M9 & old 50 'Lux

[Somerwoodz]

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25 years ago, I bought my first Leica, an M3, complete with an f1.4 50mm Summilux lens (S/No 1788***). I've used it additionally on an M6 then M7 all with v. satisfactory results.

Recently, having moved significantly up to an M9, I now question whether I should "invest" in a new 50 Lux Asph to replace the old 'un?

A lot of money hard on the heels of the new camera but I want to get the best out of what is for me the finest digital camera for my needs. Couldn't sell my 2 yr old Nikon D300 and lenses quick enough when the M9 was launched.

So, please, some advice on whether I should optically move forward 50 years or not!

[lars_bergquist]

You have the short-lived first version of the lens, replaced in 1962 by the v.2 which was in production until 2004! This was considerably sharper wide open. The v.2 in turn was replaced, and surpassed by the current ASPH version. And that is a super-lens. No comparison. Buy it, and keep the old one for nostalgia, and 'Leica glow' (low contrast plus under-corrected spherical).

 

The old man from the Age of the 5cm Elmar

[thompsonkirk]

Lars didn't mention that some of us prefer the pre-aspherical versions over the contrastier aspherical ones. But he's right about that particular version, which didn't measure up to the contemporary Zeiss & was soon replaced.

 

I'd keep it & use it at least for a while for fun! You'd get the old-fashioned softness (aberrations? glow?) that you see in Leica photography from the 50s from this lens & the 50 1.5 Zeiss Sonnar, which was the sharper of the two. I'm curious about how images from this sort of lens would look, coupled with the absence of grain & the smooth tonal transitions of the M9's sensor. Used at wide apertures it might make nice BW prints with a vintage look.

 

Kirk