Best first gen 50mm?

[Andrew V]

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Hey all!

 

Thinking about trading my first gen 50 Summicron for a first gen 50 Summilux.  Wonder if anyone has shot both and can lend some thoughts or share some images?

 

Would love to understand what to expect from the summilux especially.

 

Best,

Andrew

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[adan]

Not an R user myself, but....

In his Leica Lens Compendium, Erwin Puts says that the v.1 Summilux-R - at f/2.0 -  "is equal to or slightly better than the v.1 Summicron-R."

Higher contrast, more clarity to fine details. Some focus shift at f/5.6, however.

It is also worth noting that the Summilux-R v.1 was not replaced for 28 years, until 1998 (with a larger, heavier 8-element lens). Whereas the Summicron v.1 was replaced by a newer design (eventually used for the M as well) in 1976.

Which would imply Leitz/Leica found the Summilux-R v.1 quite a difficult lens to improve on.

Edited December 31, 2023 by adan

[hepcat]

I have three Summicron-Ms, two DR and one v.3 and a first gen. Summilux-R.   I don't see a great deal of difference in any of them in practice.  The larger aperture on the Summilux is nice though.