4 ltm
Collapsible Summicron.

Cheap but excellent: Jupiter-8 50/2 (clone of Zeiss 50/2) ltm. Jupiter-3 50/1.5 ltm ($250)

Excellent: CV 50/1.5 ltm.

There are many excellent options out there.

 

[jarski]

I had Heliar 3.5 on my IIIg. Modern sharp lens and matching looks of the camera. Liked the ability of collapsing the lens.

 

[peterm1]

I second the view that the Canon 50s (the f1.8 and f1.4 in particular) are excellent (and relatively cheap)and are worthy additions to a 111G or any other LTM camera. But I would add that my other choice as a general purpose lens would probably be a Leica Summitar 50mm f2. Its a fine lens and I would not fault it - not too far off a Summicron with nice rendering and sufficient sharpness to keep a reasonable man happy. By the way as to the Canon f1.4 it is so good many call it "The Japanese Summilux". If you Google this term you will get a lot of hits with positive reviews. Here is one. http://aperturepriority.co.nz/2013/05/28/the-japanese-summilux-canon-50mm-f1-4-ltm/

As to the Summarit, while I like it and have one and use it, for general purpose shooting it should be regarded as a lens which is best used at f2 and beyond. At f1.5 it is a bit quirky with low contrast and is also flare prone. But at that aperture it also is inclined to produce very pretty pastel colors which can be nice so you pay your money and you make your choice. Never the less it is a lens which is not to everyone's taste.

 

[megido]

Not sure about the Nikkors but the collapsible Summicron will partially block the finder if thats a concern for you. The 3.5 50 Elmar will not.

 

[AlexBG]

I must admit that likewise l am not keen on collapsing and extending lenses time and time again, that why l am leaning towards the Nikkor H C 5cm

I've only ever heard good things about the nikkor. Like Raid said, there is always the jupiter 8. Have a look on 35mmc.com, he is hunting for his favourite 50mm at the moment.

 

[David Hughes]

Either get the lens that would have come with it when new, for the authentic Leica feeling etc; a coated Summitr f'instance.

Or get the best you can afford, which opens up a whole can of worms...

Regards, David

 

[FUJINON]

If you want a Leitz lens then I would suggest either the 50mm f2.8 Elmar or the 50mm f3.5 "Red Scale" Elmar, otherwise get a 50mm f2 Nikkor.
I use the LTM Nikkors on my Leica IIIb and can thoroughly recommend them, they are excellent build quality, have good hard coatings, the rigid 50mm's can close focus to 18 inches (3ft to 18 inches un-coupled). If you intend to use them also on a digital mirrorless camera with an LTM adapter the close focus facility is an added advantage and is very useful.

 

[De_Corday]

Just to add to the chorus, the Jupiter 8 is actually worthy of consideration. The focusing pitch difference between Leica and Contax spec means, theoretically, that you'll never find one that focuses dead-on both far and near, but in practice this has never been the case with my copy. I suspect that poor manufacturing tolerances work in our favor on this one. Also once you stop down at all, the potential problem disappears. What do you get for your $40? a surprisingly crisp, lightweight lens with gorgeous OOF qualities.

My trusty Canon 1.4 is apart on my workbench at the moment (dropped it. don't ask.) so my Jupiter 8 is on my M6 today. Its a real lens.