Sharpness> Leica Summicron-M 50mm vs ..APO..

[indergaard]

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The biggest advantage of the APO is the color reproduction and the complete lack of chromatic aberrations and purple fringing. It is also very sharp at the point of focus. Technicalities aside, after having owned all three 50mm lenses for an extended time, the APO clearly stands out, even at f/4, f/5.6, etc.

There is more to a lens than sharpness. Color fidelity and purity, and lack of chromatic aberrations, makes a bigger difference in image quality than a few percent more sharpness or resolution. 

Anyone that is judging lenses based solely on sharpness is doing it very wrong.

Edited August 30, 2019 by indergaard

[lct]

46 minutes ago, indergaard said:

The biggest advantage of the APO is the color reproduction and the complete lack of chromatic aberrations and purple fringing. [...]

Not that complete i'm afraid but completeness doesn't exist in this matter anyway. My shot was overexposed to check the limits of the lens here.

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[indergaard]

6 hours ago, lct said:

Not that complete i'm afraid but completeness doesn't exist in this matter anyway. My shot was overexposed to check the limits of the lens here.

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That’s the effect of overexposure on the sensor, not chromatic aberrations produces by the lens. With proper exposure on my apo I have never seen this, even on strongly backlit tree branches at f2.0.

Overexposure on digital sensors leads to purple colors on high contrast items. Even on APO lenses.

My Sony Zeiss FE 55 has tons of CA, and produces this effect even at f/4 with perfect exposures. That’s because of lens CA. I have never seen it on the APO, even wide open, as long as the exposure is good. 

Purple fringing and chromatic aberrations are two different things. 

Edited August 30, 2019 by indergaard

[indergaard]

1 hour ago, indergaard said:

That’s the effect of overexposure on the sensor, not chromatic aberrations produces by the lens. With proper exposure on my apo I have never seen this, even on strongly backlit tree branches at f2.0.

Overexposure on digital sensors leads to purple colors on high contrast items. Even on APO lenses.

My Sony Zeiss FE 55 has tons of CA, and produces this effect even at f/4 with perfect exposures. That’s because of lens CA. I have never seen it on the APO, even wide open, as long as the exposure is good. 

Purple fringing and chromatic aberrations are two different things. 

A little hasty there, and can't edit my post for some reason. Highlight clipping and chromatic aberrations are two different things is what I ment.
Highlight clipping typically makes the highlights purple because of over-exposure, regardless of where on the image plane the clipping happens.
This will happen on even the best APO lenses. It's simply a result of over-exposure on the digital sensor.

[lct]

5 hours ago, indergaard said:

A little hasty there, and can't edit my post for some reason. Highlight clipping and chromatic aberrations are two different things is what I ment.
Highlight clipping typically makes the highlights purple because of over-exposure, regardless of where on the image plane the clipping happens.
This will happen on even the best APO lenses. It's simply a result of over-exposure on the digital sensor.

Well i like much this little lens but i hardly see blooming here if this is what you're referring to. You can see both green branches closer than the point in focus and purple ones behind it in my pic above. Typical secondary longitudinal chromatic aberration in by book (link) but i'm no techie at all.
https://www.camerastuffreview.com/en/camera-guide/what-is-chromatic-aberration

[james.liam]

Back to the OP's question.

 I recall an interview with either Peter Karbe or Stefan Daniel stating that the designs of the 50 Summicron from the Rigid onward, was consciously evolutionary; to extend the area of high resolution further outward from the center and that the APO is the culmination of this 50 year effort. My gripe with the present 50 Summicron v.5 was the focus shift (from 2.8-4/5.6) and nervous bokeh @ ƒ/2. The 50 APO takes the game to a whole other level if what you primarily do is shoot wide-open, rendering the color-correction, acutance/micro-contrast/resolution and thus, the perceived sharpness at ƒ/2 at a level other lenses need ƒ/5.6-8 to achieve. In my mind, this is why you spend all the money for the optic.

ƒ/5.6 and smaller apertures? All these great lenses are nearly impossible to differentiate one from another. They are all exemplary.

[budjames]

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I own several current model Leica lenses and my APO Summicron 50 has replaced my Summilux 50 as my "standard" lens. it is very sharp, contrasting and detailed across the entire frame at all apertures from what I can see. It's also very small and relatively light.

Regards,
Bud James

Please check out my fine art and travel photography at www.budjames.photography or on Instagram at www.instagram.com/budjamesphoto.

[wosamko]

An outlet is selling Leica SUMMICRON APO 75mm f2 by $2500 ! Shall I buy it OR I save money and buy later APO 50mm ?!

 

[pedaes]

52 minutes ago, wosamko said:

An outlet is selling Leica SUMMICRON APO 75mm f2 by $2500 ! Shall I buy it OR I save money and buy later APO 50mm ?!

 

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Depends whether you want a 50 or 75mm focal length/field of view. Unless you are going to use a 75 at f2, the 75mm Summarit is more than adequate.

Edited September 2, 2019 by pedaes