Silver Leica lenses

[stump4545]

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besides color preference, does anyone here prefer the extra weight of the silver lenses?

 

always had black myself, but do silver lenses feel like they focus/aperture smoother from the added weight even though the build quality is the same?

 

 

thanks.

[jaapv]

The weight can be bothersome, but otherwise there is no significant difference between silver and black.

[stump4545]

are used prices for modern silver lenses the same as black?

 

anyone enjoy the added weight of the silver lenses?

[pfhrased]

Silver seems less common, so sometimes more expensive.

The finish lasts better than the black.

 

Some silver lenses severely unbalance the camera - summilux 50 1.4 is far nicer to use in black than silver (though you'll have to wrest the silver from my cold, dead hands...)

[russell]

I have a silver chrome 50mm pre-asph Summilux. I also have the black (aluminium) version of the exact same lens. Both are from the 1990s, i.e. effectively the same lens.

 

Leica did a full work over on the silver chrome version. If I pixel peep the same shot at the same settings for both lenses, the sliver lens is noticeably sharper, i.e. looks more in focus where it's in focus and resolves more details.

 

Perhaps it's easier to calibrate and keep in spec the sliver lenses?

 

FWIW, the sliding hood stays out nicely on the silver chrome version and is too easily collapsed on the black version.

 

At any rate, that lens is a keeper even though the weight is quite a bit heavier and does throw the camera balance off a bit.

[Stein K S]

Love my Cron 35 IV silver... so small that the added silver weight just feels great.

 

Kinda hate my Elmarit-M 90... Not because of the optics which is amazing, but here the silver really puts on weight... and unbalance... I have really asked myself if I should sell it ang get a black version... Haven't done it though... It still is something about those silver lenses

 

One interesting "excersize" though, is that I have the silver anodized Cron 28 asph... which does not put on that brass weight (it is anodized alu)... and even if it looks perfectly silver, it does not provide that "silver feeling".

 

So... any conclusions made? Guess not. Concerning "hard quality issues", I really hesitate to draw any conclusion.

 

Regards, Stein

[Leonil]

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Everyone is talking about how silver adds weight to the front and causes an imbalance of weight.

 

What if you have a silver lens on a silver body? Im sure the brass covered in silver chrome is the same paint scheme used on the both right?

 

I have a silver 50 Summicron from 1990s and now waiting for my Silver M to arrive. Will that be unbalanced?

[Stein K S]

Everyone is talking about how silver adds weight to the front and causes an imbalance of weight.

 

What if you have a silver lens on a silver body? Im sure the brass covered in silver chrome is the same paint scheme used on the both right?

 

I have a silver 50 Summicron from 1990s and now waiting for my Silver M to arrive. Will that be unbalanced?

 

Hi

I am somewhat out on a lim here... But according to my understanding black (chrome or paint) bodies and chrome bodies are made of the same basic top plate material (brass)... and by this the bodies weighs basically the same or...?

 

While the lenses differs in the basic materials used (brass for silver and alu for blacks) and by this the weight varies quite a bit.

 

So... Your Cron will give the same feel whatever body "colour" to keep... I think...

 

Regards, Stein

[LotharZhou]

I really don't enjoy the heavy weight of the silver lens, thus swapped with my silver summilux50 asph to a black one with a member on the forum, never look back, optically the same. No difference at all.

[rramesh]

I am partial to gold.

[Timmyjoe]

I'm a big fan of the silver/chrome lenses just because they are made from brass instead of aluminum. I realize the optics are the same in both, but I buy Leica glass to keep until the day I can no longer take pictures (hopefully many decades away), and coming from a mechanical engineering background, I like the perceived longevity of the brass over the aluminum.

[jcraf]

Just changed my chrome 50 'Lux Asph for a black one. Principal reason was that the chrome lens stuck out like a dog's balls on my Monochrom. Some like the 'perversity' of silver lens on black body; I didn't.

 

The chrome 50 looked fine on my chrome M240, but so does my new black one.

 

Perceived wisdom not so long ago was that:

 

Chrome body + Black or chrome lens=fine

 

Black body + Black lens = fine.......Black body + Chrome lens = looks crap

 

Vanity maybe, but with the MM I prefer the extra stealth that the black lens brings. It's probably all in my head......

 

In the palm of the hand, the chrome 50 is a grenade in weight terms compared the black one. But once on the camera I didn't in all honesty notice much difference.