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Cannot find a good copy of the 50mm 1.4 ASPH


jim0266

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I bought a second hand 50 Lux 1.4 about a year ago. The first time I tried it I thought it was dreadful. Then I discovered that I hadn't mounted it correctly, in other words I had failed to lock it in place. User error.

After that initial hiatus it has been perfect.

 

Upside: great lens, good IQ, useful at all apertures.

Downside: Big, bulky, hardly ever needed f/1.4.

 

In summary I prefer the smaller and lighter 50mm APO Cron which has an IQ that is beautiful.

 

Price: Lux is cheaper than APO Cron ... which is cheaper than Nocti.

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Well my 1.4/50 Summilux (ASPH) was optically perfect.

 

The same couldn't be said for my new-out-of-the-box 1.4/21 Summilux ASPH (back focusing) , 1.4/35 Summilux  ASPH FLE (irregular focus across the field), 2.0/75 APO-Summicron ASPH (refused to focus properly) all of which went back to Solms for adjustment shortly after purchase.

 

I thought part of the 35 Summilux's problems were due to the inherent lack of flat field of focus but since the adjustment I really haven't noticed it ti be an issue.

Edited by MarkP
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The cost depends on the work that needs to be done and the amount of goodwill Leica extends meaning the price can range from nil to astronomic. There is no way a forum can answer that question.buy the lens at a reputable dealer with guaranty and you won't have to worry.

 

Good advice - I was considering buying second hand off the bay or privately, but since it's a sizeable chunk of money I'd prefer to pay more for the guarantee from a dealer.

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Thanks, Jeff. That had crossed my mind. LR pricing is not that good unfortunately. Their low-end pricing for a used copy is $2,972 and PopFlash is selling this lens with a full PP for $3,157 ($3097 in chrome). I'd rather buy a new lens at that price and harass Leica until they get it right.

 

 

Well, true their prices aren't great. And I get the whole buying new thing. My tack with my Leica lenses has been to buy almost all used, since I feel less pain when they eventually get a mark on the finish. The service from lensrentals is great in my experience, although Popflash is no slouch, either. The great part for me is that lensrentals is only about 10 minutes drive from work!

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Well, true their prices aren't great. And I get the whole buying new thing. My tack with my Leica lenses has been to buy almost all used, since I feel less pain when they eventually get a mark on the finish. The service from lensrentals is great in my experience, although Popflash is no slouch, either. The great part for me is that lensrentals is only about 10 minutes drive from work!

 

Being able to swing by Lensrentals and pick up items to save shipping costs is huge. I ponied up for their unlimited shipping feature this year.

 

I have a 50 Planar from them coming on Thursday, along with another used 50 ASPH from B&H.  I have a line on another 50 from MiamiLeicaStore. Want to test the Planar against my Lux and the ASPH.

 

If none of these pan out and still think I want the ASPH, I'll go with a new one from PopFlash and if it's not perfect send it Leica until they get it right. The smarter move is probable a new one from Popflash. It's only $357 more than the asking price from the Miami lens, which is described at minty. The B&H 50 is $3k, which I think is too high, but if perfect could be worth it. Easy enough to return it to them. 

 

I will be funny if Leica's poor QC on this lens ultimately drives me to another Zeiss lens.

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I had a similar odyssey with the 75 Summicron AA, which is based on the 50 Summilux AA design, and uses a similar floating optical group.

 

Got one when they first came out, which worked well. Got rid of it to fund my first M8 (where a cropped 50 'cron did the same job and was smaller and lighter) - and then spent 8 years and 3 samples trying to find a replacement that did not have focus problems or abnormally heavy CA (no binding, however). I've commented on the issue several times on this forum.

 

So - I am happy to announce that I finally found one last summer that lived up to the reputation. Leica's best-ever long M lens - when it is working right.

 

Jaap is correct that the floating element mechanisms - which do significantly improve close-up resolution in both lenses, compared to their Mandler predecessors, which get pretty "dreamy" - are just extra-intolerant of any assembly/adjustment error. Especially crammed into the compact volume of an M lens.

 

Statistically, getting 3 failures out of 5 attempts does not mean 60% of all lenses are flawed. It's just the luck of the draw. Especially if buying used, where one may be acquiring "someone else's problem."

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Statistically, getting 3 failures out of 5 attempts does not mean 60% of all lenses are flawed. It's just the luck of the draw. Especially if buying used, where one may be acquiring "someone else's problem."

 

My experience would be 1 out of 2, or 50%. But you may have a good reason for there being a high number of used examples available, as it might just be that badly adjusted examples go on and off the market more frequently than good ones?

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With equivalent levels of quality control processes the likelihood of problems rises quickly as design complexity gets greater. Thus Q/A needs to be radically improved to maintain an "acceptable" defect rate. (Defects to customers are never acceptable, but to manufacturers they are just a cost of business.)

As an old mechanical design engineer, I've chosen to stay away from Leica's new complex lens designs. That's partly due to larger sizes (I notice small differences), partly a preference for simplicity, and partly because I'm satisfied with the performance of Mandler era lenses. I find Leica's statement about revisiting classic designs quite appealing. My latest new lenses were Summarits, which I find a good direction.

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I have another 50 ASPH Lux coming from Leica Store Miami. They had 2 used lenses and were willing pre-test them at MFD wide open and send me the DNG files. One was better than the other. After my initial post B&H listed a used copy which I ordered. It's going back on Monday. It has sticky focus and is slightly off wide open at MFD. I've also been testing a 50 Planar from Lensrentals concurrently with the B&H 50. I've been impressed with the Planar. It was slightly better in the edges at f/2 over the Lux too.

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I find I do have a lot of issues with focus shift on this lens. Being a 50mm I often use it for portraits, and when wide open precise focus at the centre can turn to smear towards the very important spot at the 1/3 to 1/4 of the frame height. Due to this, I am considering replacing it with the 50mm APO,

My 35mm Summilux FLE on the other hand is outstanding, I never have any issues with it.

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I find I do have a lot of issues with focus shift on this lens. Being a 50mm I often use it for portraits, and when wide open precise focus at the centre can turn to smear towards the very important spot at the 1/3 to 1/4 of the frame height. Due to this, I am considering replacing it with the 50mm APO,

My 35mm Summilux FLE on the other hand is outstanding, I never have any issues with it.

 

You're going to have the same problem with the 50apo. You may as well stop down to f2 with the summilux. This is not "focus shift". You don't notice it with the 35 because it has a deeper depth of field. 

"Focus Shift" is where you focus wide open, then by stopping down the lens is no longer correctly focussed. In your scenario it sounds like you are moving the camera expecting the the face to remain in focus. However, because of field curvature, the face doesn't remain in focus. You need to learn how far back you need to step in order to bring the plane of focus back to the subject's face.

Pete

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You are -rightly- referring to focus-recompose error, something any centered focusing system will exhibit. It is just a matter of experience to deal with it. It is mentioned in our Leica FAQ. I am on holiday with limited computer facilities otherwise I would draw a little diagram in explanation. Maybe another member might oblige?

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This is not focus shift but field curvature i suspect. I did the test some time ago here when comparing the 50/1.4 asph to the 50/2 apo.

 

Just found out the shots i was referring to. The softer statuette out of the 50/1.4 asph has nothing to do with focus shift nor focus-recompose error. Just field curvature i guess but i'm no techie at all. No problem with the 50/2 apo from this viewpoint.

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