My main Leica lens for 20 years, the old non-ASPH Summilux-M 50mm IS the best lens Leica (or for that matter anyone) ever made. In addition to its two main attributes of near absolute freedom from flare and a signature bokeh (blur) of subtle beauty, it is characterized by an artistic balance of high resolution and realistic contrast -- even wide open. It is perfectly balanced on the M body. Just the best. I have the E46 version, NO finder blockage..
Another heart-warming video - Thank you so much - again!! The Summilux 50 (- version 2) is a truly wonderful lens indeed - no wonder that this optical design soldiered on for a good forty-three years! Also, your respectful & loving mentioning of Dr. Mandler was highly appropriate (!!!) - without his incredible sense of 'Bildqualität', Leica would have been ....different!
¡Gran episodio! Gracias por todo el trabajo duro que pones en estos videos. El contenido informativo y entretenido es la razón principal por la que veo y disfruto de RU-vid. 📸
Hello Matt. This test is timely. I'm in the middle of choosing a 50mm to shoot portraits, my current option is the Voigtlander 1.0/50mm, but your test calls everything into question!. Nice video as usual!
F1 is super sharp even wide open in the corners, sharper than ASPH lux in the corners. It has huge chromatic aberrations from f1.0 to f1.8, mostly gone at f2. The pre-a lux 1.4 also has huge purple fringing at 1.4, gone by 2.8 ish. f1 bokeh is pretty modern too. lux's bokeh is a bit busier, but with more character.
Matt I just ordered the Leica Q3. I don't know when it will arrive but the EVF frame lines remind me of the rangefinder. I wanted a walk around camera that simulates having many lense and can serve hybrid and low light. I think it will be fun to use. I hope you plan on getting one to test out and share your own experience with us subscribers
after I bought the e46 pre-a (v3, the 0.7m close focus one), I sold my asph version. Really like its classic rendering of bokeh while still keep it sharp within the focus area.
Love it! I have this lens paired on my M3 and M9. For me, on film this lens is amazing with incredible color. Then yes on my M9 the dreamy look it can produce while still having great contrast is awesome. I don’t like the 1m minimum focus and the lens hood is huge with the reverse mounting when th cap is on makes it slow when pulling the camera up or out to shoot. For the focus throw, sometimes I really like the long throw sometimes I really don’t, Lol The build quality on this lens is Way beyond that of my 35mm ASPH pre-FLE, a lens I really love as well. Well it’s also my only other Leica lens…. Lol
@@MattOsborne-MrLeicaCom no longer shoot professionally(do VFX now), so strictly M cameras for the time being. Also I just dropped said 35mm this morning... :(
50mm Summilux 28mm Summicron 90mm macro Elmar The perfect three lens kit and superb as a slimmed down travel kit. If I had to pick just one, it'd be the 50mm summilux 👌
Thanks Mike! I now use the 28mm Elmarit over the 28 Cron (or 28 f2 Ultron) and VC 90 APO instead of the Macro Elmar but yes all great lenses! ..and perfect size.
I have the R equivalent of this lens. It's not exactly the same, but it shares many of the same characteristics. I have a love/hate relationship with this lens. In certain areas it is absolutely brilliant and exceptional even by modern standards and in other areas the age is clearly showing. The bokeh behaves how you describe with cats' eye toward the edges. I am less pleased with the bokeh. I think it can be a bit nasty or busy in certain situations. Curvature is present in ample amounts, and you will not get the corner performance of other lenses until f/8 - f/11, but this is both a non-issue and can be an advantage for portraits. The lens was designed for night photography and there it is exceptional for its age. It has excellent coma correction and lack of ghosting from point sources of light. CA are also very well controlled in night scenes. They are no absent, but very minimal and clean up quickly. I think your assessment that you are better off with the pre-ASPH version for portraits is spot on.
Thanks for sharing that great info. I do love R glass too.. I was using the 50/2R v1 yesterday for some similar imperfections. You'll see it as part of a video to come.
@@MattOsborne-MrLeicaCom I am stuck with R glass as I use on mirrorless bodies that are not made by Leica. The M lens performance is often negatively affected over a rangefinder. My all time favorite is the Summicron-R 90 pre-asph which is smaller in size but performance is very similar to the M version that you have. My copy has a unique color signature and the clarity, sharpness, and falloff are breath taking starting from f/4. Lots of spherical aberrations at f/2 that largely clean up by f/2.8
Another Mandler classic is the 180mm Leitz Canada f3.4 Tely-T R 3 cam which can be had for less than £500 and with an adapter works on an SL. Not on the same level in terms of bokeh but an extremely sharp lens for the money.
Today I had two 8x10s printed. Both portraits of similar style. One taken on a Leica M9 with a 50mm f1.4 Summicron, and one with a £40 used Lumix GX1 and a Lumix 20mm f1.7 (less than £80 total) and NOBODY could tell the difference.
Haha yes I can imagine, I have the cheap Lumix cameras for video. I did a video showing photos vs Leica. I use Leica as they are more fun. I don't value my Lumix photos so I dont use them for pictures. (I prefer film whenever possible)
I agree. I did a shoot recreating a ‘62 nyc fashion shoot using a vintage SLR and Trix. I used a GX85 Lumix and a Leica lens for some BTS shots. But they were just awesome
Thanks for the informative video that had resulted in my recent purchase of the chrome version this vintage lens. I will compare its performance against the modern ASPH lens on my M8.2 for portraits. I like the traditional look of the chrome version especially on a silver M.
I use a 7artisans M to L adapter that has a built in helicoid variable extender that allows closer focus with M lenses. It doesn’t have the opening that would allow the reading of 6 bit encoded lenses for SL cameras but I’d rather have the closer focus option.
Saw some of your pics pop up made with this lens, was looking forward to the video. I think I told you once that I wanted this lens :) Still looking for a nice one at a decent price.... This and the 90mm Summicron on an M3 and SL all you need probably...
So... this is a 50mm FF lens. If I used it with an M-mount on my Fuji Xpro2 APS-C, it would be using more of the centre only of the lens right? And it would be more like a 76mm lens? That sounds great to me for nice portraits but I feel I'm not understanding something correctly...! It all becomes rather confusing!
@@MattOsborne-MrLeicaCom Hmm... would you go as far as to say that makes it not worth getting for an APS-C? Obviously it will still take nice pictures but if it loses the character, that's really the whole point of buying an old expensive lens like this! I can get sharpness from many modern lenses. Thanks.
Hi Matt, I just got my SL yesterday and also want to adapt M, R, and Nikon F lenses to it. Curious, if I'm focusing mostly on vintage lenses that don't have 6-Bit capabilities, is there really any "need" to use the original Leica Adapters? They're obviously not cheap, but I don't want to risk a lesser adapter possibly hurting the camera body. Any recommendations for brands or anything else in this regard?
Hi, congrats! Go to the blog MrLeica.com and sign up to the club to get you SL welcome pack. I think I list the adapter I use there. Cheaper than Leica. Yes don’t get Leica one. (I only did as didn’t know better)
Okay, so I'm a bokeh philistine: at 01:49, which example pic is the "good" bokeh? Granted this is RU-vid, but the only difference I notice is that the lens on the right has a central flare spot that's lowering the contrast of the print pattern on the young lady's dress.
Hi James, don't worry you're not going crazy.. both photos were with the same lens! (Sorry that is was not clear). I didn't know I would test the lens so I didn't have the ASPH with me.
Depends what you want. If want 24MP then get it. If want probably 60MP? then wait for the SL3. If want a great deal but slower AF get the old SL like I use.
@@MattOsborne-MrLeicaCom thanks, 24 is enough form me, but the AF is important with kids. So I look around for a used sl2s or if I can wait for the 3. My xpro3 make good pictures anyway 🙂
Thanks I'm not sure what I said.. oh maybe the alarm noise in the background. It was already day 2 take 2 so I just had to keep recording regardless of more noises outside.
How can you say the bokeh is better than the Asph? Its much more busy especially on foliage. It also suffers from some focus shift if used on rangefinder.
Yes I know bokeh is very much personal preference so i'm sure not everyone will agree. The FS is very minor from what I saw in reviews so it wouldn't stop me getting it.
