ZEISS50MM F/1.5 ZM C SONNAR T* LENS or Summilux

[clicker]

I am considering purchasing a new 50mm lens for my Leica . Any thoughts on the Zeiss 1.5 or Summilux 1.4. There is a substantial price difference and I am wondering if the Summilux has any practcal advantage over the new Zeiss.
Thanks

 

[ghost]

the crescent focusing lever and built-in hood may be more to your liking.

 

[telenous]

Hello Clicker, welcome to the forum.

Perhaps the most important practical difference between the two lenses is that the Summilux 50 Asph. focuses down to 0.7m while the Zeiss Sonnar 50 down to 0.9m.

 

[Avotius]

for me the .7 and .9 focus would be an issue sometimes but not all the time and I duno, its a hell of a lot of money to save on the sonnar over the lux (new that is...) A used lux on the other hand might be right up your alley if you are not sure about the sonnar. I am quite interested in the sonnar for another reason all together though, its a lot smaller then the lux, and for me that might just mater enough to forget about the minimum focus distance.

 

[back alley]

the lux is not a sonnar design, is it?

that makes the biggest difference, i would think.

 

[Nachkebia]

I would go for summilux, and there can be only one reason why! hood! I just love that pop up hood of summilux, unfortunatly Zeiss hood`s are mighty ugly...

 

[telenous]

My greatest complaint with the two Zeiss lenses I have used in the past (Planar 50 ZM and Planar 50 ZF -both excellent lenses although I prefered the ZM over the ZF) has to do with the front lens caps which leave a lot to be desired in terms of functionality. If you are shooting fast the lens caps are very fiddly and they often made me worry that I may hit with them the front element. Zeiss needs to address this some time in the future because it is a very real, practical problem.

The focusing distances may or may not be an issue. I have learned to live with the 0.7m min focusing distance of most rangefinder lenses and perhaps I could do the same with 0.9 if I had to. It really depends on your shooting style but any limitation imposed upon you by your equipment certainly cannot be welcome.

Having said that, if someone wants a new Sonnar 50 lens there's only one currently in production, and that's the Zeiss lens. But if you are not specifically after the Sonnar look then the Summilux Asph is a very, very enticing proposition with many users reporting it as the best 50 lens available to humanity, (i.e. with uncompromising performance in every single stop). For the price it better be (and my opinion, relative to what I have used in the past, is that it is).

 

[rover]

We are just starting to see some shots from the ZM 50 Sonnar. They seem very sharp and modern compared to vintage Sonnars to my eye. That is not a bad thing, but even with a Sonnar signature they are different, that is progress I guess.

I really really like images from the new 50 lux. They are every bit as sharp and have a silky smooth tone to them. This is a tough call, I guess if price wasn't an issue....... well I guess in 20 years I will buy a used 50 lux Asph and let you know what I think about it then.

 

[Kyle]

I finally got a chance to shoot with my 50/1.5 ZM. After I stop being lazy I'm going to process the rolls and I'll hopefully post some samples by the end of the day.

 

[ghost]

to sum up, not much.

 

[jano]

My greatest complaint with the two Zeiss lenses I have used in the past (Planar 50 ZM and Planar 50 ZF -both excellent lenses although I prefered the ZM over the ZF) has to do with the front lens caps which leave a lot to be desired in terms of functionality.

With the hoods on and without a filter, it's very tough to get the cap on. Without the hood, it's not difficult at all. With a filter + hood, not easy, but not difficult. However, thanks to this, I've not got one of my best lens-cap masterpieces 😀 (cap wasn't on right, so some light leaked in.. hahahaha) I call it.. "Ooops, I did it again :bang: " 🙄