Your pick for "good" M mount 50mm lens

[Sonnar Brian]

The C-Sonnar is sharper at the edges, has less field-curvature. The J-3+ will focus to 0.7m, the C-Sonnar to 0.9m.

This is my Jupiter-3+, wide-open on the M8. Between 0.7m close focus and the crop factor- it is a great combo. I have two of these lenses. I like it- the choice of material and construction is the best of any J-3 or original LTM Zeiss Sonnar I've seen.

Secret Garden, Occoquan by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

I bought one, might have been the first in the US- SN 200. I did a write-up about it, the company has it on their website. Didn't know I was an expert till they told me so...

https://www.lomography.com/magazine...-of-the-new-jupiter-3-plus-with-brian-sweeney

The J-3 and CZJ 5cm F1.5 Sonnar: My Favorite.

Jupiters by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr


Eight is Enough by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

Full Disclosure: I'm a sucker for a Sonnar.

 

[das]

It's really going to depend on what your priorities are. Are you looking for an "all-around" 50, or a lens with portrait "character?" Sonnars and their copies are generally not "all-around 50s" -- they excel at closer distances and wider apertures and most all of them will exhibit focus shift as the lens is stopped that will often be noticeable even on film. Double-gauss Planar-style lenses will have much less shift and be able to give adequate results at all apertures. All-around 50s that are good values and focus down to 0.7m = Zeiss 50/2, most of the VC 50s, M-Hexanon 50/2, V3 V4 50/2 Summicrons.

 

[AlexBG]

I have been in the same boat as you for a long time and done hours of research. 50mm f/2.5 Color Skopar with a LTM adapter is your perfect choice. Second I would say a canon serenar 50 1.8. Price difference is quite big between the two. The Minolta 50 1.8 is also a good choice but harder to find a good one.

 

[karlin]

I recommend the Hexanon M 50\2 and the Elmar M 50 2.8

 

[GLL]

I'm going to throw a little curveball here and suggest a brand new lens - the TTArtisan 50mm 1.4, which can be had for $369 and is an excellent performer. It's very sharp, especially in the centre, and renders out of focus areas very nicely. The only con - it's slightly larger than some of the other lenses you're considering - maybe around the same size as the planar.

I picked it up on a whim, and it has totally cured me of any interest in other m-mount 50s - incredibly impressive for the price.

You can find one or two photos that i've taken with it in the thread here: https://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=3001544

and there are a few reviews online!

 

[Sonnar Brian]

1943 Carl Zeiss Jena 5cm F1.5 at F4, on the Leica M9.

 

[cboy]

+1 Elmar M
+1 Heliar f3.5
Above for excellent performance/quality
TTartisan 50 f1.4 for best value/performance

Goodluck! All the best

 

[Bmoze]

I have the Skopar 50/2.5 ltm and a Summicron 50/2 DR. I've compared these lenses on film and on a digital Leica CL. They're both excellent and actually quite close, in my view, in overall field sharpness. The Skopar has a touch more contrast than the 50 DR and is a touch less sharp in the corners. It's a small, light lens and has a great feel. I use it on a iiif and a M4 with a ltm-m adapter. It's a very nice piece. The 50 DR is a unique lens. It's a lot heavier and a bit awkward, but it renders beautifully on film. It's close focus capability opens up many possibilities and it's a lot of fun to play with. For me, the Skopar is an everyday carry lens and the DR is specialty player.

 

[ktmrider]

I have three or four 50's including the current 50 Summicron, original 50f1.1 Nokton, 50f1.2 Nokton ASPH (I think), and a collapsible 50 Summicron for my 3f. I have been shooting the first version of the Summicron because the 3f is new and I enjoy playing with it. It is actually giving me pretty good results and appears to be about $550-650 used. I posted over on the Leica Users Forum asking how it compares to the current 50 Summicron and most of the answers were very positive.

If you bought the LTM version it would need an adoptor but I think you can find one with the M lens mount. Mine was CLA'ed by DAG according to Classic Connection and I believe you could find a nice one fairly easily.

Good luck!

 

[Bingley]

I’ve got over 10 50mm RF lenses, and have sold a bunch more. It’s my favorite focal length by far. If you’re looking for a good, all-round 50 to shoot on your M4-2, then my picks would be:

CV Skopar 50/2.5 (a truly suburb little lens, kept me from buying an Elmar-M 50/2.8)
Canon 50/1.8 (make sure you get a clean one, but if there’s no haze this is terrific lens; check out Dante Stella’s article on Canon lenses for Leica)
Nikkor-HC 50/2.0 (a sonnar-design lens and works well as an all-rounder)

Of course, there are many Leica Summicrons out there, but they’re going to be much more expensive than any of the above. But if you want a sweet lens with a vintage look, check out the Leitz Summitar 50/2.0, particular a post-war coated version).

Finally, the Zeiss lenses... I have several Zeiss Sonnar lenses in Contax and LTM mount. They are wonderful lenses; I don’t entirely agree with the comment above that they are speciality portrait lenses, although they are certainly good for that use. They can also be excellent general use lens, but you may need to sort out adapters in order to use them on your M4-2. The current Zeiss ZM lenses are the cat’s meow in terms of sharpness and “pop,” but they will be more expensive then the three I’ve specifically mentioned. I had a Zeiss ZM Planar 50/2.0 for awhile: a bitingly shart and highly contrasty lens, with handling that in the end I didn’t like. So I sold it. It sounds like you’re not looking for the ultimate in optics at this stage, so maybe hold off on getting a new Zeiss lens.

I haven’t used the new CV 50/1.5 lenses, but if you like the look from your Skopar 35/2.5, maybe give these a look.

You’ve got a lot of choices...

 

[Beemermark]

As in the title of this thread - I'm looking to equip my trusty M4-2 with a good-but-not-stellar and *reasonably priced* 50mm focal length lens. 🙂

Curious, why would spend the amount of money a Leica goes for and then search for a mediocre lens?

 

[pvdhaar]

I recommend the Hexanon M 50\2 and the Elmar M 50 2.8

I was already wondering why no-one mentioned the M 50\2 Hexanon. It's a very well built lens with excellent image quality.

 

[Ccoppola82]

Small and simple? Skopar. If you want to try something a bit different look for a 50mm 1.8 chiyoda kogaku. Ltm, small, reasonable price, fast, good coatings and build. It’s one of my most contrasty 50s. Really has a nice bite to it and I’m shocked there isn’t more about it on this forum someplace.

 

[aizan]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like your price range is around $600-900. If so, I’d look at Voigtländer’s two new 50s, the Nokton II and APO-Lanthar. Both $1000.

 

[David Hughes]

Curious, why would spend the amount of money a Leica goes for and then search for a mediocre lens?

Yes, years and years ago I suggested that a better choice would be a FED 2 with a Summicron and didn't I get my knuckles rapped. But I can see the point of the Leica body as that is what you are holding and handling all the time, lenses we just twist around.


Regards, David

 

[Sierra Club]

Wow, this thread is a treasure trove of excellent information.
Thank you all again for sharing, I appreciate it and I'm learning a lot!

Just to clarify one thing which I think I did not communicate properly:
Per Beemermark's response, I'm not looking for a mediocre lens at all.
I've used the word "good" as "not necessarily a Noctilux", my budget is not extremely limited.

I'm by no means looking for a meniscus lens made of plastic (though I got nothing against these).

Until I've purchased CV 35 f/2.5 for my 4-2 per JCH's advice I thought these are mediocre lenses and I shouldn't settle for anything less than Summicron to grace my film Leica...
But after 3 years I honestly can't say a bad word about the little Skopar. I love it.
It's sharp, contrasty, well corrected, extremely compact, well built and has good ergonomics (maybe aside from the tiny aperture ring but I'm shooting hyperfocal with it anyway so it doesn't matter that much to me).

To be honest, I'm blown away with so many of you recommending CV 50 f/2.5 and speaking so highly of this lens - which I've researched more since it was first mentioned in this thread.
I was expecting multitude of S-cron/S-lux/N-lux recommendations and maybe Zeiss.

IMO it confirms that CV50 f/2.5 is - just like my 35 - simply really good glass for everyday shooting.
It's not necessarily a Noctilux but still gets a lot of praise from you guys and that's exactly what I was looking for 🙂

Granted, it would be cool to shoot with a cron.
But then again, I've purchased 4-2 instead of M6 in order not to be afraid of actually using it.
Same goes for the glass I have.

 

[Hern]

I would venture to say that there are incredibly few modern M-mount lenses made today that are objectively (excuse the pun) rubbish. Anything from Voigtlander these days seem like home runs, and Zeiss are stellar performers too. They'll pick a fight with anything not cutting edge from Leica - and then some.

Some QC issues from the Chinese makers like 7Artisans and TTArtisans but even those are user-tinker-able.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I've set Meniscus lenses into RF coupled mounts for photographers before, on request.

Most lenses perform far better stopped down a bit than people would believe.



If your budget can be stretched to $1000, the new 50/2 APO lens from Cosina/Voigtlander is going to be incredible. I went with the new 50/1.5 Nokton, also about the same price.

 

[David Hughes]

Why not the 50mm Leica lens that would have come with the M4-2 when it was new?


That means a type 3 Summicron and they might just be within the budget if you look around.


You won't be disappointed as they all punch well above their weight.


Regards, David

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Summicron 50 V3 has long focus through and the way focus block is connected to the lens block it stiff or loose. It is mediocre lens on this side of the build.

Calling lens as mediocre because it is not Leica made to match Leica camera is mediocresm.
I know real photog (person with not only technicalities knowledge of exposure, film processing and printing, but gifted as artist) who is constantly using J-3 on M3, while in possession of more prestige fifties. His darkroom prints are classic.

HCB told what Elmar 50 3.5 is totally enough for amateur. I agree with him. It is better lens on bw drakroom prints than sterile, flat Rigid and V4. Whose are lenses which shine only on color, IMO.

Yet, I struggle to find any mediocre fifty. It is focal length which demands some content. If it is provided, then sharpness and rendering becomes mediocre crap talk.

I had Skopar PII for couple of years. On M4-2. It was in my bw film maniac years and lots of travels, events, while film was not investment for shareholders, with quarterly demand on profit increase, but business based on end users . At some point I have to deal with loose lens block on focus block and focus tab was failing off. I never liked its rendering (lack of it) on bw darkroom prints, but it doesn't matter this much, because I was able to photograph what I really want and where I want.