Leica Leica APO-Summicron-SL 50 mm f/2 ASPH. or Leica SL 24-70 F2.8

[rollsman4]

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I just purchased the SL and the 24-70 F2.8.  Just out of curiosity I was thinking of Selling the Zoom and getting the 50 lens.  I am retired from Shooting and Now its More for my personal use. Just 1 Lens is what I can afford

  I know the weight between them is close and NOT a concern. I shoot family shots and some Portraits and would use it on Vacation.  Is the Image quality close or is there a Big difference

  I shoot F4-F8/11   I dont shoot wide open.   On camera and off camera I do as well  Thank you 

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[Simone_DF]

I’d keep the 24-70. There’s a difference, but since it’s your only lens, the flexibility is invaluable imho

[SiggiGun]

Personals if you prefer Prime Lenses, I guess the best "compromis" is the APO35mmSL. You can Crop and Crop if needed. 

[hoolyproductions]

I would find this decision really difficult. From 2014-2020ish I shot only with rangefinder and prime lenses, and would be 'lost' without a 50mm lens, which I have used for 90% of my shots in that period. I got a CL a couple of years ago and an SL2-s more recently and have really liked the zoom lenses for daylight photography, casual stuff and candid landscapes. Having said that it's winter time here in Finland and daylight pictures will be a rare pleasure for the next few months, so I'm back to the 50mm (and other primes) most of the time for indoor stuff.

From your post though, you don't seem interested in shooting wide open very often (one main advantage of the prime is then lost). You mention family shots and portraits, which is something most people would appreciate a zoom (or at least a couple of primes for). Perhaps you have some sense how much you use the zoom and how much you might miss it?

Lastly, it seems indeed that the summicron-SLs give noticeably sharper images (at least when pixel peeping in some situations) than the zooms. I certainly notice a difference between my absolutely astonishing 50 summicron-SL and my excellent 24-90mm. Plus the heft of the lens plus body is significantly less.

I guess if I could only have one or the other, I would think about a less expensive camera system and still get both 😇

[Daniel C.1975]

vor 40 Minuten schrieb SiggiGun:

Personals if you prefer Prime Lenses, I guess the best "compromis" is the APO35mmSL. You can Crop and Crop if needed. 

Yep, if you want to change, I can only second what Siggi wrote. 

Or, keep the 24-70, save up and buy a prime at a later time. Honestly only you can answer that question. 

For example I am definitely a prime-guy, for a very long time, but I've bought the 24-90 a few month ago and really enjoy the flexibility of it. The 24-70 with its constant f2.8 and a bit smaller size is a really good companion for sure. 

The reason for me why I like primes so much is a) the larger aperture in combination with a really good IQ and b) that there is still less distraction with just one focal length. I at least, start to see more in a single focal length. On the other hand, obviously, it's just one focal length with all its limitations

In landscape especially, the SL-primes are sharper and show more details than even the really good 24-90 - does it allways matter. No, of course not. 

If you put a weapon at my head to choose for one lens only, I would still go for a prime. For me its the 35mm, for others the 50mm or the 28mm for a single lens setup. 

For a dual lens setup for me it's still the 35 and 75, just with three lenses a zoom would creep in. And of course, without the gun at my head in real live, I have more lenses, and most probably too many ... and still think about adding more  

Good luck to answer this in the world of photography impossible question  .

 

Edited October 31, 2021 by Daniel C.1975

[hansvons]

I solved this issue with a 24-90 and a 50mm Summicron R manual lens. 

The 24-90 is optically the best zoom I've ever shot with, plus the extra reach is indispensable for me. I could say be done with it. But it renders portraits highly dimensional, which is, for me at least, often not desirable. The 50mm Summicron R, however, does the opposite. It renders faces pretty flat and adds some subtle glow to backlight highlights, even at f 4. It's a magical portrait lens on a budget, much under-appreciated in the Leicaverse. The old R 50 can be purchased used for as little as 300 EUR in pristine condition. With an R adaptor, an investment of fewer than 500 bucks.

[T25UFO]

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Another vote for the 35mm.  It's a great all purpose lens, perfectly fine for both wider environment portraits and the more traditional 'head & shoulders' portrait when cropped.  

I use the M 35mm APO because I want a lens that I can use on two systems, but if I only had the SL then I would definitely buy the SL35.  I'm not a great fan of zoom lenses, but that's just me!

[2M6TTLs]

For the kind of photography you do I'd stay with the 24-70 for versatility at the wide end, unless you are unhappy with the sharpness (and I can't see why you would be), mine seems excellent at all focal lengths. I don't doubt that the 35 or 50 primes are even sharper/ offer more resolution. but do you really need that? How are you viewing your images?

If you do decide to go for a standard prime then I'd also consider getting a Sigma 24 3.5 which will allow you to take interior shots or landscapes with a good macro capability built in. 24 / 50 would be a good combo.

[SiggiGun]

Just to complet: after some "aller-retour", I am now in a clearer process concerning my line up. Still in progress.

My first SL lens was the 24-90mm. As you sad, a very good zoom but heavy and big,... I am a M men! I sold it and replaced it by a APO50SL, a great lens but less multi-purpose than the APO35SL,... Now my doctrine (!) is: M = Prime lens and SL = Vario Zoom "mainly". I owned now a 16-35mm Vario and the Apo50SL (which is really reserved for portraits now). I guess I will re buy the 24-90mm . The 24-70mm is not bad in IQ but the handling is not consistent with the other SL Leica lenses which is for me a show stopper!

[2M6TTLs]

Interesting. There is certainly a difference in optical quality with some Leica lenses and this zoom but for handling they seem pretty much the same to me. The 24-70 is much better than 'not bad' It's very sharp at all focal lengths (even close up) and has great color accuracy with images out of camera. Hasn't stopped my show at all..

[MarkinVan]

On 10/31/2021 at 4:18 AM, T25UFO said:

Another vote for the 35mm.  It's a great all purpose lens, perfectly fine for both wider environment portraits and the more traditional 'head & shoulders' portrait when cropped.  

I use the M 35mm APO because I want a lens that I can use on two systems, but if I only had the SL then I would definitely buy the SL35.  I'm not a great fan of zoom lenses, but that's just me!

+1

Both my SL 24-90 & 16-35 are great lens though the vast majority of photos with SL35.

 

[robb]

I think for your use, I would keep the zoom.
 

All great choices though.

 

Robb 

[trickness]

You can take a lifetime of great photographs with either one of those lenses. Certainly the zoom would be more flexible. But there are plenty of photographers who built careers on a 50 mm lens….. personally I cannot stand zoom lenses, limitations can often be liberating and 50 SL is an absolute beast of a lens, you could shoot with it for the rest of your life and be amazed by the results every time. Prime lenses have the magic, especially the SL Crons.

[Yarosuav]

4 hours ago, trickness said:

You can take a lifetime of great photographs with either one of those lenses. Certainly the zoom would be more flexible. But there are plenty of photographers who built careers on a 50 mm lens….. personally I cannot stand zoom lenses, limitations can often be liberating and 50 SL is an absolute beast of a lens, you could shoot with it for the rest of your life and be amazed by the results every time. Prime lenses have the magic, especially the SL Crons.

I tend to agree. I have the SL2 and have both the 24-70 and the 50 APO (my only native SL2 lenses). I pretty much never put the 24-70 on... Much prefer the 50 APO, even though I'm not really a 50mm guy.

However I also have the M10R with a bunch of lenses, plus Q2, so I do have flexibility in terms of focal lengths... 

[lx1713]

Zoom because capturing the moment beats composition 😂 Just a priority not a desire to argue with anyone.

I guess it depends. If I use a prime, its usually in studio or a location setup these days where I need f2 look or speed of the object detection which works 100% of my studio sittings.

Outside of these, I just pick an M lens because I'm lazy when casual shooting. Or even a TL lens ; )

Otherwise its the 24-90. These days 90+ % of my pictures is on the 24-90. But 47mp and the sensor stabilisation does give me some cropping leeway. So Zoom would be my pick. I don't have the 24-70 so I can't comment on that.