Which sharp 50mm for the m10m?

[Ouroboros]

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12 minutes ago, DadDadDaddyo said:

 

.....Look, I've been shooting Leicas for more than 50 years. 

 

Oooh, it's Forrest Gump! 

  

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[01maciel]

vor 1 Stunde schrieb DadDadDaddyo:

or who alternately comes on to you like a long-lost brother

[trickness]

100% buy a 50 Lux 1.4 ASPH used, there are tons of them available, they are almost always in mint condition for not too much over $3000. You could use this lens alone on your M & SL2 and never change it and take a lifetime of wonderful photographs. I consider this lens to be a fundamental, foundational tool of a Leica kit, especially if you like to take portraits. You can stop and down and it’s insanely sharp, but even wide-open you can take incredibly crisp photographs with fantastic fall off that almost looks like a Noctilux. It’s the one lens I would never be without.

This image taken with 50 Lux wide open

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Edited December 4, 2022 by trickness

[Musotographer]

On 12/3/2022 at 1:15 AM, DadDadDaddyo said:

Without prejudice toward any posters in this present thread, I confess I don't understand the substance of comments about how a particular camera or lens "looks": not how it "sees", but how it "looks".

It's not a fashion accessory! It doesn't "go" or "not go" with one's outfit, one's hair, one's ensemble. Are folks actually concerned with how they'll look using it??

I think the answer to that question as far as most people on this forum are concerned is 'No, they aren't.' If the question were 'Do they appreciate the beauty of the object in their hands?' it would probably be 'Yes they do.'  

There's a huge difference between having a beautiful/impressive/expensive camera/lens because you think it makes you look good  - delusional at best -  and appreciating a beautiful camera/lens because as well as being a superb tool, it's a beautiful object which gives one great aesthetic pleasure.  My Leica M cameras give me a frisson of visual pleasure every time I pick them up, but far from flaunting them as fashion accessories I tend to be rather reticent with them. 

[wizard]

Am 4.12.2022 um 16:50 schrieb trickness:

This image taken with 50 Lux wide open

That is one cool shot!

[trickness]

58 minutes ago, wizard said:

That is one cool shot!

Cheers Wizard! 🙏

[Erato]

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On 12/2/2022 at 8:57 PM, Al Brown said:

OP's budget is "about 3000 euros" as he wrote in the initial post.

Ahh, then the Elmar-M 50mm f2.8 would be a best fit indeed.😃

 

[grahamc]

7 minutes ago, Erato said:

Ahh, then the Elmar-M 50mm f2.8 would be a best fit indeed.😃

 

Another vote for the Elmar-M 50:2.8 here .  I don't use mine enough because I prefer less-sharp lens, but it's fantastic and I must use it more.  FWIW it's very noticeably my sharpest 50

[Olaf_ZG]

As I was yesterday at my dealer to pick up the Q, I tried some 50mm as well. In the end I went with a secondhand summilux asph (the one with the hood) in chrome. The sonnar will still stay, at least at the beginning.

Thank you all for your feedback.

[52K]

I agree with the others who recommend a Summilux ASPH and I’ve just now read your last post.

I’m a huge fan of 50mm as a focal length and recently compared four Leica premium 50’s side by side. The Summilux ASPH, APO M, Noctilux f0.95 and the APO SL (the last one on my SL of course). The reason for the last lens was because I already owned it but mainly to compare against the APO M which I was considering. In terms of outright performance I concluded that the Summilux ASPH was by far the best all-rounder for dreamy bokeh shots right up to sharp contrasty shots. What was interesting was that I found the APO M not to be anywhere near as good as the APO SL. The SL version being outstanding and one of the best 50mm lenses I’ve ever used. I’m not saying the APO M is a bad lens, quite the opposite it’s very good but I didn’t feel it was worth the money for what it offered me personally and even suffered some purple fringing under extreme conditions (as did all the others to a worse degree) except the APO SL which I could not get to fringe at all. 

As the APO M is out of budget and you’ve made your choice anyway, that last bit was just for info and my opinion only. I think you’ll be very happy with your purchase and it will meet your needs and come in well under budget (especially if you trade in the Sonnar down the line).

Edited December 9, 2022 by 52K

[DenverSteve]

I'll weigh in on the (obviously) biased thread.  I own all 5+ generations of Summicron 50s, the Summarit and the Summilux.  So, I have no dog in the fight, or ego to assuage because I bought one lens and believe that's the one you should go with.  I would advise the Summicron V4 or 5. Across the entire aperture and focal range, it performs the best for sharpness & flare.  The Summilux is faster but just doesn't have the all-around usability as the Summicron (image quality, size, weight, cost).  The Summarit f2.5 is only marginally slower and most people couldn't differentiate between it and the Summicron f2 at 200% (which of course is pointless anyway).  You don't want to spend the money on the Summilux so it becomes a moot point and one not worth arguing about.  You could get a Summicron Rigid as well but it's not quite the level of the Viii, V iV or V.  However, again, almost no one (if any) could tell the difference unless flare, or internal ghosting gave it away.  Again, I would get the Summicron 2.0 that fits into your budget. If you don't have the budget ($1200-$1500 US, your location may vary), then (and only then) I would grab a Zeiss 50 f2 Planar.  

Edited December 27, 2022 by DenverSteve

[RexGig0]

On 12/8/2022 at 8:42 AM, Olaf_ZG said:

As I was yesterday at my dealer to pick up the Q, I tried some 50mm as well. In the end I went with a secondhand summilux asph (the one with the hood) in chrome. The sonnar will still stay, at least at the beginning.

Thank you all for your feedback.

Beautiful choice! Enjoy!

Now and then, I will see that a pre-owned, well-preserved, silver-chrome Summilux-M 50mm ASPH, and will start counting my pennies, to see if I can afford it, even though I already the black version. Silver or Black, these are beautiful lenses, and the handling qualities, and the images rendered are the reason I added the Leica M system, in early 2018. I decided to buy my specific Summilux ASPH, before I knew which M camera I would be acquiring. (The lens was pre-owned, available at a local Leica dealer, where I tried it on pre-owned and demonstrator cameras.)

[Herr Barnack]

On 12/5/2022 at 4:49 PM, Artin said:

My M11 makes me look fat because it is skinny, so I think I may go back to an M240 and put a big fat lens on it 

If the M240 doesn't do the job, perhaps a Graflex Speed Graphic 4x5 would be something to consider...

[colonel]

On 12/3/2022 at 3:02 PM, DadDadDaddyo said:

I was shooting large format in Gettysburg this past summer and kept getting interrupted by folks who thought my gear looked novel and old fashioned. Several wanted to take pictures of me rather than the extraordinary setting in which we found ourselves. I guess it bothered me. Mostly, it was a pain in the neck.  

So I understand. I just feel that form follows function, that the beauty of Leica equipment is in its single-minded elevation of engineering excellence above all other concerns. Let's be judged by our output, not our tools. 

By the way, I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiments expressed for the Summilux 50 ASPH. Wonderful lens!

I apologize for taking this thread on a tangent. 

I like anything I am using to be aesthetically appealing. Whether its a car, watch, squash racket, mobile phone .... that's just me. I get a kick out of top engineering that has a layer of beauty design. Like the old European navy ship builders did in the 17th century, with all the functional stuff they had to do, they still found time to sculpture the bow and aft as well as putting their favourite female torso at the front.

On the subject of Leica M, I actually find it to be much more low key then large mirrorless or DSLRs. Also, for some reason, people object much less to their photos being taken by it. I have had many comments. Mostly people come up to me and say "nice camera". Once a guy came to me and said "a quick question if I may, do you think Leica equipment takes better pictures then other cameras". Difficult one! I said "its up to the photographer, but although Leica lenses are not the best any more, if you do get one you are still guaranteed of being in the club of best lenses. The rest is just the compact size and manual workflow, if you like it, its very special and unique." He seems satisfied with that one ....

[S Maclean]

Lux 50 asph fits your needs perfectly.  A good alternative would be one of the voigtlanders 50mm, 1.2 or 1.  But the lux is gold.

I have the APO and the LUX and actually use the lux more with the M11

[S Maclean]

Here is an image taken with the APO

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And here are a  couple witht he Lux.  The car shot to me is exceptional in IQ and I cannot see how a lens triple the price would do better.  The woman sitting is not perfectly focused, but I am adding it becasue it does show a slightly softer rendering wide open.  This said, the focus is my issue not the lens (as you can see on the car shot)

 

[eyeheartny]

 

Has anyone taken shots with the either the Leica 50 APO or the Voigtlander 50mm APO Lanthar with a Tiffen Black ProMist or other diffusion filter? I am curious whether the diffusion filter can soften some of the "too sharp for portraits" criticism that these lenses can have. I am considering selling my 50 Summilux for the Voigtlander lens (don't use 50mm as much but like it for portraits) and am wondering how a diffused/softened approach to this lens might work out. Thanks!

[Olaf_ZG]

33 minutes ago, eyeheartny said:

 

Has anyone taken shots with the either the Leica 50 APO or the Voigtlander 50mm APO Lanthar with a Tiffen Black ProMist or other diffusion filter? I am curious whether the diffusion filter can soften some of the "too sharp for portraits" criticism that these lenses can have. I am considering selling my 50 Summilux for the Voigtlander lens (don't use 50mm as much but like it for portraits) and am wondering how a diffused/softened approach to this lens might work out. Thanks!

I have a bmp, but not on those lenses and not for portraits, more for general glow. 
 

For portraits I decided to have special lenses: the nokton 35sc, the nokton 75 and a sonnar 50mm, all with classic soft rendering. It really saves me time in post processing.

Cant imagen the bpm will do the same.

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[sometimesmaybe]

16 hours ago, eyeheartny said:

Has anyone taken shots with the either the Leica 50 APO or the Voigtlander 50mm APO Lanthar with a Tiffen Black ProMist or other diffusion filter? I am curious whether the diffusion filter can soften some of the "too sharp for portraits" criticism that these lenses can have.

i dont have any direct experience with the APO lenses, but i've use the black promist on my GFX. the promist 'glow' looks different (at least to my eyes) compared the 'glow' from a lens with spherical aberration. 2 examples below

the 1/8 promist is on the GF 32-64mm f4 (shot wide open at around 35mm equiv on the GFX100s)

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the spherical aberration lens is the 7Artisans 75mm f1.25 (shot at f2.8 because it's too glowie wide open - m246) 

[Almizilero]

Am 2.12.2022 um 18:59 schrieb lct:

No need to spend that much. Planar 50/2. Perfect match with the Sonnar 50/1.5. 

I read a lot of good about this lens and got myself a used one. Just want to check my experience: Most reviews state that the Planar is sharp from edge to edge even wide open. I found one review that said extremly sharp in the center, blurry edges wide open. sharp all over from f/4. This is pretty much my experience. Did I (and that one reviewer) get a bad copy or is this just normal? (Asking because I can still return the lens.)