Summilux 50mm discontinued…?

[T25UFO]

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1 hour ago, jpark114 said:

Well all three major camera brands do offer their top quality lens in 50mm F/1.2, so I don't see why Leica cannot do it.  Perhaps 50.4 lux with rebranded to keep its size and weight less, while going big for Noctilux 1.2?  I'm not sure about 0.95.  Nikon's 58mm F/0.95, manual focus, is a beast to say the least.  F 1.2 should be doable in fairly manageable sized way.

Of course, I'd prefer to see 50mm Lux-SL improved instead of rebranded, but it's fun to speculate...

Yes, speculation is fun and I would love to see an updated and improved SL 50 Summilux - a proper Leica version - just not sure if this is high enough on the to do list.

I’ve been using Leica, film then digital, since the 1980’s but the last couple of years have been disappointing for so many reasons.  The company’s current direction does not inspire me 🙁 but we shall see.

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[davidmknoble]

Just to be clear, the Leica SL 50mm Summilux lens was fully designed by and manufactured by Leica.  It is not a rebranded lens.  It was one of their early lenses along with their 24-90 and APO 90-280.  It is a beautiful lens, renders really well, but is large and very, very slow to focus given today’s APO Summicron brethren.  I had one and sold it for some APO lenses simply because they were smaller and I could carry 2 in the same space.  It is a hard decision about wether to get another…

[T25UFO]

15 minutes ago, davidmknoble said:

I had one and sold it for some APO lenses simply because they were smaller and I could carry 2 in the same space.  It is a hard decision about wether to get another…

Same here . . . have often regretted selling, as some of my best portraits were taken with this lens, but it is huge and slow

Some of the posts from @Olaf_ZG show just how good this lens is.

[Photoworks]

11 hours ago, davidmknoble said:

Just to be clear, the Leica SL 50mm Summilux lens was fully designed by and manufactured by Leica.  It is not a rebranded lens.  It was one of their early lenses along with their 24-90 and APO 90-280.  

Yes in collaboration with Panasonic.

Panasonic has a 50 1.4 that performers just the same and has a Leica badge on it.

[LD_50]

1 hour ago, Photoworks said:

Yes in collaboration with Panasonic.

Panasonic has a 50 1.4 that performers just the same and has a Leica badge on it.

The Panasonic has different number of elements, groups, and different performance than the Summilux SL. Are you trying to say they’re the same lens? 

Sure they “collaborate” with Panasonic but these two lenses aren’t the same as say the Panasonic 50 f/1.8 and the Leica 50 f/2. 

[IkarusJohn]

There’s a new one going very cheap here - pm me if any one is interested. I’m not the seller, and have no interest in it.

[davidmknoble]

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2 hours ago, LD_50 said:

The Panasonic has different number of elements, groups, and different performance than the Summilux SL. Are you trying to say they’re the same lens? 

Correct.  That was my point.  The LUMIX 50 1.4 has 13 lenses, 11 groups.  The Leica SL 50 Summilux has 11 lenses 9 groups.  Forget everything else, these are two different lenses and the Leica is a Leica lens, not a rebranded lens.  

[Photoworks]

10 hours ago, LD_50 said:

The Panasonic has different number of elements, groups, and different performance than the Summilux SL. Are you trying to say they’re the same lens? 

Sure they “collaborate” with Panasonic but these two lenses aren’t the same as say the Panasonic 50 f/1.8 and the Leica 50 f/2. 

if you look at reviews comparing the two there is almost no difference in image quality and character.

It is a different contraction.

[LD_50]

2 hours ago, Photoworks said:

if you look at reviews comparing the two there is almost no difference in image quality and character.

It is a different contraction.

Sean Reid has a detailed review comparing the Summilux and the Panasonic and the results clearly show they’re not the same (barrel distortion, vignetting, center resolution, contrast, corner resolution, chromatic aberration, etc). Which reviews have you seen showing the two lenses the same?

I don’t understand the last sentence or the overall point being made. 

Edited February 10 by LD_50

[Planetwide]

On 2/10/2025 at 7:35 AM, Photoworks said:

if you look at reviews comparing the two there is almost no difference in image quality and character.

It is a different contraction.

I have owned both, and I can attest that they are different lenses. The Panasonic is a very good lens with a more traditional look, especially in the bokeh. The Leica tends to be more 3D, if that makes any sense. I ultimately sold the Panasonic in favour of the Leica, but someone else may favour the Panasonic.