Re: Summilux 50mm f/1.4 ASPH

A few years ago when my M3 with Noctilux attached fell off the tripod (!) and had to go for repair right before the photo-prone holiday season I was faced with some choices: use my old 50mm f/1.5 Summarit (very soft anywhere near f/1.5), use the 50mm focal length of the Tri-Elmar (flash or high-speed film needed here - yecch), buy something else ($) or don't use a 50mm for holiday people pictures (not an option).

So I bought a 50mm f/1.4 Summilux on ebay for $590. It was the 2nd-cheapest Leica lens I've ever bought (got a version 3 35mm Summicron for a little less once) and one of the most all-around useful. It's sharp and contrasty enough for me at f/1.4. Sure I like the tack-sharp results of Leica's newer designs like the 90mm APO-Summicron. And those pictures DO glow:
http://www.mountain-and-desert.com/California/Bay_Area_local/Monterey_pipe_drummer.htm
http://www.mountain-and-desert.com/California/Bay_Area_local/Carmel_beach_silhouette.htm

But the 50mm Summilux images are just fine. I can't justify $2500 or more for a lens... Not unless there's a compelling reason to have it, like the 4.3 pound EF 400mm f/4 DO IS I use all the time for handheld bird and airplane shots. I also have a 400mm f/6.8 Telyt as a backup. The Telyt's longer and slower and seems to weigh a little more, and doesn't have the evenness, balance and APO-quality of the DO IS lens.

Sure MTF results in a lab can be important. But how do REAL PICTURES taken with the thing look?


At 07:25 PM 5/30/2004, you wrote:
Wow, i was just reading the PDF brochure of the new Summilux ASPH. I'm totally sold. Has anyone looked at the MTF graphs? At f/1.4, they're absolutely incredible. I have never seen such a contrasty lens with such high resolution figures. Wow. It has higher MTF at 20 lpm @ f/1.4 than the Canon 50mm f/1.4 has at 10LPM.

I'm totally sold. The minute someone on this list declares bankruptcy or gets divorced or has to buy the new M8-digital and sells their Summilux 50 ASPH for $1500, I'm your buyer.

But at $2500..........

Karen

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Karen Nakamura
http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/


Mark Bohrer
www.mountain-and-desert.com
Adventure travel and wildlife photography 


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