Which 50mm to keep?

[Ccoppola82]

Since I've started using Leicas, I've scoured for good deals at estate sales etc and ended up with a bunch of Leica Glass. I have 3 50mm's to choose from, and they are all CLA'd by Youxin (the collapsible cron is on the way there). I'm intrigued by the Nokton 1.1, and plan to sell one of the Leicas to fund it. Just curious which you guys would part with and why....I've shot with all of them and love them all, but they are too close in speed to warrant keeping the 3.

I have

Elmar 2.8
Collapsible Summicron
Summicron Rigid

 

[mgrinnan]

I say keep the Summicron (rigid). Youxin is cool, he fixed mine... it helps me take good pictures. Also, if you want f/1.1, why not just buy the new one? Chinese people make good ****.

 

[f16sunshine]

Keep the Rigid for sure if you have a good one.
It's a beautiful lens for film and digital use.
Sell all the rest.

 

[ruby.monkey]

If it were me I'd keep the rigid Summicron for everyday use; the Elmar for when I need a pocket Leica (and because it's a lovely lens in its own right); sell the collapsible Summicron; and save up a bit longer for the Nokton.

And then forget about it and pick up the f/1.5 Nokton instead.

 

[Erik van Straten]

It depends how good your Collapsible is. If the front lens is scratched, then get rid of it. If it is pristine, keep it and use it. A wonderful lens with more character than the Rigid.

Erik.

 

[teddy]

If the Collapsible has no etched haze and minor scratches or if it's perfect I would keep it. If it does have all the above I would sell the Collapsible and keep the Summicron Type 2 (Rigid). Sell everything else.

Minor scratches on the Collapsible Summicron do nothing to the image. If you have many many tiny little scratches everywhere I would avoid.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

The Summicrons should be easiest to sell and get the best price towards the next lens and, as said before, the Elmar f/2.8 is a better lens than you'd expect, and pocketable too.

Regards, David

 

[jazzwave]

Sell all then buy Sumilux 50/1.4 PreAsph.
If u r lucky you will get ASPH in range $2000-2500

~ron~

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Cron v1. After workout with 1.1 brick, you'll need something light.
If it is for digital - Rigid.

 

[Huss]

It took me 3 attempts before I got a good Nokton 1.1. And the one I have now is fantastic.
So be careful of selling off your other lenses too quickly.
As for them, keep the one you like the best... You know you don't love them all equally.

p.s. what camera will you use the 1.1 on? It's perfect on my M5, but feels too big on my M3s, M4-2 and M7.

 

[Robert Lai]

I hate to sell a good lens. Any time I've done this, I've ended up buying a replacement. Alas, usually at a higher price!

If you sell the collapsible, once you've carted your 1.1 lens around all day and your neck and shoulders hurt - you will start to regret it. Then you'll be scouring the ads for a clean collapsible.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Rigid Summicron.

Phil Forrest

 

[analoged]

Maybe buy the Chinese 1.1 to see if you actually need/use1.1?

 

[Ccoppola82]

I suppose I could keep them all. I'm going to be doing some film stuff at concerts soon and the 1.1 is tempting to me. That's a LOT of light getting sucked in. I don't plan to use it as a daily walker, I will use one of the others for that. I never really thought of selling them all for a pre asph summilux, I guess for the price I would just get the Nokton 1.5 and save some
$$. I think I'm gonna have to wait for the collapsible to get back from Youxin and do a test roll between the 3 and really decide which I like best. They are all really nice. I think I've decided to keep the rigid though, it's just got a great feel to me and I love the tonality with my film/developer combo I'm using.

 

[Ccoppola82]

Ps. It's going on an M2

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Then all three are perfect match. The only way to find which to keep in this case, IMO, is to use each lens for a month, at least. To determine which lens rendering and handling you will find to be best for you.

Cron V1 (and Elmar) is small and light on M2, but collapsing isn't always all of us like.
Cron V2 isn't always superior to V1, if it is BW film. I found V2 to be too big and kind of bulky on M3 (with original hood). And it wasn't as special in rendering as V1 was for me.

Take your time...

 

[Daryl J.]

Keep them all.

Unless you go through a lot of film, there is no way to find out a lens's character in a relatively short period of time. One can get a cursory sample and initial impression yes, but those are shallow.

Keep them all.
Then keep the ones you use.

 

[mpaniagua]

ditto about keeping rigid Summicron and selling the rest, unless you like compact lenses, which I deduct that isn't an issue because Nokton 1.1 isn't particularly small. If you like compact lenses (like I do), then keep the collapsible summicron.





Regards

Marcelo

 

[MCTuomey]

when i had one, i felt the rigid was pretty wonderful on film M's. on digital i prefer the ZM planar or sonnar or, expensively, a lux. never used the VC 50/1.1 but did own and like the VC 50/1.5, that might be a less expensive way to get a bit more speed.

 

[jsrockit]

The one you use the least...