50 mm Shopping: Where to Start Research?

[RayD28]

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15 hours ago, Bobonli said:

Apparently the v4 rarely comes up in the used market, or so says 4 reputable dealers I contacted. I'm not up for Craigs List or Ebay.

First, you might be surprised at how many brick & mortar camera stores use eBay.  Second, you can put your name on a camera store's waiting list for the next iv to come up for sale.  Third, I see iv's up for sale regularly, but I own one.  It's like buying a car.  You don't realize how many white Toyota Camrys there are until you buy one.  

[ianforber]

18 hours ago, Bobonli said:

I'm not doing the 'Bay or buying from Europe. I'm risk averse when it comes to buying things that are (a) expensive and (b) subject to debate regarding condition/function/defects. When things go sideways, I want to deal with a real human whom I can either visit in person or speak with on the phone. I'm old fashioned that way but I've had one thing go sideways and that was one-enough.

I may have to reconsider my attachment to the focusing tab.

I think you can get a slip on rubber ring with a tab to add one to a lens. I haven’t bothered getting one for my Summicron V as I’m not bothered about tabs. Happy to give it a go though if that would help you decide. 

[me111]

I really wanted to love the Summicron v5 because it is smaller than my Summilux, but I cannot. For this shot, the sun was pretty high in the sky, but somehow my Summicron managed to give me an ugly flare. (Based on some comments above, some people might find this type of flare beautiful or potentially beautiful --not me.) I sold the lens, hmmm many years ago and kept the Summilux happily.

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*** Please ignore the dust on my censor.

Edited September 2, 2023 by me111

[lct]

Both v4 and v5 of the Summicron 50/2 tend to flare when the sun or other strong light sources are outside the frame. It is not a problem in LV mode since the flare is visible in the EVF or on the LCD then, but in RF mode it is not always easy to avoid when shooting into the light.

[Bobonli]

"Oh Mr. Bond.....all this talk of flare. It's exhausting"

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I'm the OP so I can poke some fun at the back and forth about flare since it was never a main concern. Yes, I get it, the Lux doesn't exhibit as much flare in most people's experience. But I'm not interested in that lens because of its size and price. My next step, since V4's don't pop up often, is to find a V5 and see if I can be happy without the tab. I've really grown accustomed to using it on my 35 but like so many other things in life, I can't have what ain't available. 

[me111]

3 hours ago, VailJohnson said:

This

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Is definitely NOT sensor dust. So the other thing I don’t know is the condition of the lenses spoken about here. There are many variables. For all I know this lens looked like a petri dish. 

Lenses with fungus and having other optical issues will show these problems. 

 

 

Sorry to have to contradict you. They are DEFINITELY sensor dust. I know this because of two reasons: first they were focused; and second this camera belongs to me. I got rid of them by cleaning the sensor.

 

[me111]

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4 hours ago, VailJohnson said:

There’s definitely something wrong with this lens. The Summicron v5 never behaves this way. If it did nobody would use it.

Either something wrong with the lens. You’re shooting from behind glass or inside a bus through a dusty window or you have a filter on the lens that is causing problems.
 
I shoot towards the sun all the time. The lens doesn’t do this. This is impossible. I think if I wanted to flare I still couldn’t do this. 

 

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The above is the worst that I’ve seen from a review. I’ve never personally seen it.

Note these photos were taken in different years. My lens was made just a year and a half ago. The lens with the father and the child was taken in 2015, so this lens may be from the 90’s for all I know. Maybe he bought it used somewhere.

The v5 Cron may have updated coatings which may be why I never see flaring, and when I saw it it was very minimal. It’s hard to say because a Lot of people love to buy their gear used and I have no idea where they get their lenses and what condition is in and what they’re doing with it.

My feedback is a lens sealed in the box bought at the Leica dealer and a lens that was made in 2022. Outside of that I can’t say  

Again this only happens when shot straight against the sun light at a certain angle.

This lens, if you had it, needed to be serviced. There’s obviously something wrong with the elements or the body itself.

 

***BTW, that’s not what dust on the sensor looks like. That looks like dust or hair inside the lens (if you weren’t shooting with a filter). 

I shot the said picture with a UV filter on. Maybe the rainbow color is caused by the reflection with the flat surface of the filter. I owned the lens about a year, and I like to shoot against the sun too. During my ownership, it only behaved this way two times; two different times --different days at the same location in downtown Chicago. 

I am not sure if you will agree that we can see the similar behavior with your last image too.

[me111]

26 minutes ago, VailJohnson said:

Yes. That’s what I’m saying. Even if you see it, it’s not anything that will bother anyone during normal use. You’ll very seldom see it if ever. Definitely not so severe. 

Flare is not an issue in terms of every day use with the Summicron. 

For me and many others, it is problematic.

The image I posted shows the most severe flare I observed. However, it does not mean that was the only time it flared. This lens is just too flare prone for my taste.

[lct]

Flare is not a defect per se and some photogs are better than others at managing it. A good way to avoid it is abstaining from shooting into the light when the sun or other strong light sources are just outside the frame. The CVS (central veiling flare) is less easy to anticipate but, in my experience, it can happen when shooting dark subject matters against the light at smaller apertures than f/8. There is a learning curve consisting in keeping the sun away from the frame lines of the viewfinder but using lenses in LV mode can help a lot. This said, totally flare-less lenses is something i have never seen so far. All lenses do flare more or less, some of them like Planar 50/2 are less prone to flare than Summicrons 50/2 v4 or v5. Others can be worse in this regard (eg Summilux 35/1.4 pre-asph, Tele-Elmarit "thin" 90/2.8), others better (eg Summilux 50/1.4 asph or pre-asph, Elmar-M 50/2.8), others in-between (eg Summicron 50/2 apo, Summarit 50/2.5). Below M11 + Summicron 50/2 v5 at f/2 and f/16. The sun was outside the frame in both cases. See details in exif data.

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