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Summar, Summaron, Summarit, Summitar


01maciel

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One has to remember that the Leica was still a fairly "young" product when WW2 interrupted (14 years) - and so Leitz had not yet gotten its "name-branding act" completely together. (After all, it took Apple over 20 years to get around to the "iMac/iPod/iPad/iPhone" etc. - remember the "Newton"? ;) )

The Hektors were named after optical designer Max Berek's dog. ;)

It was about 1955-60 before the catalog of Leitz/Leica lens names began to rationalize to:

Elmar - lenses f/3.4-4.0

Elmarit - "better Elmars" of f/2.8

Summicron - f/2.0.

Summilux - faster than f/2.0 (e.g. 28 Summilux f/1.7 on the Q)

Noctilux - the "nocturnal Summilux", brighter apertures than f/1.4

With add-ons for longer Visoflex or SLR lenses of misc. apertures (Telyt or Tele-xxxx for long "tele"photo lenses, Vario-xxxx for zooms, Macro for, well, macro lenses). And then APO-, Aspherical, -ASPH, etc.

And a couple of holdovers from designs bought from Schneider-Kreuznach - Curtagon, Super-Angulon.

"Summarit" was first revived for a 1996 film P&S lens - the 40mm Summarit f/2.4 on the Minilux (in-between Summicron and Elmarit), then recycled for the M-mount f/2.5-2.4 lenses, and then the S-series f/2.5 lenses.

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I've owned them all & shot on digital and film. Quick summary:

If you want small, light & reliable, nothing beats the Elmar 5cm. Even uncoated it works great! It flares way less than you'd expect, and is sharp wide open. I use it mostly on film these days since I can just put it on a barnack camera & it fits in my pocket.

Summar / Summarit / Summitar / Cron V1 are all dreamy wide open, so it's best in digital than film. For film I always find the Elmar gives me sharper & more reliable results than any of these lenses (maybe Cron is on par if you close it down a bit).

Bokeh beast: Summarit (& cron V1). Summar / Summitar wide open have great bokeh but because they don't have circular blades (some had, not so easy to find them though) you get a weird shaped bokeh closed down.

 

PS - All lenses that I tried were in great condition but there's always lens quality variation from this manufacturing period. 

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  • 4 weeks later...
Am 26.11.2021 um 14:48 schrieb Capuccino-Muffin:

Summarit = f1.5. Eeexcellent fast lens. Same as summilux V1. Don’t listen to people not liking this lens, they probably base their experiences on scratched samples. A good sample is stellar.

I was able to get a Summarit f=5cm 1:1,5 from 1950 to a reasonable price and in mint condition. A sort of Christmas present to me. The rendering is like always a matter of taste but wide open it simply blows me away.

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M10 + Summarit f=5cm 1:1,5

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53 minutes ago, 01maciel said:

I was able to get a Summarit f=5cm 1:1,5 from 1950 to a reasonable price and in mint condition......The rendering is like always a matter of taste but wide open it simply blows me away...

Much the same with me except mine is a '53 in M-mount. Getting one with clean optics is absolutely vital.

As part of a fun challenge (set by forumite Dennis) I tried to use it nearly exclusively and nearly always wide-open for the whole of Feb. this year. Learned a LOT about the lens, had a lot of fun and even managed to get a few snaps which I happen to like in terms of rendering.

Can be crazy wide-open yet changes character completely by f2.8 / f4. Great underrated lens.

Philip.

EDIT : FWIW here are two images (both posted before) both snapped wide-open from my first weeks of playing with the thing. M-D Typ-262 and M Monochrom;

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Edited by pippy
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Summarit 50 1.5 is NOT a Leitz design.

It was designed and patented by Taylor, Taylor & Hobson (now Cooke) who licensed it to Schneider who in turn licensed it to Leitz. The even earlier f1.5 was labeled Xenon (a pure Schneider name) and was uncoated. Summarit is in many ways identical to Xenon but coated and was available in LTM and M versions. Presumably Leitz wanted such a high speed lens in their stock to prevent photographers turning to Zeiss for emerging fast lenses of the era (like the Sonnar 50/1.5)

The performance of the lens at full aperture is limited by high internal flare and has quite a dreamy feel, regardless of scratches on the super soft coating (as mentioned by someone above). Wide open, only a very tiny center portion is sharp.


A few years ago the kind folks at Cooke Optics Ltd. confirmed to me personally that this is in fact their design.

 

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As user of Summarit 1.5/5cm myself.

I have an idea why Summarit 1.5/5cm lenses are underrated.

First one I had (still have) with some haze in the lens elements not easy to clean, so this may be the case of so many out there.

I've heard that the (some) glass in use ( as some Canon LTM 5cm lenses that I have also) would develop haze some time after cleaning.

Good news ( I don't have accurate statistics ! ) the 'clean'  (opposed to cleaned ! ) one I bought later has clear glass elements and stays clean till now, for nice pictures.

 

 

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7 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

Summarit 50 1.5 is NOT a Leitz design...

With the greatest of respect, Al, I don't think anyone has suggested otherwise in this thread. As you say; when used wide open - and especially at min. focus - there is precious little which will be sharp in the frame!

Philip.

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I recently found a brand new Summarit-M 75/2.5.  Brand new in the box, never registered.  Leica gave me an extended 1 yr. warranty on it and the price was right.  Kind of a rare find for something from 2014.  

I didn't have high expectations, but the images are excellent.  Just the right amount of contrast, very sharp, and decent bokeh.  

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vor 48 Minuten schrieb Camaro5:

Summarit-M 75/2.5

I think the Summarit-M 75/2.5 is a different beast from a different era. It is definitely a 'newer' and original Leica design. Both lenses, 75/2.5 and 50/1.5, have the same name but it seems similarities ends at this point.

Ho, ho, ho, Santa has got another jacket 🎅

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@Camaro5 The 75mm Summarit is perhaps the most underrated Leica lens, my copy matches the 75 apo for IQ, the difference is a slightly more contrasty image.   The stigma of being a lower priced lens has diminished its relevance except for those that have used them. In time it might reach the status of the M2, another Leica product made economically or positioned as such, yet today is quite desirable. 
 

Re: 50mm Summarit f1.5, for many years I attempted to find a good copy. Everything I saw had scratched front elements or other issues. When I did find one with good glass the lens suffered from loosening of the barrel. The lens was repaired but again the barrel loosened. After returning the lens, I purchased the first Summilux model, the 1959-1961 version.  A solid lens that renders similar to the Summarit but never able to achieve the ethereal look of the Summarit. Post processing gets close but it’s not the same.  I would love to see Leica remake the Summarit but seriously doubt that it will happen.  

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/26/2021 at 5:27 AM, darylgo said:

@Camaro5 The 75mm Summarit is perhaps the most underrated Leica lens, my copy matches the 75 apo for IQ, the difference is a slightly more contrasty image.   The stigma of being a lower priced lens has diminished its relevance except for those that have used them. In time it might reach the status of the M2, another Leica product made economically or positioned as such, yet today is quite desirable. 
 

Re: 50mm Summarit f1.5, for many years I attempted to find a good copy. Everything I saw had scratched front elements or other issues. When I did find one with good glass the lens suffered from loosening of the barrel. The lens was repaired but again the barrel loosened. After returning the lens, I purchased the first Summilux model, the 1959-1961 version.  A solid lens that renders similar to the Summarit but never able to achieve the ethereal look of the Summarit. Post processing gets close but it’s not the same.  I would love to see Leica remake the Summarit but seriously doubt that it will happen.  

Remake ?

Why not, in my view this Summarit 1.5/50 re-issues would be better choice than the rumored Summaron 2.8/35.

As you wrote, the declining number of good copies of this fragile old style Summarit can be one of reasons of re-issues.

I'd buy one "new" to be able to appreciate even more this not-replaceable Summarit 1.5 (just have a look at the round aperture maybe unique in 50mm Leitz !).

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