Using fast 50mm lenses with Leica M cameras

[Raid Amin]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

There are several excellent 50mm lenses that could be used with a digital Leica camera.

(a) Leica lens

(b) non-Leica lens

 

• The CV 50mm 1.1 and also the 50mm 1.2 lenses are not expensive (less than $1000) compared with Leica Noctilux lenses. I have the 50/1.1 but not the 50/1.2. I wonder if anyone here has both lenses and can give us some feedback on them here.
• There is also the CV APO 50mm/2. I like using this lens. It is very well corrected. Has anyone used it and also the Leica APO 50mm?
• CV is coming out with a 50mm/1. I wonder how its performance will differ from the Noctilux 50mm/1. 
• There exist cheaper 50mm lenses by some manufacturers, such as 7Artisans 50mm 1.1. It has a strange looking bokeh when used wide open.

Please share your thoughts on using fast 50mm lenses with your Leica cameras.

 

Edited December 24, 2021 by Raid Amin
addition

[ravinj]

I have used / owned at some point Leica 50 APO, VM 50 APO, Zeiss ZM 50 F2 and Summilux 50 ASPH. 

VM 50: My current 50 favorite for size, colors and overall rendering. 

Leica 50 APO: owned it, sold it. Horrible flare with sun just outside of the lens. My copy was a later version. For the price I expect a perfect lens.

ZM 50: Excellent all around. Sold it when purchased the Summilux 50 ASPH.

Summilux 50 ASPH: Made the mistake of selling it. To me, this is Leica's best 50MM. The design may be "old" but the overall rendering is just beautiful. 

[Advertisement]

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

[jakontil]

i dont use voigtlander lenses much, nokton 1.5 was superb but i prefer the 50 lux asph, the wide open such as 1.1 was a bit soft to my liking and prefer the 0.95 noctilux if size not a problem.  i used the 1.1 7Artisans widest open for its characterful glasses with distractive bokeh but it was meant for it.  the 50 apo cron is my go to lens for its size and rendering.

now i have acquired the 1.2 noct, i think soon this will be my go to on my film M since extra stops really matter whilst 0.95 is greater, it just too big 

[Guest]

I would expect the new voiglander 50mm f1 apo to comfortably outperform the mandler f1 noctilux in technical terms but its not all about that is it?

 

[RexGig0]

My thoughts? I thought that a pre-owned Leica Summilux-M 50mm ASPH, available at the nearby official Leica dealer, Houston Camera Exchange, enabled me to do things that no Canon or Nikon lens would enable me to do. I tried this lens on some pre-owned M9 and M Type 240 cameras. I later returned to the store, and handled a new M10, then did some financial calculations. This happened in April 2018, when availability of the M10, without being on a wait list, was finally possible. I walked out of the place with that Summilux-M 50mm ASPH, a new Leica M10, plus, a nice 85mm Zeiss Otus lens, for the Nikon F mount, that I had also been contemplating. This consumed the remainder of a minor post-retirement financial windfall, but was a nice retirement self-gift. (I had planned to use the money for a 400mm, 500mm, 0r 600mm Nikon telephoto lens, for chasing birds, but I was still recovering from a left shoulder injury, so, would not be using any long lens, for a while.)

i think that I now like the 50mm focal length, for images of people. Before I used the Summilux-M ASPH, I had thought 50mm to be a rather uninspiring focal length.

I think that I am glad that I added the Leica M system. Life is good. 🙂

It is a challenge to use a fast 50mm, when subjects are moving, as the depth-of-field is so narrow, compared to that of a 28mm or 21mm lens. With the wide-angle lenses, I can use the distance scale, rather than the rangefinder.

Edited December 25, 2021 by RexGig0

[84bravo]

I have a lot of Leica lenses and a fair number of 50mm lenses, both Leica and other manufacturers. If I had to give up all of my lenses and keep just one, it would be the 50mm Summilux asph. I can do just about everything that I need to with just that one lens. The TTArtisans 50mm f1.4 is very nearly it's equal and is priced around $400.

[Raid Amin]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I have deliberately avoided to get a Summilux 50/1.4 as I was afraid that if this lens was really as good as users of such lenses have stated online, then all my other 50mm lenses would become unused eventually.   I did not want this to happen. I got the 35mm Summilux and the 75mm Summilux. I kept the 50mm slot open for other 50mm lenses. I sometimes think about buying a Summilux 50mm 1.4, but then I don't do it.

 

I will get a CV 50/1. It may be a really good lens.

Edited January 2, 2022 by Raid Amin

[adan]

My thought is basically that if I wanted a 50mm lens heavier than 250g (regardless of speed) and larger than E46 filters - I'd still be shooting SLRs.

Just not in the rangefinder spirit.

I haven't even been much of a 50mm shooter at all for 4 decades, but I did get a 230g Zeiss Planar ZM recently, as insurance against eyesight that may - in the future - no longer be able to handle a 75 at f/1.5-f/2.0. And against the current M-lens price inflation (wait 'til I do need it, and it might be 3x the price).

Plenty of "bouquet" at f/2 and close-up, and plenty of resolution at any aperture otherwise.

[pklein]

Raid: Hey, long time no talk!  I can tell you that I love my Voigtlander 50/1.2. It weighs about as much as a 50/1.4 Lux ASPH. And I find I can use it for just about anything from daylight to available dark. It is not perfectly sharp wide open, which the Lux ASPH is. But it is more than good enough. I have several 50s. But these days, I mostly use the VC 50/1.2 and a DR Summicron that I had altered years ago to fit on digital M cameras.

I don't know what the VC 50/1 will be like. It might be a "stretched" 50/1.2 design, or something completely new. The lens diagram looks almost identical to the 50/1.2, except for one additional element in the middle. Another thread on this site mentions floating element(s) and a 0.9 meter minimum focus distance.

I used a loaner 50 Lux ASPH for a day. I loved the results, but I didn't like the price, or the handling.

See this flickr group for many VC 50/1.2 shots.  https://www.flickr.com/groups/4517697@N24/pool/with/51759355364/

--Peter

Edited January 16, 2022 by pklein

[Tp2000]

I started typing this with detail on all the lenses, then realised I was in fact a 50mm lens tart....I really have had commitment issues with lenses in this focal length.

Short answer....

CV 1.1; CV 1.2; Rigid Summicron; Summicron v5; Apo-Summicron; Noctilux 0.95; Summilux ASPH

The "you're the one" award: Summilux. No matter where I am or what I do, its probably my banker lens and of the photos on the wall in our house, its this lens I've used most. The separation wide open is sensational and the most fabulous rendering, then stopped down as sharp as you need - and then some

The "I just can't break up with you, but probably should" award: APO-Summicron. I use it most often with the M10M and it does give the most ridiculous results. But side by side with the Summilux, stopped down, I start to struggle to see the difference (usual comments here apply that supposedly the SLX is an apo lens etc etc). I am very tempted to try a CV 50mm APO and see side by side whether I can tell the difference....although the size of the Leica APO is appealing

The "we broke up and I wonder if you think of me still" award: Probably the CV 1.2. The wide open rendering, like someone said above, is a little softer, but still stunning. Stopped down a very good performer. For the money, bridges performance to a SLX very well and is the only other lens of that fast aperture group (1.4/1.5)  I can think of that has the creamy wide open rendering, before then a strong stopped down set of results

The "I know I shouldn't have done it, but I did" award: Noctilux 0.95. I didn't need to buy it and probably shouldn't have bought it. YMMV but too heavy on a M (for me) and whilst I can focus it fine, I'd politely say I prefer the results from the Summilux wide open. There are times when yes, it does make my jaw drop and wide open is stunning, but as an overall package, not for me. Going to be sold imminently (if anyone in the UK is interested!)

 

Other mentions.

The Rigid Summicron.....I've got good results from this on bright days with some swirly backgrounds which looks amazing. The rest of the time, its no better or worse than any other lens. Stopped down, astoundingly sharp. Worth playing around with, as a lovely rendering. 

v5 Summicron.....such a good lens. If I had to sell everything off (having sold my kidneys) then I'd buy another of these. Nothing to complain about and arguably the only lens anyone really needs!

CV1.1.....erm, it has a place. 

There you go. Now I'm going off back to my 50mm lens relationship counselling sessions......

[rpsawin]

My fastest 50mm lens is a CV 50/1.5 Nokton LTM w/M adaptor. I find it to be a wonderful especially on my M10-M.

[Gobert]

Although I do not consider the APO 50 a fast lens, to my opinion it is the best 50 ever made by Leica. Reason, I’ve bought recently a 2nd one. I have as well a LUX 50, latest asph version. I like that lens, but it has a completely different character compared to the APO.

Besides the APOs and the LUX I own the Noct 0.95. I think that lens speaks for itself. You love or hate it.

[Łëïčä]

Zeiss 50f2 Planar. In terms of every day use, It’s all the 50 you will ever need.  

Edited January 21, 2022 by Łëïčä