50 Lux Black Chrome Edition

[farnz]

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The LHSA MP3 was a beautiful limited edition Leica MP film camera with only 3 frame lines (28, 35, and 50 I think) that Leica produced specially for the Leica Historical Society of America.  It also resembled the original MP camera from 1956 with the frame counter ring around the shutter button like the M2 did.

 

Pete.

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The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[gberger]

In the US, B&H has one for sale as of today

[horosu]

Could anyone please tell me how much the lens (without the supplied hood) weighs?

 

I'm on the fence of buying this.

 

Thank you, Horea

[farnz]

Could anyone please tell me how much the lens (without the supplied hood) weighs? ...

Horea,

 

I couldn't find a spec sheet showing the weights anywhere - even Leica's own site only provides the spec sheet for the E46 version when you download the Retro's spec sheet (duh!) - so I pulled out my electronic scales and weighed it myself.  The weight of the E43 'Retro' 50/1.4 Summilux asph in Black Chrome is 386 g without the (metal) front cap and 416 g with the front cap.  So it's about 50 g heavier than the E46 version.

 

Pete.

Edited January 12, 2016 by farnz

[horosu]

Horea,

 

I couldn't find a spec sheet showing the weights anywhere - even Leica's own site only provides the spec sheet for the E46 version when you download the Retro's spec sheet (duh!) - so I pulled out my electronic scales and weighed it myself. The weight of the E43 'Retro' 50/1.4 Summilux asph in Black Chrome is 386 g without the (metal) front cap and 416 g with the front cap. So it's about 50 g heavier than the E46 version.

 

Pete.

Thank you, Pete

 

That's great to know. It seems it's not as heavy as the chrome Lux, which, at around 450 gr was a deal breaker for me at the time I owned one.

 

It might just feel 'solid' without feeling 'heavy', if that makes sense :-)

Edited January 12, 2016 by horosu

[Hayek]

So they built a nostalgia 50 Lux without a proper filter? I will add that to corroding CCD sensors and the dead-end EVF on the M240.

 

Does the B+W 43mm not fit or allow the hood to be mounted? I think they make slim versions.

[shootinglulu]

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The 50 Lux asph is my favourite and most used lens. I noticed the extra weight of the black chrome one which was a deal breaker for me so I'm using the standard one again.

[MatteoVC]

I'm about to buy the 'regular' 50 Lux 1.4 ASPH. Other than weight, etc., can anyone comment on the photographic output compared to the regular version? Is it just a different and heavier case for the exact same optics? Does it have a distinctive look, compared to the regular one? Many thanks!

[shootinglulu]

My experience was that the output is exactly the same.

[farnz]

The optical design is the same in both but the 'Retro' has an E43 filter thread compared the standard one's E46, which adds a little (very attractive imho) vignetting wide open.

 

Pete.

[jcraf]

I have just acquired a pretty much mint boxed used example. It's a lens I've lusted after for some time. When the 35 Summicron asph and 50 Summilux asph 'retros' were announced I pre-ordered both, and then cancelled. To be honest, I think the 35 is a bit 'ordinaire', whereas the 50......

 

I sold my ordinary 50 Summilux asph to fund an APO 50, which of course is terrific. But I missed my 'Lux asph. Of course, I could have bought another standard 'Lux asph, but when I spotted this one it was a no brainer!

 

I took it out for the first time today on my Monochrom. Looks super. I have always been a tab fan, but I agree with Pete that this lens is lovely to focus without a tab, and really buttery, whereas my previous 50 'Lux asph was, well, a bit inconsistent through the focus range in terms of resistance.

 

Anyhow, I'm delighted to have this lens, and I'm looking forward to using it. Personally, I've left the hood in the box and have bought a cheap generic 43mm pinch cap (Leica ones seem rare and are ££). The supplied push on cap, on mine at least , is a very tight fit and there are very faint signs of it causing the black chrome finish on the front ring to 'shine'.

 

Overall, a happy bunny.

Edited October 29, 2016 by jcraf

[farnz]

Congratulations, John, I know you'll put it to good use on your Monochrom. 

 

Pete.

[Shlomo]

Hi friends, Is there a difference in image quality to the regular Summilux 1.4? - or is it just design version with similar assembled lenses?

 

Thank You!

[farnz]

Hi friends, Is there a difference in image quality to the regular Summilux 1.4? - or is it just design version with similar assembled lenses?

 

Thank You!

 

I think there is a difference in the image quality owing to the vignetting wide open caused by the 43 mm filter thread (which I find attractive) but I believe that it's the same computation as the regular 50/1.4 Summilux-M asph.

 

Pete.

[Overgaard]

It's a beautiful lens that produces beautiful photographs.

 

I have some sample photos here, as well as a video review. The original shade I likely would leave at home as it is large, heavy and easily falls off (beautiful though). And 43mm ND filters and other filters are available from B+W, Heliopan and others. 

 

http://www.overgaard.dk/leica-50mm-Summilux-M-ASPH-f-14-APO.html

[NB23]

I prefer the REAL McCoy: the 50mm summilux asph LHSA.

 

Also, the original shade is much better than the ones you are offering that screw on the filter.

 

A shade that screws on the filter puts a lot of strain on the whole front part of the lens, which will end up loose in a matter of time. Simply putting the camera on a table will constantly have its Weight on the front part of the lens, and as the laws of physics would have it, your hoods will act as a leverage to Multiply the actual weight of thecamera, and on the wrong part of it.

 

Besides, it makes the whole setup Longer, therefore more leverage (any tiny shock will multiply instead of being reduced like the original Hood would have it) and more weight.

[Ernest]

The “real McCoy,” right on! I want to wrap my head around the logic. Leica goes to pains to strut in the style of 1959 and roll out the black chrome Lux, a retro work of art, a Karbe APO masterpiece of the moment. And the hood! Not just a memory of the #12586 but a black chromed brass revisioning that is serious about doing its business. A dream to the touch that is giving me migraines because it refuses to get along with filters. So now I’ve got my black chrome Lux, one of only five hundred on planet Earth, but I am using an ND 1.8 filter in glaring light that I can’t flare control with my hood because it won’t marry my lens. What to do? What to do! Of course, put the $384 black chrome hood (11688) to bed, sigh, and look for a black painted aluminum screw-in stand in that does filters. Sacrilege! “Resembling its predecessor from 1959, the black-chrome edition Leica Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 ASPH. Lens features a unique matte black finish along with a classic exterior design akin to the first production run of this renowned lens.” And now, we want to lose the Leica lens hood to privilege a filter?

 

So here’s where I go Mad Max and cannibalize a 13417 filter, rip out the UV/IR filter because all I want is the aluminum ring. It’s all right to leave it in and use UV/IR with my M246, I guess, but I want to use the Lux with my M3, too. Now I get a brass mount thin-rimmed 3.2mm UV filter (0.75mm pitch) and cross thread it home on the 13417 (0.5mm pitch). You can’t do that! So what! Brass is harder than aluminum, bites solidly, and my Mad Max 13417 UV Adapter is spinning donut wheels while Leica Design Division paints opaque. This adapter moves the lens hood forward only 8.2mm from hood mount on the lens: 5.2mm adapter thickness, plus 3mm lens hood mount on lens. But it’s silver aluminum sitting proud on the end of the black chrome Lux and a black chrome M246 with a . . . silver lens mount ring. Oddly, the silver balances the ends of the lens. What’s more, the Leica lens hood snaps solidly in place with much greater purchase area on the 13417 ridge than on the lens itself. It reverses for traveling, no problem.

What I don’t like is adding a 3.2mm filter just to get 0.75mm threads. Unfortunately, we don’t have a 13417 with 0.75mm threads, as I suggested to Leica ten months ago they should produce, or better yet, resurrect the black 13206 with the 3mm ridge astutely suggested by LCT over two years ago: “another solution would be for Leica to sell new 13206-like filters with 0.75 thread pitch instead of the 0.5 pitch available in the past.” Also, stacking an additional filter (ND or color correction) adds another 4mm, which moves the hood mount 12.2mm forward from the original mount. I’m having difficulty seeing increased fall off or vignetting at f/1.4, but this whole arrangement is looking so erector set. I want to lose the 3.2mm UV filter, then look at moving the hood forward just 9mm, but that means Leica does a 13417 or an LCT 13206 with 0.75mm threads. So opaque.

 

 

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[NB23]

50mm summilux asph LHSA.

Black paint.

The one and only Real McCoy.

 

It's a 1000 limited edition (500 as a set with MP3 and another 500 single units)

 

The Lenny Kravitz edition could be seen as being a simple production re-run of the LHSA.

Edited May 13, 2017 by NB23

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Guest]

The “real McCoy,” right on! I want to wrap my head around the logic. Leica goes to pains to strut in the style of 1959 and roll out the black chrome Lux, a retro work of art, a Karbe APO masterpiece of the moment. And the hood! Not just a memory of the #12586 but a black chromed brass revisioning that is serious about doing its business. A dream to the touch that is giving me migraines because it refuses to get along with filters. So now I’ve got my black chrome Lux, one of only five hundred on planet Earth, but I am using an ND 1.8 filter in glaring light that I can’t flare control with my hood because it won’t marry my lens. What to do? What to do! Of course, put the $384 black chrome hood (11688) to bed, sigh, and look for a black painted aluminum screw-in stand in that does filters. Sacrilege! “Resembling its predecessor from 1959, the black-chrome edition Leica Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 ASPH. Lens features a unique matte black finish along with a classic exterior design akin to the first production run of this renowned lens.” And now, we want to lose the Leica lens hood to privilege a filter?

So here’s where I go Mad Max and cannibalize a 13417 filter, rip out the UV/IR filter because all I want is the aluminum ring. It’s all right to leave it in and use UV/IR with my M246, I guess, but I want to use the Lux with my M3, too. Now I get a brass mount thin-rimmed 3.2mm UV filter (0.75mm pitch) and cross thread it home on the 13417 (0.5mm pitch). You can’t do that! So what! Brass is harder than aluminum, bites solidly, and my Mad Max 13417 UV Adapter is spinning donut wheels while Leica Design Division paints opaque. This adapter moves the lens hood forward only 8.2mm from hood mount on the lens: 5.2mm adapter thickness, plus 3mm lens hood mount on lens. But it’s silver aluminum sitting proud on the end of the black chrome Lux and a black chrome M246 with a . . . silver lens mount ring. Oddly, the silver balances the ends of the lens. What’s more, the Leica lens hood snaps solidly in place with much greater purchase area on the 13417 ridge than on the lens itself. It reverses for traveling, no problem.

What I don’t like is adding a 3.2mm filter just to get 0.75mm threads. Unfortunately, we don’t have a 13417 with 0.75mm threads, as I suggested to Leica ten months ago they should produce, or better yet, resurrect the black 13206 with the 3mm ridge astutely suggested by LCT over two years ago: “another solution would be for Leica to sell new 13206-like filters with 0.75 thread pitch instead of the 0.5 pitch available in the past.” Also, stacking an additional filter (ND or color correction) adds another 4mm, which moves the hood mount 12.2mm forward from the original mount. I’m having difficulty seeing increased fall off or vignetting at f/1.4, but this whole arrangement is looking so erector set. I want to lose the 3.2mm UV filter, then look at moving the hood forward just 9mm, but that means Leica does a 13417 or an LCT 13206 with 0.75mm threads. So opaque.

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You see, other people are also profoundly unhappy about being one of the 500 on the planet with this PROBLEM, because they enjoy being stylish, but they WANT TO PHOTOGRAPH with this lens - using filters!

 

So the little treasure boxes tend to change owners, while the prices go a tiny bit south every time.

 

When there might be another BLACK PAINT or SILVER CHROME limited version of this optical and mechanical masterpiece, the simplest task of having the front ring of the lens in accordance with modern filter thread pitch might be implemented.

 

Until then Leica Monochrome users, bw film shooters and ND-filter users: sigh about money spent on a perfect lens - with a minor but essential lapsus.

[Ernest]

You see, other people are also profoundly unhappy about being one of the 500 on the planet with this PROBLEM, because they enjoy being stylish, but they WANT TO PHOTOGRAPH with this lens - using filters!

 

So the little treasure boxes tend to change owners, while the prices go a tiny bit south every time.

 

When there might be another BLACK PAINT or SILVER CHROME limited version of this optical and mechanical masterpiece, the simplest task of having the front ring of the lens in accordance with modern filter thread pitch might be implemented.

 

Until then Leica Monochrome users, bw film shooters and ND-filter users: sigh about money spent on a perfect lens - with a minor but essential lapsus.

Not Black Paint, Silver Chrome, or even Titanium, let alone Stainless Steel!  Bring up the curtain on Door No. 2, and we've got . . . "Laiton!" Faux brass finish. Everywhere on the Jim Marshall Set. It doesn't look as though there are any changes to the Lux from the photographs, so I am guessing. . . . No, I'm finished guessing. Perhaps, you've heard something about a possible "resolution" that was rumored to be announced "in the next couple of weeks?"