Re: Summicron 1:2/50
All that type have softer coating than the one's that followed. You prolly won't ever find a perfect one unless someone always used a protector filter which wasn't popular back in those days. But if it has a mass of scratches and/or the coating is wore off in the middle, while it won't effect sharpness it will effect contrast and it will increase flair, which is already a problem with those lenses. Ditto if you shine a flashlight thru it and see fogging or hazing. Another thing about that lens is the goddamn infinity lock. Stupidest moronic idea in the world. There might've been a reason for it on a screwmount lens but not on a bayonet. But smarts take a long time to sink in at Leica. FWIW unless your primary concern is a beautiful chrome lens for an old Leica, I would look for the next version, the 1969-79 kind. It doesn't suffer from the earlier issues and it's usually a whole lot less overpriced than the most recent kind, especially the one with the finger rest on it.
Jim Provenzano
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