50mm for m10m

[kiwidad]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

If you had to run out and buy a 50mm lens for your m10m what would you buy and why?

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[darylgo]

Summilux Asph v1, cheap, not to heavy, easy to find filters for, built in lens hood, f1.4 has a beautiful quality for portraits, at f2.8 it is sharp until f11, you can always sell it and not lose too much $$$, if you like brass the chrome version is available, Leica will repair this lens for many many years, everybody need a summilux.   

Edited May 31 by darylgo

[evikne]

I would buy a 50mm Summicron v5. It's small, lightweight, (relatively) affordable, and sharp, but not boringly sharp.

[erl]

I have a Noctilux, a Summilux and a Sumicron. I like them all. I don't recommend a Noctilux as a first lens. The Summilux is good at 1.4 when you need extra light and is quite sharp at that aperture. The Summicron is easier and faster to focus than the Summilux, I think because the 1.4 is a tabbed lens. The cron is not and is easier to grab quickly and focus.

[AceVentura1986]

13 hours ago, evikne said:

I would buy a 50mm Summicron v5. It's small, lightweight, (relatively) affordable, and sharp, but not boringly sharp.

Beat me to the punch. That is my principal lens. It’s light, relatively small, relatively inexpensive (for a used Leica lens) and renders beautifully. FWIW, I think anything faster that f/2 risks becoming unusable either because the images might be too soft or, more likely, the plane of focus can be too shallow for daily use. Even w my CV Nokton 35mm f/1.4 and my EOS canon 50mm f/1.4 I tend to shoot at f/2.  IMHO, f/2 is sufficient for most needs, especially given the high ISOs of most cameras today. 

Edited June 1 by AceVentura1986

[Jeff S]

17 hours ago, evikne said:

I would buy a 50mm Summicron v5. It's small, lightweight, (relatively) affordable, and sharp, but not boringly sharp.

I did just that, despite already owning the 50 Summilux ASPH v1.  

[pgh]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I have a summicron v5 and a Summilux asph. I prefer the summicron in every way and on the m10m the little bit of extra speed is basically a non factor because of how good it is at higher iso. 
I keep the luxes for my color m10s where the little extra speed is worth a bit more, if I really need it. If I don’t, I’ll use the v5 cron there too.
 

so yea, basically agreeing with the crowd here. 

[ramarren]

I have the Summicron-M 50/2 typ 4 or 5, a Voigtländer Color-Skopar 50/2.5, and Voigtländer Heliar Classic 50mm f/1.5. The Summicron and Color-Skopar are virtually indistinguishable in use. The Heliar Classic has a lovely softness wide open (sort of like having a Zeiss Softar I diffusing lens on the front of the Summicron) and gets to razor sharpness a stop or three down from wide open. 

All three are excellent; the Voigtländer lenses are vastly less expensive. So if I was buying in a hurry and had budget constraints, I'd probably get the Heliar Classic 50/1.5 and later decide whether I really felt the Leica Summicron or Summilux was worth the money. 

G

[Jeff S]

On 6/4/2025 at 3:04 AM, ramarren said:

I have the Summicron-M 50/2 typ 4 or 5, 

Simplest clue…focus tab v4; no tab v5 (current).

[ramarren]

Ah thanks, typ 5 then.

G

[Maverick1st]

50 Summilux ASPH v1

[T25UFO]

The “new” Classic Summilux is excellent on the Mono and also surprisingly good value.

[Jon Warwick]

45 minutes ago, T25UFO said:

The “new” Classic Summilux is excellent on the Mono and also surprisingly good value.

It’s a lens i’d like to try on my M11M.

At present, I’m using the Summicron v5, and really like it on my M11M (and before that M10M), but I would be intrigued to see how the v5 and reissued Summilux compare.

The only aspect of the v5 that I don’t like is its strong field curvature - ie, infinity centre is tack sharp, …..whilst left and right infinity sides not nearly so sharp, …..but left and right foreground is tack sharp. It’s like a horseshoe of what’s in perfect focus. Maybe there’s a way round it (?) but not figured that out yet. 

Edited June 10 by Jon Warwick

[FrozenInTime]

6 minutes ago, Jon Warwick said:

It’s a lens i’d like to try on my M11M.

At present, I’m using the Summicron v5, and really like it on my M11M (and before that M10M), but I would be intrigued to see how the v5 and reissued Summilux compare.

The only aspect of the v5 that I don’t like is its strong field curvature - ie, infinity centre is tack sharp, …..whilst left and right infinity sides not nearly so sharp, …..but left and right foreground is tack sharp. It’s like a horseshoe of what’s in perfect focus. Maybe there’s a way round it (?) but not figured that out yet. 

The new 11714 Summilux v4 has a tack sharp central 15mm, but beyond that radius it falls apart with heaps of field curvature. The ASPH Summiluxes hold on to sharpness for a few more millimetres. i.e. neither serve technical ends.

 

[ramarren]

This thread is inspiring me to pull out the Summicron-M 50 typ 5 and Heliar Classic 50 VM in order to get some more time in with both and see what they do in a closer comparison.

G

[GFW2-SCUSA]

I use the Summicron v. 5 but lately find the Voigtlander APO-Lanthar more to my liking. It seems sharper and more brilliant, perhaps what is considered more modern than the Summicron which has lost a bit of its luster. I realize this is mostly subjective.