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If you have both: when and why 50 APO or Summilux?


Robert Blanko

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Just to satisfy anyone's lingering curiosity, shot 1 was the Summilux, shot 2 the Apo. The clue being the vignetting on the 2nd photo. 

Was surprised re: the fringing on the APO shot in the branches at the back. 

What I will say is that I've been consistently amazed by both lenses, I'm lucky I don't have to choose between them. However I think the Summilux might win if I was backed into a corner - open it is lovely, creating some exceptional separation at moderate distances that I don't see with the APO. Stopped down, then I find it hard to tell them apart most of the time. 

 

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vor einer Stunde schrieb Tp2000:

Just to satisfy anyone's lingering curiosity, shot 1 was the Summilux, shot 2 the Apo. The clue being the vignetting on the 2nd photo. 

Was surprised re: the fringing on the APO shot in the branches at the back. 

What I will say is that I've been consistently amazed by both lenses, I'm lucky I don't have to choose between them. However I think the Summilux might win if I was backed into a corner - open it is lovely, creating some exceptional separation at moderate distances that I don't see with the APO. Stopped down, then I find it hard to tell them apart most of the time. 

 

Thanks for the comparison and thanks for disclosing the solution!

😳 That‘s indeed not what I would have expected. In view of the fringing in the tree, I would have thought it would be the opposite. Maybe Leica did not control longitudinal and lateral chromatic aberrations equally well? The focusing distance was the same in both cases?

 

Edited by Robert Blanko
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I have both the apo and lux in black chrome, previously i used noctilux asph for a couple of years, and prior to that i had used lux and later apo subsequently 

weird? Yeah i felt that too but that day i decided the noctilux isnt exactly the lens to my liking despite most of the time i shoot portrait, i felt it limits my creativity due to its big size and 1m focusing distance

i missed the apo, i got it and after few months, i just felt i needed the extra stops and less genuine feel, not like being too truthful, but this time i want to own both hahaha 

I just love both lenses, they produced different results despite its similarities, even at f2, the bokeh renders differently and i prefer the apo in this situation

i always shot widest open though

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On 12/6/2020 at 2:30 AM, lct said:

Banally, 50/1.4 asph in low light or when i need shallow DoF and 50/2 apo otherwise. If i had to select one it would be the 50/1.4 asph for its low light capabilities. YMMV.

I just released my APO into the wild because I had a chrome M10 and used it often on it, but then when I replaced that body with a black chrome M10-R I also got my first Summilux. I kept the APO for a few more months to see if there was really really a big difference in the way I shoot, and it really was the sharper lens, the more perfect lens wide open... but it wasn't the 'LOOK' I was going for, so the Lux ASPH stayed in my bag and the APO transformed into a SL2-S and a S to L mount adapter magically at the Leica Store LA. Crazy how that happens.

 

But really, I think for an overall lens choice it would be the Summilux-M 50mm ASPH in the old school style and black chrome for me. I never thought I would care if a lens was f1.4 or f2, but evidently I do.

 

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Am 7.12.2020 um 22:06 schrieb 80_20:

As a lucky owner of a 0,95/50, 1,4/50 FLE and 2,0/50 APO, I would always choose the APO for its performance and size - even if it lacks 1-2 stops, it is able to compensate with a fantastic 3D-look thanks to a strong decline of contrast beyond the focal plane. 

@80_20Could you maybe comment on the examples from @TP2000 in post #35? I can not see any 3D-look nor strong decline of contrast beyond the focal plane. Maybe this is just because of the forum quality. 

Still the example is very good as it is just a normal picture taken with 50mm. And I am sure that we could even not say that a Canon 50mm would give us results that would be different from what we see above. Its all a question of lightroom or equivalent. This is my experience as I use more than one camera brand (depending on the job) and I own 4 different 50mm lenses of which 2 are for Leica-M. I think that higher resolution would bring more quality than a step from lux to APO. And f1.4 is more versatile as f/2 anyway. I prefer to have to lowest possible ISO for my landscape, travel and architecture pictures that I do almost every single day. Of course the APO is one of the best 50mm on the market but not in a way that one could see differences in everyday photography even though your work might be on a very high artistc level.

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With regard to the 50 Summilux ASPH vs. 50 Summicron APO question - it seems that we are splitting hairs with regard to image quality.  Both are stellar performers with different renderings.  It (apparently) takes a microscope to tell which lens produces "better" image quality; that's starting to sound like splitting hairs.

Two questions that should factor into the decision to buy one lens over the other are:  Which camera(s) will you be using with the lens?  And, what subject matter/use(s) will the lens be purchased for?

And then we confront the elephant in the room:  Will the $8795 USD 50 Summicron APO make images that have twice the image quality of images from the $4395 USD 50 Summilux ASPH?  And, will the extra $4400 USD invested in the 50 Summicron APO be money well spent?

I have to admit that I am playing devil's advocate just a bit, since the 50 Summicron APO is on my "ten most wanted material possessions" list.  I would also like to have a copy of the 50 Summilux ASPH, too (I know - I'm a terrible person 😢).

Edited by Herr Barnack
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23 minutes ago, Herr Barnack said:

It (apparently) takes a microscope to tell which lens produces "better" image quality

I find it extremely easy to discern which is which from DigLloyd's A/B sample images at far less than 100% - the APO has more detail, and especially a flatter field.

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19 hours ago, astrostl said:

I find it extremely easy to discern which is which from DigLloyd's A/B sample images at far less than 100% - the APO has more detail, and especially a flatter field.

In my View, it is for close-ups you see the biggest différence : the lux Asph is really really far from the Apo Cron if you shoot at f2 or 2.8 at 1m

 

 

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FYR.

If you read the MTF chart, the difference between two lenses is so obvious.

APO-50's contrast against different lp/mm is relatively stable while compare with 50-Lux on every stop.

Meanwhile, from the perspective of "Relative Distortion" and "Effective Distortion", APO-50 wins.

These differentiation affect on the digital/analog photography for sure, especially while in the scenario of low speed exposure.

Edited by Erato
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6 hours ago, Lelmer said:

Could you, please, show an example?

I don’t do side by side comparison, but here is a portrait whose clarity and details you won’t get (in my View with my copy if the Lux) from the ‘lux 50 at that distance.

shot with M10M + APO 50, no reframing.

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36 minutes ago, didier said:

I don’t do side by side comparison, but here is a portrait whose clarity and details you won’t get (in my View with my copy if the Lux) from the ‘lux 50 at that distance.

shot with M10M + APO 50, no reframing.

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So cute...but I'd agree with pedaes

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33 minutes ago, Lelmer said:

So cute...but I'd agree with pedaes

:) 

My favourite Lens for that Kind of Photos is the 'lux 75, though it is difficult to use. I am not fast enough with it to nail Focus with a high Keeper Rate with Toddlers, but when Focus is spot on, Results are great  !

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