Compact 50mm lens for the M5

[Wildcolugoman]

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With the peculiar metering swing arm of the M5, I know it is advisable not to use certain collapsible lenses. 

I've read some use Dymo tape to restrict the collapsibility, then it defeats the purpose of being collapsible and compact in the first place.

I would like to seek recommendations and comments on what then would be an appropriate 50mm lens (m or LTM) for the M5 to make it a compact set-up?

[madNbad]

The Light Lens Lab 50 2.0 Elcan replica would be a good choice. Good performance in a compact size. The Voigtlander 50 2.5 Color Skopar in LTM is even more compact but does require a LTM to M adapter. Head over to the Nifty Fifty thread and see some results.

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[Matlock]

You could try a 40mm C lens if that suits.

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[Ouroboros]

The 50mm elmar-m when extended is not really any more compact than a summicron but it’s a very good lens and a match for the summicron in many ways with the bonus that good used example still being relatively cheap for a Leica lens.  

The v5 summicron is a lens I would not want to be without when travelling, very sharp when stopped down for landscapes but has a really nice gentle but very detailed rendering at f2 & f2.8 for portraits and low light.  I like summicrons in any focal length, but that’s just me.

If it has to be a Leica lens, a good used v4 or v5 summicron would be my target if budget is a consideration and good examples are easy to find, fortunately overlooked by people caught up in the frenzy for faster lenses and more recent bokeh drug bragging rights which has pushed up the cost of used pre-asph summilux lenses.  It might take a little longer to find one of those in suitable condition if you want a summilux.
 

Other potential Leica options could be the 50mm summarits  as well as  Voigtlander offerings, in particular the 50mm f1.5 nokton ii which has a good reputation as a compact and fast M mount lens that seems capable of at least  90% of what a summilux can do at a fraction of the cost.  I might even buy one of those myself.

If there is no budget constraint, the sky is the limit.  Even the largest and fastest Leica M lenses are compact in comparison to other brands.

 

 

 

Edited May 14, 2023 by Ouroboros

[TomB_tx]

The Summarit 50 f2.5 is a very nice and compact lens that works fine on the M5.

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[spydrxx]

I think it depends on how compact you want it to be and the optical characteristics. There are a number of excellent 50mm lenses out there as mentioned above, but honestly, for all practical purposes, if you aren't looking at a collapsible lens, which is easy enough to fix so it won't collapse, almost any 50 will be roughly the same length....a function of the physics of focal length. This assumes, of course, that you aren't interested in lenses with very small apertures or pinhole lenses. If you're ok looking at older smaller aperture lenses, the Japanese Tanar 50/3.5 (LTM) is pretty small, but its wide open performance is really no better than the Elmar 50/3.5.

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[Pyrogallol]

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If you don’t go for a collapsible lens because of the M5’s metering arm then any 50mm lens will be approximately the same size just because of the focal length. 

As the focal length gets shorter so the size of the lens gets smaller, providing you ignore the newer wide aperture lenses which get bigger and bigger.

The 45mm Rokkor is a nice small lens, then the 40mm Summicron, then the 35mm lenses.

Another small lens is the modern 40mm Voigtlander Heliar, available in M and screw fittings.

But you are starting with a big camera body, probably the biggest M. For small camera start with a 1930’s screw body and add a 35mm Summaron lens for a small outfit.

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Edited May 15, 2023 by Pyrogallol

[Huss]

What everyone else has already said!

If you want a compact fast lens, the CV Nokton 50 1.5 II is very small.  And excellent.

[madNbad]

The Chiyoko Super Rokkor 45 2.8 LTM can still be found for around two hundred USD and is a bargain. It is really small, a bit fiddly to focus and no click stops but renders well and is fun to use!

[Huss]

1 hour ago, madNbad said:

The Chiyoko Super Rokkor 45 2.8 LTM can still be found for around two hundred USD and is a bargain. It is really small, a bit fiddly to focus and no click stops but renders well and is fun to use!

It's also fun to say!