Jager Posted January 25, 2014 Share #41 Â Posted January 25, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) I'm in the camp that is very satisfied with mine. Frankly, were it not for the several threads on the forum here, I would never have been aware that some (or all) samples of the 50 APO have CVF issues (which is not at all to dismiss the concerns of those who have experienced the problem - clearly there are issues). I just shoot mine like all my other M lenses, which is to say mostly from wide-open to f4 or f5.6, with an occasional dip into f8. Â I do wish Leica were more forthcoming about what they know regarding this lens. Absent more information in that regard, and particularly given the testaments by several that samples sent in for repair have been returned with less optical goodness, I would be reluctant to send mine in. Â I have some very good M lenses, including the f0.95 Noctilux and the 50 Lux ASPH. The 50 APO is the best of the lot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 Hi Jager, Take a look here 50mm Summicron APO. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
satijntje Posted January 25, 2014 Share #42 Â Posted January 25, 2014 I have some very good M lenses, including the f0.95 Noctilux and the 50 Lux ASPH. The 50 APO is the best of the lot. Â I have heard this already 2 or 3 times before. There must be something magic on this 50 Cron APO! Â John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicolas Soldati Posted January 25, 2014 Share #43  Posted January 25, 2014 I have some very good M lenses, including the f0.95 Noctilux and the 50 Lux ASPH. The 50 APO is the best of the lot.  What makes the 50 APO a better lens when comparing to your other 50's? What do you appreciate most?  Thanks, Nicolas   Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jager Posted January 25, 2014 Share #44 Â Posted January 25, 2014 What makes the 50 APO a better lens when comparing to your other 50's? What do you appreciate most? Â [/url] Â I'm not sure I can describe it very well. The 50 APO is sharp and provides good contrast - yet without being too contrasty. It renders luminous colors, and wide-open performance that differs little from its stopped-down brethren save for the difference in depth of field. Edge to edge performance is very even, so you can compose without needing to consider where elements will fall within the frame. Â None of that is news, of course, as most reviews speak to those qualities, as do the MTF graphs. Â Beyond that, though, there truly is something wondrous about how the lens renders. If I had to sum it up in one phrase, I'd say it is gentle with light. Not gentle in the this-is-a-soft-image sense. But gentle in the way in which tones transition from one to another and the way in which depth of field moves from in-focus to out-of-focus. Â It is a lens full of grace. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicolas Soldati Posted January 25, 2014 Share #45  Posted January 25, 2014 Thank you for your answer. So I am still keeping my order. Looking forward to have news from Leica.  Thanks, Nicolas   Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
01af Posted January 25, 2014 Share #46 Â Posted January 25, 2014 What makes the Apo-Summicron-M 50 mm Asph a better lens when comparing to your other 50s? What do you appreciate most? The transparency. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
platypus Posted January 26, 2014 Share #47 Â Posted January 26, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) What do you appreciate most? Â It is a "lens full of grace"...what a lovely description......but also this lens is something really special when paired with the Monochrom. I have had my copy for six months and have not yet felt the need to take it off the MM as they are so great together. Therefore my APO 50 has never shot colour, I guess I'm probably missing a wonderful experience! So....put the APO 50 on a Monochrom and (as others have noted) it becomes an outfit that is capable of producing something close to 4x5 results, certainly MF. You can't help but appreciate that! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
algrove Posted January 26, 2014 Share #48 Â Posted January 26, 2014 I have nothing to add to these recent posts. At present I have no plans to send mine in for "repair". None needed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpwhite Posted January 26, 2014 Share #49 Â Posted January 26, 2014 If you read Erwin Puts' first review of the 50 AA (he gave it an even more esoteric acronym), he sums it up by saying that like after tasting the finest scotch, nothing else will do. I believe you could substitute pasta, wine, or whatever artful creation you choose for his example of scotch. Â And that is before you even consider the lens cap it is supplied with! Â The 50 AA is full of grace because it so smooth, yet contrasty-- from corner to corner, a perfect field whatever the aperture or shooting distance. It is not transparent to me, with all due respect, because the separation from focus point to fore or aft is very obvious and artsy at f/2 or f/2.4. The illusion of 3D is big even at f/2, closest focus. Â Like Lou's examples, there is no way my lens is going anywhere near the factory. Sure it has an ineffective lens shade, but whatever the weaknesses of the 50 AA might be, I don't expect to come close as a photographer to pushing against the lens' capabilities. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanJW Posted January 26, 2014 Author Share #50 Â Posted January 26, 2014 So.... has anyone gotten one recently? Are they shipping again? I am 5 months from my order and wondering when I might see one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicolas Soldati Posted January 26, 2014 Share #51 Â Posted January 26, 2014 So.... has anyone gotten one recently? Are they shipping again? I am 5 months from my order and wondering when I might see one. Â No idea about a delivery date. I ordered mine 17 months ago. I am at the 1 position on the list..... and still waiting... :-( Â No news so far.... Â Â Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoppyman Posted January 26, 2014 Share #52 Â Posted January 26, 2014 As reported last year by CEO Alfred Schopf, there was a three week break in production then while they identified 'four minor faults' They were then set to resume production afterwards. But the quantities are tiny. You would never know so from these discussions in this group perhaps He invited anyone who had experienced problems to return their lens for servicing but there certainly is no recall or compulsion to do so. Sometimes dealers or customers make comments or express opinions and it ends up starting to be accepted as fact. Â I believe that there is a small run to be distributed world wide over the next few months. I think that it will always be an exotic, rare, expensive and very desirable object of technolust. Perhaps in the way that the Noctiluxes are, but made in much smaller numbers again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hhanebeck Posted January 27, 2014 Share #53 Â Posted January 27, 2014 All, Â Just got mine back after a two-month repair cycle and can't really attest to how it works with the improvements, but the repair became necessary when the front part of the lens construction came loose. It simply wasn't possible to focus any longer. I would assume that every first generation lens runs into this problem eventually. Mine had completed a few thousand shots before the issue came up. Â Leica told me that "Germany is replacing the whole optics" and assured me that the new IQ would be as good as before. Certainly have no reason to disbelieve this. During the wait, they also told me that no new lenses are currently being manufactured to give priority to existing owners. All that said, it should be possible to pick up production with the new optics soon one would think. Â Good luck to those of you on the waiting list! This is by far one of the best lenses I have ever used and it practically stays on the MM at all times. Can't even begin to tell you how good it is. : ) Â Cheers, Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
algrove Posted January 27, 2014 Share #54  Posted January 27, 2014 All, Just got mine back after a two-month repair cycle and can't really attest to how it works with the improvements, but the repair became necessary when the front part of the lens construction came loose. It simply wasn't possible to focus any longer. I would assume that every first generation lens runs into this problem eventually. Mine had completed a few thousand shots before the issue came up.  Leica told me that "Germany is replacing the whole optics" and assured me that the new IQ would be as good as before. Certainly have no reason to disbelieve this. During the wait, they also told me that no new lenses are currently being manufactured to give priority to existing owners. All that said, it should be possible to pick up production with the new optics soon one would think.  Good luck to those of you on the waiting list! This is by far one of the best lenses I have ever used and it practically stays on the MM at all times. Can't even begin to tell you how good it is. : )  Cheers, Chris  Chris Can you get more specific on precisely what part of the lens came loose on the front of the lens? Assume it was not the hood. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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