smkoush Posted March 20, 2015 Share #41 Posted March 20, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) From the Leica Blog… Up to now both lenses were available only in black anodised and silver chrome versions. The new black chrome lenses also offer new design features. For example, the Summilux-M 50 mm f/1.4 ASPH. revisits the classic design of its predecessor from 1959. In addition, the focusing scale in feet is picked out in red. The new version also includes a larger scope of delivery: Round lens hood and a lens cap – both made from metal. (emphasis mine) The similar verbiage directly from the Leica site omits the statement in bold. What do the words mean, if not longer and/or wider…perhaps just with hood mounted? Jeff It looks like the length of the black chrome lens without the hood is the same as the length of the standard offering without its hood extended. It is probably true (based on the photos) that the black chrome lens is longer than the standard version once the removable metal hood is attached. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 Hi smkoush, Take a look here NEW: 35 cron and 50 lux available in BLACK CHROME. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Guest Posted March 20, 2015 Share #42 Posted March 20, 2015 Does anyone know if the black chrome ones use the heavier brass barrels rather than the light alloy. I assume that they do and would as the smkoush says above, weigh the same as the silver chrome models. Thus a black chrome model would be around 25 to 30% heavier than a black anodised model. Wilson It's brass. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlashGordonPhotography Posted March 20, 2015 Share #43 Posted March 20, 2015 I'm not going to change my 50 'lux. But had this been a choice I would have grabbed this. I think I'm the only one who doesn't particularly like the tabs. Plus they're so pretty..... Gordon Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted March 21, 2015 Share #44 Posted March 21, 2015 It's brass. I assumed it would probably be brass. You can chrome plate light alloy but it is difficult either involving vacuum deposition or a multi layer process of zincating, then copper plating and only finally chrome and I am not sure how robust it is. Since I want a 35 Summicron as a lightweight travel lens, the cheaper standard anodised model might make more sense for me. Unless of course, I decide to wait for the mythical APO 35 Summicron Wilson Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gberger Posted March 21, 2015 Share #45 Posted March 21, 2015 Gordon, That makes two of us who don't care for the tabs. I bought a Zeiss 21/2.8 ZM and, IMO, the focusing ring is much better than any on my Leica lenses. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winedemonium Posted March 21, 2015 Share #46 Posted March 21, 2015 I think the 50 Lux in black chrome and knurled focus ring looks beautiful. Would pair beautifully with my black M-A too. My concerns though are added weight, and also the ergonomics - the hood potentially obscuring more in the viewfinder, but mostly the loss of the focus tab which I find so useful. But as we know "useful" is not always the first instinct when faced with Leica GAS. :roll eyes: The 35mm black chrome Summicron on the other hand would be a perfect match to the M-A, and little or no compromise. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sml_photo Posted March 21, 2015 Share #47 Posted March 21, 2015 Advertisement (gone after registration) I'd like a green lux to match my new Safari! haha Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 21, 2015 Share #48 Posted March 21, 2015 Gordon,That makes two of us who don't care for the tabs. I bought a Zeiss 21/2.8 ZM and, IMO, the focusing ring is much better than any on my Leica lenses. I believe you can ask Leica to remove the focus tab on current 50mm Summilux ASPH (there would be a small hole from where the tab was). If you look at the lens, there is already a knurled focus ring right next to the tab. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted March 21, 2015 Share #49 Posted March 21, 2015 Gordon,That makes two of us who don't care for the tabs. I bought a Zeiss 21/2.8 ZM and, IMO, the focusing ring is much better than any on my Leica lenses. George, I agree. Both my ZM lenses (25 Biogon and 50 Planar), old Contax RF and various Contax CX/Y lenses, all have silky smooth focusing and I prefer the ZM "bump" on the focus ring to a tab. Wilson 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonoslack Posted March 21, 2015 Share #50 Posted March 21, 2015 Teetering on the brink! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted March 21, 2015 Share #51 Posted March 21, 2015 Jono, 50 Lux or 35 Cron? If it is the 50 Lux, I hope it is better than the 50 ASPH Lux I swapped with you for an f1 Noctilux Wilson 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bocaburger Posted March 22, 2015 Share #52 Posted March 22, 2015 Maybe it's a case of priorities changing with age but since Leica inflated their lens prices dramatically, new announcements just don't interest me at all. And I used to succumb to GAS quite readily. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkP Posted March 22, 2015 Share #53 Posted March 22, 2015 (edited) Wouldn't touch the 50 Summilux as it's too long with the hood on and too retro, not compatible with most of my other lenses. The 35 Summicron could perhaps maybe just tempt me if I wanted this lens, as I don't have one and it would be nice on my Monochrom or black chrome M7. However, I'm with Boca regarding GAS, and Wilson regarding the mooted 35 APO-Summicron is relesed . Until then I'll slum it with my current lenses. Edited March 22, 2015 by MarkP 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrozenInTime Posted March 22, 2015 Share #54 Posted March 22, 2015 I will declare my interest in the summilux: I really like fixed hoods - as they mean a lens cap is not required when the lens is in a pouch,bag or on the camera at the ready ( unless there is concern of burning a hole in the shutter cloth ) It matches the MM and M-A ; my most used cameras over the last 6 months. Does the soft launch mean there is no big camera announcement until after the summer ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
semi-ambivalent Posted March 22, 2015 Share #55 Posted March 22, 2015 Maybe it's a case of priorities changing with age but since Leica inflated their lens prices dramatically, new announcements just don't interest me at all. And I used to succumb to GAS quite readily. "I know that when I can look through an entire REI catalog and not see a single thing I want I have made some kind of breakthrough" -Somebody you don't know (long deceased). s-a 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulus Posted March 22, 2015 Share #56 Posted March 22, 2015 Titanium plated. I heard it's very good plating, durable. But the best part about these "Titanium" lenses is that they are Brass I am sorry to say, but the Titanium plating of the 35 asph is IMO not so good in every case. I had a 35 asph titanium plated which lost specs op plating within a few months. It looked as if acid had crept inside the plating and loosened it from the brass. Because it was under warrenty I could switch the lens against a sx 50 asph. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted March 22, 2015 Share #57 Posted March 22, 2015 I am sorry to say, but the Titanium plating of the 35 asph is IMO not so good in every case. I had a 35 asph titanium plated which lost specs op plating within a few months. It looked as if acid had crept inside the plating and loosened it from the brass. Because it was under warrenty I could switch the lens against a sx 50 asph. Titanium plating sticking to an underlying metal is obviously a problem. I had a titanium plated chromium-cobalt ankle prosthesis fitted in 2003. The titanium was then covered in hydroxy-apatite, to which bone naturally adheres, so the prosthesis does need to be either screwed in or cemented. The whole prosthesis had disintegrated and detached from my foot and leg bones by 2012. When the prosthesis was removed and replaced by a stainless steel model, conventionally fixed by screws, it was found that the original titanium plating had for the most part, flaked off the underlying cobalt-chromium, exposing it to body fluids and bone, which caused bone necrosis from metal toxicity and allowed the whole prosthesis to come loose. Wilson 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bocaburger Posted March 22, 2015 Share #58 Posted March 22, 2015 That's an awful thing you had happen Wilson Idk how things work in the UK but here most likely you would be plaintiff in a lawsuit of your initiation. I didn't know orthopedic prostheses were Ti plated over CrCo. I'm only up on dental implants which for years have been made of solid Ti. Not that they don't occasionally fail to osseointegrate, but it's not due to the scenario you describe. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithlaban.co.uk Posted March 22, 2015 Share #59 Posted March 22, 2015 The Black Chrome 50 Lux, heavier, longer (with hood), with the looks of a voigtlander and more expensive. Pass. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted March 22, 2015 Share #60 Posted March 22, 2015 That's an awful thing you had happen Wilson Idk how things work in the UK but here most likely you would be plaintiff in a lawsuit of your initiation. I didn't know orthopedic prostheses were Ti plated over CrCo. I'm only up on dental implants which for years have been made of solid Ti. Not that they don't occasionally fail to osseointegrate, but it's not due to the scenario you describe. Sadly because the original joint was ten years old when I had it replaced, I have no legal come back under UK product liability. As the original prothesis was made in France, they are even more protective of their medical implant manufacturers. I spent 5 months going round UK hospitals and nobody would agree to tackle the problem so I would still have an ankle joint. In the end I had to go to Basle in Switzerland to have it revised. I am very lucky that I was just about able to afford to pay for that myself. The majority of the estimated 75%+ of recipients of the original prosthesis, which will have now failed, will be out of luck. When the Swiss professor heard some of the suggestions I had received from UK surgeons, he asked if they had trained with Nelson in the Victory. Wilson 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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