Anyone considering the new Summicron-50 SL as a portrait lens for the CL?

[rob_w]

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The new SL 50 summicron has finally been released.  Could make an excellent 75mm portrait lens on the CL.  Any takers?

[giampo]

Would suggest you the summicron-sl 75 on the cl. IMHO a 50 that turn into a 75 is a little short for a classical portrait lens. 

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[nicci78]

75mm is a very nice focal length. More usable with mirrorless cameras than with M ones. 

It is more versatile than 85/90mm one. Therefore it is not your classical portrait lens. 

To sum up, if you need a lens that you can carry outside for taking general purpose photos, 75 is better than 90. If you need to take headshots, 90 may be more suitable. But maybe still too short, 135 to 200mm should be better for that. 

I really like to use my tiny Summarit-M 2.4/50mm with the CL. Small size and great focal length of 75mm. 

APO-Summicron-SL 2/50mm asph. is quite big for the CL. You will need to add thumb rest and hand grip for better balance. 

If you want to stick to 50mm field of view, I can only recommend the excellent Summilux-TL 1.4/35mm asph. Way cheaper, lighter and smaller. Almost same IQ than APO-SL 50. But of course not as well corrected against CA and not as über sharp. 

[HeinzX]

All these lenses are excellent. I personally  would take a L 60 macro -which is vey light or the SL 24/90 for porträts, if I want to be more flexible and to enjoy the stablizer. I do not need faster lenses as 2,8 for porträts - more often I use even smaller apertures do get the whole face sharp and not only the eyes. But I have to confess, that I own both of these lenses.  

[ramarren]

I'm sure the APO-Summilux-SL 50/1.4 will do wonderfully for a lot of subject matter, not just portraits, with the CL. I use a Summilux-R 50/1.4 quite a lot of the time, and have since I bought the CL: I love this focal length on the APS-C format.

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Fishing - Continental Divide 2018
Leica CL + Summilux-R 50mm f/1.4

It and 43mm (Pentax-L 43mm f/1.9 Special) are my favorite lenses for portraiture with the CL.

To me, 75 and 90mm focal lengths are a bit more tele than I prefer for portraiture: they flatten the subject just a little more than I like. But I've used them too with good results, for a different look in portraits. Same goes for 35mm and shorter focal lengths: a different kind of portrait results. 

G

[lct]

Way too big for my taste if it looks like that and too sharp for my needs i suspect. Softer M lenses like pre-asph 50/1.4 or 50/2 (pic) besides my favorite ZM 50/1.5 would be more forgiving for less than perfect skins and i'm not interested in AF for portraits anyway. YMMV.

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[ramarren]

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Well, what's too big for one person isn't always too big for another.  I tend to prefer the 'Lux R over the 'Cron M on my CL, although both work beautifully.

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Summilux-R 50mm f/1/4 with hood on Leica CL

Summicron-M 50mm f/2 with hood on Leica CL

G

[robgo2]

I recently purchased a Voigtlander Nokton 50 f1.2 for use on my CL. It is a really great lens that easily competes with the Summilux-M 50 f1.4 ASPH (which I also own).  At f1.2 - 1.7, it has a subtle glow, which is often desirable for portraits. I also bought the new Voigt Nokton 75 f1.5, another absolute gem.  On the CL, it is equivalent to 113mm, very good for portraits. Both lenses are beautifully made, and together they cost me about $2100.  To the OP, if you are comfortable with manual focus, consider either or both of these lenses over the Summicron-SL 50. I would bet that you would be giving up little, if anything, in terms of image quality.

Edited September 13, 2019 by robgo2

[Kyros Moutsouris]

On 9/12/2019 at 11:13 AM, lct said:

Way too big for my taste if it looks like that and too sharp for my needs i suspect. Softer M lenses like pre-asph 50/1.4 or 50/2 (pic) besides my favorite ZM 50/1.5 would be more forgiving for less than perfect skins and i'm not interested in AF for portraits anyway. YMMV.

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As a combination it does not look bad. The m lenses are Uber sexy on the CL.. I was contemplating an SL-APO 35cron for portraits though... we shall see

Edited September 13, 2019 by Kyros Moutsouris