Massive 50mm comparison test

[Harpomatic]

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Just a quick message: I wanted to apologise for the cheap advertising at the end of my articles: I never realised it was there, and after researching a bit I realised it was the Disqus commenting system that did it automatically. My website is non profit and as such there is no advertising. If any adverts will be shown on my website they will be relevant and especially my own decision.

I have saved all the comments and put them in as additional text at the end of the article then deleted Disqus from the website.

No advertising now.

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

[astrostl]

You might consider open source alternatives like https://github.com/posativ/isso or https://github.com/adtac/commento if you're on the technical side.

[Harpomatic]

6 hours ago, astrostl said:

You might consider open source alternatives like https://github.com/posativ/isso or https://github.com/adtac/commento if you're on the technical side.

Thank you for the suggestions! I will look into it!

[Harpomatic]

If anyone is interested I’m slowly releasing the individual lens reviews and will do so over the newt few weeks, adding direct comparisons as well on the way. 

I received my Summilux 1.4 back from repair and while it was full of oil around the FLE helicoid, we don’t know why - possibly an incompetent technician dabbled with it in the past. The lens was submerged in it. That could justify the strange flare pattern. I would test it again, but to my chagrin the lens doesn’t work properly now: the image is smeared diagonally. Which makes me think that a lens element has not been seated properly. So, off it goes again - I am furious. I bought the lens back in November and had it in repair for more than two months now and it needs to go back again, god knows for how long.

The technician is one of the recommended ones here and I don’t want to point fingers, but this is not acceptable.

Anyway, as soon as I can get my hands on a working copy of the Lux I will retest the flare issue and let you know if you are interested. And I will do so with the repaired Cron v5.

For now, the two Nokton 1.5, old and new, have been looked at individually:

https://www.47-degree.com/focus-shift/Voigtlander-Nokton-50mm-1.5-II-VM-review

https://www.47-degree.com/focus-shift/voigtlander-nokton-50mm-15-vm-aspherical-review

Let me know your thoughts!

[Simone_DF]

I found the comparison well done and interesting. I have the Summilux and the C Sonnar and I'm happy with both for different reasons. Too bad the two APOs are missing.

https://www.47-degree.com/focus-shift/leica-m-50mm-lens-comparison-part-1

Voigtlander Nokton VM 50mm 1:1.1
7Artisans 50mm F1.1
Voigtlander Nokton VM 50mm 1:1.2 Aspherical
Leica Summilux-M 50 f/1.4 ASPH.
TTArtisan M50mm f/1.4
Voigtlander Nokton 50mm F/1.5 Aspherical VM
Voigtlander Nokton Vintage Line 50mm F1.5 Aspherical II VM
Zeiss C Sonnar T* 1.5/50 ZM
Leica Summicron-M 50 f/2
Zeiss Planar T* 2/50 ZM

[Danner]

Incredible amount of information, bravo!

[Hanno]

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On 2/25/2021 at 1:46 AM, Harpomatic said:

Hello everyone,

 

as I mentioned before I have been working on a comparison of Leica M 50mm lenses.

I compared 10 of them. I ended up with an enormous amount of information and really long articles.

You can read the whole thing, only the summaries, or only the conclusions.

I am posting it here because I hope it's going to be a good resource for the community, clarifying quite a few doubts and answering a lot of questions that are often asked here. I would love to see a discussion coming out of it here on the forum, we all have different opinions and my conclusion might differ from yours. If so, do tell! I want conversation!

The article is in 4 parts:

https://www.47-degree.com/focus-shift/leica-m-50mm-lens-comparison-part-1, the introduction and first tests,

https://www.47-degree.com/focus-shift/leica-m-50mm-lens-comparison-part-2, the technical analysis,

https://www.47-degree.com/focus-shift/leica-m-50mm-lens-comparison-part-3, the bokeh and portrait rendering, 

https://www.47-degree.com/focus-shift/leica-m-50mm-lens-comparison-part-4, the conclusions.

 

The lenses in the article are, of course all 50mm:

Nokton 1.1

Nokton 1.2

Nokton 1.5

Nokton 1.5 II

Summilux ASPH

Summicron v5

Zeiss Planar

Zeiss C Sonnar

7Artisans 1.1

TTArtisans 1.4

 

Enjoy!

Original post 

[Simone_DF]

4 hours ago, Hanno said:

Original post 

Thanks, I somehow missed the original post!

[M11 for me]

Wau, never saw something like this. It deserves being discussed in more detail. Maybe some critics will come up as well. In any case there is plenty to study.

[jaapv]

Merged with the original thread.

[jaapv]

On 3/21/2021 at 11:22 PM, Harpomatic said:

If anyone is interested I’m slowly releasing the individual lens reviews and will do so over the newt few weeks, adding direct comparisons as well on the way. 

I received my Summilux 1.4 back from repair and while it was full of oil around the FLE helicoid, we don’t know why - possibly an incompetent technician dabbled with it in the past. The lens was submerged in it. That could justify the strange flare pattern. I would test it again, but to my chagrin the lens doesn’t work properly now: the image is smeared diagonally. Which makes me think that a lens element has not been seated properly. So, off it goes again - I am furious. I bought the lens back in November and had it in repair for more than two months now and it needs to go back again, god knows for how long.

The technician is one of the recommended ones here and I don’t want to point fingers, but this is not acceptable.

Anyway, as soon as I can get my hands on a working copy of the Lux I will retest the flare issue and let you know if you are interested. And I will do so with the repaired Cron v5.

For now, the two Nokton 1.5, old and new, have been looked at individually:

https://www.47-degree.com/focus-shift/Voigtlander-Nokton-50mm-1.5-II-VM-review

https://www.47-degree.com/focus-shift/voigtlander-nokton-50mm-15-vm-aspherical-review

Let me know your thoughts!

Hard to blame the technician, except maybe for failing to acknowledge his limitations. Due to the exceedingly narrow tolerances of the FLE mechanism it can only be serviced properly by Leica, and even Leica had production problems with the lens for this reason. When I bought mine new back in 2008, it had to be returned for fine-tuning and Leica took 4 (!) months to produce a properly machined part to solve the tolerance problem.

[Harpomatic]

5 hours ago, jaapv said:

Hard to blame the technician, except maybe for failing to acknowledge his limitations. Due to the exceedingly narrow tolerances of the FLE mechanism it can only be serviced properly by Leica, and even Leica had production problems with the lens for this reason. When I bought mine new back in 2008, it had to be returned for fine-tuning and Leica took 4 (!) months to produce a properly machined part to solve the tolerance problem.

Thanks for your contribution jaapv, I am starting to realise that. I am not that hopeful for this lens to be set right by the technician. That doesn’t take away from the fact that I am thoroughly disappointed by the fact that this risk wasn’t mentioned or known. The full brunt of the damage in cost and time will fall onto me, and that’s not right. Optically the lens was performing amazingly on before.

I will keep everyone posted on how things develop: for now I’m still waiting.

[jaapv]

I can only say that when the lens was finally returned it was a dream to use - smooth focus, no stickiness or sense of the FLE, accurate at all distances and the lens hood clicked into the bayonet when extended.

[nicelynice]

I'd like to thank you very much for your review - really helped me find the perfect 50mm lens. I shoot film, so my takeaway was "at the top of the list, they're all fantastic optically." I ended up going with the Zeiss Planar simply because the ergononics suited me the best - the Voightlander aperature ring with only those two little tabs bothered me to no end and the focusing felt smoother than any of the three copies of the Summicron I handled (new Leica glass was out of my budget).

Again, thank you very much. Wonderfully researched and written article with the pros and cons clearly pointed out.

[pedaes]

43 minutes ago, nicelynice said:

I ended up going with the Zeiss Planar

Great lens! Very 'sharp' and draws beautifully . Enjoy!

[Harpomatic]

On 5/15/2021 at 2:03 PM, nicelynice said:

I'd like to thank you very much for your review - really helped me find the perfect 50mm lens. I shoot film, so my takeaway was "at the top of the list, they're all fantastic optically." I ended up going with the Zeiss Planar simply because the ergononics suited me the best - the Voightlander aperature ring with only those two little tabs bothered me to no end and the focusing felt smoother than any of the three copies of the Summicron I handled (new Leica glass was out of my budget).

Again, thank you very much. Wonderfully researched and written article with the pros and cons clearly pointed out.

Thanks for letting me know, I’m really happy this has helped you to make the right decision.

You’re right, most of them are just great lenses. And the Planar is a really great choice.

Enjoy!

[astrostl]

Nobody beats ZEISS' aperture rings IMO. Only wish they would drop the 1/3 stop increments.

[WvE]

Another big thanks for the comparison. I was on the fence for a suitable day-to-day alternative to my far too heavy but otherwise beautiful LUX BC. I just picked up a pre-owned Nokton 50mm F/1.5 Aspherical (MC), the difference in weight is already worth it 😉 

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Mr.Q]

Great comparison!  Reassuring to know that my 50 lux asph still fares well among it's competition.

Would love to see a 35mm comparison when you get a chance 😀

[Prosophos]

I haven't had a chance to read all of the comments on this thread, but I just wanted to commend you (and thank you) for your incredible work.  Outstanding.