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50mm summilux ASPH Black Chrome - have you tried it?


Dikaiosune01

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The 50 Summilux Asph, whatever version, is probably my favourite lens of all.  I recently sold my 50 Apo, because to my mind it offered (in real terms) little gain over the 'lux, and of course gave away a stop of speed. And it's an awful lot of money to have hanging off the front of your camera.

 

I love my E43. 

 

I have had both the chrome and black E46 asph versions in the past, but I just love the feel of this 11 688 retro one.  The action of the focus and aperture rings is absolutely spot on.  Nicest I've experienced in any of my M lenses over all the years.  I know that doesn't have any effect on image quality, which is as superb as the 'normal' E46 versions, but it pleases me nonetheless.

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Makes me envious to read this – Harrisons (UK) recently had a 50 Summilux in black chrome but it's gone now, and they have no idea if they will have another for sale in the near/distant future. After (foolishly) selling a superb, albeit s/h, Summilux in favour of a 50APO I now feel the IQ with the faster lens was rather nicer. Standard black is officially £3200 – Harrisons had listed the chrome at only £2999, so a bargain as well. In fact hardly any UK dealers have the standard 50 Summilux black or silver in stock at present, for some reason. Weight difference standard Lux vs APO only 30g, but chrome considerably heavier of course.

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Makes me envious to read this – Harrisons (UK) recently had a 50 Summilux in black chrome but it's gone now, and they have no idea if they will have another for sale in the near/distant future.

No consolation, but you have to snap these up if you see one and want one. I was lucky, and bought as soon as I saw mine (mint boxed) in Aperture London. It cost me less than a new E46 version, just!

 

All one can do is keep trawling the websites......

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No consolation, but you have to snap these up if you see one and want one. I was lucky, and bought as soon as I saw mine (mint boxed) in Aperture London. It cost me less than a new E46 version, just!

 

All one can do is keep trawling the websites......

It was probably the one I sold

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No consolation, but you have to snap these up if you see one and want one. I was lucky, and bought as soon as I saw mine (mint boxed) in Aperture London. It cost me less than a new E46 version, just!

 

All one can do is keep trawling the websites......

Leica Meister has some NEW in store https://www.meister-camera.com/

You' ll find some used A lenses on ebay as well, many of them starting with 3500 USD. 

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Asking prices! They go for less - and change homes more than once. Filter frame problems, incompatibility with the lens hood, no tab, the collectors' price threatened by the probability, that "the real McCoy" could follow any time soon = an easily to produce new batch in black PAINT...

 

+ Pete Farnzworth (farnz) who has this one and the regular one, too

mentioned here (to him very pleasant) vignetting due to the reduced filter diameter.

 

An acquaintance with a Monochrome, who's unhappy about the filter issue from day 2 after he bought it new from Westlicht, is still holding on to it NIB, quite a bit under the price, due to wasted time and frustration after endless chats with numerous not-serious bidders through various channels.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

What's the length of this version compared to the regular E46 version? Is it longer? Measuring both with the hood absent/retracted that is. Thanks.

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yes, I tried.

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Some more black chrome stuff

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I really like my black chrome 50mm Summilux ASPH. Use it a lot. It's beautifully made, like the really old M lenses.

 

But I'm looking forward to how this thread pans out, and what the info turns out to be..

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I really like my black chrome 50mm Summilux ASPH. Use it a lot. It's beautifully made, like the really old M lenses.

 

But I'm looking forward to how this thread pans out, and what the info turns out to be..

When is your film going to be playing at a motion picture theatre nearby soon? Your shots are so cine-roman, tethered in a way to Chris Marker, with such a narrative working that I want to know how it works out: a solitary car on a deserted street, cutting to the young woman watching across the wet city street as she walks warily (shallow depth of field isolating her).

 

I want to see how this thread "pans out," too.  I mean the Leica lens hood drama, not your cine-roman.

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When is your film going to be playing at a motion picture theatre nearby soon? Your shots are so cine-roman, tethered in a way to Chris Marker, with such a narrative working that I want to know how it works out: a solitary car on a deserted street, cutting to the young woman watching across the wet city street as she walks warily (shallow depth of field isolating her).

 

I want to see how this thread "pans out," too.  I mean the Leica lens hood drama, not your cine-roman.

 

Thank you very much, Ernest. You're far too kind. I'm fortunate to have an interesting city to walk around, and I don't go anywhere at all without my M. Trying to do a book, but will probably get a zine out as a first step.

 

As for the hood drama, I'm hooked on this thread. It must be the slowest thread on here, it moves at the speed of a glacier. I'm not too bothered about the whole hood/filter thing, as I like the lens so much. Short of Leica re-engineering the hood, and giving a free one to each owner, I don't see how else the problem can be solved.

 

It does seem like the lens has been a very slow seller for Leica. In March 2015 they announced 500 black chrome editions of the 35mm Summicron ASPH, and 500 of the 50mm Summilux ASPH. The 35mm Summicron ASPH version sold out within months, but on Leica's own website, the 50mm Summilux ASPH black chrome is still being advertised.

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Thank you very much, Ernest. You're far too kind. I'm fortunate to have an interesting city to walk around, and I don't go anywhere at all without my M. Trying to do a book, but will probably get a zine out as a first step.

 

As for the hood drama, I'm hooked on this thread. It must be the slowest thread on here, it moves at the speed of a glacier. I'm not too bothered about the whole hood/filter thing, as I like the lens so much. Short of Leica re-engineering the hood, and giving a free one to each owner, I don't see how else the problem can be solved.

 

It does seem like the lens has been a very slow seller for Leica. In March 2015 they announced 500 black chrome editions of the 35mm Summicron ASPH, and 500 of the 50mm Summilux ASPH. The 35mm Summicron ASPH version sold out within months, but on Leica's own website, the 50mm Summilux ASPH black chrome is still being advertised.

Yes, it was a deft bit of marketing strategy to dovetail the release of the 35mm and 50mm black chrome editions to coincide with the M246, only offered in black chrome. I pulled the trigger on both the 35mm and 50mm, yet I had to wait six months for the 50mm and got it just in time when my M246 was delivered 12/2015. And now, as you point out, the Summilux-Ms are still sitting on dealers' shelves, whereas the 35mm Summicron-Ms sold out in a flash. Not our worry, but somebody over at Leica needs a serious time out. In the meantime, I've made my own adapters so I can use filters and the Leica 12586 lens hood. I even bought an extra hood 50mm black chrome from Leica Store Miami as a backup. I can use NDs or a polarizer, too, if the situation warrants. Yes, I am all in on the Summilux-M. Optical performance, dreamland. The knurled focusing ring is dreamland, too. I grew up on the dual-range Summicron, so the Summilux-M is kind to finger muscle memory. I fancied a 50mm APO for about 4 nanoseconds, but the focusing tab for me privileges horizontal as opposed to vertical compositions. Perhaps the topic for another thread?

 

I hope you will give us a teaser on your zine or book or portfolio when you launch. You have such an interesting instinct that surfaces in your compositions, an engaging subtext that invites "reading."

 

Parting shot. As owners of the Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 ASPH, we have the only Leica lens designed so the hood falls off when a filter is attached.

 

Let me see, now. We've got Limited Editions sporting the 50mm Summilux-M: the Jim Martin Edition and the Galerie Frankfurt M-P (Typ 240). Investment editions, so no blowback about using filters, I guess.

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