Who made the best manual focus SLR lenses of each focal length?

[dof]

To add my purely subjective thoughts to the list, I've shot a number of the manual focus Nikon and Leica lenses over the years. A few of them stand out from the pack:

Nikon:
24mm f2.8 AIS - This is simply a fine lens.

Leica:
50mm Summicron - A great "all-rounder".
80mm Summilux - Its unique rendering is a treasure. Using it on the SLR is far more enjoyable than its 75mm M counterpart.

 

[tunalegs]

In exakta mount:

50mm: Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 2/50
The Schneider Xenon is a tad bit sharper if you're pixel peeping, but the general effect and rendering of the Pancolar is more natural than that of the Xenon (and you can find a good Pancolar for half as much as the Xenon).

35mm: Schacht Travegon 3.5/35
And odd design of wide angle lens (consisting of three cemented doublets) it is particularly sharp, although quite hard to find in good condition these days.

30mm: Meyer/Pentacon 3.5/30
A very compact, very sharp wide angle, with excellent rendering. I'm always impressed by the results this simple lens gives.

50mm character lens: The Ludwig Meritar is a triplet that was supplied on tons of Exas and other east German cameras in the 50's and 60's. It's not very sharp, but it gives that difficult to describe "vintage" look to images. Unlike the Domiplan the Meritar renders OOF areas in a pleasant way.

 

[santino]

50mm: 50 1.4 ML Yashinon
85mm: 85 1.4 CY Zeiss Planar
35mm: 35 2.8 CY Zeiss Distagon
180mm: 180 2.8 P6 Zeiss Sonnar